More than two weeks after it vowed a thorough probe of a controversial pump station contract, the PPC remains silent on the way forward and MP David Patterson is mulling legal action as the next step.
For months, he has been pressing the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) due to its inaction on the controversial award of the $865 million Belle Vue pump station contract to the Tepui Group, which does not meet the standard evaluation criteria for bidders.
The Member of Parliament told the Sunday Stabroek that he is at his wits end, as the PPC has been evading the subject for weeks. He said he will consult with his attorney on taking legal action against the commission for dereliction of responsibilities and inaction concerning this matter of public interest.
Patterson said he learnt that the commission held its weekly statutory meeting which ended without addressing or providing an update on the issue at hand even though on December 4th it had said there should be some movement in around two weeks.
“I was waiting for them to respond or to give feedback on the matter but nothing was done. They said 14 days which has elapsed, so I now have to consult with the lawyer and decide on taking legal action,” he told the Sunday Stabroek. According to Patterson, it has been four months since the matter was lodged with the Procurement Commission, which he said continues to drag its feet.
The PPC on December 4 in a press release stated that with “regard to the Tepui matter in particular, the commission took note of the matter as one of public interest.”
The commission said that during its last meeting on December 1, 2023, having received a copy of the tender proceedings from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) on or about November 10, 2023, it considered the Report of its Operations Department thereon and decided to put certain matters arising therefrom to the procuring entity – National Drainage and Irrigation Authority – and NPTAB for response by due process.
It said that the response would be forthcoming within the next fourteen (14) days. Nothing has been said and Stabroek News tried unsuccessfully to contact the PPC Chair, Pauline Chase.
“The commission wishes to assure the general public that no stone will be left unturned in a full and thorough investigation into the matter as is done with all investigations of the commission in the discharge of its constitutional mandate,” the statement of December 4 read.
It was noted in the statement that Patterson had accused the PPC of evading the matter when he stated, “One week they cancelled the statutory meeting, another week they said they will discuss the matter but they have been evading the subject.”
However, the PPC responded by stating, “It is farthest from the truth, and wholly illogical to contend that the commission having decided to launch an investigation would then evade a determination of same.
“There is no basis for such a contention. Any insinuation that a meeting of the commission was cancelled to avoid consideration of the matter is mendacious and mischievous.”
It added, “During the interim, a meeting of the commission scheduled for Friday, November 24, 2023, was postponed (not ‘cancelled’) to the next working day, that is, Monday, November 27, 2023, to facilitate the presence of all commissioners as the commission endeavours to do.
“The award of the Tepui contract has engaged the attention of the commission at every meeting of the commission since it received a request for an investigation thereto from Mr David Patterson, MP on October 3, 2023, as is reflected by the Minutes of the commission.”
The PPC sought to assure that notwithstanding its limited resources, it endeavours to complete reviews of all complaints and requests for investigations within the shortest possible time frame. It explained that this varies “depending on what arises, and which may or may not be limited to the issue raised in the original request but which the commission in its wide constitutional powers can investigate.”
The Opposition Member against this background said that the commission under Guyana’s constitution is mandated to address matters of procurement efficiently but it appears as if the body is reluctant to do.
Probity
The award of the Tepui contract has raised serious questions about the probity of contract awards by NPTAB. Tepui has not had relevant construction experience and one of its principals, Mikhail Rodrigues, has had privileged access to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and other sections of the government.
Since its full constitution last year, the PPC has been accused of shirking its broad responsibilities in favour of countrywide visits and similar activities.
Like Patterson, Opposition MP Ganesh Mahipaul also noted that Tepui which was formed in August 2022, did not meet the bidding criteria.
This newspaper also reported that former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, had opined that the contract awarded to Tepui Group was flawed, as not only should the company have been disqualified for not meeting the bidding criteria, but NPTAB erred when it lumped two other contracts to the award.
Goolsarran explained that according to his analysis, “There has been a violation of the Procurement Act as regards the award of the contract for the construction of sluice/pump station at Belle Vue as well as the other two pump stations at Meten-Meer-Zorg and Jimbo.”
He added, “As regards the Belle Vue pump station, the system appeared to have been manipulated to facilitate the award of the contract to Tepui Group Inc”.
According to the bidding documents for the project, which were opened on June 27 this year, and seen by this publication, the project was for a pump station at Belle Vue on the West Bank of Demerara. The engineer’s estimate was also for that project alone, so NPTAB still has to explain how three awards were handed out from among the same bidders when the project was not divided into lots.
In response to a public advertisement last May for the construction of the sluice and pump station at Belle Vue, there were 26 bids. The highest bidder was Nabi Construction Inc. with a bid price of $1,181, 867,183, while the lowest bidder was Gavco Construction & Supplies Inc with a bid price of $740,584,800. Tepui Group’s bid was $865,543,500. Seventeen other bidders had bid prices lower than that of Tepui. The Engineer’s Estimate was $779,198,584.
Following Patterson’s disclosure of his letter to the PPC, NPTAB issued a statement defending the award, contending that: 1) 13 of the 26 bids were deemed non-responsive and were therefore not considered; 2) the lowest and second lowest responsive bidders were awarded the contracts for the construction of the pump stations at Met-en-Meer-Zorg and Jimbo, respectively; and 3) Tepui was the third lowest responsive bidder and was awarded the contract for the construction of the pump station at Belle Vue.
This explanation by NPTAB has sparked consternation.
