Gbarnga – Bong County superintendent, Hawa Norris, has reportedly violated the 2010 restated and amended Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) Act of 2005 by awarding the renovation and fencing of the superintendent’s residence valued at US$144,000 to JEAMCCO Incorporated Construction Company.
By Selma Lomax, [email protected]
According to the PPCC’s Regulation #3 issued on 13 October 2010, the threshold in the case of contracts for the procurement of goods shall be US$10,000 and above done through a Request for Quotations (RFQ).
During the administration of ex-superintendent Esther Walker, the county administration paid JEAMCCO US$26,000 against the US$50,000 delegates during the last council sitting in November 2018 agreed to apportion for the project.
JEAMCCO, however, defaulted on the project, citing the failure of the local administration to balance US$24,000.
Violating the PPCC Law
FrontPageAfrica has established that Superintendent Norris failed the procurement regulations of Liberia, as stated in the PPCC Act, when she awarded the contract to JEAMCCO without a newspaper or website publication of a request for a bid, receipt of bid, RFQ, a bid panel evaluation of the quotations received, and a selection by a bid committee.
As stated by the PPCC Act of Section 54(3) which says “bidders shall be given adequate time to prepare and submit their quotations, but each bidder shall be permitted one quotation, which may not be altered or negotiated”, FrontPageAfrica also gathered that Superintendent Norris failed to follow such regulation.
Superintendent Norris also failed to follow the amended regulations issued in June 2014 in awarding JEAMCCO the contract, which states that the “procuring entity to use the standard bidding document for “RFQ” approved by the PPCC and the timeline provided in the standard procurement planning template.”
Awarding JEAMCCO the contract draws ire
The decision by Superintendent Norris to award JEAMCCO the same contract it defaulted on has sparked outrage from residents in the county.
Some members of civil society organizations in the county have objected to the county using the same contractor. Jesse B. Cole, executive director of DELTA Human Rights Foundation, said it was sad to see the Bong County Council and the county administration award the contract to the same company that received US$26,000 in 2020 with no work completed on the compound.
“During research by FIND, DELTA-HRF, and MACE-Liberia, JEAMCCO Construction company did not respond to our [freedom of information] request up to today, even though they received money from the Bong County Account and has not given any account of said money,” Cole noted.
He added: “The audit report also proves this. Then, how can you, the County Council, and the Bong County Administration approve US$144,000 for the same renovation project with the same project without any bidding process announced?”
Cole called for a hold on the contract until the company could account for the US$26,000.
“This here is business as usual, and if we all have to ensure that it’s not business as usual, the needful must be done, and all necessary information on this issue must be published,” he said.
Supt. Norris’ questionable 100-Day Deliverables
Superintendent Norris, upon assuming office four months ago, did 100-day deliverables plan and passed a resolution of USD$320,000 without stakeholders’ consultations and without the knowledge of local authority, only with the consent of the County Council Chair, Aaron Sackie Fenlah.
The budget law requires a review of all outstanding projects across the county before a proposal of procurement and cash plans of all expenditures that are above USD$10,000.
In recent times, the county administration allotted payments in the tone of USD 2,000 for superintendent Norris’ private residence, including the purchase of air-conditioners, a violation of the budget law.
Also, FPA has been informed of a breach of the County Social Development in a payroll scheme, in which Superintendent Norris is reportedly paying support staff in the office of the superintendent, including her newly-appointed administrative staff, including Gerald Dolo the sum of USD.450.00 and others.
This paper has gathered that during the superintendent’s recent travel to the United States of America, the amount of USD$5,000 from the County Social Development Fund was reportedly paid through her hospitality personnel, Felecia Kuyoun to facilitate her trip.
Superintendent Norris, FrontPageAfrica gathered, without any competitive bidding process, has sourced money from the County Social Development Fund to award a contract to fence the administration building to her pastor, James Paye and Mr. Joseph Cammue, who is linked to Felicia Koyoun, despite her earlier publication that she was raising funds from her friends from the diaspora to implement the project.
FrontPageAfrica reached out to the office of Superintendent Norris through her media consultant to respond to these allegations, and he responded: “My boss will respond to you when the appropriate time comes.”
