After the invitation for bids for the rehabilitation of the pumps at Trafalgar, West Coast Berbice was cancelled, several prospective bidders fear that the contract has been sole sourced since works are already ongoing.
In July, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) invited bids for the rehabilitation works, which were pegged at an estimated cost of $48.6 million.
However, two weeks ago, the bidding for the pumps had been nullified, which has left contractors suspicious as they are yet to be informed why the decision was taken.
“That’s not fair. You can’t just announce that the tenders are opened for bidding and then in no time you just call it off,” one of the contractors, who wished to remain anonymous, told Stabroek News yesterday, while noting that some contractors had already purchased documents and bonds for the tender.
He also said that a lot of contractors were preparing to bid. “We need to know why at least it was cancelled because that doesn’t seem right. They posted a number in the media to call but you never get on and get an explanation,” he stated.
Another contractor, who also wished to remain anonymous, pointed out that even before the annulment was announced, work had started on the pumps. “It seems as if it was sole sourced first and that goes against the policies that they [NDIA] are supposed to be keeping up,” the man said.
Other contractors voiced their concern over the possible sole sourcing for the rehabilitation of the pumps and when the NDIA was contacted yesterday, no answers were made available.
Stabroek News has been making an attempt over the past week to contact CEO of the NDIA Frederick Flatts for an explanation and has not been able to reach him.
However, Flatts had told Stabroek News last month that the pumps are not listed as property of the NDIA as they belong to the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/Agriculture Development Authority (MMA-ADA).
“In our audit reports the pumps are listed under the MMA,” he said, before adding that the MMA-ADA the NDIA would still be “seeking to get it started before the November rains.” He had pointed out that they were currently going through the procurement procedure and while it was going to cost a lot of money, it would greatly relieve drainage woes in the area.
General Manager of the MMA-ADA Aubrey Charles confirmed to Stabroek News that the rehabilitation of the pumps has already started. However, he could not say why the bids were cancelled and who was currently undertaking the repairs.
Charles had previously stated that the MMA-ADA was not in charge of the pumps and was only looking over them.
The two giant pumps have been non-functioning after they were reportedly vandalised over two years ago and were never fixed by the NDIA.
The non-functioning of the pumps coupled with the clogged outfall channel has been responsible for heavy flooding due to heavy rainfall in the West Coast Berbice area.
“The two pumps that are currently there, it’s not that the pumps themselves were vandalized but the cables leading to the pumps were vandalized. A big fat cable and they were stolen and I learned that they are very lucrative,” Charles had said.
