An IT glitch, which apparently prevented a Contracts Department evaluation committee from accessing a computer file, has cost taxpayers dearly.

According to Huawei Technologies Italia Srl, a subsidiary of the Chinese multinational, which was competing for the supply of a fibre optic link between Malta and Gozo, the Department of Contracts preferred to grant the tender to another company offering the same service but costing €237,000 more than contact them to solve the software problem.

The company has now appealed to the public contracts review board to order a fresh evaluation process.

A call for tenders was made earlier this year to install the much-awaited second fibre optic link between the two islands. Two offers were made.

Elettra TLC, a company based in Rome, submitted a bid for almost €4 million while Huawei Technologies Italia’s offer cost €3.7 million. According to normal procurement rules, in case the two bidders qualified for the job, the tender should have automatically been awarded to the cheapest bidder.

The department simply chose to disqualify their bid and go for the other, more expensive option

However, according to Huawei, when the evaluation process ended earlier this month it was informed by the Contracts Department that since a zipped computer file could not be accessed, its submission was disqualified and the other bid was selected.

Huawei said the most logical process that could have been adopted by the evaluation committee was to contact the company and see if the technical IT problem could be solved.

However, the firm complained, the department simply chose to disqualify their bid and go for the other, more expensive option.

Huawei informed the review board it had complied with all the conditions listed in the tender document but had no control over the technical problem encountered by the Contracts Department.

“The evaluation committee felt more comfortable going ahead with the rejection of a tender over €230,000 cheaper than the recommended bidder rather than allowing such offer to be evaluated technically on par with the other participant,” the company remarked.

Deeming the decision “flawed”, Huawei said it was only made aware of the technical IT problem when informed that the contract was awarded to its rival company and that their offer was disqualified for being “administratively non-compliant”.

The new fibre optic link between Malta and Gozo, which will make internet connection faster, will be fully financed by the taxpayers.

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