Data sensitivity in e-ID project justifies sole-sourcing –Nandlall insists

Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC has justified government’s sole-sourcing of the US$34 million eID project contending that the sensitivity of the data it would contain requires world class security features from trusted companies and an “open market” opens the floodgates to data being compromised.

And like the same solesourcing process that is triggered under the national security clause of the Procurement Act when procuring passports here, government saw the e-ID data as a sensitive issue and a matter of national security.

“Briefly, on that procurement of the resident card, that contract was single sourced. These are not contracts that can go to open tendering. They involve matters of national security. They involve national documents that require protective mechanisms that you can’t go on the open market to compete for,” Nandlall on Tuesday evening said on his “Issues in the News” programme where he spoke on a number of issues.

“The same way that we do passports, the same way that we acquire birth certificates, the same way that we acquire national documents, they have to have security mechanisms built in. Services of that type, universally, do not go to public tendering. You choose a qualified company that can provide you the type of service and protective mechanism that you are satisfied with, and you single source,” he added.

On March 10, the government hurriedly announced the virtual signing of the deal with the Germany- headquartered Veridos with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) acting as an intermediary. To date the Emirates’ financial role in the deal has not been defined. Moreso, information concerning the UAE’s Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum’s financial role and the shareholding percentage of the UAE in the German-headquartered Veridos is still not public.

President Irfaan Ali had explained that the Government of Guyana sought the assistance of the UAE in October of 2021. “On an invitation of His Highness Sheik Amah al Maktoum, two internationally recognized industry leaders [a Swiss company] and Veridos presented their national ID system solutions. These solutions were evaluated by a technical team comprising members of the National Data Management Authority and the office of the National ICT Advisor. The evaluation criteria factored technology use, other government clients, as well as biometric security subsystems, and Veridos was the company in the estimation of the evaluators that presented the best solutions for Guyana,” he had explained.

Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran had weighed in, pointing out that while sole-sourcing is catered for under national emergencies and national security, and the awarding of the contract facilitated by UAE’s Sheikh was for electronic cards and therefore does not qualify. He still believes that the contract violates the Procurement Act.

He further stated that while the sole-sourcing section of the Act was used, the justification is flawed because the project cannot be classified as being one of national security.

“Section 3(2) of the Procurement Act states that the Act does not apply to procurement involving national defence or national security. Additionally, by Section 28 (e), where the procuring entity determines that Section 3(2) is applicable as a result of national security concerns, then it may consider the single-source method as the most appropriate method of procurement.

Single-source procurement occurs mainly in relation to the following: a) where the goods or construction are available only from a particular supplier or contractor, or a particular supplier or contractor has exclusive rights with respect to the goods or construction, and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists; b) the services, by reason of their highly complex or specialized nature, are available