Maintaining that there were procurement breaches in its handpicking of the contractor for the US$34 million e-ID contract, former Minister of Public Communications Cathe-rine Hughes is urging the government to relook at the project, hold public consultations and have an open tender process.
“I endorse the former auditor general Mr Goolsarran who says the procurement laws have not been followed. One would start off with [calling for] Expressions of Interests (EOI), then a public tendering process that would involve NPTAB. I think the biggest insult really is that there has been no public discussion, no public information strategy to explain to people and citizens how this would work, and to alleviate their concerns and answer questions,” Hughes, an opposition MP, told the Stabroek News in an interview.
“It is not good enough to enter a contract and then just tell us that you are spending this money, and we don’t know the source of the funds and where it is coming from. We don’t know if it is a government loan… The fact that you signed a contract means you should have been ready to answer the concerns of citizens, if you really do care and find them to be important,” she added.
Hughes said shutting out the public from a project that would see all of their personal and sensitive data produced on a card, without them knowing the details of how the information would be protected or shared, is worrisome.
She said that the government’s actions speak to the “disdain” it has for its citizens.
“At the end of the day, the fact that it wasn’t raised in the parliament is also of grave concern. And it really does, to me, highlight the disdain with which this government holds the citizens of Guyana whom it is supposed to serve and of course the Parliament,” she emphasised.
On March 10, the government hurriedly announced the virtual signing of the deal with the Germany-headquartered Veridos with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) acting as an intermediary. To date, the UAE’s financial role in the deal has not been defined.
Critics have pointed out that the deal is a flagrant violation of the country’s procurement laws and has been concluded without the requisite privacy and data security laws in place. A key feature of the deal would be an electronic ID card that consolidates the data of the holder, providing for easier access to public and private sector services.
On Monday, the GHRA called on the government to pause the project and submit it to Parliament.
Government is insisting that it sought the approval of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) regarding its sole-sourcing of the US$34 million contract, while asserting that it was a project that fell under national security, sources say.
However, former auditor general Anand Goolsarran weighed in, pointing out that while sole-sourcing is catered for under national emergencies and national security, the awarding of the contract facilitated by UAE’s Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum was for electronic cards and therefore does not qualify. He believes that the contract violates the Procurement Act.
He further stated that while the sole-sourcing section of the Act was used, the justification was flawed because the project could not be classified as being one of national security.
“Section 3(2) of the Pro-curement Act states that the Act does not apply to procurement involving national defence or national security. Additionally, by Section 28 (e), where the procuring entity determines that Section 3(2) is applicable as a result of national security concerns, then it may consider the single-source method as the most appropriate method of procurement. Single-source procurement occurs mainly in relation to the following: a) where the goods or construction are available only from a particular supplier or contractor, or a particular supplier or contractor has exclusive rights with respect to the goods or construction, and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists; b) the services, by reason of their highly complex or specialised nature, are available from only one source; and c) owing to a catastrophic event, there is an urgent need for the goods, services or construction, making it impractical to use other methods of procurement because of the time involved in using those methods.
“The Act does not define `national security’ and therefore we have to apply the ordinary meaning of the words. National security is defined as `the safety of a nation against threats such as terrorism, war, or espionage.’ It is concerned about foreign relations and protection from internal subversion, foreign aggression to terrorism. It can hardly be argued that the production of electronic ID cards is a matter of national security,” he added.
Hughes said she “fully supports” Goolsarran’s position and that the government needs to respond to transparency calls and disclose the contract.
She also informed that creating a governance system was not new as her government had enlisted the services of the government of Estonia to help Guyana prepare a digital transition roadmap for a holistic e-governance system here. However, she said, a key focus and recommendation of that country was public awareness and protection legislation.
“In the previous administration there was heavy focus on e-governance and we know that was the focus where governments around the world are heading, in terms of improving efficiency and access to government services,” she said.
Hughes said that the government must also tell the nation what’s overall e-governance strategy is.
“The recommended approach should really start… where government lays out a holistic e-government agenda. In that, the government would identify the enabling block of the proposed system. An e-ID would be only one of those locks, so to speak. E governance goes across platforms. So when we talk about digitising and a digital agenda, we have to understand the crosses and fusing of different sectors. So we are not just talking about an e-ID. It is really the platform that can be developed. That platform looks at e-agriculture; telecommunication; e-medicine; education… where all the key sectors will be a part of it,” she explained.
Estonia was chosen, Hughes said, because of research on successful implementation coupled with robust laws regarding data protection and cyber security. “When we did the research, that country had a proven track record in implementing one of the best global e-systems,” she noted.
Government, she contended, must be able to accept constructive criticisms because the citizenry here wants to be on par with the rest of the world technologically, but at the same time know that plans for the transformation are structured, comprehensive and inclusive.
“A comprehensive range of legislation must be required to support Guyana’s governance strategy. We are totally not prepared in developing a raft of legislation that is required to support any governance programme. Cyber security and data protection are key; we have adequate protection but many countries pass legislation in relation to data storage and data protection. There are all kinds of rules and regulations that prohibit the storage outside of the national country or territory. That has to be considered,” she posited.
Further, she added, “Citizens must have the same right as those under the EU data protection legislation. That means that they must know which individual or government agency has accessed their personal data and when and for what purpose. In most developed countries, there are penalties for illegal access to persons’ data… Integrated systems such as passport and border control systems are all part of some of the legislative requirements that must be put in place. We have seen little or no discussion on this.”
