The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked by government with Fedders Lloyd to complete the specialty hospital should be cancelled and the bidding process restarted, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran has said even as he dismissed as “without merit,” the administration’s statement that it approached the Indian firm in the interest of time.
“Given the charges made by Fedders Lloyd of unfair treatment in the award of the (previous) contract (whether justifiable or not), and the Ministry of Health’s response, it would have been more appropriate for the works to be re-advertised to allay fears of the new Administration is taking sides in the dispute between the two parties,” Goolsarran wrote in his Accountability Watch column in today’s Stabroek News (see page 8).
“In any event, there is no provision in the Procurement Act for a terminated contractor to be replaced by the next contractor in line based on the original tender evaluation.