PROCUREMENT AND THE DEM. BRIDGE CONTRACT

Aug 24, 2018 Editorial

The passage of the Procurement Act and the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) suggest that in some way, the authorities are trying to preserve the tender process. The passage of the Procurement Act is meant to wipe away the illegal practice of sole-sourcing, while the role of the PPC is to ensure the system is fair and transparent.
As reported, it seems that the Ministry of Public Infrastructure breached the Procurement Act by sole-sourcing the $148 million contract to the Dutch company, LievenseCSO Engineering for a feasibility study and design of the proposed new Demerara river bridge.
This was the view of the PPC, which investigated the matter and found that the Ministry of Public Infrastructure ignored the advice of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) to retender the project, because the first tendering process had failed to procure a company to do the feasibility study and design of the bridge. As a result, the process was annulled.
However, the Minister of Public Infrastructure is adamant that the decision to award the contract to LievenseCSO for consultancy services for the bridge was above board. But such claim was disputed by the former Vice-Chairman and engineer of the NPTAB, Joseph Holder, who publicly stated that the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation did not approve the project and the funding was not approved by Parliament.
If this is true, then it is the latest procurement embarrassment for the coalition government, which while in opposition had accused the last administration of numerous breaches of the Procurement Act.
Despite the establishment of the PPC, the coalition government has been cited for several breaches of the Procurement Act. It seems that it has not learned from the mistakes of its predecessor.
The political philosophy of Guyana is that anything the government tries to do will be criticized by the opposition. It is the criticism by the opposition of the tender process that led to the selection of the Dutch company to conduct the feasibility study of the new Demerara River Bridge.
It was revealed that in 2015, twenty-three foreign and local companies expressed an interest for the feasibility study and design of the bridge. Twelve were subsequently shortlisted by the Ministry, but only two submitted proposals within the deadline. Of the two companies, one was selected, but its bid was higher than the budget.
However, after negotiations between the company and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure failed to get the company to reduce its bid, the NPTAB, which was in charge of the procurement process, annulled the tender. The NPTAB then granted approval for the Ministry to retender the project.
According to the NPTAB, once a transaction meets the stipulated value of the contract, it must be done in accordance with the Procurement Act, supervised by NPTAB. This applies even to sole-sourcing. Any attempt to procure outside of this process is deemed illegal and the expenditure of public funds without the approval of Parliament could be deemed a criminal offence.
However, the tender process was, according to the PPC, ignored by the Ministry, which did not retender the project. Instead, it invited LievenseCSO Engineering, one of the original companies that failed to make the deadline, to submit a proposal, that the Minister took to the Cabinet, which approved the funds for the feasibility study and design of the bridge. The Dutch company was awarded the contract in 2016.
The perception of corruption in the contract has prompted the opposition to ask the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to investigate the consultancy contract to LievenseCSO Engineering with a view to institute criminal charges against anyone culpable of corruption. The subsequent developments will be interesting.

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