(Trinidad Express) Cabinet has stopped the award of a contract for a national CCTV (closed-circuit television) network in Trinidad and Tobago to Irish-owned telecommunications provider Digicel, and referred the evaluation and its outcome to new Attorney General Reginald Armour.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley made this disclosure to the Express on Monday, in written responses to questions sent to him.
The Prime Minister was asked to confirm that majo¬rity State-owned Telecommu¬nications Services of Tri¬ni¬dad and Tobago (TSTT) submitted a bid for the contract that was substantially less than the Digicel bid, but the TSTT bid was disqualified for “technical” reasons.
He was also asked why the Government (Ministry of National Security) issued a letter of award to a company in which it has no equity interest when a company in which it does have an equity interest is capable of doing the job.
In response, the Prime Minister said: “Those are the same questions that the Government is asking and have stopped any award and have referred the evaluation and its outcome to the Attorney General for his advice. This was done about two weeks ago. We await the review of the Attorney General.”
The Ministry of National Security issued a request for proposals (RFP) in January 2021 for the design, supply and installation of a dedica¬ted data connectivity solution to support the national CCTV network.
That first RFP was withdrawn without explanation and was replaced by an RFP that was issued in October 2021, sources said.
The second RFP stipulates the installation of 2,488 cameras in 294 communities across Tobago and Trinidad, comprising 898 sites. Some 470 of the 2,488 cameras are required to facilitate facial recognition, while 1,127 are required to recognise vehicle licence plates.
TSTT’s technical propo¬sal for the second RFP was rejected by the evaluators of the procurement process, even though TSTT designed and installed a CCTV network for the East-West Corridor in 2009 that would have been approved by the security agencies of the US and Britain. The Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting were both held in T&T in 2009.
‘Not the first time’
The prime minister explained that the award of contracts by ministries is not a Cabinet decision.
He said Cabinet autho¬rised the Ministry of National Security to proceed with the CCTV project. That brought into action an evaluation done by a team under the ministry and its tender process, Rowley said.
“When the Cabinet disco¬vered where they were going, a demand was made to see the details of the process that resulted in the concern you also expressed,” the Prime Minister said, adding, “The documents were submitted and it is out of dissatisfaction and concern that the matter has been halted and sent to the AG for his advice and guidance.
“This is not the first time we have had issue with the attempt to award a contract in this ministry. The police had to be called in to trace ‘lost’ documents,” Rowley said.
Questioned about the political repercussions of awarding the CCTV contract to Digicel, given that 51 per cent
State-owned TSTT is in the middle of a retrenchment process, which is being funded by borrowed money, Rowley said, “That is precisely why the effort to award it ‘as recommended’ by the second questionable evaluation process has attracted the intervention of the Cabinet to see just how this kind of recommendation emerged and why it is disregarding exactly what you are saying.”
He said the Cabinet awaits the advice of the Attorney General “because since ‘independent’ professional people did the tender process, we want to know what drives this outcome, which is seen to be so worrisome.”
Non-disclosure agreements
Asked for a comment on the process and whether Digicel had received a letter of award on or about March 25, a spokesperson for the company said: “Digicel has participated in multiple Government tenders over the years. As you may or may not be aware, participants in tenders with the Government are bound by non-disclosure agreements. Therefore, we would refer you to the Ministry of National Security with any questions you might have.”
A TSTT executive said the company would prefer not to comment at this time.
TSTT has had a fraught relationship with the Government over the 2009 CCTV contract and its extensions, with several ministers accu¬sing the company of overcharging the State.
In its February 2022 information memorandum for the new bonds issued to finance the retrenchment, TSTT said, “As of March 31, 2021, we had outstanding bills totalling $695 million to the Ministry of National Security, of which $377 million was recorded as accounts receivable and $318 million was recorded as a bad debt provision. We delivered a notice of arbitration to the Ministry of National Security seeking a sum of TT$677 million, which represents the total amount owed to us as of January 31, 2021.”
TSTT and the Ministry of National Security are currently in arbitration over the $677 million outstanding payment.