Auditor General stands by report
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) yesterday said it wished to address and clarify several “unwarranted claims” published in the Stabroek News on October 11, 2024, regarding the Belle Vue Pump Station project.
A release from the NDIA said that the article stressed that “The Auditor General’s Report for 2023 says $160.8 million was paid to the firm headed by Mikhail Rodrigues known as `Guyanese Critic’ for the Belle Vue Pump Station works but up to August 14, 2024, no works were in progress at the time of the visit of the auditors.”
The NDIA said that as stipulated in the contract, the effective commencement date for the construction of the pump station was February 6, 2024.
In accordance with the contract and upon submission of a mobilisation advance bond, an advance of $129,831,525 was paid, the NDIA said.
Subsequently, works started with the construction of cofferdam and the removal of an old deteriorated sluice which was within the footprint of the work area for which interim valuation number one, totaling $31,062,903 was certified by the engineering supervisory consultant following which payment was effected by the NDIA.
“As the works progresses, along with the supply of some of the steel sheet piles on site, greenheart piles and the installation of test bearing piles, interim payment number two, totaling $21,615,810 was certified by the engineering supervisory consultant following which payment was effected by the NDIA”, the agency said.
It added: “The project is still within the contractual period and the contractor is still on site. The Ministry of Agriculture and NDIA with its Technical Officers have been meeting with contractors, including Tepui Group Inc. and consultants to ensure that projects are completed as per contract”.
It must be made clear that the NDIA values transparency and accountability in all its operations. We are committed to providing updates on project progress and addressing public concerns as they arise.
It said that engineers from the NDIA and the supervisory consultant are regularly visiting various project sites, overseeing work to ensure compliance with specifications outlined in contracts.
Last evening, Auditor General Deodat Sharma said that his report on which the Stabroek News article was based was factual and he stood by it.
“My report is factual, and the Ministry’s statement is inaccurate in saying SN’s article carried unwarranted claims, since they carried my report”, he said
For months the NDIA has evaded questioning by Stabroek News over the Belle Vue pump station which was controversially awarded to Rodrigues who had never built a pump station and whose bid had failed to meet nine of the 18 criteria set out in the evaluation documents for the project.
The Auditor General’s Report tabled on Thursday in Parliament noted that the award for the construction of Belle Vue Pump Station, Region №. 3 was made by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board in the sum of $870.563m against an Engineer’s Estimate of $779.199M. As at August 2024, the sum of $160.894m was paid to the contractor. The report said that an examination of the Contractor’s Bid Document and physical verification revealed that:
a) The award was first made on 14 August 2023 for the sum $865.544m, which corresponds with the amount stated in the Contractor’s Bid Form and priced bills of quantities. This award was however rescinded and a second award was made on 15 September 2023 to the same contractor for an increased sum of $870.564m, which is $5.020m higher than the sum stated in the contractor’s bid, and which was the price of an NDIA’s Procurement Department priced Bills of Quantities seen in the contract.
b) An examination of the Contractor’s bid submissions showed that the contractor failed to satisfy nine out of the eighteen requirements set out in the evaluation criteria.
c) The contract was signed on 22 September 2023, with a duration of eighteen months for completion. According to documents seen, Addendum (№.1) to increase the percentage for advance payment from 15% to 30% was made on 21 September 2023, one day before the Contract Agreement was signed. Addendums №.2 and №.3 were for paying the Contractor for materials on site and changing the Contract start date from 6 October 2023 to 29 January 2024 respectively.
d) The Contractor was mobilized on site; however, no works were in progress at the time of the visit on 14 August 2024, while only the construction of two earthen coffer dams, excavation works, and demolition of the old existing sluice structure were completed, along with the installation of a test pile. Two excavators were seen on site, along with two site office/containers, a water pump and a quantity of timber piles and steel sheet piles at the time.
