| – Education Ministry approved $223M computer contractOn Monday, the Ministry of Education issued the following statement. “The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board is the authority responsible for the evaluation and the award of contracts. Tenders are opened publicly,Cheap Soccer Jerseys 2019, evaluated by a committee appointed by the board which makes reports and recommendations, and an award is finally made by the board.“The Ministry of Education reiterates for the umpteenth time that it does not award or grant contracts.”This statement issued by the Education Ministry on Monday was based on reports about a $223M contract awarded to Digital Technology for the supply of 1,400 desktop computers to the Ministry of Education.On Thursday, Minister Shaik Baksh, at a Press Conference that was televised, said that his Ministry does not award contracts.He explained that contracts are awarded by the tender board after scrutiny by an Evaluation Committee.Indeed,NBA Jerseys Store, tenders are assessed by the Tender Board but the evaluation of these tenders is done in most cases by an Evaluation Committee which is headed by the Permanent Secretary in the particular Ministry for which the contract is awarded,Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys, in this case Minister Baksh did not explain this.When the Education Ministry sought the tender for the computers and after the tender board approved the various tenders, the Ministry of Education itself then became involved in the assessment.In this case, Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry,Cheap NHL Jerseys, Pulandar Kandhi,Air Max 95 Black Leather, was the head of the Assessment Committee for the computer contracts. And his office is separated from the Minister’s by a wall and a door.Asked to comment on the role of the Permanent Secretary, a critic said that this is similar to a man seeking to build a house and allows his son to select the contractor that the father identifies. The tender is opened and the son is asked to evaluate all the bids and to pick the contractor.It is clear that the Ministry of Education was the deciding entity in the award of the $223M contract, the critic said.When asked about due diligence, Minister Baksh said that there was no need to do that since the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) had already done one a few weeks prior for the $70M contract that was awarded.But the $223M contract was awarded before the $70M contract by the Caribbean Development Bank. This means Minister Baksh lied.Minister Baksh last Thursday said that the company, Digital Technology, received government contracts as far back as 2002. This suggested that Digital Technology received contracts even before it existed, whether as a sole trader or as fully incorporated company. The Minister of Education is yet to explain how this is so, and to provide the full list of 38 contracts given to the company since then.The last registration of Digital Technology as a business was in June 2008. Digital Technology was incorporated as a full company, with directors and shareholders in June 2009.On July 13,Cheap Air Max 90, Digital Technology Group of Companies (as it was registered in Guyana) was awarded a contract valued at $223 million for the supply of 1,400 desktop computers to 70 schools across the country. The Education Ministry awarded a further $70 million to the same company to provide more computers, plus servers and overhead projectors.On December 8, 2010, Digital Technology was written to by the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, which falls under the Ministry of Legal Affairs, regarding its breach of the Companies Act.The company was found to be in default of lodging with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies a number of documents. These included Annual Returns, Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Accounts and Auditor’s Report for 2010. The company was given 28 days to submit the said documents or risk being struck off the register.In that same year, 2010, the company was given a $37 million contract to supply computers and accessories to the Ministry of Finance. |
