Home Affairs split $44.4M in contracts to avoid National Tender Board – AG report

The Ministerial Tender Board (MTB) of the Ministry of Home Affairs has been accused of splitting 33 transactions in an effort to avoid the contracts going to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for adjudication, the Auditor General’s report for the financial year of 2020 found.

“An examination of the Contract Register and MTB awards revealed that thirty-three transactions totaling $44.446M were split to avoid NPTAB adjudication. This is in contravention to Section 14 of the Procurement Act,” the report stated.

According to Section 14 of the Procurement Act of 2003 “A procuring entity shall not split or cause to split contracts or divide or cause to divide its procurement into separate contracts where the sole purpose for doing so is to avoid the application of any provision of this Act or any regulations made thereunder.”

As per the Procurement Act, each Ministry is entitled to have an internal tender board which oversees the award of contracts with a capped monetary value. Based on the breakdown of the 33 contracts awarded by the Ministerial Tender Board of the Home Affairs Ministry, 8 companies were beneficiaries.

ARK Imports and Hardware Supplies received two contracts to the tune of $2.552 million, P&P Investment benefitted from five contracts totalling $7.478 million, Quality Service and Supplies – 2 contracts for $2.983 million, Tony’s Traders – 2 contracts amounting to $2.883 million, Supergraphics - 2 contracts for $2.943 million, Andrew’s Enterprise – 7 contract for $9.657 million, Albert’s Mechanic Shop – 8 contracts totalling $8.950 million, and Norma Bunbury Printing and Contracting Services with 5 contracts for $7 million.

In defending its breach of procurement procedures, the Ministry said that the items supplied and services rendered were “urgently needed for the smooth flow and functioning of the organisation.”

The AG did not provide the details of the contracts awarded nor commented on whether they qualified as urgent awards.