Patterson says GPL upgrade project is transparent, amid claims of favouritism

Aug 20, 2017 News

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson has assured that allegations that the Guyana

Public Infrastructure Minister, David Patterson

Power and Light (GPL) Power Utility Upgrade Programme (PUUP) project is being structured to favour a particular contractor are ‘absolute garbage’.
The most recent development concerning the project is that the bid submission date for Lot B of the PUUP was extended to August 22, 2017. According to Patterson, most of the bidders had requested an extension.
This might have been the case, since GPL had made an addendum to the tender document for Lot B where the material for the distribution box and meter box was changed from polycarbonate to metal. Bidders would have needed additional time to quote cost for the new material.
Patterson said that the request for an extension is quite common in the bidding process. He said that the extension of one week was given so that the interested bidders could have gotten their submissions together. Patterson made it clear that the extension was not done in any way to favour any bidder.
Further, he said that the extension was reasonable since there will be overseas bidders. The Minister expounded that any person claiming that efforts are being made to have the contract favour a certain bidder can be properly informed if they purchase the bid document to have a clearer understanding about the requirements.
“So that is not true at all. The successful bidder will be the successful bidder.”
Bids for Lot B of the project were scheduled to be opened on Tuesday but this did not take place. The following day, one letter writer in this newspaper said that he would have consulted with a particular bidder who indicated that a number of changes were made to the bid specifications.
The writer said that there is concern that the process is bring rigged to favour a certain bidder. An appeal was made to Minister Patterson and the Inter-American Development Bank who is funding the project along with the European Union to investigate the matter. However, Minister Patterson is confident that the process is fair and transparent.
Lot A of the PUUP was awarded to China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC). The total cost of Lot A is $4.6B.
The smart meters for Lot A of the project have arrived in the country. This was confirmed by Public Relations Officer of GPL Shevion Sears.
Suspicion was created around the project when it was announced that Lot A was awarded to the Chinese company.
The company was previously awarded a contract to construct seven substations around Guyana. This project also involved the running of new high-powered transmission lines along the coastland and the laying of two submarine cables across the Demerara and Berbice Rivers.
The Caribbean Engineering and Management Consultants (CEMCO) had done a report on the project and criticised CMC’s work describing the Chinese company as a trading company and not a construction company.

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