Lead Editor-Politics
The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has officially cancelled its controversial $3.4 billion Design-Build-Finance (DBF) housing procurement programme. Minister in the Ministry of Housing Phillip Alexander confirmed this yesterday, saying the Government took the decision to pull the process entirely rather than allow it to become mired in prolonged disputes and delays that could further postpone the delivery of thousands of homes.
This brings an abrupt end to a process that is still under scrutiny from the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) since April.
However, Alexander also confirmed that the cancelled procurement exercise, which was intended to deliver approximately 3,700 housing units, will now be re-tendered alongside an expanded slate of housing projects.
“It was going to be a back and forth, and before it became something that was just going to drag on, we’re not leaving it in limbo,” Alexander told Guardian Media.
“We took the decision to say, look, you’re not happy with this process, we’re going to pull it, we’re going to come back at it, where any of the issues that you had a concern with before will not exist.”
The decision follows an official Notice of Cancellation issued by the HDC on June 17, terminating procurement proceedings for its “Portfolio 1” housing project with immediate effect under Section 33 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act.
In the notice, the corporation said it had determined that discontinuing the exercise was in the “public interest.”
Section 33 of the Procurement Act permits a procuring entity to cancel procurement proceedings before a contract is awarded, provided the reasons are properly recorded. While the HDC confirmed that those reasons have been documented in the official procurement record, they have not been publicly disclosed.
Alexander said the Government’s priority remained delivering housing to citizens.
“We really don’t appreciate wasting this time here, because we really want to deliver the houses,. So that’s why we’re adding more projects to the rollout. So instead of 11, it might be 21.”
He said the same projects would be returned to the market, alongside additional housing packages.
“These same projects that have been pulled here will be reissued together with more, and every single developer, because that was the number one complaint that we got, that some people felt like they didn’t get time to tender, so now everybody has a chance.”
Explaining one of the issues connected to the process, Alexander said, “We had issues like people like Emile Elias saying how come they didn’t get a tender. And the problem was they didn’t tender within the time frame. They phrased that to appeal to public interest, but the reality is they were the ones at fault.”
He also revealed that Government was exploring more expansive public-private partnership arrangements to accelerate housing construction.
“We have some even more robust public-private partnerships that we’ll be announcing where the State doesn’t even have to supply the land.”
He added, “We’re working with a lot of developers to try and achieve the targets set by the Prime Minister, which is a very serious goal, and we’re working hard at it.”
The HDC’s cancellation notice also confirmed that the standstill period required under Section 35 of the Procurement Act had already elapsed and that no contract had been entered into with any supplier or contractor.
The standstill period is a mandatory waiting period between the announcement of intended contract awards and the formal execution of contracts. It provides unsuccessful bidders with an opportunity to review procurement decisions, seek clarification or challenge aspects of the process before contracts become legally binding.
In this case, the HDC issued a Notice of Decision to Award on April 8 naming 11 intended contractors for various housing packages. The standstill period ran from April 9 to April 22.
The proposed awards were collectively valued at more than $3 billion.
The largest package, worth just over $1 billion, was earmarked for Mootilal Ramhit & Sons Contracting Limited. Other intended awardees included Hakim Hosein Construction Company Limited, California Stucco Company Limited, CE Management and Services Limited, Keith’s Transport and General Contracting Service, Trinidad Pro Construction Limited, Oilfield and Industrial Hardware Limited and Bristol Construction Company Limited.
However, on April 17, the OPR intervened and directed the HDC to suspend the process pending a review of the procurement proceedings. The regulator’s intervention came after stakeholders raised concerns regarding compliance with procurement legislation and the manner in which the exercise was conducted.
Beckles: Heads must roll
Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles is calling for the immediate dismissal of the HDC board and Government’s three housing ministers, following the cancellation of the controversial $3.4 billion housing procurement process.
In a statement yesterday, Beckles said the HDC’s decision to terminate procurement proceedings for the Design-Build-Finance (DBF) housing programme amounted to an admission the process was flawed and should never have progressed to the stage it did.
Beckles alleged that the procurement exercise involved the proposed award of contracts to favoured United National Congress financiers and recently incorporated companies with little or no housing development experience.
“This cancellation represents an admission of the inappropriate award of state contracts under highly suspicious and scandalous circumstances,” Beckles said.
She also criticised Housing Minister David Lee, Minister in the Ministry of Housing Phillip Alexander and Minister in the Ministry of Housing Anil Roberts, claiming they had failed to deliver meaningful results in the housing sector.
She argued that the ministers, along with the HDC board, should be fired over what she described as one of the largest public procurement scandals in recent years.
Beckles said the Opposition would continue to scrutinise the Government’s handling of the housing sector and hold it accountable for its decisions.
Former housing minister Camille Robinson-Regis also said the cancellation had validated concerns about the procurement exercise.
“This confirms longstanding concerns about the integrity, management, and direction of this tendering process.”
While welcoming the cancellation, Robinson-Regis argued that public resources and stakeholder time had been wasted and called for greater scrutiny of governance and oversight within the housing sector.
One of the complaints before the OPR was filed by attorney Randall Mitchell on behalf of social activist Wendell Eversley.
Following news of the cancellation, Mitchell, who is also a former PNM housing minister, said while the decision was welcome, it did not eliminate the need for the OPR to complete its investigation and publicly disclose its findings.
Mitchell said several months had passed since complaints were submitted to the regulator, and argued the public needs to know whether any breaches of procurement legislation or procurement principles had occurred.
“The public is entitled to know the outcome of that investigation and whether any breaches of the procurement legislation or procurement principles were identified,” he said.
The Office of Procurement Regulation has not yet publicly disclosed the outcome of its review.
Minister Alexander told Guardian Media the OPR has not issued any communication to the HDC on that matter.
Efforts to contact the OPR for a comment yesterday were unsuccessful.
