By Antonio Dey
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, yesterday said that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has provided the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) with the relevant documents and tender proceedings concerning the probe into the disputed Tepui contract award.
The minister was affirmative in his response to a question posed by the Sunday Stabroek on the issue at a year-end press briefing held at the agriculture ministry’s offices in Regent Street, Georgetown.
Although the PPC vowed a thorough probe into the controversial pump station contract that was awarded, the commission for more than two weeks now, has remained silent on the way forward and former Public Works Minister David Patterson is mulling legal action as the next step.
Mustapha reminded this newspaper that the Ministry of Agriculture has no authority over how contracts are awarded as it is the National Procurement and Tender Board Administration’s (NPTAB) responsibility.
He made it clear that since NDIA falls under his ministry, it was incumbent for the drainage and irrigation authority to provide the PPC with the necessary documents to complement its probe into the contentious issue at hand.
“While I don’t want to pronounce too much on the matter, I can tell you that our task is ensuring that contractors do what is right as we must receive value for our money, but we can’t dictate or manage how contracts must be awarded; NPTAB has that responsibility.” Mustapha noted.
“I ensured that those documents were sent to the Public Procurement Commission, so we did our part and Mr Lionel Wordsworth (of NDIA) was a witness to this,” the minister added.
For months, Patterson 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 this publication recently that he is at his wit’s end, as the PPC has been evading the subject for weeks. He said he would 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 had 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, on the other hand, 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 added that a response would be forthcoming within the next fourteen (14) days. However, 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,” a PPC statement of December 4 read.
It was noted in the statement that Patterson had accused the PPC of evading the matter. “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, “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 ensure 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 so.
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.
Opined
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.
Additionally, Mustapha yesterday said that last week Thursday, he met with the respective contractors for the construction of pump stations at Met-en-Meer-Zorg and Jimbo.
He informed that the contractors were advised that they cannot stall works on these pump stations but must meet the stipulated deadline or there will be serious consequences.
Following this meeting with the respective contractors, both parties agreed that works would continue as per normal and be completed within the timeframe stipulated.
Liliendaal Pump Station
Mustapha also told this newspaper that works on the new US$6 million Lilliendaal pump station are progressing smoothly and he is optimistic the project will be completed by April 2024.
The new site is near Pump Road and opposite the current station.
This project is expected to boost the drainage capacity in several flood-prone areas and is being undertaken by General Engineering Supplies. It forms part of the Guyana Flood Risk Management Projects which was funded by the World Bank through the Agriculture Sector Development Unit’s Sustainable Agricultural Development Project.
