Release the full Evaluation Criteria used to evaluate tender submissions

Sep 29, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

We thank the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for the alacrity of their response to questions surrounding the award of the eight (8) lots of the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s Road Project – Construction of Four Lane Highway from Schoonord, WBD – Tender Reference Number 31/2022/45.

Unfortunately, NPTAB’s response raises more questions than answers.

NPTAB in their press release states, inter alia, “Thirty-two (32) bidders submitted tenders which were evaluated strictly in accordance with the Evaluation Criteria. Eight (8) of the bidders were compliant with the administrative and technical criteria set out in the bidding documents”. The issue, however, is not so much about the eight allegedly compliant bidders, but rather the reasons why more experienced bidders with lower tender prices, in most instances hundreds of millions of dollars lower than the allegedly compliant bidders, were deemed not compliant and consequently disqualified.

Among these are:

International Contractors

Surrey Paving and Aggregate Co., established in 1967, who successfully completed the West Coast Demerara Road Rehabilitation Project for US$32 million.

China Railway First Group, a global construction company, who successfully completed the Better Hope to Belfield Road Project for US$47 million.

China Road and Bridge Corporation, a global construction company, who were recently awarded the Good Success to Timehri Road Rehabilitation Project for US$75 million.

Local Contractors

Experienced local contractors with decades more road construction experience than the contract awardees such as:

H Nauth and Sons

BK International

KP Thomas and Sons

Ivor Allen

We are reassured about NPTAB’s stated commitment to “ensuring an open, fair, competitive, and transparent public procurement process”. Consequently, in keeping with this commitment, we request that NPTAB releases the following:

(i) the full Evaluation Criteria used to evaluation tender submissions and

(ii) the Evaluation Reports for the eight (8) lots.

Release of the above will no doubt go a far way to addressing the many lingering questions regarding the award of contracts for the CHPA’s Schoonord to Crane Road Project and reassure the public that all the tenders “were evaluated strictly in accordance with the Evaluation Criteria”.

Yours sincerely,
C.A. Nigel Hughes
Leader
Alliance for Change