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Sujata sees red over MRP deal
KATHMANDU, JUL 07 -
A day after her ministry said it was all set to award the Machine Readable Passport (MRP) supply contract to French company Oberthur Technologies, Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala has sought the “confidential” document of the deal to ascertain that no foul play has occurred.
Koirala said she was observing the matter and that she would make public her assessment after some days. The minister, who expressed dissatisfaction over being “kept in the dark” about the evaluation of the bids, has expressed concern over security aspects of the deal.
At the recommendation of the evaluation committee headed by Chief of the Protocol (COP), Mukti Nath Bhatta, the ministry on Tuesday had announced its decision to award the contract to the lowest bidder—Oberthur—among four firms. The French company, according to the panel, has met all the requirements of the Public Procumbent Act and global bidding norms. Oberthur has offered to supply the MRP at a rate of US$ 3.59 per copy.
Before the announcement, a meeting was held in the Foreign Ministry in the presence of Minister Koirala. Foreign Secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai and COP Bhatta had briefed her on the outcome of the evaluation of the bidding documents.
“The contract was discussed and finalised in front of the minister and the meeting decided to invite Oberthur to seal the deal within seven days,” said an official.
During the meeting with Secretary Bhattarai and other officials, Sujata asked for the bid documents submitted by Oberthur to examine whether it fulfilled security requirements. “We refused to hand over the tender document and the copy of agreement papers likely to be signed with Oberthur,” the official said.
“I’m looking into the matter. I will speak about the issue once I look into the documents,” Sujata told the Post.
Posted on: 2010-07-08 07:56
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