ON Feb. 22 Telesource CNMI filed a protest with CUC and the Division of Procurement and Supply alleging defects in the privatization of the CNMI’s power business pre-qualification request for proposal.
The issues raised by the protest required immediate attention by Procurement and Supply and the Office of Public Auditor. To date Procurement and Supply has failed to address the issues raised by the protest and has not shared the matter with companies that have paid $1,000 to purchase the pre-qualification documents and who will pay $25,000 on April 2 for the privilege of submitting a prequalification package.
The regulations provide that the director of procurement and supply shall pass a protest to any RFP responders for comment. He should issue his decision with 30 days.
The procurement regulations also provide that “when a proper protest against the making of an award is received,” then the award “will be withheld pending disposition of the protest” (§70-30.3-501(b)(2)).
These regulations also say that when the procurement and supply director receives a protest, “a contract cannot be awarded pending the resolution of the protest and appeal to the public auditor.”
The procurement process is already off to a very rocky start. It seems that the RFP process is being abused, or at least misused. It also seems that the government is choosing to pretend that no protest has been filed and will undoubtedly in the end have to face the consequences, which will be delays, added costs and very unhappy bidders who will spend small fortunes preparing and submitting proposals without even having an opportunity to comment on the protest filed.
After spending several hundred thousand with a consultant from the Philippines to prepare the RFP the government should make sure that this procurement is efficient and to the letter of the law.
Why does all this sound very familiar?

JOE CAMACHO
Kagman, Saipan