Dear Editor,
In the Sunday Chronicle we saw a Ministry of Education advertisement inviting bids in relation to the Guyana Improving Teacher Education Project for the supply of laptops. In the qualification details it was stated that the applicants must have experience in manufacturing and/or supplying goods similar to the goods in the bid for a period of at least three years prior to the submission deadline, involving not less than one completed contract for the supply of not less than 200 laptops.
I would be grateful to know:
1. How many companies have supplied this amount of laptops as a single purchase during the last three years? Are there more than one or two?
2. Are these tenders being made solely for those companies, and if so, why tender for the contract and not request direct quotes from the said suppliers?
3. It would be interesting to know if this is the criterion how one would go about becoming a supplier for laptops to government agencies if one has not made that single sale?
We have tried without success to have these questions answered and would appreciate a response from government on this.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to the National Procurement & Tender Administration Board for any comment they might wish to make.
