Patterson to brief Cabinet on finding of bridge feasibility procurement violations after return from overseas - Harmon

Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson has not yet briefed Cabinet on the findings made by the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) about violations in the award of the contract to Dutch firm LievenseCSO for a feasibility study for a new bridge over the Demerara River but he is expected to do so when he returns from abroad.

This disclosure was made by State Minister Joseph Harmon yesterday during a post-Cabinet press briefing.

“Patterson is abroad and when he gets back he is prepared to address the matter,” Harmon said when questioned.

The Public Procurement Commission (PPC) found that the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) breached the country’s procurement laws in the singlesourcing of the contract to LievenseCSO. Cabinet had cleared the award of the contract.

The PPC, in its findings, said MPI did not place any advertisement for retendering the project, there was no evidence that any restricted procurement process was undertaken for the consultancy, and there was no evidence in the records of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) of a request made by MPI to approve a single-source award.

The PPC said an examination of records relating to the tender and discussions with the relevant officials indicate that “the procurement procedure used to select LievenseCSO to execute the contract did not meet the requirements of any of the methods described in the Procurement Act.”

There is no procedure that defines how a procuring entity should deal with “unsolicited proposals,” such as the one reportedly received from LievenseCSO, the PPC had said.

While Cabinet has the right to review all procurements exceeding $15 million based on a streamlined tender evaluation report adopted by the NPTAB, the PPC said there was no evidence that the report to Cabinet was prepared by the NPTAB. Instead, it was submitted by Patterson directly to Cabinet, which was a breach of the Procurement Act.

“The Procurement Act and Regulations make no provision for the Minister of Public Infrastructure to take a procurement request directly to Cabinet for approval of award of a contract,” the PPC said.

MPI on August 13th defended the single-sourcing, saying there were time constraints surrounding the need to complete the new bridge and the fact that Cabinet had been fully involved in the decision to hire LievenseCSO.

“MPI reiterates that lengthy procurement procedures were faithfully followed which did not yield suitable results. Having thereafter received a proposal which satisfied the government’s requirements for this project of national importance and given the relevant time constraints, it was felt that it was in Guyana’s interest to take advantage of the proposal. It is for this and other stated reasons that Cabinet’s approval was sought,” it said in a statement.

After the PPC’s findings were released to her, Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira wrote to Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and urged that there be a comprehensive investigation, with a view to instituting criminal charges against Patterson.

After a review, the Legal Advisor to the police, retired Justice Claudette Singh, gave the unit certain directions, which are currently being pursued. Patterson has since submitted a statement along with other documents to SOCU.

Stabroek News understands that Patterson will be returning to Guyana in another few weeks.