Dear Editor,
I have several questions that need to be answered concerning the tender for the GPL/IDB Power Utility Upgrade Programme, Lot A. This tender was closed on February 24, 2016, with five companies tendering for this job. Initially the bid security and tender prices were only valid for 120 days.
Recently, GPL sent letters to contractors asking them to secure bid security for an additional 120 days and indicate whether their tender prices still stand. Five companies tendered for this job, of which three are Chinese, one local and another joint venture between a local and a Colombian outfit.
Editor, some of this is very baffling to me, simply because of the time and the big hoopla surrounding this project. We as Guyanese deserve some answers, simply because this project is a loss reduction one.
This will bring relief to the national coffers, by saving on a wide list of items such as generation coast and line maintenance.
This project has been widely talked about in the electrical community within Guyana and the Caribbean because of the amount of savings it will bring to the utility company and the nation as a whole. Some of my questions to the Board and Management of GPL, the Government of Guyana, the IDB and the EU are:
1.Why after funding for this project two plus years later, it is still not implemented, while we are losing millions each day from generation losses which is estimated to be around 30 per cent?
2. Why the need to extend the bid time to a further 120 days; there are only five companies to evaluate. Can GPL and the IDB say what the issue is for this lengthy delay.
3. Why is the media running a smear campaign on the Chinese contractors, this is not looking well for our country since China is our largest donor and investor.
4. Who are the personnel in charge of this project? No mention has been made of a Project Manager and team.
5. From my understanding reading the project document, only three of the contractors meet the criteria of the bid. They all seem to be the Chinese companies… then why the long wait if only three bids are to be evaluated?
6. Why the smear campaign by a local tabloid on one of the Chinese companies?
7. From my understanding, there were evaluators from different Government ministries that evaluated this project, they have all completed there evaluations. Can GPL say what is the current status of this bid process?
8. If GPL uses the other 120 days as requested, this will bring us to 0ctober 24, 2016. That’s double the time a project usually takes for evaluation in Guyana.
Editor, these are just a few of the questions I have. Hopefully we will see an award soon or so some sort of release by GPL.
If the power company is spending upwards of billion on generation each year and losing 30 per cent of this online loss, let us do the Maths on total money down the drain. Thank you in advance for your considerations for printing.
Sincerely,
Michael Persaud
