The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) is moving to implement a system where defaulting contractors could be blacklisted from bidding for future projects, its Deputy Chairman Abdool Rahim says.
Rahim told this newspaper yesterday that the failure of contractors to properly deliver on projects is something that is of grave concern to the NPTAB. According to him, the body is considering hiring a consultant to help it determine the rules, regulations and the systems to implement blacklisting. Currently there are systems in place to penalize contractors for failure to deliver on projects in a timely manner, such as the withholding of performance bonds or the 10 percent payment, Rahim explained. He also said that this may affect the contractor the next time he bids for the project when the evaluation criteria are examined. Observers have said that given the number of years that the NPTAB has been presiding over procurement there should have been a finely honed system of blacklisting already in place.
Speaking to this newspaper during a recess in an IDB/NPTAB forum on procurement held yesterday at the Pegasus Hotel, Rahim noted that the issue of blacklisting was one which had a lot of implications which had to be carefully considered. He said that the NPTAB did not want to introduce the system when it did not have a proper system to implement. Blacklisting, he said, also had a lot of legal implications for both the contractor and the agency awarding the contract. “It’s a serious decision,” he stated. The Deputy Chairman also said that before blacklisting, an examination of what conditions may have caused the delay of the project would have to be undertaken. According to him, sometimes it is the agency awarding the contract that is at fault or the shortage of supplies. He also pointed out that some contractors were just bent on abusing the system.
Rahim, however, pointed out that shortly the NPTAB will be introducing new bid documents where the contractors would, in fact, have to a sign an agreement where they would agree not to bid for another project within a specific timeline. Rahim said that this is essentially a case where the contractors would be blacklisting themselves.
Meanwhile, regarding the absence of the Procurement Commission as stipulated by the Procurement Act, Rahim said that if this were to be implemented it would certainly be a great help to the NPTAB. He, however, noted that the implementation of this Commission was a matter that the politicians needed to sort out.
Yesterday’s forum is part of an ongoing initiative by the NPTAB and other stakeholders to sensitize contractors, agencies and other parties about the roles and functions of the procurement act and its regulations. The forum was sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which funds such programmes monthly. This newspaper was told that many agencies and contractors are unaware of what is required when bidding for projects and that this was a way of trying to correct this fault.
