-police were responsible for list with questionable bidder
SOCU has acquired documents relating to procurement for the Guyana Police Force (GPF) from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) as it continues its investigation of financial impropriety claims against Deputy Police Commissioner Calvin Brutus.
NPTAB has also made it clear that the list of prequalified bidders for the GPF that it received from the Ministry of Home Affairs last year, and which has on it a company allegedly linked to the Brutus’ wife, is a standard document it receives from respective procuring entities with names of companies reviewed that could bid but only the evaluation of tenders determines who is awarded a contract.
Reliable sources told Stabroek News that the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) had asked NPTAB for records and documents on GPF procurement and contract awards. These documents, one source explained, were handed over but the Board was not informed about the investigations.
In July, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn informed that the allegations of financial impropriety made against Brutus were being investigated by SOCU.
Last week, President Irfaan Ali told reporters that SOCU was handling the matter with regard to the Brutus case and that he would not intrude.
Ali’s stance was echoed by Commissioner of Police (ag) Clifton Hicken, who also said that SOCU was an independent agency and had been given unrestricted scope to do its work.
Former auditor general, Anand Goolsarran, has stated that NPTAB may be guilty of dereliction of duty in the case of allegations of financial impropriety against Brutus which has also placed a company allegedly owned by his wife under scrutiny.
He posited that the Public Procurement Com-mission should also be involved in the investigation in keeping with its mandate.
“What is most distressing is that the NPTAB offered no objection to the company being included in the list of suppliers for the Force. It is not clear whether the NPTAB carried out the necessary background checks before offering its no-objection. Such checks would normally include a scrutiny of the incorporation and other documents to ascertain, among others, how reputable the company is, who are the real owners, whether there is any connection with members of the Force, and any other matters that may pose a conflict of interest. If the NPTAB did not conduct such checks, it would have been guilty of a serious dereliction of duty,” Goolsarran wrote in his Accountability column this week.
No dereliction
However, Chairman of NPTAB, Tarachand Balgobin, contended that there was no dereliction of duty by the entity as the disciplined services carries out its pre-qualification screening process of companies and sends the documents to NPTAB to add to the list of bidders. He said that NPTAB then sends its no-objection of the names of the prequalification pool back to the procuring entity.
Balgobin pointed out that a company being prequalified by an agency does not equate to a company’s right to obtain a contract as winning a tender is determined through the independent evaluation process for which the most responsive bid wins.
“The list of prequalified bidders is a request that would come from the procuring entity where they would do their due diligence… but all the companies that bid for a contract still have to go through evaluation,” he said.
And in Guyana, when it comes to establishing family and ties of company holders to persons at the procuring entity, Balgobin explained that “it can be difficult more so if the person has a different surname.”
As part of certain evaluation criteria, however, persons would have to state conflict of interest.
The NPTAB Chairman noted that with the establishment of the planned Bidders Register, it would be easier to manage companies.
In September of 2022, regulations for the Procurement Act relating to the establishing of a Bidders’ Register was gazetted.
It purpose, it outlined is to, “ enable Registered Bidders to identify relevant procurement opportunities, by matching their qualifications to the requirements of procurement contracts awarded under the Act; (b) facilitate implementation of those relevant laws which rely on procurement in whole or in part for their implementation; (c) allow procuring entities governed by the Act to use the Register to identify Registered Bidders who may be invited to bid for specific procurement contracts, based on the information about each Bidder’s qualifications, resources and experience.”
The regulations state that an applicant who is desirous of bidding for a contract to be awarded under the Act shall make an application to become a Registered Bidder in accordance with the Procurement Act.
“All suppliers and contractors who are interested in participating in procurement governed by the Act shall submit an Application for Registration as set out in the Schedule, at least seven days before submitting a bid for a procurement contract for which they are interested in bidding,” the document sets out.
“The Administration shall promptly record and acknowledge all Applications for Registration,” it adds.
The Register of Bidders is a process that has to “remain open continuously for submission of applications from any eligible applicant” and NPTAB has to “publish and maintain the Register on the website established under Regulation 4 of the Procurement Regulations.”
“The information published in accordance with sub regulation (1) shall include the following – (a) the date of Application for Registration by each applicant; (b) the categories of procurement for which each Registered Bidder has applied to be registered; and (c) such other information the Administration deems appropriate to ensure the transparent operation of the Register,” the regulations state.
In 2018 and under the APNU+AFC, NPTAB had made a call for all local and international bidders for government contracts to complete a Supplier Registration form to obtain a registration number which they can use on bidding documents for quick database referencing.
This way, NPTAB had said, it will be able to store and manage information on bidders for state contracts and can easily differentiate large-, medium- and small-scale contractors, among other analyses it will undertake.
