Licensing controvrsy heads for court

Well placed sources have told Sunday Newsday that officials of Company B, the joint venture TT/United States firm favoured by a five-two vote to win the contract, referred the matter to its attorneys on Thursday after being informed by Claudio Providas, Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP in Port-of-Spain, that the organisation had "annulled the soliciting process" for the project.

This action came just days after the stalled project, which has been bogged down by controversy and allegations of interference for several months, was referred to James Provenzano, Director, Office of Legal and Procurement Support, at UNDP Headquarters in New York. According to reports, Provenzano launched an immediate investigation into tendering for the project, which is being handled by UNDP’s TT office and the Ministry of Works and Transport. In quick time a directive was issued on the project and Providas wrote to a director of Company B advising him of the annulment.

In a strongly worded response, the director told Providas that the UNDP had "absolutely no authority" to annul the tendering process and as a result Company B will be going to court to seek an order for the contract to be awarded to them. The director further stated that by its latest actions the UNDP has "automatically discharged yourselves as a procuring entity."

"Consequently, the selection of Company B stands and all that will now be necessary is that the Ministry of Works and Transport hires a new project manager, and hopefully, they will not have to pay eight percent administrative costs."

Allegations of interference and manipulation in the tendering process for the project have been flying fast and furious in recent weeks. Sources told Sunday Newsday that the issue has left the seven-member Evaluation Committee, comprising senior officials of the Works Ministry and the UNDP, bitterly divided, with the majority resisting attempts to have the project awarded to the losing bidder, Company A, a little known Icelandic firm that had put in a bid of US$1 million for the very complex IT project.

The troubled project got underway on September 17 last year when the Trinidad and Tobago Government and the UNDP entered into an agreement for computerisation of the Licensing Division at a cost of approximately US$5 million. However, almost from the start, the project, which is regarded as a critical component of the Manning Administration’s transportation plan, has been plagued by controversy.

In an exclusive report last June 5, Sunday Newsday revealed that the UNDP, whose Resident Representative in Port-of-Spain is Dr Inyang Ebong-Harstrup, had reportedly been pressing for Company A to get the award. It was alleged that senior UNDP officials had been trying to override the decision of the duly constituted Evaluation Committee, which had voted 5-2 in favour of Company B for the award. In paid newspaper advertisements, UNDP denied these allegations.

Problems developed after the Permanent Secretary in the Works Ministry informed Ebong-Harstrup in a March 31 letter that the Evaluation Committee had found Company A to be "non-compliant and non-responsive" to the specific requirements of the Request for Proposals (RFP). As a result, following a vote taken on March 10, the committee favoured Company B for the project. Instead of responding to the Permanent Secretary’s letter, Dr Ebong-Harstrup wrote directly to then works minister Franklin Khan on April 8, urging him to award the contract to the lowest bidder.

Ebong-Harstrup wrote, "I feel compelled to point out . . . that it is highly unlikely that either Contracts Committee will accept the request of the Ministry of Works and Transport to disqualify Firm A and begin negotiations with Firm B. In such circumstances the MOWT will be free to seek another partner to restart this exercise."

She suggested to the minister that an independent entity be contracted to review, assess and re-evaluate both proposals and make a recommendation to the ministry.

However, experts have told Sunday Newsday such action would contravene the provisions of the RFP and established international procurement procedures.

Well placed insiders said while officials of Company B were being told by senior UNDP officials that the evaluation was still in progress, simultaneously moves were being made behind the scenes to give the award to Company A.

This week’s developments in the controversial project came after UNDP officials in New York were informed of two meetings of the Evaluation Committee held in Port-of-Spain in late July which, according to reports, were "infiltrated" by unauthorised persons. It is alleged that these unauthorised persons tried to bully officials of the Evaluation Committee into awarding the project to Company A.

Contacted for comment on the latest twist in the controversy, Works minister Colm Imbert told Sunday Newsday, "I am satisfied that attempts are being made to interfere in the tendering process. A particular group of people are trying to interfere with the outcome of this process."

Asked to comment specifically on the meetings held in late July, Imbert said reports on those meetings were untrue and declined further comment on the matter.

Sources inside the ministry said the project has caused a major rift between senior officials there, with at least two barely on speaking terms. One senior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that there had been blatant attempts to "subvert the tendering process."

The ministry official further claimed that there was no provision in the RFP for the Evaluation Committee to "accept anything but the lowest bidder once they are technically compliant." Therefore, the top official insisted that the award should go to Company A, which put in a bid for US$1 million, while Company B’s bid was for US$3.4 million.

However, this is contrary to procedures clearly outlined in the UNDP’s Procurement Manual which states that the firm must possess the necessary technical expertise and the ability to provide the quality and quantity of items and services required in the project.

The Evaluation Committee found that Company A failed to recommend hardware compatible with the proposed software solutions as highlighted in the RFP, with the required online access under the Driver’s Permits and Traffic Offence modules.

Company A also failed to meet the RFP’s requirements for suggestions of a cash register device and its use in the financial process, or for a permit manufacturing process requiring a central installation that will "electronically receive the information from the application modules, including alphanumeric data and picture."

An independent analysis done by Ernst and Young in 1998 estimated the cost of the project at US$5 million and stated that US$1 million would cover only hardware. In the Technical Assistance Agreement signed between the ministry and the UNDP last September, the cost of the project was put at just under US$5 million.

UNDP officials have vehemently denied interfering in the award of the contract for the project, insisting that the organisation was merely providing assistance for "a highly technical project that had previously failed for various reasons." According to a statement from the UNDP, it was merely overseeing the process.

The UNDP representatives on the Evaluation Committee are Donald Burke and Sandro Benedetti. Ministry of Works members of the Evaluation Committee include Assistant Transport Commissioner Daniram Ramkissoon, Rueben Cato, Nadia Alladin Elliot, Clive Clarke and Allison Wildman.

Ebong-Harstrup is currently out of Trinidad and Tobago on vacation. She is due back in the country in early September.

The project for computerisation of the Licensing Division’s Permits and Vehicle Registration Information System is aimed at cracking down on fraud which is robbing the division millions of dollars in revenue annually. It is also aimed at streamlining and modernising operations, making the division more user-friendly and secure and bringing this country’s road transport sector in line with United Nations’ standards introduced in the aftermath of 9/11.