Puran Brothers Disposal Inc yesterday defended its credentials and rubbished claims of bias in the award of a $221M contract for management of the Haags Bosch landfill which has since seen a Cevons Waste Disposal-led consortium filing a historic protest.
“We satisfied all the criteria in the tender document…so it is unfair and untrue that Cevons would say all these things,” General Manager of Puran’s, Kaleshwar Puran, told Stabroek News yesterday.
Cevons sought recourse to the recently-established Bid Protest Committee (BPC) after the Ministry of Communities, the procuring agency, rejected its request for a review of the contract award on the grounds that the bid by the Cevons group was not the most responsive.
In the protest, seen by Stabroek News, Cevons lists four reasons—low price, technical competence, operation methodology and past performance—as grounds for the appeal of the ministry’s decision.
The Ministry of Com-munities has since said that the contention by Cevons “is without merit” and released a statement in an attempt to assure the public “that claims by Cevons that the company was sidelined are inaccurate and reiterates that the tender process was based on the stipulated criteria as outlined in the Procurement Act”.
One of two brothers who own and manage Puran Brothers, Kaleshwar Puran yesterday released a statement on behalf of the company, responding to several claims made by Cevons. The company was however quick to point out that it accepts and respects the rights of individuals or entities to engage in an appropriate protest as a result of any unfavourable bid, venture or endeavour.
“We however affirm that many such protests are often unfounded, as in the case of this one made by Mr. (Morse) Archer of the Cevon’s group,” the statement said.
‘Paramount’
Puran told this newspaper that a paramount point in the response was to make clear that while CEO of Cevons, Archer had said that Puran was in partnership with BK International in the since terminated contract for the Haags Bosch Landfill, this was a lie.
“We were never ever given an opportunity to work a day there, let me tell you, we never got the chance to turn a spade on that site. BK (knocked) us out of that contract from day one…”, Puran said.
“Puran Bros. had issued a press release that clearly outlined that it had never been part of the construction and operations of the Haags Bosch Landfill Facility. Further, our lawyer sent a Notice of Termination to Mr. Brian Tiwarie, Managing Direc-tor of BK International Inc., which clearly inform-ed him of our withdrawal from the joint venture and instructed that he desist from using Puran Bros. name on any correspondence, documentation, billboards etc.,” the company’s statement also asserted.
It further stated that the Ministry of Communities (formerly the Ministry of Local Government) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which funded the maintenance of the site, were also informed of Puran Bros’ non-involvement in all aspects of the previous landfill contract.
“The company wishes to reiterate that it had never been involved in any stage of the construction and operations of the landfill during the period of the BK International control of this facility. The assertions made by Mr. Archer that Puran Bros. was executing maintenance when the site was “messed up”, against the backdrop of what is now public knowledge, is not only erroneous but very irresponsible and mischievous,” the statement read.
And on Archer’s claim that the contract was rushed to signing and that this seems “kind of fishy”, the Puran Brothers statement cited the timeline.
The company stated, “Puran Bros. submitted its bid, along with the other bidders, on March 22, 2016. The Honourable Minister of State Mr Joseph Harmon announced that cabinet had given its no objection to the award of the contract to Puran Bros. on June 29, 2016. Puran Bros. were formally notified that it was the successful bidder on July 5, 2016. The contract was subsequently signed, in the presence of the Honourable Minister of Communities Mr Ronald Bulkan and the media and press, on July 14, 2016.”
The company added, “Looking at the timings between each of these processes it is difficult to comprehend where was the rush and `fishy business’, that Mr Archer is alluding to. We believe and are satisfied that during such time due diligence was taken by the Procurement and Evaluation Committee and the Ministry of Commu-nities in reviewing all bids received.”
As it pertains to technical competence, Puran’s said it will not get involved in “mud -slinging” but pointed out that their team includes Hubert Urlin, Rufus Lewis, Shawn Daniels and Bissoondyal Singh, all of whom, are aptly qualified and have decades of experience in solid waste management, including landfill operations.
Puran made reference to the Mandela Avenue Landfill, which he boasts his company successfully closed down, in three phases. “So I think we have enough landfill experience,” he stressed.
‘No Variation’
Puran also argues that while delivering the one-year $221M contract 32 percent below the engineer’s estimate as compared to other bidders’ higher tenders, it will provide stellar service, turn a profit and not go back to the procuring entity for variations.
“Before we bid for this project we did a detailed cost breakdown. We know the cost and we know what will be a competitive bid. We worked it, we worked it and it took us a couple days but we did it so even though we bid that price, we will still profit, we have our profit margin on it,” Puran said.
“Why would we go for a variation and we know how much they are paying a month? No we wouldn’t. We catered for everything, staff overtime everything. We are covered. We know our cost and we know what is competitive and what is not. You can’t blame us for bad pricing policy of our competitors,” he added.
The Puran Bros statement echoed much of what Puran told this newspaper. “Puran has been managing and rehabilitating landfills in various parts of the country for over 8 years. These landfill sites have provided us with much experience and knowledge of operational costing and financial forecasting in managing landfill sites. We stand firm that the bid price supplied will, not only ensure that the site will be effectively managed in compliance with contractual and globally accepted specifications/ conditions, but ensure that our company makes a profit.”
“Further, Puran Bros. has not partnered with any other individual or company in its bid since the company has all the requisite machinery, equipment and human resources to operate at the Haags Bosch Landfill Facility. Mr. Archer on the other hand partnered with two other companies. It therefore means that, if successful in their bid, the partnership would have had a three-way split in their profits. With Puran Bros. not having to do so, it is therefore justifiable that our bid was considerably less than that of the partnership bidder.”
