Following questions raised concerning the controversial retendering of a contract for steel some three times, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) yesterday said that the decision was made because the increase in global prices for the metal far surpassed its budgetary allocation and it insists that there was “no mischief afoot” in its decision.
The MoA confirmed yesterday’s Stabroek News report that it is now mulling a cancellation of the stockpiling of steel and said it is awaiting an alternative course of action from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).
“There is and was ‘no mischief afoot’; efforts were made in this case repeatedly through open tender, however, all failed so far,” the ministry yesterday asserted in a statement.
