The AFC yesterday played down concerns that party leader Khemraj Ramjattan is in a conflict of interest position over his legal representation of the Fedders Lloyd Corporation, which believes it was cheated of a contract to build the specialty hospital at Turkeyen.
Ramjattan’s role as lawyer for the Indian firm has been greeted with accusations by the government that the company and the AFC leader have political rather than legitimate motives for objecting to the US$18.1 million contract for the design and construction of the hospital being awarded to Surendra Engineering.
Speaking at the AFC’s weekly press conference, party Chairman Nigel Hughes urged Guyanese not to be distracted by personality, but focus on whether Fedders Lloyd’s rights were breached. Ramjattan is currently out of the country on business.
“The real issue is whether or not the procedures that were set out in the tender documents were adhered to. There is no rule in the profession that stops Mr. Ramjattan, who is a practising attorney, from plying his trade as a lawyer,” Hughes told the news conference.
Hughes, who is also a practising lawyer, assured that Ramjattan’s position on behalf of the AFC represents the party. He reiterated that the party leader’s position is consistent with his professional stance as far as fairness and transparency are concerned.
The AFC Chairman said he would expect the contract to be awarded on the basis of merit. “If awarded the contract, I would assume and hope that it is after a very transparent process of retendering, where everyone who has been invited to tender and the process of evaluation is transparent,” he said.
Hughes added that if the company performs badly, it would be Ramjattan the attorney and not the AFC leader who would have to represent his client to disprove that the company was liable for any acts of commission or breach of contract. “It’s certainly not the AFC’s position that Fedders Lloyd must get the contract. What we are saying is that the process was flawed and Guyana, as a country,
cannot be inviting international tenders to build anything and then by our own act breach the same rules and regulations that we have invited them to come and tender under,” Hughes added.
The government has accused Fedders Lloyd of orchestrating a campaign against the work of the NPTAB committee that awarded the contract to Surendra Engineering and of “politicisising” the situation after the rejection of its bid.
Fedders Lloyd’s grounds for objection included Surendra Engineering’s bid security being issued by a bank in India rather than by a locally-based commercial bank.
The Guyana government on Tuesday, however, said the decision to use only banks in India was taken and made known to prospective bidders at a pre-bid meeting, where Fedders Lloyd was represented and for which minutes were subsequently circulated. That decision, government says, supersedes any other conditions laid down.
A National Procurement and Tender Board Administration (NPTAB) executive told Stabroek News that the issue of the bid bond lies in the tender documents specifications. The source said that this is not the first time that a bond was issued from a foreign bank, since with most foreign funded loans, which have international bidders, bonds are issued. Fedders Lloyd also questioned Surendra Engineering’s apparent lack of technical expertise in building such facilities.
Fedders-Lloyd plans to formally protest to the NPTAB the awarding of the contract to Surendra Engineering. The former company also intends to file similar objections with India’s EXIM Bank, which is responsible for the line of credit provided by the Indian government for the construction of the hospital.
