Awarding of four Duty-Free shops TEC approves incomplete tender

By Yoshitha Perera 

The Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) which had been appointed to check the tender procedure followed to source two companies to handle four duty-free shops in 2016 had approved the incomplete tender documents submitted by Flamingo Duty-Free Company, it was informed at the Presidential 
Commission yesterday.   

Testifying before the Commission, Director Procurement, Transport and Civil Aviation Ministry, R.S. Madivadani giving evidence, said that the Cabinet Memorandum regarding finding two operators for these duty-free shops had been submitted by former Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva in 
January, 2016. 

 
“Four shops in the departure and arrival lounges, at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) had been vacant during that time and we needed two operators to handle these shops. The Cabinet paper had been submitted for the selection of suitable service providers who deal with liquor, cigarettes, toiletries and fragrances,” she informed the Commission.   
She added that on January 27, 2016 the Cabinet had made the decision and informed the Ministry to precede the tender with an international competitive bidding process to give wide publicity and select the foreign bidders through their local agents.   She informed the Commission that the TEC had introduced several aspects as eligibility criteria for the bidders and the main qualification was that the particular company had to submit their certificate of liability with their 
tender documents.   

“If this company is a consortium, an association with multiply companies, each company had to submit all necessary documents to proceed with the tender including their certificate of liability,” she said.   
However, the Chairman of the Commission, retired Supreme Court Judge Upali Aberathne observed that the TEC had approved the tender document submitted by Flamingo Duty Free Company without their certificate of liability. It was also observed that TEC has approved Flamingo as the responsive bidder without the necessary documents and that it was also a consortium.   

Responding to a query,witness said that according to their procurement guidelines, she could understand that the tender had been approved in incorrectly and TEC had not inquired about additional details before approving the bid submitted by Flamingo Duty Free Company.   

If this company is a consortium, each company had to submit all necessary documents to proceed with the tender including their certificate of liability