A KEY Government procurement official told the High Court that the Government Tenders Board (GTB) never received documents for two major health tenders now at the centre of abuse of office allegations.
Former GTB secretary Abraham Wilson testified that he never received board papers for tenders CTN 66/2011 and CTN 153/2011.
Mr Wilson, who also served as a senior procurement officer for the Fiji Procurement Office, explained how tender evaluations were conducted to ensure fairness, transparency, and technical compliance.
He said the process involved three stages.
The first was administrative compliance, which included verifying documents such as tax certificates, registration, and fees.
The second stage was technical evaluation, where bids were assessed against detailed specifications, with failure to meet critical requirements resulting in disqualification.
The final stage was financial evaluation, where only technically compliant bidders proceeded, focusing on price and value for money.
Mr Wilson said that tender documents were addressed to the permanent secretary of the procuring ministry, and once dispatched from his office, the permanent secretary had no control over who accessed them.
Justice Usaia Ratuvili heard yesterday that tender CTN 66/2011 involved the procurement of new laboratory equipment for subdivisional hospitals, while CTN 153/2011 related to the purchase of three automated biochemistry analysers.
The State alleges that former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum recklessly abused their position by granting a waiver of the tender process without lawful justification and in breach of the Procurement Regulation 2010.
The State also alleged that former health minister Dr Neil Sharma intentionally failed to comply with statutory requirements for tenders and actively engaged in acts to undermine the tenders in favour of one bidder, Hospineer.
The trial continues today.
