Opposition Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, has accused Regional Tender Boards of abusing the tendering process to allow selected contractors to win contracts for the execution of projects in the various regions.

During an Opposition press conference today, Mr. Mahipaul said Regional Tender Board officials appeared to have moved away from publicly advertising projects and appeared to have resorted to requesting quotations from various contractors.

“What I found is that in Region One, of the total number of contracts awarded by the Regional Procurement and Tender Administration Board, 52% of their contracts were done using the request for quotation system. In Region Two, 53% of the contracts were done by request for quotation and in Region Three, 65% and Region Four, a total of 59%,” Mr. Mahipaul said.

He said the issue is prevalent throughout the country and he suspects it is being done because the Regions now have bigger budgets, and in most cases, there are no Opposition Members on the Regional Tender Boards to scrutinize the contract awards.

Mr. Mahipaul said the development is worrying because it is depriving other contractors from participating in the process, which should be transparent. 

“If you are going to have a request for quotation where all these Regions are only using three quotations, from whichever three contractors they choose to engage with, then you are depriving others of participating. It also does not allow the procuring entity to get the best suited price for the work you are looking to accomplish and this system is one that tolerates corruption,” the Opposition Member of Parliament noted.

Mr. Mahipaul said the system being used also sets the stage for contract fixing. He said in several cases, it has been found that family members end up being the three contractors contacted to supply quotations.  

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