Was the Designz printing bid lowest and most qualified?

Oct 15, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

Regarding the front page reports (Oct. 13 and 11) on Local Government Minister giving a company founded by his son a contract, there is no allegation of wrong doing or corruption. Were rules violated on nepotism (preferential treatment) and procedure (bidding)? If the youngster was getting contracts under the previous regime based on his bids, why should they be discontinued now? Because his father is now a Minister, should he be punished? Was the Minister and his son wrongfully scandalized in this report of such a small contract of $485K? These are not the sums that tend to interest traditionally corrupt officials. Corrupt politicians are after the big bucks in millions of American dollars as in the oil blocks reported by KN over the last few days. Such corrupt persons should not hold a place in the highest law making body of our nation or in any government office.
I do not know Minster Dharamlall; I never met him although I heard of him. Reports on or about him or anyone else must be fair and balanced, not scandalous or motivated by political opponents or by those who were denied the contract because of overpricing.
The report states that the company that got the contract was founded by the Minister’s son. But the owner, manager, and spokesperson of the small company is a female, Monica Sharma. From the media report, she communicated with the Ministry. A small company owned by a female should be encouraged in business and given preference for a contract.
Designz Unlimited used to get contracts from the Ministry under the previous regime. The Minister’s son probably disassociated himself from the contract probably because his father is Minister so as to avoid any perceived appearance of conflict of interest. In my studies of and teaching economics and business, a person can found a company and not be its owner, and as such, cannot be held accountable for its activities including bidding for contract. Since he is not owner and does not oversee day to day operations or bidding on contracts, the son, therefore, should not have been part of the report. Whoever sought to scandalize the youngster ought to be ashamed and seek psychological counseling.
Even if a son is a company owner, should he be denied contracts because his father is a minister? Then he would never make a living or run a business until the father stop being a Minister. Why should a son or daughter or relative be punished for the job of a parent who is a politician? The son is a young adult who runs his own life and is entitled to government contracts if qualified. However, he should not be favoured or enjoy preferential treatment. Designz Unlimited received contracts before Dharamlall became Minister. His son should not be victimized. And since the company is not owned by him, it should not be prevented from getting contracts from government. Designz Unlimited is entitled to the contracts if it fulfills all the requirements and should be properly paid; money for contracts should not be returned to the government.
There are no complaints of over pricing or poor quality or delivery time of the job. What is missing in the report is the number of bids submitted for the contracts and whether Designz Unlimited was the best qualified – price, efficiency, quality, and timeliness. When I was head of the Leadership Committee of my government institution in New York, I used to seek out at least three bids for a contract. The best one, not necessarily the lowest bid, was selected by my committee for a project and approved by the Brooklyn schools superintendent. I am informed that three bids were offered for the printing job with Designz submitting $390K, another company $550K, and a third company $695K. Design was the lowest, by far saving the Ministry between $160K and $305K. It seems Minister Dharamlall acted prudently in giving the contract to Designz. If a company feels its bid was better, it should file a complaint and seek compensation.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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