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Ngavetene clears air on ‘controversial’ supply and delivery of clinical products

Ngavetene clears air on ‘controversial’ supply and delivery of clinical products

The Central Procurement Board of Namibia issued a notice for the selection of procurement awards on Friday, clarifying the bid for the supply and delivery of clinical products on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

During a press conference last week Friday, the board’s  Administrative Head Amon Ngavetene stated that the Public Procurement Act provides that bidders who are aggrieved by a decision of the CPBN, or any public entity, may apply for reconsideration of the decision.

He said it should be noted that the notice for the selection of procurement award is not a final award and may change upon the reconsideration of any issues that may be raised by bidders during the standstill period, which was from 12 to 20 January.

CPBN awarded a batch of health tenders on 11 January this year. However, the tenders for the supply and delivery of medical products to the government were advertised in April last year.

Ngavetene said the standstill period is provided for in the act and thus does not, in any way, delay the finalization of the procurement process.

“The Procurement Board will respond to each reconsideration request after considering the merits concerning the bidding document and applicable provisions of the law,” he explained, adding that any bidder who remains aggrieved after the Board pronounces itself on the reconsideration applications, may approach the review panel for a review of the procurement process in terms of section 59 of the act.

Furthermore, any bidder who continues to be aggrieved, after having applied for review with the Review Panel, may approach the High Court of Namibia for further relief, added the procurement board’s head.

According to him, bidders who have filed reconsideration applications must take note that the board is assessing the reconsideration applications and will respond within the prescribed timeframe to each reconsideration.

He added that in total, the board received applications for reconsideration from 29 bidders out of the ninety (90) bidders who participated in the bidding process.

“In addition, the CPBN wishes to inform the public that there was a discrepancy in the requested quantities of item number 270 (disposable surgeons’ gloves), which stated 30 million whilst the correct quantity is 3 million. A revised notice for the selection of procurement award will be issued in this regard. The rectification of these errors may result in the reduction of the currently recommended amounts from hundreds of millions to tens of millions.”

Regarding the misconception that a condom is costing more than N$100, Ngavetene said the price is for a box of 144 condoms. “For example, if a bidder’s unit rate is N$100, this translates to N$0.69 per condom,” he clarified.

He noted that the Bid Evaluation Committee evaluated all bidder’s documents according to the documentation which was submitted to the board.

“The bidders were required to submit financial statements for the past two years of which all recommended bidders met this requirement. The issue of a bidder being registered two years ago is factually incorrect, as the documentation indicates that the company in question has been in operation for more than two years,” said Ngavetene.

The procurement board’s response comes after Amnics Trading which is under scrutiny from industry players, was awarded a N$650 million tender for medical supplies.


 

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