By Antonio Dey
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, yesterday said that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has provided the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) with the relevant documents and tender proceedings concerning the probe into the disputed Tepui contract award.
The minister was affirmative in his response to a question posed by the Sunday Stabroek on the issue at a year-end press briefing held at the agriculture ministry’s offices in Regent Street, Georgetown.
Although the PPC vowed a thorough probe into the controversial pump station contract that was awarded, the commission for more than two weeks now, has remained silent on the way forward and former Public Works Minister David Patterson is mulling legal action as the next step.
Mustapha reminded this newspaper that the Ministry of Agriculture has no authority over how contracts are awarded as it is the National Procurement and Tender Board Administration’s (NPTAB) responsibility.
He made it clear that since NDIA falls under his ministry, it was incumbent for the drainage and irrigation authority to provide the PPC with the necessary documents to complement its probe into the contentious issue at hand.
