No breach in awarding vehicle contracts, says security ministry
Published:Tuesday | December 17, 2019 | 12:24 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer
The Ministry of National Security is insisting that the procurement guidelines were followed when it awarded two contracts to affiliate companies of Stewart’s Automotive Group to supply the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) with new vehicles.
This response comes after Toyota Jamaica Limited, Kingston Industrial Garage (KIG) and ATL Automotive, in separate letters addressed to Doulgas Stewart, director of procurement in the security ministry, raised concerns, saying they were advised at pre-bid meetings that each company would only be allowed to bid on one contract.
Stewart’s Auto Sales and Silver Star Motors, affiliate companies of Stewart’s Automotive Group, were awarded the contracts to supply 64 pickups and 43 SUVs/crossovers.
In the letter, the respective car dealers said, “We are a loss to understand how Stewart’s Automotive Group was awarded both lots [contracts] … . It is a well-established fact that Silver Star Motors is the dealer for Mercedes-Benz in Jamaica.”
The car dealers also questioned whether Silver Star Motors had provided an authorisation letter for the company to be utilised as a dealer of Mitsubishi vehicles.
However, in a statement yesterday evening, the Ministry of National Security said that on June 3, 2019, it opened a national competitive bid opportunity for the supply and delivery of the vehicles, and subsequent to a thorough evaluation methodology conducted by the evaluation committee, recommendations were made for the contracts to be awarded to the Stewart’s Automotive Group affiliate companies.
The statement noted: “Silver Star Motors and Stewart’s Auto Sales were able to demonstrate that they are separate entities by submitting two separate and valid Public Procurement Commission (PPC) registrations, formerly known as National Contracts Commission (NCC) certificates, and two separate and valid tax compliance certificates.”
The ministry said that several suppliers made submissions in response to the public tender advertised, but not all of them met the procurement requirements. As such, they were eliminated at various stages of the evaluation process.
The New Car Dealers’ Association had previously sent a letter raising the same concerns to the ministry. However, Stewart, the ministry’s director of procurement, said that he could only respond to bidders who participated in the process.