Controversy hampering licensing division
Attempts by the Ministry of Works and Transport to get the computerisation of the Licensing Division underway have hit a new snag. As reported exclusively in Newsday on June 5, there was apparent disagreement as to which of two shortlisted companies was better qualified to do the job, not only in terms of cost effectiveness but also in terms of providing the implementation and service of the computerised system. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Works had signed an agreement to bring this computerised system on stream and were set the task of evaluating companies that had tendered for the project. The evaluation committee comprised UNDP representatives and representatives of the Ministry of Works. After lengthy consideration two companies were shortlisted and, Newsday was informed, after many arguments a vote was taken resulting in a 5-2 decision in favour of one of the two companies, a joint venture between a local enterprise and a US-based company. This decision apparently did not go down well with the UNDP, which seemed to favour another company. This led to the UNDP representative in Trinidad, Dr Ebong-Harstrup writing to the then Minister of Works, Franklin Khan on the issue and virtually suggesting that the UNDP might pull out from the agreement. Since then the controversy has grown greater and the project has been stalled by allegations of interference, and now involves the current Minister of Works, Colm Imbert who, reports indicate has been trying to sort out the conflicting points of view that have arisen, particularly as the company that won the 5-2 majority vote is threatening legal action and has indeed reported the matter to the UNDP in New York. In what appears to be an immediate response James Provenzano, Director of Legal and Procurement Support at UNDP’s headquarters in New York has apparently called a halt to the whole project. But can the UNDP do this? This decision raises more questions than it provides answers and the public is entitled to know exactly what is going on with this project. Was a 5-2 vote in favour of one company taken? If so why was it necessary for the evaluation committee to meet again and go over the whole exercise? Something seems very amiss in this matter and needs to be urgently clarified. Given this imbroglio, the Ministry of Works, is now under greater than usual pressure to ensure that the computerisation project is carried out in a timely and cost-effective fashion. In the meantime, however, we hope that the long-awaited computerisation process can get underway and that, in the near future, the continual headache of vehicular bureaucracy will be eased for citizens. The system is what the licensing department urgently needs, not all this controversy. It is time for all involved to clearly understand this.
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"Controversy hampering licensing division"