Enemalta explains its fuel procurement procedure
Enemalta this evening explained its fuel procurement process after criticism during a TV programme by journalist Saviour Balzan that it had entered into a purchase agreement with Trafigura up to March.
The corporation said there were very strict rules and procedures which had to be followed by the Fuel Procurement Committee.
"Fuel is purchased through a restricted tendering procedure where an Invitation To Tender is mailed out to all suppliers listed in a specific mailing list. Registration of commercial operators involves sending an application consisting of the corporate profile of the organization together with at least two references of reputable organizations to whom the potential candidate had supplied fuel in the past 24 months," the corporation said.
"The invitation to tender includes a list of instructions which the tenderers must be compliant with and outlines specifications of the fuel such as the quality and quantity of the product, delivery periods, and other requirements such as insurance cover, jurisdiction of contract, payment terms etc.
"A closing date and time is given by which all offers are to be received in a specific mailbox which is created for this purpose. This mailbox is locked by MITA and the password is forwarded before the evaluation session commences.
"This mailbox containing the offers is opened by the Petroleum Procurement Committee immediately after the tender closing time and the evaluation process commences immediately. The Committee, made up seven members, evaluates the offers received, taking into considerations criteria listed in the ITT documents received. Evaluation of invitation to tenders for fuel procurement is concluded in one committee session on the date of tender closure.
"Each offer is evaluated administratively and technically. Compliant bids are ranked and the evaluation then takes the form of a negotiated procedure whereby the committee negotiates via tele-conference with the respective bidders to secure the best deal possible. Contracts are awarded to the most advantageous offer.
"The winning bidder is immediately notified of the tender award verbally by telephone and before the meeting closure, an e-mail is sent out to each unsuccessful bidder. MITA are then notified to reset the password for the mailbox. which will not be disclosed until the following meeting."
Enemalta said the last fuel contract was awarded to Trafigura on December 20, 2012. The tender was for the provision of between 160,000 metric tonnes to 176,000 tonnes divided into eight parcels with a contract period from the fourth week of January and the fourth week of June 2013. Trafigura provided the cheapest offer amongst the companies that fulfilled the criteria requested by the same Invitation to Tender.
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A. MICALLEF
Jan 23rd, 15:50
The minister should explain on what basis did he appoint the chairman of that time.
What are the chairmans qualifications and why was he appointed. Did the chairman
involve himself together with others in private oil business ?? The minister must explain.
G Vella
Jan 23rd, 11:17
Continued - Malicious rules can also be put on a server that will e.g. forward mails to a third party. A secure system would be one where the sender will encrypt bid mails with a private key which he will then send to the individuals who need to access the mail once the bidding deadline is past. Such systems need proper audit and ideally the use of electronic notarial services.
G Vella
Jan 23rd, 11:12
This does not sound like a very secure system. First of all it is logical to assume that someone at MITA will know the password beforehand - already an issue. Secondly, it would appear that the bids are sent in clear text which means they can be read by anybody who has administration rights on the mail server where they reside or on any machines through which they transit.
Karm Farrugia
Jan 23rd, 11:01
What justifies the payment of any 'commission' (?) by Trafigura ?
Christian Sciberras
Jan 23rd, 10:01
(Continued) Answering to J Martinelli:
3. Yes, there is a tendering department. It is also known as "Department of Contracts", a subdivision of the finance ministry.
4. I could describe the entire, unpleasant, events word by word, since I've been there. The process is unfair and corrupt at best, with corporate friends of government officials benefiting the most.
Christian Sciberras
Jan 23rd, 09:57
Answering to J Martinelli:
1. "Public Tenders" are simply more transparent than others, and usually made to any provider not just a private list. Tendering laws, such as confidentiality prior to decision still apply.
2. They might know and they might try to guess. That is not the problem, however. Imagining someone dead is not a crime, killing someone is. Same concept applies here.
Joe Tabone
Jan 23rd, 07:50
Seems to be a transparent method of procurement, did Labour propose anything better???
Or is this just a smoke screen to cover up LABOUR's energy proposal FIASCO?!?
Godfrey Pisani
Jan 23rd, 07:29
What a load of nonsense. Pay through your nose to live and work and the rest leave to us we decide. We know what's best !!!! It can not get any worst - Enemalta defending the gov !!!! Heads should roll and now ..
stephen portelli
Jan 23rd, 06:08
Lies lies lies , we have a registered fuel supply company and registered here in malta . We surely have the best prices and fuel will not come that far and still we had never received any type of information. Maybe since we are Maltese and can talk about any discrepancies we where never contacted. Why the minister never had contacted his local suppliers instead of going ashore?
Stephen Zammit
Jan 23rd, 05:51
For the stone age men out there; the bias is achieved at the writing of the requirements in the tender document. The above explanation by enemalta is irrelevant. To make it clearer, one can create a bias towards a company by putting its strengths as requirements in the tender document and therefore give it unfair advantage over other competitors even before the tendering process is launched.
K CASSAR
Jan 23rd, 00:43
All of this seems so shady! Why are these things not open knowledge before explanations must be forced out? It would be interesting to know if this protocol was followed everytime a tender is issued by enemalta and who does the supervising.....as always in this country, something has to happen for truths to be uncovered. Time to make changes!!!!
Joseph M. Saliba
Jan 22nd, 23:52
This mailbox is locked by MITA and the password is forwarded before the evaluation session commences.
This is very interesting since MITA is fullproof where passwords are concerned!!!!!!!!!!
Joseph Micallef
Jan 22nd, 23:42
Shame on Austin Gatt and Enemalta. A quick look (2 seconds) on google, one realises that Trafigura, the company involved in the commission on HFO purchases by Enemalta, does not have anything to be proud of. A company full of scandals, corruption and bad history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafigura
Paul Giordimaina
Jan 23rd, 07:39
Zepp how bright you are seeing only red
Samuel Gamgee
Jan 22nd, 22:23
"Compliant bids are ranked and the evaluation then takes the form of a negotiated procedure whereby the committee negotiates via tele-conference with the respective bidders to secure the best deal possible." So it need not be the cheapest after all?
Joseph Aquilina
Jan 22nd, 22:13
Saviour Balzan should now tell us when his newspaper got to know about the case in question.
j brincat
Jan 22nd, 21:30
Needs a lot of explanation, and how!!!
jb
jm busuttil
Jan 22nd, 21:23
A lot is being said about this commission, I will not be surprised that this is only a one time payment.
( Not that I agree on the contrary I totally disagree if this has been done. )
Francis Sammut
Jan 22nd, 21:15
Did Enemalta mention the ''quality of fuel'' imported has to be of high standard. What quality of fuel? One has to ask how high is the quality of diesel imported, for instance, apart from that of petrol that is?
Ann Galea
Jan 22nd, 21:01
We want to see all the tendered documents by all bidders so as to believe of what has been said. After all PN has been asking for documents paid by PL so why not publish those which has been at the public's expense
Eric Bonello
Jan 22nd, 21:47
How about asking Konrad &JM to publish their studies...after all the PN didn't hesitate to publish their reports. How about now we see some of the energy Gimmick plan reports and studies they've said they conducted
Joe Sammut
Jan 22nd, 22:41
Ms Galea, you have to trust the committee. I would prefer if someone named from the opposition was part of the committee. Joe Mizzi /MLP refused to put someone on the committee.
Knowing by how much your competitors are bidding can have negative effects on the purchasing power of the buyer.
Mr Anthony Briffa
Jan 22nd, 23:15
Dear Ann Galea, x'bicca xoghol ikollok biex toqod tistudja id-dokumenti kolla governativi. Forsi la'jkollok lil Joseph PM dan jghamel ministru biex joqod ixxandar id-documenti tal-gvern u jfemhom lil-nies. Prosit Ann tajtiu ideja ta' ministeru iehor ghal mal-kabinett kbir li qalli sejjer ikollu. Viva it-transparenza lejburista. Ahjar jghidu min hemm warajh dan ir-rapport u meta MT saru jafu bih.
twanny borg
Jan 22nd, 21:00
Jekk tintrebah l-orhos offerta kif qed jinghad li l-kumpanija li inxtara z-zejt minghanda halset commission? Ta' xiex halset?
jm busuttil
Jan 22nd, 21:17
Twanny when was the commission paid ?
Philip Bonello
Jan 22nd, 22:13
Please note that commissions (is-Senserija) is not illegal in Malta, neither in Europe as far as I know.
Eddy Privitera
Jan 22nd, 20:21
The GonziP advert shown above contains around 10, 000 LIES, one lie for each job which is just a figment of Dr. Gonzi's imagination. Check NSO figures !
Andrea Schembri
Jan 22nd, 19:51
"MITA are then notified to reset the password for the mailbox. which will not be disclosed until the following meeting." ????????
m farrugia
Jan 22nd, 19:49
saviour balzan staghgeb ghax il procurement kumbinazzjoni sar sa marzu skond hu minhabba lelezzjoni,
bhalikieku il procurement isir ghal gimgha, lanqas xirja minghand is supermarket ma taghmel ghal sena.
tonio fenech ilbierah spjega kollox punt punt carissimu fil programme close up fuq tvm, prosit tonio qed tkun infallibli u turi li tidhol fkollox fid dettal mhux bhal siehek konrad
Christian Sciberras
Jan 22nd, 19:39
I sure hope they do not CC a list of supplier emails to each supplier.....like the government tendering department does....
J Martinelli
Jan 23rd, 00:34
What's so strange? Aren't such tenders called "Public tenders'?
And if the other suppliers are not CC'd don't you think that the suppliers themselves know who usually tenders for the specific commodity?
Is there such a thing as a 'government tendering department'? I thought that all 'tendering' is done at arms length from the government.
Please choose the reason of your report below: