This government needs our support

Dear Editor
THIS government needs our sympathy and support as they look for ways to clean up the mess that they have inherited from the PPP and get rid of the corrupt officials and supporters of the previous government, who are still in positions of authority and whose intent is to undermine the APNU+AFC administration.
I would like to commend this government for establishing the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) and the Bid Protest Committee.
Having said that, I am a veteran of the Guyana Defence Force where I served in excess of 30 years in different capacities and the security industry for close to 15 years, having worked with four different security companies in managerial and supervisory positions. I am now part owner of a start-up security company. During the time of the PPP government, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) was wont to deny start-up companies government contracts on the basis of lack of experience. Someone has, per chance, conveniently forgotten that the so-called experience and professional companies who are, apparently, assured that they will continue to be awarded lucrative government contracts to the detriment of new companies were themselves once start-up companies.
There was a time when one security company was providing security coverage for the 10 administrative regions year in and year out. After that company lost the contract, two security companies with partisan loyalty to the PPP were each awarded five regions and they provided security services for some time and they would alternate between the large lucrative contracts and the not-too-large ones. This is not hearsay, an assumption or an allegation, but fact. Anyone who has been in the security industry as long as I have been, would have known of some of the skulduggery that was a way of life. It was a foregone conclusion, irrespective of how responsive you were, to whom contracts would be awarded.
How could the NPTAB logically explain the rationale of denying government contracts to a start-up company whose key personnel have in excess of 60 years experience combined in the military and paramilitary organisations, as well as in a number of security companies where they function at senior levels? I often wonder if the people who have the responsibility to evaluate, recommend and approve the award of contracts ever read the bidders’ curriculum vitae. Perhaps there is a bias for the so-called experienced companies and a bias against the so-called inexperienced companies for obvious reasons.
To the best of my knowledge, most of the owners of so-called experienced companies never served in the Joint Services, or were never employed in security companies in senior positions prior to establishing their own security companies. Based on the above, what experience does the NPTAB want and from whom?
Let’s focus attention on the supervisors, checkers and security officers. In relation to government contracts, there is continuity of employment for the supervisors, checkers and security offices in all the regions. Government contracts are for a period of time, and when it expires, the outgoing service provider would hand over to the incoming service provider and the supervisors, checkers and security officers who were employed by the outgoing service provider would be hired to work for the new security provider at the same locations/sites and therefore it is not known to be true that successful bidders would take over sites with their own guards who are trained, disciplined personnel with past military and paramilitary experience.
Continuity of employment with regard to government contracts happens year in and year out; the outgoing provider cannot hire the supervisors, checkers and guards that were working with him; if, for example, the old provider was providing service in Region Six, where the complement of personnel for installation is 400 plus, where would he place them and by the same token, the incoming provider does not have the manpower to provide security coverage within excess of 400 new employees and that is easily discernible by residents of the community on the basis of direct observation; there is a change of uniforms but the faces remain the same. Same guards, but different uniforms. Many of the guards have never served in the military or paramilitary organisations. It is important to note that a new company or an old one would be taking over the same guards.
Ask the present security provider in Region Six if he took over with 400 plus new guards with military or paramilitary experience; and if 50 per cent are male and are 18 and 55 years old or if his Team Leaders have: (a) 3 subjects CXC, trained with military backgrounds (b) secondary education, military backgrounds, (c) primary education, military or paramilitary backgrounds. The majority or a large percentage of security personnel are women, most of whom are single parents with a multiplicity of problems, but nevertheless they are reliable, punctual and regular; they are just as good or even better than some of their male counterparts. I can attest to that because I have worked with women while I was in the army as well as in the security industry. It is easily discernible to the casual observer that women dominate the security industry. One doesn’t have to go far to see what I am saying is true. Check the Ministry of Finance and NPTAB and you will see that all the security personnel are women.
To you leftovers from the PPP who are determined to maintain the status quo, I am putting you on notice that I will be taking my grievances to the Bid Protest Committee (BPC) if I believe I was treated unfairly and I will be insisting that bidders who were awarded contracts because of their so-called experience produce their CVs to the BPC, where you and them would have to prove that a start-up company like the one to which I am connected does not have the requisite experience, but the company that was awarded the contract has. You people believe you are dealing with fools. Taking all the above into account, you should cease talking nonsense about experience; how much more experience do you want from a new company such as mine? Incidentally, I was informed that documents from some bidders’ files have a habit of walking out and going to preferred bidders’ files.
Regards
Concerned Bidder

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