By Mama A. Touray
The Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) procurement report for Basse Area Council has indicated endorsement of D32, 965,395.60 for the construction of five projects which includes roads and bridges.
The procurement report revealed that Basse Area Council wrote to GPPA seeking approval of the procurement using open tendering method and on the 29th September 2021, while GPPA wrote back to the CEO of Basse Area Council, a letter conveying approval for the five projects.
According to the report, Lot 1 was for the construction of the Bajakunda Road awarded to Green Vision at a bid price of D3,928,405.00, Lot 2 for the construction of the Samba Lolo Bridge awarded to Longian Road Construction at a bid price of D4,189,681.8.
The report further revealed that Lot 3 is for the construction of Song Kunda Bridge awarded to LongianRoad Construction at a bid price of D4, 897,125.8, Lot 4 for the construction of Sane Mansong – Sare Bojo Feeder Road awarded to Golden Quarry at a bid price of D2, 942,520.00 and Lot 5 for the construction of MannehKunda Road awarded to Auto-Civil Engineering at a bid price of D18,453,540.00.
GPPA indicated that the approval emanated from the recommendation of the Basse Area Council’s Contracts Committee captured in their 10th March 2021 meeting.
The Commission however noted that there are no bidding documents in the file.
The witness said the publication made for the procurement does not contain the detail specifications instead the Basse Area Council requested the interested bidders to contact them for the details of the minimum requirement.
The Commission noted from the evaluation report that Longian Road Construction did not provide evidence of financial viability, but they were awarded contract. Green Vision did not provide evidence of technical specification, but they were awarded the contract. Golden Quarry did not provide evidence of financial viability and yet, they were awarded the contract.
Chairperson Bah pressed the witness that GPPA failed to ensure that the standard requirements for procurement transactions were followed.
“There were no bid security and financial viability”. She indicated that much information was missing and the forms were not fully ticked.
Chairperson Bah added that “Standard procurement system was not used,” which Tambura agreed to.
Chairperson Bah further stated that there were two contracts committee minutes in the file, but none of them was dated. The witness was asked why did GPPA failed to make that an issue. The witness, Mr. Tambura said he does not know.
Lead Counsel Yakarr Cox asked whether it is the provision of the law that all contracts awarded should be published. Mr. Tambura said it should be published.