Member of Parliament for Oropouche East, Dr Roodal Moonilal is calling on the Board of Directors of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (UDECOTT) to answer critical questions with respect to the “scandalous turn of events” in the tendering process for reconstruction of the Central Block of Port-of-Spain General Hospital.
Speaking at the United National Congress’ (UNC) leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s Star Team slate meeting in Barackpore on Friday night, Moonilal said these issues are extremely serious because hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars are involved and the project is a major medical facility that will, over time, house thousands of patients and professionals.
“The UDECOTT Board must state whether, at a meeting attended by four proponents or their representatives on April 25, 2022, the Corporation indicated that all matters related to the submission of tenders, including loss of power, insufficient time, etc, are the proponent’s responsibility, and that late submissions would not be entertained.”
He also said the Board must also state whether, at a mandatory presentation on May 23, 2022, if there was any information about a third proponent’s tender being admitted.
“It has been confirmed by various credible sources that at that presentation of about 30 minutes, UDECOTT’s representatives never indicated that there was a third tender. The Board must further indicate whether it was only at the end of the presentation that proponents were informed that a third bidder had submitted a tender, which had not been shown on the e-portal on the closing date for applicants on May 20, 2022, at 4 pm.”
He said UDECOTT’s directors have a responsibility to state whether this information was revealed only after the two bids were displayed, together with their pricing details.
“Is it true that, at that point, UDECOTT’s representatives stated that the portal would be revised to include the third bidder? Is it also correct that UDECOTT said that a report with relevant details of the third bidder would be shared, and this has not been done? Section 4.1 of the Requests for Proposals (RFP) stipulates the evaluation of proposals by which bidders were guided.”
He called on UDECOTT to tell the nation whether the evaluation scores were carefully examined for accuracy and transparency and to confirm that the scoring process was fair and just.
He added that The Corporation must reveal whether the third bidder conducted appropriate site visits to ascertain the nature and extent of the project, and to seek to mitigate any problems, so as to ensure that the project is completed within the stipulated nine-month period.