14 mistakes in purchase of wide-body planes: Public Procurement Monitoring Office

Setopati

2018-12-12 11:10:01

The Public Procurement Monitoring Office under the Prime Minister's Office has stated that the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) did not fully comply with the Public Procurement Act while procuring two Airbus A330 airplanes. The office in the report prepared to submit to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the parliament has pointed at 14 mistakes by the NAC in the procurement process. “Request for proposal (RFP) has been issued specifying Airbus A 330-200 planes with Rolls-Royce Trent 772B engines despite the Public Procurement Act prohibiting mention of a particular brand, trademark, patent, design or manufacturer while preparing specifications except when there is no other option,” the office’s report states. Cost has been estimated not by taking the current price of Airbus but determined by adjusting on the price of eight years earlier, and the fact that the procurement process was for planes that have clocked 1,000 flights hours has not been incorporated while calculating the estimated cost.” The report points that planes also come under the goods defined by clause 2(c) of the Public Procurement Act, and the Act does not allow procurement of planes through RFP. It has also mentioned that nine things that have to be included while procuring goods through RFP have also not been included. It states that 11 subjects that have to be mentioned while setting the procurement agreement and conditions for that have also not been included in the bid documents. The office is set to submit the report to the PAC Wednesday itself. The PAC after a meeting at the Singha Durbar last Wednesday had instructed Secretary at the office Madhu Prasad Regmi to give the office’s opinion on procurement of the wide-body planes within seven days. The PAC had summoned Regmi to know if and how the NAC had coordinated with the office while procuring the wide-body planes. "The office has no official information about procurement of the wide-body planes. The NAC did not cooperate with us on the issue," Regmi had told the PAC.

Published Date: 2018-12-12 11:10:01

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