Opposition to table amendments to Procurement Act to prevent ‘Critic like’ awards

Oct 07, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance for Change (AFC) intends to table amendments to the Procurement Act of 2003 to address the awarding of contracts to entities that lack experience.

Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) and member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Ganesh Mahipaul made this announcement on Friday during a press conference hosted by the Leader of the Opposition.

Mahipaul referenced the recent award of an $865 million contract to Tepui Group Inc.- a company that was registered only last year to build a pump station at Belle Vue, West Bank Demerara (WBD). The company is affiliated with social media commentator, Mikhail Rodrigues, popularly known as “Guyanese Critic.”

Rodrigues is a close friend of leaders in the People’s Progressive Party, particularly Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.

“I can say with confidence that the APNU/AFC will be tabling an amendment to the Procurement Act of 2003 in an effort to fix the system and we will also be moving a Motion calling on the regime to recognize that there is a need for a Commission of Inquiry into the operational of the Regional Procurement and Tender Administration Boards across Guyana and the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB),” Mahipaul told reporters.

In a statement earlier this week defending the award of the contract, NPTAB had stated that it followed the systems, processes and procedures enshrined in the Procurement Act and its regulations in the award of contracts.

Specifically, with regards to the construction of the Belle Vue Pump Station project, twenty-six (26) companies tendered for that project. Thirteen (13) bids were deemed non-responsive and were therefore not considered for award. Of the thirteen (13) substantially responsive and compliant bids, the lowest priced responsive bid was awarded the Meeten-Meer Zorg Pump Station, while the second lowest responsive bid was awarded the Jimbo /Grove Pump Station. Tepui was the third lowest priced responsive bidder and was awarded the Belle Vue Pump Station, NPTAB had stated.

Mahipaul in his remarks on Friday said that the “NPTAB sought to think that they can override us as Guyanese and that we don’t know what is happening at NPTAB.”

“I want to say that we have a very clear understanding of what is going on at NPTAB and our call for an investigation by competent authority is grounded in a number of cases where contractors are accusing NPTAB of corrupt practices,” he added.

According to Mahipaul, the construction of the four pump stations were all different with different reference numbers which saw each projects receiving different amounts of bids.

“What NPTAB tried to do there [in its statement] is to tell the people of Guyana that for all four of these projects they only had 26 bidders and from that the 26 bidders, 13 were non-responsive so to award for these four pump station they only had to choose from 13,” Mahipaul explained.

He added that the awards were done in a breach of the Procurement Act “because the Procurement Act states that the lowest most responsive bidder ought to get the project.”

Kaieteur News understands that during the reading of bids for the projects which took place back on June 27, the project for a pump station at Belle Vue received 26 bids, the project for Jimbo received 30 bids, the project for Poudroyen received 23 bids, while the works for Meten- Meer- Zorg received 27 bids.

“The issue here is that NPTAB awarded contracts to companies that they said to us that were responsive but they also has said to us that they have not awarded to the lowest most responsive so what was the… for example for Tepui group for being the third lowest price responsive bidder getting the job, what happen to the second most responsive or the first most responsive and the same goes for the one at Meten-Meer- Zorg  pump station, why did NPTAB awarded to the second most lowest responsive bidder, why not the first lowest responsive bidder?” Mahipaul argued.

The Opposition MP said the Opposition’s contention has always been that the award must go to the lowest, most responsive bidder.

He concluded, “I call again with the blessings of the coalition for an independent investigation with competent personnel on the operations at NPTAB and this is not isolated there, the call is also made for us to examine the regional and procurement and tender administration boards from Region 1 to 10, all of these boards are engaged in corrupt practices and there is need for us to have an investigation.”

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• Ganesh Parliament, Guyanese Critic, Member of Parliament, Mikhail Rodrigues, opposition

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