Despite tampering of bid documents... System working to counter corruption

Despite tampering of bid documents… System working to counter corruption – Finance Minister

Mar 16, 2019 News

Government says it is steaming ahead with an internal probe of alleged tampering of bid documents at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
According to Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, a report has been completed and is being addressed by the Finance Secretary, Michael Joseph, and Minister within the Ministry Jaipaul Sharma.
Jordan admitted that “some irregular activities” occurred.
Asked about whether he is worried about the breaches after the Coalition Government had vowed to clean up things at the Tender Board, after being voted in May 2015, Jordan was clear.
“You will always be worried. As we said, no system is fool proof but luckily we had a system here that actually caught some irregular activities.”
He said that there is evidence that some “irregular activities” happened at “irregular times”.
A report has been produced and is being handled by the Finance Secretary and Minister Sharma.
According to Minister Jordan, while he is not sure whether the police are actually dealing with the matter as is reported by Kaieteur News, ultimately that may be the direction.
It was reported that a Senior Procurement Officer of NPTAB, who has been there for years, was sent on administrative leave two weeks ago.
This was after he was reportedly caught on camera taking bid documents from a secured room at NPTAB, located at the Ministry of Finance office, Main Street.
It was reported that two weeks ago, NPTAB, which oversees the opening of bid documents from contractors and suppliers, processed a number of them.
The documents were then stored in a special room. Copies were reportedly also in the custody of a senior manager.
Hours later, the staffer asked permission to enter the room, something that is unusual.
Rather, under the control system, the officer should have requested documents and sign for them.
He reportedly stashed the documents in his pockets and later left the NPTAB compound without returning it.
According to officials, an internal probe found that two tender documents were raised by $15M.
However, the attempt to tamper was discovered after a staffer talked and checks revealed that a copy of the bid document in the custody of the senior manager did not have the new figures.
The contract, a road project, was said to worth over $100M.

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