-rejected bidder awaiting results of gov’t review
Even as Indian firm, Fedders-Lloyd, awaits the outcome of government’s review of the award of the specialty hospital contract, the Alliance For Change (AFC) is preparing to raise questions with subject minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran on the transparency of the award when parliament reconvenes.
In the absence of a definitive explanation by year end, the party also plans to take the issue to the parliamentary sectoral committee on Economic Services, where it will ask that policies and processes surrounding the controversial award be reviewed.
Following the announcement of the award of the contract to Surendra Engineering, Fedders Lloyd charged that the procurement process was improper.
Despite questions, the Ministry of Health is still to provide answers on key issues on the specialty hospital contract award, including why a company with major hospital building experience was not chosen.
AFC leader and Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan said that he will be asking questions in parliament. Ramjattan, who has been hired as an attorney by Fedders Lloyd, told Stabroek News on Saturday that he firmly believes that there was “tremendous manipulation” in the awarding of the contract. “I still believe that there was tremendous manipulation in the awarding of that contract to Surendra… it is beyond me and I am sure the average person how a company with experience in building 90 hospitals worldwide to immaculate standards be bypassed for a factory spare parts dealer with no technical experience,” said Ramjattan.
“We will not let go like this. I will be asking questions in parliament… Oh, trust me, there are so many questions that will have to be answered, after all this is money we have to repay,” he added.
He said that if by the end of this year there is still dispute, he will be taking the issue to the Economic Services Committee.
Meanwhile, when contacted on Saturday, Fedders Lloyd Vice President Naresh Chandra Soral said that the company is currently on a “wait and see” as it pertains to the promised government review. He said that from, his understanding, it seems that issues highlighted by his company are still not clear with the government of Guyana as President Donald Ramotar had said that he did not understand what the 23% discount quoted on the company’s invoice directly meant. “Fedders Lloyd is now on a wait and see and will give the government of Guyana time to do the review as promised. We are still perplexed by some information coming out of Guyana that for one, the president did not understand our bid and said the percentage discount meant two bids…which is not the case at all,” said Soral.
“Someone maybe is feeding him the wrong information and we are asking for a meeting with him and the review team to discuss our plight because we want this to be a transparent process. We want Guyanese and the government to know that we do not seek preferential treatment. All we want is for the truth to be revealed and if in the end the contract goes to another company, we do not mind,” he added.
The company also wants to know who are the persons responsible for the review and their technical qualifications on the matter but said that information has also been withheld by the Ministry of Health. “We asked who are the persons that would be giving us the review and to date no answers. We want to know what are their qualifications for undertaking such a task, because how can someone who has no idea of what a specialty hospital should have as mandatory know what questions to ask? Building a hospital is one thing, we say this over and over, but a specialty hospital has to be built to conform with designated specifications. Who will ask those questions? Is there a doctor on the board? A qualified engineer? Who is? Just tell us who?” he said.
Stabroek News has also tried unsuccessfully for weeks to elicit information from the Health Ministry on the composition of the evaluation committee.
The government had previously accused Fedders Lloyd of orchestrating a campaign against the work of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) committee that awarded the contract to Surendra Engineering.
Soral added that he has heard nothing from the source ministry since the announcement of the review. The company was never sent official correspondence, as is standard by law, to say that it lost the bid and an explanation. It was also never told of the company which was awarded the contract and said that all their information had been from its local sources and the media.
The Fedders Lloyd CEO added that they received a response from the Ministry of Health on a letter they had dispatched about their grievances and asking that the contract be awarded to them. However, the reply seemed to the company “an attack on us and very pro-Surendra… we get the feeling that someone in government favours Surendra Engineering but we have to give the process time… for now, we can only wait and see,” Soral said.
