The HDC says it has not awarded a contract to China Harbour Engineering Company (T&T) Limited for the construction of houses in Santa Rosa.
It issued a statement on Tuesday following a newspaper report in which concerns regarding transparency were raised by a former Housing Minister and the head of a local construction company.
The HDC says an open bidding process was initiated on January 26th 2024, with all participating companies registered on the Office of Procurement Regulation’s depository.
It insists there was no clandestine activity, as it followed the OPR’s strict procurement process, conforming to the following stages:
Stage One: The Tender for the “Provision of Design Build Services at the HDC’s Santa Rosa Housing Development, Package 1” was advertised in the three daily newspapers and the HDC’s e-tender platform
Stage Two: The Request for Proposal (RFP) was posted to the HDC’s e-Tender platform. This document contained the deadline for submission, and proposed site visit dates, and allowed for suppliers and contractors to request clarification. A draft contract, evaluation criteria, and methodology were also included.
Stage Three: The Tender was evaluated by an independent Evaluation Committee comprising two technical subject matter experts, one financial officer, and a procurement officer. An award recommendation was made by the Evaluation Committee and submitted to the Named Procurement Officer (NPO) and the Procurement Disposal and Advisory Committee (PDAC) before it was sent to the Accounting Officer for approval.
Once approved, the intention to award initiated the standstill period which commenced on July 31, 2024.
The HDC adds that the intention to award is currently in a standstill period, and that no contract has yet been awarded.
According to the HDC, the decision to award a contract will be made by an independent committee with no involvement from the HDC’s Board of Directors, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, and the Minister in the Ministry.