On April 7, I wrote an article, “Were all bidders in NWC tender treated the same”, in which I had carried the answers posed to some questions I had asked the Water Commission. That article was a follow-up to one I had written on March 24, “In these tough times, why such big waivers by the finance ministry?”

Specifically, I was trying to determine how companies owned by Desmond Panton – Key Motors Limited, and Executive Motors Limited were treated in the tendering process, especially in light of the following two bits of prominent facts.

(1) In August last year boss of Key Motors, Desmond Panton, was arrested and charged with 50 counts of evasion of customs duties and taxes, taking steps to defraud the government of duties, and unlawful removal of goods. His car dealership on Hagley Park Road in St Andrew was also shuttered by the Customs Department. A few days after, Panton made good and Commissioner of Customs Danville Walker confirmed the payments of approximately $43 million but said, “Additional payments due are still being worked out.”

(2) Recently it was announced that Executive Motors Limited was granted a waiver of $183.7 million in GCT. According to the government website, the reason given was that the company was in “financial constraints in the face of enormous liabilities”. Executive Motors was granted the biggest waiver of all the entities given waivers in the reporting period.

Additionally, where the NWC was a government agency and therefore one of the main repositories of the “people’s business”, it was, to me, fair and just to probe into matters where such processes as public tendering were involved.

Two answers were supplied by NWC in the late evening of the very day that I had submitted my column. Question: What was the amount paid by NWC to Executive Motors in respect of the 173 Mazda Pick-ups? Answer: “NWC paid the equivalent of US$3,602,785.00 for the 173 units.”

Question: What was the amount paid to Stewart Auto Sales and Service and Toyota Jamaica Ltd? Answer: “NWC paid J$58,816,551.67 to Stewart Auto Sales and Service and J$11,449,147.50 to Toyota Jamaica Ltd.”

Questions posed in my last column still remain unanswered and the documents requested have not materialised.

The NWC applied for a discretionary waiver of 5 per cent duty for the 173 units supplied by Executive Motors, but Stewart Auto Sales and Toyota Jamaica had no such luck. Why? Another important question worth asking NWC is, can it confirm or deny that Executive Motors tendered on the basis of tariff code 8704.219.013 which applies to pick-ups with a kerb weight under 1720 kg despite the BT-50 having a kerb weight above 1720 kg? As I understand it, the BT-50 is 1899 kg and the effective duty rate for tariff code 8704.219.013 is 35 per cent.

Additionally, assuming that the BT-50 should have been tendered under tariff code 8704.219.034, can the NWC confirm or deny that the effective duty rate under that tariff is 84 per cent? Following on that, can the NWC say if tendering on the incorrect tariff allowed Executive Motors to offer a lower price than their competitors and to win the tender?

Can the NWC confirm or deny that one or more of the companies tendering had pointed out to NWC that it was aware that Executive Motors was tendering on the wrong tariff? If the answer is in the affirmative, can NWC advise what action, if any, it took? If no action was taken, why?

It is my understanding that on March 3, 2008 tenders were invited for the supply of 20

4000-gallon water tanks to the NWC. Tenders were opened on April 3, 2008.

Can the NWC confirm or deny that the bids were as follows: Vehicles and Supplies – US$3,438,980; Key Motors Limited (a Panton company) – US$2,663,780; JR Group Limited – US$5,187,258.38; Jamaica Industrial Equipment Limited (JIEC) – US$3,732,000.00?

Can the NWC confirm or deny that JIEC was recommended by the tender evaluation committee but the tender was scrapped after requesting and receiving extensions twice?

Can the NWC confirm or deny that on the second tender, the bids were as follows: Key Motors Ltd – US$2.284,610.20; JIEC – US$3,732,000.00?

Can the NWC confirm or deny that Key Motors Limited was awarded the tender because its new lower offer price significantly changed the evaluation score? Can the NWC confirm or deny that the normal duty of 29 per cent was included in the bid by Key Motors?

Can the NWC confirm or deny that the trucks were cleared by Key Motors Ltd. at 0 per cent duty, thus changing the terms of the tender?

Government spokespersons have defended the waivers, even though the government had initially taken a strong public stance against it. In the coming financial year, with an austerity budget of $544 billion, 8 per cent more than last year, will we be hearing later on in the year that other business entities have been given GCT and other waivers?

Mr Charles Buchanan of NWC had supplied me with answers to important questions, but he needs to do more, plus there is still the matter of the tender documents and the import and customs documentation that I had requested.

Over to you, NWC.

observemark@gmail.com