By Mustapha Sesay
Transport and Aviation Minister Leonard Balogun Koroma has defended the controversial purchase of the 100 which have been the subject of an investigation for possible procurement violations.
Balogun told lawmakers in the well of parliament that all procurement procedures had been followed in the process of acquiring the vehicles.
The minister had been summoned by the House of Representatives amidst public outcry on the transaction that has raised many questions. The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), in a statement over the week end announced that it had started investigation on the matter.
In his explanation to parliament, Minister Koroma said the intention of procuring the buses was to reduce long queues at bus stops during rush hours. However, he told the lawmakers, because the government had no money for such a project, they asked for a loan from a Chinese firm called Poly Technology to the tune of over USD12.9 Million.
“I want to assure this house and the people of this country that we follow all procurement process to the latter,” he said, adding “the public have right to hold us to account as government officials” but it should not be done with fake documents.
This was an apparent reference to a document in circulation purported to be from the company that manufactured the buses.
Minister Koroma said one of the conditions of acquiring the loan was that they should buy the vehicles from the Chinese manufacturer, Zontong, recommended by Poly Technology. He said because of the exigency of the project they used the ‘Sole Bidding Process’ for the procurement and that both the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) and the Ministry of Finance were involved in the process.
Koroma said the loan offered at six percent interest rate was the best as compared to the loan previously taken by the Sierra Leone Road Transport Authority (SLRTA) from Eco-Bank for the procurement of 40 buses, which was at 26 percent.
The loan agreement for the 100 buses, according to the minister, entailed the provision of spare parts for two years and technical training for staff of SLRTA to manage and maintain the fleets. He said the buses were specially manufactured in 2014 and 2015 by Zontong for the terrains of the country, especially the one marked FBC.
After the minister’s explanation, opposition MP Paran Tarawalley asked him to give a unit cost of the buses and to explain why the agreement was not brought to parliament for ratification before they commenced with the procurement process. Minister Koroma responded that the ministry of Finance would later present the agreement to parliament, but he declined to give the unit cost of the buses, saying the loan agreement was a whole package.
Minority Leader Bernadette Lahai said they`d called the minister to enquire on behalf of the people because the problem of transportation was negatively affecting the economy of the country. She said the buses were not enough and that more were needed.
(C) Politico 23/07/15
