The Region Four administration has said that the process for the awarding of contracts is inclusive of advertisements to pre-qualified contractors and as far as practicable awards are made to the lowest responsive bidders.

The statement comes in the wake of concerns raised by Regional Chairman Clement Corlette at the region’s statutory meeting that one contractor had secured over 12 contracts. Corlette said he felt something was wrong for one contractor to be receiving “the cream of the contracts.”

Stabroek News had reported that the contractor had secured 10 contracts. Corlette later confirmed that according to the records, the contractor had received 12 contracts, perhaps more.

In a statement issued on Friday, Regional Executive Officer (REO) Shafdar Ali, through information officer Rajiv Bisnauth, responded to the article.

The statement explained that the procedure in awarding contracts in excess of $600,000 was by through tender board adding that after advertising, evaluation is done by the evaluation committee as directed by the Procurement Act. Awards are then made by the Regional Procurement and Tender Administration Board, it added.

Additionally, the statement said, it was the evaluation committee’s responsibility to recommend to the board the most responsive bid, taking into consideration, the ability of the particular contractor to carry out such works, which includes money, machinery and manpower.

It further indicated that the responsibility to award contracts did not recline with the REO but rather with the board, which Ali heads.

The region’s sub-treasurer, PNCR councillor Maureen Philadelphia and a finance officer from the Ministry of Finance are also members of that board.

However Corlette, in an interview with this newspaper last week said he believed that the current Tender Board was not properly constituted since, according to him, it should have three regional appointees and government had assigned Ali as Clerk and Chairman of the board in addition to his post as the region’s Chief Accounting Officer. Philadelphia is the only councillor who is a member of the board. Corlette said another councillor had previously served but several members of the council had objected as the person also did the council’s engineering work. Since then, the council had nominated PPP councillor Paul Cole but to date he has not been able to assume the post as the National Tender Administration has not given him an appointment letter. “So the one councillor there cannot persuade them so the government appointees there are having a field day,” Corlette added.

‘Something is amiss’
Contacted by this newspaper for a comment, Philadelphia said she shared Corlette’s concerns.
Having first-hand knowledge of what took place at the level of the board, she said the position, which the regional administration has put forward with regard to the procedure in awarding contracts, was not incorrect. However, what she found strange was that the particular contractor seemed to be aware of the engineer’s estimates and so his bids were always within that 15% range above or below.

“No man is so unique that he could always know the engineer’s estimate just like that and just bid accordingly, something has to be amiss,” she said. “Why is he always on target?

“There are some ups and downs here and there, but the regional chairman’s position is one I support.”
Corlette told Stabroek News that he intends to raise the issue again with Ali but he felt certain the REO would assert that the Regional Executive Committee alone was responsible for making the recommendations to the board; following the perusal of all the bids and that the board only approves them. Corlette also showed this newspaper a document, which listed the 13 members of the Evaluation Committee. Five of those members are employed with the region and report directly to Ali. However, the five are not members of the council. The remaining eight, Corlette said, are persons whom he does not know. “So even at this level the RDC has no input,” he said, explaining that Ali never submits information on the Tender Board to the RDC and he has only recently been given minutes from the board following requests.

Asked whether he or the council had any say in the awarding of contracts, Corlette explained that previously this was allowed and the region’s finance committee was able to review the work of the board. However, with the passage of the Tender Procurement Act of 2003, the region’s board became a separate entity and became an arm of the national body. “So they don’t have to listen to us since the law don’t permit us to sanction what they do; and this goes for every RDC,” he pointed out.

A probable argument that the board may submit in terms of the efficiency of the contractor was put to Corlette. He debunked the argument on the grounds that the contractor still had outstanding work. “There are a number of other capable contractors who are not benefiting at all from any of the awards. Something is definitely wrong, why only these two?”

He said contracts were still to be awarded for more work and he was anxious to see who the awardees would be. Corlette insisted that the board was not constrained by any law to give work to only a few contractors. He said next week he would request that the board meets him and the council’s newly convened finance committee.