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  • 5 months ago
Minority Leader of the Tobago House of Assembly Kelvon Morris says, he's in possession of documents which point to very questionable actions taken during the procurement process for ambulances for Tobago.
He plans on taking it to the relevant authorities to be investigated.
Alicia Boucher has the details.
Transcript
00:00Proper procurement is vital to progress and public trust, so says THA Minority Leader
00:06Kelvin Morris.
00:07However, he claims that there is a serious problem in that area under the Farley-Augustin-led
00:11administration.
00:12According to the Office of Procurement Regulation, several, several, or more than 50 percent
00:24of the THA divisions are non-compliant with their obligations under the law.
00:31Among them, Morris names the Divisions of Infrastructure, Education, Tourism, and Health.
00:37In relation to the latter and what he calls Ambulance Gate, Morris says he received documents
00:42on the TRHA's procurement process from a whistleblower, which he presented at the THA's 43rd
00:48Plenary Sitting and Budget Debate.
00:51He claims there were three bidders who came on a couple of months apart and were being
00:56evaluated by different committees.
00:58He adds that the evaluation report is void of a signature.
01:02Morris says the last bidder, which was the most expensive one and had no experience in
01:06supplying ambulances, was selected by passing another bidder who had supplied Ford ambulances
01:12previously.
01:13We had a bid coming in from Amalgamated and they had a letter of support from North Central
01:30Regional Health Authority saying that we can confidently recommend this provider because we are utilizing
01:40their service and we have absolutely no issue.
01:44He says two ambulances under that bidder were costing a total of $1.4 million, or around $700,000 each.
01:52Instead, Morris points to the bid from Biomedical Technologies Limited, where Tobago received four
01:58forced traveler ambulances, which was also to be the Isuzu brand.
02:03The TRHA previously stated that it cost taxpayers about $10.3 million.
02:09According to Morris, there is no evidence suggesting that there was ever a variation to the quotation
02:14for two ambulances.
02:16His comment is against the backdrop that the purchasing price is sometimes lowered depending
02:21on the amount being ordered and initial procurement was for 12 ambulances.
02:26Because if that is not the definition of wasted wastage and mismanagement, I do not know what is.
02:36And that's why I've coined it the greatest procurement scandal in the history of this Tobago House of Assembly.
02:46Morris states that during a part of the procurement period, the TRHA operated without a board,
02:51which meant that the chief executive officer was only authorized to make payments up to $1 million.
02:57He claims that a 50% down payment was made for four ambulances by the CEO,
03:02but didn't specify if it fell within the period when the board was absent.
03:07Who authorized that payment?
03:09Madam President, you officer, the documents are here and they will be delivered to the relevant authority.
03:18And I will simply say, let the chips fall where they mean.
03:24Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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