FORMER director of the Fiji Procurement Office (FPO) Millie Low yesterday recalled in court of irregularities and “obvious interference” about a tender requested by former permanent secretary for Health Dr Salanieta Saketa in 2011.
Ms Low said she received a memo from Dr Saketa seeking a waiver for laboratory equipment under CTN 66/2011 in July 2011, which included a list of preferred suppliers.
She said this was unusual because it came midway through an ongoing tender process. Additionally, there was no supporting documentation, and the process appeared incomplete, yet preferred suppliers had already been identified.
Testifying before Justice Usaia Ratuvili, Ms Low said the memo was confusing and suggested the procurement process may have been compromised.
At the time, she believed there was possible interference in the tender process because although an evaluation had been conducted, the results submitted did not align with what the Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC) had discussed.
As a result, Ms Low instructed the Manager for Tenders, Maire Wise, who was then head of the health cluster, to prepare a brief for the Permanent Secretary of Finance outlining concerns about the integrity of the tender process.
She said the situation was serious as the Health Ministry had effectively overturned the TEC decision and made serious allegations of collusion involving TEC and senior management.
She said Ms Wise, in her brief, made three recommendations: that CTN 66/2011 be withdrawn, that the Health Ministry review its terms of reference, and that internal controls be strengthened. These recommendations were endorsed by Ms Low.
Ms Low said she later discovered that the Health Ministry had approached the Minister of Finance, who at the time was also the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama. She said the FPO was initially informed that Mr Bainimarama had refused the waiver but later discovered that it had in fact been approved.
The State is alleging that Mr Bainimarama granted the waiver without lawful justification, in breach of the Procurement Regulations 2010 and then minister for health, Dr Neil Sharma, is also alleged to have intentionally failed to comply with statutory tender requirements in favour of bidder Hospineer.
Former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is also alleged to have abused his position by granting a waiver to another tender CTN 153/ 2011 without lawful justification.
The court heard that under Regulation 48(4) of the Procurement Regulations, the Minister of Finance may grant a waiver if it is impractical to follow the tender process or if there is an urgent infrastructure need.
However, Ms Low said there was no urgency in this case, noting that the tender process began in April 2011 and the waiver was only requested in July 2011, leaving sufficient time to follow proper procedures.
She said the waiver was likely sought because the Health Ministry was dissatisfied with the outcome of the TEC, rather than due to any urgency.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Devanesh Sharma questioned Ms Low on why Ms Wise did not declare a conflict of interest, given that she was a member of the TEC for CTN 66/2011.
In response, Ms Low said she did not believe a declaration was necessary, as the allegations raised by the PS for Health were directed at health officials. She added that Ms Wise’s role on the committee was to ensure the process was conducted in accordance with the guidelines.
Trial continues today.
