Tell me something, if you had a project worth over BD250,000 that you are bidding for, would you advertise it only 2 weeks before the closing date? Would the lead person for that project refuse to meet potential suppliers for more than 5 minutes? Would the organisation refuse to let potential suppliers at least have a look at the venue the equipment for which is being tendered? If it is a complete integrated system that you are tendering for, and if you are not looking for consultancy, would you not at least expect that the tender document would have engineering and architectural drawings of the locations? Would you not expect to have an electrical functional and schematic diagram of the required system?
If you then receive official letters from two of the local suppliers asking for an extension of four weeks to prepare the tender response, would your rules not insist on granting that extension?
The University of Bahrain has released tender 40 of 2006 to build a theatre, media centre, and television studio at a minimum cost of hundreds of thousands of Bahraini Dinars, yet they are not prepared to grant the extension and the lead on that project refuses to meet with potential suppliers for more than 5 minutes… because “he’s really busy with the exams.”
What do you call this other than signed, sealed and delivered?
Now you know a potential answer for why the University is suffering on more fronts than one.
Comments
I honestly think that this entire project is off to a bad start. I’m not surprised that they won’t meet potential suppliers for any length of time. because “he’s really busy with the exams.†?!?! This is a bunch of crock.
I wonder who at the university has the appropriate qualifications to run a theater/media center/tv studio.
Like you said Mahmood, it’s a done deal. I would just make sure that they come to you for support
:devil:
But atleast its just a Studio. I mean what would be really bad is if some Government Agency decides to put a strategy for the ENTIRE “Something” sector, and only gives out 2 weeks for companies to reply – that would be bad. If it happened.
And, by the way Mahmood you can’t according to the law meet any supplier during the tendering process you must officially write and the letter will be replied to and copied to all the people who are submitting a bid. (Which is fair) the two weeks is the minimum allowed period by Tender Board, the most common is one month for large or complicated tenders.
It isn’t necessairly corruption, but sometimes Govt Agencies become stupid, are in a rush, or believe they want a single source vendor and didn’t get it – so to ensure they get that company they try legally to do everything they can to make it hard for everyone else. Sometimes they just honestly think its best, sometimes. But I’m not saying stupidity should be rewarded. It would be nice if sometimes they get fired for it, at least sometimes.
We did.
Considering the complexity of this project and in the absence of necessary documents and information, there is absolutely no alternative from meetings to ascertain the requirements, unless of course the tenderer is looking for a psychic to read their minds to find the actual requirements.
In projects like these, the customer always brings all the interested parties (those who bought the tender documents) for a meeting and site visit, and the tender would specifically mention who to contact if more information is required. In this case, all the numbers given were for the purchasing department with not technical referral.
This particular project was talked about since 2001 if I remember correctly, so what’s the rush for closing it in two weeks? Especially if you consider that the required completion for the project is the beginning of the summer, so hardly any student would use the facility. Okay, the teachers can utilise the time to gain experience in its operation, but they too most probably won’t be around for the summer.
The essence of the story is that this tender is most definitely signed, sealed and delivered and if they wanted to single-source the project, they should have done their homework and submitted their justifications to the tender board which does not refuse the principal of single sourcing equipment and services if justifications are present.
This is not a unique case, the illustrious BNA did the same thing, out o the blue they gave a contract to a Jordanian company as single source for software and equipment worth about BD70,000. Now consider that that system is incompatible with the system BRTC is using in its newsroom raises some questions, doesn’t it?
When I inquired about this and why we were not included (although we are a registered and known vendor with them) the answer was even more criminal that the excuse given.
You can call these instances whatever you like, I call them plain and simple corruption.
I’ll tell you what you should do, and what often works. Complain to Tender Board immediately. I have a friend who owns a company – he did that and they surprised him, he eventually won the bid. Tell them, about how the deal is unfair to other vendors including you, and all that. You will at least raise a flag, trust me as a Govt Agency there is nothing worse than having a bad relationship with the Tender Board. You’re at least guranteed extra scrutiny on that organization. But anyway, sometimes the folks at Tender Board need to be talked to personally, so in situations like this they’d often trust oh ok 2 weeks its ONLY equipment that seems fine for example. So you could sit with them face to face and explain these things – then in all other bids relating to your field they’d pay more attention. Their Secretary-General is worth meeting, it would be worthwhile.
Anyway in other news Tender Board just received over a dozen bids for an e-tendering system (See http://www.tenderboard.gov.bh – last week in January) – So we’ll see, who wins that and how that helps in the future. I think at the very least it will increase the transparency, and speed up the anouncement process etc… not to mention the paperwork, etc etc..
The letter to the Tender Board is ready and should be with them on Thursday. I’m not letting this thing go. I hope that you’re right and that they will listen, 3 years ago I was faced with about the same situation and did complain but nothing was done about the situation.
The e-Tendering should be a good step forward and will ease our responses. I hope that they implement it properly because it is not an easy thing and has an awful lot of variables that must be satisfied as each tender is totally different than the others.
You touched on a very important matter, Mahmood! The tender corruption is one of the biggest reasons for Bahrain being disfunctional on many aspects.
Simply put, if the guy is gonna win the tender every time, e.g. ahmed mansoor alaali, khalid abulrahim, BASMA, and now al hamad, then why should they develop their capabilities or use the best quality? They’re gonna get the tender either way.
On the other hand, the little guy thats not going to get the tender will sooner or later catch on that there’s a deal going on at the top, and will stop trying to develop his capabilities.. no matter how good his product or service becomes, it wont be chosen.
Basically, shooting competition between the eyes.
Joker,
Government tender results are public, as is their award.
Come up with some facts before you sling the mud. The integrity of the Tender Board is beyond question and most companies struggle on Government Construction Contracts, normally the lowest gets it and usually he is only lowest because he has made a mistake in his bid. Also I haven’t seen Al Hamad on any Government tender lists – have you?
AJJ, they might be public, but that does not preclude some – let’s say – untoward practice in the award stage.
Yes, it can be made into a complete objective process, but if and only if the right people are evaluating the tender response and only if they know that there is a proper over-sight committee that will severely penalise them if they err on the side of their personal bank accounts or comfort zone or friend of a friend or any of those factors which do not aid in getting the best product and service for the job.
I am completely against price being the only factor considered when awarding a tender, this is the single most germane reason in my mind that plagues the whole country as far as low-level employment, the disregard of quality and the acceptance of mediocrity. The award should be judged on technical merit first and foremost, and budgets need to be increased to accommodate that tender response if the (honest) technical evaluation deems it to be the best on offer. Consistently accepting the lowest price wins is an invitation to disaster.
What was it that the astonaut replied when asked how he felt being in the driving seat of the shuttle? He reportedly replied something to the effoct of “how would YOU feel sitting on top of 1,000 low bidders?”
This concept perpetuates slave labour, kills creativity and innovation and sustains the culture of corruption to get the job.
The Tender Board’s integrity might well be above board, there is no question in my mind about that as they are transparent and professional enough. What they should insist on for larger projects however is proper evaluation technically before the award. Let me rephrase that: if the government agencies had employed the right people for the right positions who knew what they were doing and the technical personnel were properly trained and paid, and had the courage to demand quality before price, we – as a country – would not be in this mess.
To survive in Bahrain you need products which are the lowest price first and foremost. They might not be the most innovative, the most creative, the safest, and longer lasting, the ones that offer protection of investment, as long as it is the lowest price and as long as you maintain unprofessional friendly relations, you will get the job. Generally.
Believe me AJJ, I can write and tell you about countless real stories which had wasted an inordinate amount of money and resources – just in my field of specialty mind you – that were awarded solely on price, or friendly relations, or “distribution of wealth policies”. But this is not the place to discuss them.
Why I brought this particular subject up is because of the level of frustration I felt, and I hope that it will get fixed.
Problem starts with bad RFPs, the Tender Board regulations stipulates lowest price that meets the standard, when you buy equipment. If it is something like a strategy, or something non-tangible then a different methodology is set, agreed upon by tender board and published in initial tender documents. Govt Agencies, play around with time, and illegally giving information to one vendor things like that .. there is no system thats bulletproof … But this one could be enhanced.
And, Yes Al-Hamad, does private sector work — Tender Board till today is one of the most well respected govt institutions, thats why Mahmood I strongly urge you to officially contact them, and see how they’ll respond.
There are basically 2 type of tenders, one is cooked and the other one is over cooked.
The cooked one where a consultant vendor go inside the account and developed the whole RFT and make it air tight to the preferred specifications so he can win it.
The over cooked ones that not only made as above but mentioning the name of product which is so obvious.