Chief Procurement Officer Dr. Oreta Mapu Crichton has determined that Silva Group Corporation is qualified to perform the project requirements for the Pago Pago International Airport Apron Rehabilitation Construction Management Stages 2-4. And her decision is final.
The award of this contract to Silva Group was disputed by local company, Pioa Consulting, which notified the CPO in a February 20 letter of its objection.
The company held that the award to Silva was in violation of local and federal procurement laws and cited two main reasons for its dispute.
Pioa believed that the Office of Procurement showed undue favor to Silva in violation of procurement policy and regulation.
It said that in government contracting, public employees shall discharge their duties impartially so as to assure fair competitive access to governmental procurement by responsible contractors and conduct themselves in a manner as to foster public confidence in the integrity of the government.
In addition, Pioa Consulting claimed that Procurement failed to provide any basis for rejecting Pioa’s reasponse to the Request for Qualifications for the project.
It said Procurement failed to adequately review Pioa’s response as required by procurement ruiles and the American Smaoa Administrative Code.
The CPO responded to the dispute in an April 3 letter and reaffirmed her decision to award the contract to Silva.
“In rendering a decision of the Notice of Intent to Award for the above solicitation, it has been determined that Silva Group Corporation is qualified to perform the project requirements based on the Evaluation Criteria and Basis for Selection contained in the Request for Qualifications document.”
Dr Mapu Crichton said, “This decision is final.”
Pioa Conculting had requsted the release of other offerors proposals and docments relating to the selection
The CPO said this matter had been discussed with Pioa Consulting’s previous attorney and it was noted that other offerors qualification proposals could not be released without their consent.
She also said that their office cannot provide minutes of the Source Evaluation Board meetings as none exist.
But she was willing to schedule a date and time for Pioa to come in an review the Source Evaluation Board’s recommendation of award.
