…says engineer’s estimates just a guidelineBy Gary EleazarHead of State,Cheap NFL Authentic Jerseys, Bharrat Jagdeo, defended contracts undertaken by government agencies yesterday at a press briefing citing the open tender process.According to Jagdeo, media operatives need to be educated on the various tender processes, adding that there are several agencies that Government gets funding from in the form of loans and grants with each of the agencies having their own procurement rules that are different to that of Government.“In some cases you have an open tender and you have a point system…the persons who get the highest points based on technical capacity and the price… they get the contract.”He noted that in other cases it will just go to the lowest prices after that contractor would have been pre-qualified, “in another situation like with the Inter-American Development Bank you have a two-envelope system.”Jagdeo pointed out that this system was in place in the past where, “you only open the envelope for the highest ranked bidder…so the highest ranked bidder on technical terms might have the highest bid in financial terms, but you don’t get to open the other bids.”He said that this was the case because that bidder would have been the highest ranked, “and you have to negotiate with them.”He explained that it was only when the negotiations fail then talks will be opened with the next ranked bidder. “Our laws say the lowest evaluated bid.” According to the president,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, there was a time when the engineer’s estimate were secret and “many of the people could be corrupt…if you have three bidders they have a point system where they would say the closer you get to the engineer’s estimate the highest points you get.”As such, he explained that if one were to know what the engineer’s estimate was, then that contractor would have had an advantage over the other contractors, “many of the contractors used to bribe people to get the engineer’s estimate.”The president however noted that to the government, the engineer’s estimate was just a guide, “everyone should know the engineer’s estimate even before the bid, “because what happens is it is the lowest evaluated bid that we go with, “so if you know the engineer’s estimate it doesn’t matter to us…it is the lowest evaluated bid through a public competitive process that we go to.”A point to note is that this newspaper has for several weeks now been requesting the engineer estimates for several projects but is yet to receive any of them.“So a man can easily come like Kaieteur News could come and say we will get the pump,Cheap NFL Jerseys China,” Jagdeo continued.He pointed out that they had defined the specifications of the pump, “and we go out to tender…we go with the lowest price once the people meet the specs(specifications)…so Kaieteur News comes along and says we could have gotten it for $10M cheaper.”The president said that he did not know whether the pump that Kaieteur News managed to source for far less than what was actually spent was to the desired specification.Jagdeo also suggested that if this newspaper could have sourced the pump cheaper then it should have entered a bid of its own, “because we have to operate on bids.”The president noted that soliciting sole sourcing of items was not a transparent process in that it would involve the preferences of the purchaser, “the only transparent system that you have is a public tender.”He said too that there may be some times when the lowest public tender is higher that the actual price but insisted that the public tender process provided against corruption.“Whether we will get ripped off sometimes where we buy because of the tender higher than the actual prices are, or the tenderer makes a huge profit, there may be circumstances where this happens…I can’t put my head on the line for every contractor in this country or every Government Officer…I can’t put my head on the block for anyone.”The president reiterated there is a public tender tendering process, unlike in the time of the PNC where according to Jagdeo, the Auditor General failed to probe contracts.As it relates to the insinuation that the corps of contractors may have been inflating prices, the President did not group them in his answer,NFL Jerseys China Cheap, but said that it would be unwise for a single contractor to inflate the price in their bid,Cheap Jerseys, given that it would not be in their best interest as the lowest evaluated bid is used.

By Leonard GildarieGuyana’s Ninth Parliament has been dissolved, officially paving the way for President Bharrat Jagdeo to announce a date for National Elections.However, that date will not be before November 14, Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, said yesterday.Some 17 political parties have signaled their intentions to participate in the coming elections with the Official List of Electors (OLE) expected to be printed and distributed to them within a week.On Tuesday,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Jagdeo in a constitutionally mandated move, issued proclamations dissolving Parliament.Last Thursday, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic-led National Assembly, minus the opposition parties,Cheap Jerseys Outlet, announced that it was the last sitting. The PPP/C has tabled a motion signaling its intention to work through the recess to complete a number of critical work.The opposition parties had then decided not to attend this extended Parliament claiming that the government had had enough time over the last five years to complete its work.The mace being removed for the last time last week Thursday,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, signaling the end of the 9th Parliament.The constitutional requirements will require President Jagdeo making the announcement before November 14,China Jerseys, Luncheon assured.Already, it is clear the PPP/C is ready to move in serious campaigning mode with its first major rally meeting set for Sunday in Berbice.While Cabinet has been expressing concerns over GECOM’s complaint that it has been experiencing problems in hiring workers for elections day, this issue is expected to be resolved by mid-October, the Commission has since assured.Meanwhile, of seven international bodies invited to monitor the elections, only two have conveyed their intentions to be present.The two are CARICOM and the Organisation of American States (OAS).The Commonwealth, Luncheon said, will be sending a “feasibility mission” before any decision to participate is made.In early August, government had announced that invitations had been sent to seven organizations,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, including the three listed above.The others are the United Nations, the European Union, UNASUR and Carter Centre.More than likely, the last four will not be coming since they have all offered one reason or the other.Already, government has approved contracts for ballot papers, tools and other equipment for polling day and there are no immediate problems on the horizon, the Cabinet Secretary assured.