7 out of 10 ‘HIDDEN’

Procurement laws make it pellucid that the National Procurement & Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) should publish all bid openings, so that the public could have access to those documents. In fact, the Procurement Act of 2003, Part II under subheading ‘Publicity’ specifically states that, “The Administration shall create an Internet Website for the purpose of giving publicity to contract awards and to otherwise disseminate information about public procurement.”

Not only does this rule lend to public knowledge but it aims at ensuring transparency within the agency, as stated in the mission statement of the procurement board. However, much is left to be pondered on after Kaieteur News discovered that it was denied access on NPTAB’s website to seven of the 10 post- elections contracts, which carry price tags of millions of dollars.
Kaieteur News’ quest to peruse NPTAB’s website for projects opened between the dates of March 2 to yesterday was sparked after this publication highlighted that the governing coalition was in a mad rush to legalize hundreds of acres of prime lands on the East Coast of Demerara.
This publication reached out to the procuring entity for a list of projects opened between the aforementioned dates. When contact was made with NPTAB, a young woman told Kaieteur News that the projects which were being sought could be found on their website. NPTAB’s only allowed access to three of the eight projects, which are dated at March 3rd, 10th and 24th. As one attempts to open the projects from March 31st to May 12th access is denied, as the page says that “You need access” from NPTAB before being able to view the projects.
Notably, some of those projects denied access to include the contract sought for marketing Guyana’s crude; the contractors selected to renovate the USD$5M Ocean View Hotel, among other contracts with prices ranging in the millions of dollars.
Kaieteur News subsequently made second contact with NPTAB to inform them of the hidden documents and the young woman related that she would let their IT technician “fix” the page. In addition, she promised to return a call to this publication within the hour after the problem was fixed. That task was, however, never executed.
This publication requested to visit NPTAB’s office at Main and Urquhart Streets, Georgetown to collect the documents, but the woman informed that such could not be allowed and listed COVID-19 restrictions as the reason.
With the aim of seeking clarity, Kaieteur News reached out last evening to the NPTAB’s Deputy Chairman, Mark Bender, for an explanation regarding the hidden documents. To this he said, “I wish not to comment on that issue, I am not aware of it.” Bender asked instead for an email to be sent to him which would list the concerns raised by Kaieteur News. That email was dispatched to Bender last evening