COA TO LAPU: EXPLAIN P42M DEAL ON GARBAGE COLLECTION

COA asks the City Government to submit all the required supporting documents to prove the regularity of the procurement of the garbage collection and disposal contracts and other documents needed for the technical evaluation

State auditors want the LapuLapu City Government to explain why the P42.49-million contract for the collection and disposal of residual wastes was awarded to a contractor despite the latter’s failure to comply with eligibility requirements.

In the meantime, the Commission on Audit (COA) ordered City officials to stop the payment to the contractor for the service provided.

In its audit report on the City Government’s transactions in 2016, COA stated that payments for such purpose were also made by the City “in the absence of documentary proof of the conduct of mandatory activities relative to its procurement.”

COA further disclosed that the perfected contracts and the required supporting documents were also not submitted to the audit team within the period given to the City. As a result, the transaction couldn’t be received in a timely manner.

COA recommended to the City Government to submit all the required supporting documents to prove the regularity of the procurement of the garbage collection and disposal contracts and other documents needed for the technical evaluation.

In a press conference yester- day, Mayor Paz Radaza said the City’s bids and awards committee (BAC) is already working on it.

During the exit conference, the BAC vice chair explained that they just failed to attach the documents required by COA.

The general services officer and Rolando Duero, the secretary to the mayor, said that there was an “oversight” in the evaluation of the contractor’s eligibility documents.

“The BAC vice chair added that there was already an urgent need to find a contractor who could pull out the garbage from the dumpsite and that this occurred during the last two weeks of December, emphasizing that they were pressed for time,” a part of the city officials’ comments on the audit report read.

Bidders’ eligibility

Based on the invitation to bid and the terms of reference, among the requirements for eligibility of prospective bidders are minimum ofthree years experience in operating household and street garbage collection services or residual waste hauling services, which should be covered by a service contract with a local government unit.

The service provider should also be able to dispatch a minimum of five operational garbage compactor trucks and a minimum of five dump trucks for a city-wide garbage collection or residual waste hauling services for up to 50 tons of garbage a day.

However, COA found out in the winning contractor’s statement of all its ongoing and completed government and private contracts that the earliest contract handled by the winning contractor was on March 26, 2015. It did not meet the requirement of a minimum of three years experience for the bidding, which was held last Dec. 23, 2015.

The contractor also only had seven backhoes and four dump trucks as indicated in its list of equipment.

In the review of the payments made, the required supporting documents that were not submitted to COA were the minutes of the pre-procurement conference and pre-bid conference; evidence of invitation of the COA representative and at least two observers in all stages of procurement process; and a printed copy or proof of posting of Invitation to Bid, Notice of Award, Notice to Proceed and contract in the PhilGEPS website and the City’s website.

“Despite the foregoing deficiencies, however, the contractor’s bid was considered during bid evaluation and subsequently passed in post-qualification,” said COA.

The auditors informed the City Government of their observation through Notice of Suspension No. 2017-003-201 (2016) dated Feb. 10, 2017.

In audit parlance, a suspension compels the officials or employees involved to stop payment of the undertaking or justify it by submitting vouchers or documents required by the state auditors.

The City agreed to submit all the documents needed. /

Despite the foregoing deficiencies, however, the contractor’s bid was considered during bid evaluation and subsequently passed in post-qualification COA REPORT