Dear Editor,
Recent recruitment and procurement undertakings by UNDP Guyana bring the organization’s integrity into question.
Recent Requests for Proposals and Terms of Reference for consultancy services supporting the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs for example, have been of poor quality, advertised at short notice, and riddled with inconsistencies in aspects critical to competitive bidding.
The most recent advertisement of two positions (Programme Analyst and Operations Analyst) on the deadline for submission and one day before the deadline respectively, may well be an error, but it is consistent with quality of procurement documents UNDP Guyana is currently churning out.
Other practices in the procurement process are not consistent with the transparent use of public funds: UNDP Guyana issues no confirmation of receipt of submission by those responding to their requests, nor does it make public, award notices as UNDP does in other countries (http://procurement-notices.undp. org/view_awards.cfm).
Advertising for services on short notice, providing inconsistent and low quality call documents, failing to acknowledge bids received, and failure to publish to whom a contract has been awarded, are not the hallmarks of transparency.
These practices fuel speculation about the extent to which preferred individuals and firms are being facilitated in the procurement and recruitment process at UNDP Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
