Probe HDC’s evaluation process

THE EDITOR: The Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) echoes the sentiments already expressed by many that the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (PPDPP) Act is already working to the advantage of the public in getting value for money through transparent processes, as evidenced by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC)’s cancellation of what now appears to be a flawed tender process.

This tender was cancelled by the HDC after two tenderers initiated challenge proceedings under section 49 of the act via the independent Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR).

The JCC would now like to appeal to the regulator to use its powers under section 41 (1) of the act to independently investigate the HDC’s evaluation process to shed light on the details that culminated in the HDC effectively “throwing in the towel” before stepping into the ring to transparently defend its internal evaluation process.

The construction industry players have suffered many years of a “not so level playing field” pre-procurement reformation. Tenderers in a design-build tender such as the Santa Rosa housing project can spend significant sums of money and time in preparing tenders which include preliminary analyses and designs.

To avoid this waste of time and resources, both by the procuring entity and contractors, the issues need to be identified and transparently reported to the public by the OPR so that all stakeholders can learn exactly where this went wrong, and avoid repetition in the future.

This falls squarely under the realm of the OPR’s mission and mandate to promote best practices in public procurement.

FAZIR KHAN

president, JCC

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