Dear Editor,
Permit me kindly the space in your letter column on the subject at captioned published in the Wednesday September 22, 2021 edition of the Stabroek News. It is quite alarming to read the response by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and National Drainage and irrigation Authority (NDIA) in relation to the retendering by the NDIA for the steel sheets. First, I would like to commend the chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Mr Tarachand Balgobin for distancing himself and the organization he represents from the false narrative by the MoA and NDIA giving the public the false impression that it is the NPTAB that is responsible for making decisions to retender a procurement activity or process. The chairman was very pellucid in keeping with the Procurement Act 2003 that it is the procuring entity that is solely responsible for re-tendering. It is important to note that the NPTAB role is to facilitate a transparent procurement process above a certain limit in accordance with the procedures set out in the Procurement Act 2003 and the procurement regulations 2004. More-over, the NPTAB does not procure goods nor services for procuring entities as the MoA and NDIA are claiming.
It is the procurement entity (MoA and NDIA) that would initiate the procurement process for goods and services and would collaborate with NPTAB for the receipt of bids above a certain limit. The preparation of the Bid Document (solicitation document) is the responsibility of the procurement entity, setting out clearly the procurement process, quantities, description and specification of goods and services along with the evaluation criteria that would be available to the bidder having purchased the bid document. The evaluation criteria would be used to evaluate the bids to determine compliance and responsiveness. In accordance with the procurement Act 2003, the procurement entity should submit the solicitation document to the NPTAB for review and approval before an advertisement is published for the sale of the document. Important to note, is that the procurement entity is still solely responsible for the procurement process. Therefore the MoA and NDIA claim “that as the procuring entity they played no role whatsoever in the tendering of contracts….that the tendering of bids, acceptance of bids and subsequent award of bids are done through the NPTAB once it is above a certain limit”, contradict grossly the procurement procedures outlined in the procurement Act 2003 and the ministry and NDIA should accept and take responsibility for their actions as the procuring entity.
In order to preserve the transparency in the public interest in accordance with the procurement Act 2003, the procuring entity will direct the submission of bids to the NPTAB in keeping with the procedures outlined in the bid document. The NPTAB responsibility is to facilitate the opening of the bids in a transparent and pubic manner and to maintain the transparency of the procurement process. Also, the NPTAB would select the evaluation committee independent of the procuring entity in keeping with section 39 of the procurement Act 2003. It is the duty of the evaluation committee to evaluate the bids submitted in accordance with the approved criteria and to make recommendations to the procurement entity – in the form of a report – as it relates to the responsiveness of the bids, with a recommendation for the awarding of a contract to the most responsive bidder with the lowest evaluated price. Important to note, is that responsiveness to the evaluation criteria is determined first followed by the bid price. Equally important, is the fact that only the evaluation committee has the mandate to recommend re-tendering after examining the bids received in compliance with the evaluation criteria.
The procuring entity upon receiving the evaluation committee’s report with its recommendation can review same and make suggestion(s) to the committee; however, it is the signed evaluation report by the committee members with the recommendation that guides the completion of the procurement process leading to the award of a contract or the re-tendering of the process. The procuring entity shall submit the evaluation report with the recommendation to the NPTAB paving the way for the award of a contract or re-tendering of the process. Therefore, the MoA and NDIA as the procuring entity for the steel sheets and must take responsibility for their actions regarding the retendering. The MoA and NDIA must show evidence where it was recommended by the evaluation committee on all occasions for the re-tendering of the procurement process. It appears that the MoA and NDIA sought to hide behind Section 40 of the Procurement Act 2003 without any justification for their action and decision to re-tender for the procurement of the steel sheets, but are pointing fingers to the NPTAB instead of themselves as the procuring entity.
Sincerely,
Name and Address Provided
