Dear Editor,

In an article published April 28, 2009 in SN captioned ‘Hope canal consultancy contract awarded solely on set guidelines – NDIA,’ Mr Lionel Wordsworth, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority was reported as saying that the consultancy services for the Hope Relief Channel were not in any way negotiated and were awarded solely on the national competitive bidding process, and that negotiations were carried out only with consultants who participated in submitting bids for the project. Interpreting the CEO’s conflicting statement as well as inquiries suggest that negotiations were only carried out with CEMCO/SRKN/Mott McDonald Company prior to the award of the contract, which evidently nullified the bid from being a competitive award to one that was negotiated. In light of this inconsistency, the CEO should inform the public why this became necessary, particularly at a time when the country is striving for openness and transparency in its deliberations.

At the bid opening and documentation of the bids received, no mention was made of the lowest bidder’s name and the bids amounts, nor were the bids checked for being responsive or a review of the documents made for conformity as is normally done in public bid openings. Hence it is reasonable to conclude that the two bids received were responsive, as to date none of the bidders has received a disqualification notice from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.

The lowest bid for this project was just over $50 million, but the contract award was $56,416,415 million – a 12% mark-up. Since the state is financing this project, the public should be given an explanation by the CEO for this discrepancy and the reasons why the contract for the Hope canal consultancy was not awarded to the lowest qualified bidder

Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)