Latest update January 20th, 2025 4:00 AM
Food houses bid to provide meals for CPCE residential students’
Bids were opened yesterday at the Ministry of Finance’s National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for the supply and delivery of cooked meals for resident students at the Cyril Potter Collage of Education (CPCE). The successful bidder will supply three meals per day for a one year period, for roughly 320 students.
Tyson English, Fromer Student Body President, Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE)
The procuring agency is the Ministry of Education, which split the tender into three lots. Bids were received from several companies. Escape Café and Catering Company submitted a bid for $110.2M; Wind Jammer, $138.1M; A&L Construction, $276.6M; Pacific Service System only bid for lot 3 their bid was $59.2M and Hot and Spicy Corner $138.7M.
However, former student body President, Tyson English, said that this was an unnecessary expense for the Ministry of Education. He said that the CPCE facility is equipped with kitchen quarters that produce meals on a daily basis.
The former student representative said that the teachers’ college at one point had its own poultry farm and a thriving vegetable garden.
English added that the current company providing meals to CPCE, Escape Café and Catering Company, has received terrible reviews from students. Just three months ago, students of CPCE would have raised the issue of not being provided with proper meals, with the administration.
However, some students said that these complaints brought no satisfaction.
A source employed at CPCE said that resident students would often buy food from the kitchen located at the college, because they are not satisfied with the meals provided, as it was often left to waste.
Currently Escape Café and Catering Service is the lowest bidder for the provision and delivery of meals. English said that if the contract is awarded to the same company, it would be another waste of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money.
In 2013 Protest action was initiated by teachers attached to the CPCE. Calls were made for immediate repairs to the deteriorating sections of the college and quality of the meals being served to trainees.
Former Chief Education Officer (CEO), Olato Sam, explained that efforts were underway by the Ministry of Education to address the issues.
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