The Public Procurement & Property Administration Agency has approved the decision to cancel a 332 million Br contract for the implementation of a National Urban Real Property Registration & Information Management System. In the same week, the Public Procurement & Property Disposal Service floated the same tender, contrary to the Board’s recommendation.
In a letter issued by the Agency’s compliance board last week and signed by state Minister Alemayehu Gujo, the Agency affirmed that it cancelled the award of the project to Finnmap FM International, a Finland-based company, which won the bid in 2015, as well as a similar bid in 2014. The case then went to the Compliance Board, where Finnmap had filed an appeal.
After looking into the case, the Board accepted the Service’s decision to cancel the bid. The Board also recommended that the Service not float the bid for a third time before they find acceptable cases that would serve as price comparisons.
“My partners are not happy about the latest decision and have zero trust to work in Ethiopia,” said Bahiru Zeyenu, managing director of Africom Plc, Finnmap’s local agent.
The project, which would be implemented in 23 cities across Ethiopia, was first initiated in 2014. The project was meant to be completed in 2016 and would digitalise property title deeds, which are currently still paper based. The Ministry of Urban Development & Housing issued a bid through the Service to hire a company to implement the project.
During both bidding processes in 2014 and 2015, the Service invited four companies, as well as Finnmap, to bid. However, in both cases, it was only Finnmap that participated in the bidding process. And in both cases, even though Finnmap was found technically and financially fit, it was not awarded the contract.
During the first bid, Finnmap listed an offer of 298 million Br. But at the time, the Service dropped its offer and cancelled the bid, stating that it could not find price comparisons with similar contracts.
A year later, Finnmap listed a 332 million Br offer for the same project. However, this time around, the Service claimed that the Company’s offer was much more expensive than the one in 2014. Again, the Service also argued that it could not find any comparison point for the price.
“The reason we presented a higher offer was because, in the latest bid, the scope of the project was much bigger than the one in 2014,” said Baheru.
Finnmap is known for its involvement in a number of projects involving spatial data capture and processing in land administration, forestry and natural resource management. In 2015, Finnmap worked on updating and digitalising the national maps in Uganda. The company has also carried out the pilot phase of a similar project; the National Urban Real Property Registration & Information Management System. The pilot took almost one year to complete and was carried out in Dire Dawa, Bahir Dar and Meqelle.
In the latest bid floated on February 11, 2017, the Service have invited companies to submit their expression of interest. The bid will be opened on March 1, 2017.
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