Local company lodges complains over ‘unfair practices’ by foreigners

Nov 04, 2021 News

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Kaieteur News – Principal and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Universal Group of Companies Inc, Ian Edwards, has come forward to confirm that his company is one such local service provider that has fallen victim to the practices being employed by Europa Guyana Inc., where the company manages to underbid Universal’s proposals, purportedly using ‘insider information’
garnered by its Operations Manager.He contends, however that this practice has led to several local companies suffering from unfair practices by foreign companies in the form of “bid sponsor impersonation among other things,” and pointed to another experience with another, ‘foreign-company’ that sets up shop in Guyana.

According to Edwards, two years ago Arrow Oil Field Services, which he said, represented itself as a foreign owned company, had approached Universal, “to bid jointly with them for the provision of contract service.”He told this publication, “we supplied all the details and pricing required, our documents were also used but thatcontract was awarded to Arrow.”The Universal CEO told Kaieteur News, “we were never called as was originally agreed; today Arrow performs those services that we should have been performing.”
With regards the contract for the provision of cleaning services for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Duke Street Offices, Edwards said, “I wish to confirm that Universal Janitorial Services Inc. is the company that lost the bid to Europa for the United Nations”
To this end, he explained, “…while we suspect that there may have been foul play at work, we cannot confirm this as yet, as our investigation has not yet concluded.”
This publication had reported that the Europa’s Operations Manager had, before his resignation in 2019, been employed in that capacity at Universal.

0To this end, a source had told this publication that the company had been investigating one of its staffers responsible for the preparation of bid documents—an individual that had shared ties with the Europa Operations Manager.
Speaking with this publication Edwards noted that the examples cited are not isolated and that, “since the emergence of the oil and gas industry and the influx of foreign companies into the space, competition has now taken on a more drastic approach.”
According to Edwards however, “at Universal we pride ourselves in developing coherent systems to meet our customers’ needs and by extension the many challenges, so this too is a teachable scenario for us.”
He told this publication “we see an industry that is vibrant with enormous growth to come and this we are preparing for,” pointing out that his company has just concluded its ISO 9001 2015 audit and compliance checks and is now pursuing certification, “we are also working with the relevant bodies to be a good corporate citizen.”
While confirming that the individual in question at Europa, Hewett Alleyne, was employed with his company—Universal Janitorial Services & Supplies—the man has had his services terminated for almost two years now.
This publication had recently reported on practices by some foreign companies operating locally, of obtaining bid information from local service providers and then under bidding and referenced the UNDP contract that was lost by Universal.
It was noted at the time that the questionable practices by foreign companies operating locally are perceived to be largely overlooked and pointed to the accusations being leveled against Europa Guyana Inc.
Edwards has since confirmed that his company has lodged complaints with local business support organisations, namely the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA) and the Private Sector Commission (PSC)—all of which Universal is an active member.
The allegations by Edwards are being made even as Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, this past week reminded of the Local Content Legislation to be tabled in the House before the end of the year, and reiterated that there would be some services such as rentals, transportation and others that would be reserved exclusively for locals.
He told reporters during a press engagement on Monday that Director of Local Content from the local Petroleum Commission would be meeting with a Ghanaian delegation to work on the draft bill.
“Our local content policy has been in the public domain for a very long time, almost a year, we are wrapping it up now and we are looking at key issues. We are honing in on the definition of what a local company would mean.”
Additionally, Vice President Jagdeo reminded “there are some areas we have made it clear from before that are 100 percent carved out for Guyanese, let me repeat them, rental of properties, so for households and for office etcetera would be 100 percent Guyanese companies.
He pointed too to transportation, local logistics, security, and cleaning services provided by companies like Universal, would be reserved for 100 percent Guyanese companies.
According to Jagdeo by reserving certain category of services in law for Guyanese companies in the oil sector, it would guarantee hundreds of millions of dollars in earnings for locals.

 

 

 

 

 

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