THE Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) is currently reviewing bids as the government waits to allocate one of the biggest tenders to stimulate agri outputs.
Second to this is the hunt for an administrator for the Public Service Employee Medical Aid Scheme (Psemas).
Together these account for the biggest portion of public expenditure.
The government and responsible ministries for these two tenders have been reluctant to go to the market with some insight, indicating this has been a back-and-forth process between the CPBN and corresponding ministries.
The bid submission period has been extended twice since June this year, with the CPBN citing Covid-19 regulations as a contributing factor.
According to the CPBN, the tender period for the ‘Supply of Foodstuffs/Catering to Government School Hostels’ opened on 2 June and closed on 28 July.
The deadline was extended to 20 August before the latest extension to 7 September. Would-be bidders had to fork out N$6 000, which is non-refundable, to obtain bidding documents.
The tender is Open for National Bidding (ONB) in line with Section 29, meaning it is open to Namibian companies “of which no less than 51% be owned by previously disadvantaged persons”, according to the tender advertisement.
The CPBN review panel is currently reviewing the bids for this tender.
The public schools hostel tender is not part of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture’s annual procurement plan as required by law.
The Public Procurement Act requires that all public entities prepare annual procurement plans to be published on each public entity’s website for transparency.
The ministry’s procurement department says the tender was not indicated in their plans as it was above the threshold they can procure.
CPBN spokesperson Johanna Kambala says they extended the hostel food tender deadline because some potential bidders were locked down in the Erongo region, and bidders need to visit the schools they intend to supply.
She says some bidders could not fully participate in the bidding process, which explains the extention of the closing date for bids.
Apart from visiting schools, bidders are also expected to physically deliver bidding documents at the CPBN’s offices in Windhoek.
Kamabala says the CPBN had to close its offices for business from 14 to 21 August as one of their external stakeholders, who visited their offices, tested positive for Covid-19.
The closure took place during the period that bids were due for submission, thus preventing bidders from submitting their bids on time.
“Taking all of the above into consideration, the deadline for submission of this bid was granted in terms of the Public Procurement Act of 2015, which makes provision for bidders to be granted sufficient time for the preparation and submission of their bids in order to maximise competition,” Kambala says.
Most small-scale farmers in the country rely heavily on the demand and consumption of public schools.
With the Covid-19-imposed lockdown and closure of schools this year, many of them incurred losses after one of the best harvests.
In the northern and eastern regions of the country farmers have been stuck with their fresh produce.
At the same time, there is an outcry for procuring locally.
At the beginning of the year, the government issued a directive for all offices, ministries and agencies (OMA), including public schools, north of the red line to procure all their meat, fresh produce, cereal, and flour from local suppliers and abattoirs.
The directive was amended in May 2019 again to include other goods, services, and work that public entities need to procure from local entrepreneurs or joint ventures between foreign and locals.
The Agro Marketing Trading Agency (Amta) has called on OMAs to source locally produced agricultural products – especially from small-scale farmers and government green schemes.
The CPBN says the directive by the Cabinet to procure fresh produce from the fresh produce business hubs via Amta or the Namibia Agronomic Board is part of the evaluation criteria of this bid.
Kambala says successful bidders are further required to procure locally produced meat, fish, dairy and poultry products.
“… bidders are required to furnish letters of intent for the supply or sourcing of fresh produce, meat and other products from local producers or suppliers north of the cordon fence,” she says.
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