Maravi

Siliya denies cancelling tender for supply of radars

Siliya denies cancelling tender for supply of radars
Written by Margaret Mtonga
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 7:57:39 PM

COMMUNICATION and transport minister Dora Siliya has denied reports that she cancelled a tender for the supply of radars at the Lusaka and Livingstone international airports. Addressing the press in Lusaka yesterday, Siliya explained that the tender procedure to buy radars was still in progress.

"I wish to provide an explanation and correct the impression given in The Post newspaper of Friday 13, 2009 edition that I cancelled the tender for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of the Lusaka and Livingstone radars and have instead single-sourced SELEX Sistemi integrati of Italy for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning," Siliya said.

"The true and correct position is that the tender for the procurement of the radars is still in the process though my office has received a number of complaints which were also sent to the Anti Corruption Commission. Some of the allegations were leveled against my officers in the ministry."

Siliya said it was not correct that the supply for the radar had been single-sourced to SELEX.

She explained that while the procurement of radars for Livingstone and Lusaka was still in process, the Ministry of Communications and Transport received an offer from SELEX to repair the Lusaka facility.

"The correct position is that SELEX requested to repair at own cost the facility in Lusaka and we have given them the opportunity to do so, as they manufactured, supplied and installed the current facility at the Lusaka International Airport," Siliya said.

"They offered to repair it and they have since had their engineers in Zambia on 30th of January to assess the damage on the radar and they will be back 23-24th February to come and commence works to repair the radar and we expect them to complete this work in March.

"Bearing in mind our budget limitations and the fact that the offer had no financial implications on the part of government, we decided in consultation with the Department of Civil Aviation, National Airports Corporation Limited [NACL] and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning to accept the offer. "In fact there is no provision in the 2009 yellow book for the procurement of any radar in the Ministry of Transport and Communications budget."

Siliya said should the repair of the radar at the Lusaka International Airport by SELEX be successful, the government would have saved K50 billion on the Lusaka and Livingstone radar requirements.

And according to a letter by SELEX Sistemi Integrati vice-president for Middle East and Africa Domenico Iovino dated December 4, 2008 addressed to Siliya, the company was ready to repair the existing ATC Radar Head at the Lusaka International Airport, which they manufactured and installed as a donation.

SELEX stated that after their recent comprehensive survey on the radar installation in Lusaka, they had been able to go deeper into the technical analysis and internal checks.

They stated that some obsolescence in some parts had finally been sorted out and fixed by the engineering department and that they were determined to repair the existing radar in Lusaka as their own cost to demonstrate their goodwill and loyalty towards the Zambian government.

"Therefore we would like to ask H.E to grant SELEX engineer team access to the Lusaka radar installation and perform the needed maintenance task which will take an estimated two week period," the letter read in part.

"SELEX will then grant a two-week radar commissioning time and a one year additional warranty for the radar head both free of charge. Spare parts availability will also be granted for an additional period of five years. Our field engineer team will be ready to fly to Lusaka soon after the acceptance of this proposal."

Siliya overruled the Zambia National Tender Board (ZNTB) and cancelled a duly awarded contract for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of a Zambia Air Traffic Management Surveillance Radar system (ZATM-RADAR) at Lusaka and Livingstone international airports last year.

Highly placed sources within ZNTB revealed that Siliya's cancellation was meant to accommodate SELEX Sistemi Integrati, a company from Italy, which has been single-sourced, contrary to professional advice from officials in her ministry, NAC and ZNTB.

The source said the tender for the purchase of ZATM-RADAR was initiated and recommended by a technical team comprising officers from NAC and Ministry of Transport and Communications. This was after SELEX offered in February 2008 to supply the equipment at a fixed total price of Euro13.7 million following its inspections of the facility at the airport and recommendation that the facility was obsolete and required replacement.

The source said according to their information, sometime in February last year, the Ministry of Communications and Transport and requested for funding from the Ministry of Finance for the purchase of the new radar at Lusaka and Livingstone international airports.

In April last year, the Secretary to the treasury in principle supported the acquisition of this new radar equipment but felt that there was need to consult the ZNTB on whether or not the ministry should single source.

After consultation, the ZNTB director general directed that the radar equipment should be procured by open tender, or formal tender if you like, through the ZNTB.
The source added that bids were received by ZNTB and were publicly opened in the presence of bidders or their representatives. After that, an evaluation committee was composed from institutions that would be responsible for the equipment who prepared technical specifications.

The source said at the time the tender was opened on September 26, 2008, six bids were received from Hua-Jiang Investments with option number one at US $18.9 million and option number two at US $16.8 million, Intelcan at Euro 12.9 million, China LES at US $18.9 million and Ramet C.H.M at Euro 14.9 million. Other bids were from Thales Air Systems S.A with two options: option one was at Euro 9.050 million with option two at Euro 12.6 million. SAAB Systems Limited also put in a bid at Euro 15.8 million.

The source said at the end of the evaluation process, Thales Air Systems SA was successful as ZNTB's Central Tender Committee authorised to award the contract for Euro 9,050,168; the company's first option.

The source further said on December 11, 2008, the then permanent secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Transport and Dr Eustern Mambwe wrote to Thales Air Systems SA of France notifying them that they had been awarded the contract for the tender to supply, deliver, install, and commission the ZATM-RADAR at Lusaka and Livingstone airports.

However, on the same day Siliya wrote to ZNTB Director General David Kapitolo canceling the award of the contract to Thales Air Systems claiming the tendering process did not inspire confidence.

"REF: TENDER - RADAR. I wish to make reference to the above subject matter and the letter addressed to you and copied to myself on the same subject," Siliya's letter to Kapitolo read in part.

"I wish to advise that as a result of the same, I have instructed the procurement department at my ministry to immediately suspend the current tender so as to restore confidence in the process.

"I have also instructed that a new tender process be initiated which will allow for only manufacturers of radars to participate. In this regard I have instructed the procurement department to selectively invite manufacturing companies to submit bids.

"As you are aware, I gave an assurance on the floor of Parliament that we had identified a company to provide a tender to the Zambian government and it was on that basis that we requested for the funds from the Ministry of Finance. It is my intention to expedite the process and ensure that the tender is purchased as soon as the budget is passed. You are aware that this will not happen unless a transparent process is initiated immediately. By copy of this letter, the procurement department will go ahead and invite selected radar manufacturers to submit bids."

But on December 12, 2008, the chief purchasing officer in the Ministry of Communications and Transport wrote a memo to Siliya advising her to abide by the lawful decision of the ZNTB to award the contract to Thales Air Systems.

The source further disclosed that Dr Mambwe had also written to Siliya explaining that the ZNTB process was transparent but she [Siliya] instructed Dr Mambwe to ensure that ZNTB cancelled the earlier contract awarded to Thales Air Systems.

And correspondence between NAC managing director Robinson Misitala and the Director of Civil Aviation reveals that SELEX had proposed to repair the existing radar head and offered a one-year warranty on the repairs. SELEX also promised to make available spares and facilitate their purchase for a period of one year.

However, NAC advised against taking up the SELEX offer because they thought the free offer had some undetermined hidden costs.

Labels: AIRPORTS, DORA SILIYA, PRIVATISATION

posted by MrK @ 7:57 PM