Three out of every five appeals filed last year with the Public Contracts Review Board were upheld, due to shortcomings in tender specifications and lack of technical expertise by the evaluation board.
Despite such worrying trend, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna insisted there was no cause for alarm in public procurement process, but remarked that the government had taken note of the matter.
Prof. Scicluna made this remark during the presentation of the 2018 report on the working of the Public Contracts Review Board.
It transpires that last year, there was a 30 per cent increase in the number of appeals filed, which totalled 134. The overall value of these contracts issued by public authorities was of €288 million.
Board chairman Anthony Cassar remarked that last year 57 per cent of appeals were upheld which was double the usual norm which hovers around the 33 per cent mark.
“Most of these cases were related to lack of attention in the tender specifications and secondly, due to the composition of the evaluation committees,” he said.
Dr Cassar added that members appointed on these committees lacked the technical expertise in the respective fields, and consequently their decision was being challenged.
Most of these cases were related to lack of attention in the tender specifications and secondly, due to the composition of the evaluation committees
In view of this, the Contracts Review Board approached the respective contracting authorities and warned them that unless they would appoint competent members on the selection board, more appeals would be lost.
“In turn this would result in delays for the delivery of the requested supplies,” Dr Cassar remarked.
Asked for his reaction, the Finance Minister play down the trend saying it was no cause for alarm. He insisted that the government was taking steps to train more staff in order to have better qualified selection board members across the board.
“We take note of these findings in order to seek ways to minimise such instances,” the finance minister said.
Another particular trend observed last year was an “alarming increase” in pre-contractual appeals, which are filed before the tendering period closes. Such development was noticed in the health sector, where once again the main cause was lack of expertise by the selection board.
However, Dr Cassar acknowledged that in this case, there were constraints due to the lack of independent qualified people on the island. “You cannot have surgeons deciding on contracts, while they are urgently required in the operating theatres,” he said.
On a positive note, last year the number of appeals filed with respect to contracts by local councils declined. Such trend was attributed to a stricter adherence to public procurement regulations.