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Ministry of Education begins distributing Rudisa juices

Oct 12, 2016 News

…despite DDL’s complaint to Bid Protest Committee

The Ministry of Education has begun distributing the juices sourced from Caribbean International Distributors Inc. a subsidiary of Surinamese Rudisa Beverage and Juices N.V. Company.
This was confirmed by Public Relations Officer of the Education Ministry, Suelle Findlay. She said that the distribution began earlier this month, mostly in the hinterland regions.
She said that classes one and two of nursery schools in Regions One to Six, Eight and Ten have received juices as part of the National School Feeding Programme.
Generally, according to procurement procedures, when there is a protest of a contract award before the Bid Protest Committee, the final award is suspended.
However, according to the Ministry of Finance, a suspension shall not apply if a procuring entity certifies that public interest considerations require the procurement to proceed. This certification is expected to state the grounds for the finding that such considerations exist and which shall be made part of the record of the procurement proceedings.
This aspect of the agreement is not open to complaint and review. Public Relations Consultant for Demerara Distillers Limited, Alex Graham,  when asked to ascertain whether the entity was aware of the distribution, said that DDL would be surprised if the government of Guyana would have proceeded with the award of the contract while there is a protest pending before the Bid Protest Committee.
He said that DDL has not received a response from the BPC as yet and will reserve further comment until being officially notified about the status of the protest.
DDL had filed a formal protest to the BPC after they would have lost the bid to supply boxed juices for the school feeding programme which was awarded to Rudisa.
Tropical Orchard Products (TOPCO), a subsidiary of DDL, bid $506M and CIDI, the Rudisa subsidiary offered a bid for $545M.
The contract award was tainted with controversy when it was revealed that the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) did not test a sample for Topco so as to make a comparison. Additionally, the department lacked the necessary equipment to properly conduct testing.
Head of the GA-FDD Marlan Cole had come out saying that had there been a sample from TOPCO, the company would have come out on top of the other samples tested due to the product’s juice content.
In addition to Topco, Guyana Beverages Inc. which manufactures Kool Kidz’s boxed juice has also protested the contract award. The protesting companies have argued that their products are compliant with the technical and administrative requirements of the contract.
The government’s Department of Public Information had issued a statement saying that it was recommended by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) that the contract be awarded to Rudisa, which was the highest bidder.
The recommendation was apparently based on the Surinamese company having met all the technical and administrative requirements.

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