Are procurement laws still being followed?
The question is popping up frequently because of apparent breaches of procurement rules being traced to high level government officials.
KHJ News has received confirmation concerning the purchase of a vehicle for the director of Human Resources Mrs Eseneiaso Liu, which appears to have violated procurement rules.
The Office of Procurement advertised bids for the vehicle purchase and the dealer who had the lowest bid, Ford, did not get the order, even though this was the recommendation of the Procurement Office.
Instead the car was purchased from the director’s preferred dealership, Chevrolet.
Sources familiar with the transaction said the director’s preference for the Chevrolet vehicle is that it was easier to get in and out of, as it’s not as high as the Ford car.
One of the concerns of the Procurement Office, according to the sources, is that the Chevrolet dealership does not provide parts or services like Ford, and most importantly Chevrolet was not the lowest bidder.
KHJ News has also received confirmation that a direct payment voucher was used to make the purchase from the Chevrolet dealership.
This despite the fact that the use of direct payment vouchers was stopped by Governor Lolo some time ago.
The story gets better. The dealership didn’t have to go to the EOB to get payment.
An elected official delivered the voucher payment to the Chevrolet dealership in Iliili.
Then the official drove the white vehicle to the EOB .
