Non-specialists win hospital food tenders
Bidders have voiced concern over the manner in which the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) awarded a bid for the supply and delivery of hospital meals in accordance with dietary needs. Companies that won different lots are not up to the task to adequately service the bid, they said.
The CPBN on 23 October issued the awarding contract to seven bidders - Nutri Food/Trade Vest Holding Group joint venture, James and Young Enterprises, Tuthikameni Pamwe Investment, Ongurukena Investments Fourteen, Stream Two Properties, Oshipaya Investments and ATR Investments - in a combined bid valued at over N$1.1 billion.
A total of 39 companies submitted bids to the CPBN, but only seven were selected. Of the seven, only the Nutri Food/Trade Vest joint venture is said to have done specialised catering for hospitals, while the other six businesses allegedly do not boast any prior experience in this regard, a medical food supplier said.
Sharing the spoils
Nutri Food/Trade Vest’s award for the Khomas Region is valued at N$159 million. James and Young Enterprises’ bid for food supplies to hospitals in //Karas, Hardap and Omaheke is valued at N$39 million, while Tuthikameni Pamwe Investments’ bid - for food supplies to hospitals in Erongo - is valued at N$27 million.
The bid Ongurukena Investment Fourteen won, which will see it providing food supplies to hospitals in Otjozondjupa, is valued at N$34 million, while Stream Two Properties’ bid for Oshikoto and Oshana is valued at N$153 million.
Oshipaya Investment, which will cater to Kavango West and Kavango East as well as Omusati, won a bid to the tune of N$59 million, and ATR Investments’ food supplies tender to hospitals in Kunene and Ohangwena is valued at N$121 million.
Re-advertise, CPBN advised
The concerned parties urged the CPBN to re-advertise the bid due to the non-experience of the selected bidders.
“None of the other companies have done catering-related business. The best thing that we can do going forward is to re-advertise the tender. The companies which won the bids were previously engaged in activities not related to specialised food supplies,” bidders said.
“These companies were previously involved in construction, while another was once responsible for supplying laptops. They do not have any experience in the food supply business.”
The procurement board was endangering the lives of vulnerable patients by allowing the bid to go ahead, they claimed.
“The CPBN cannot give this bid to a company that has never done specialised catering; there are vulnerable patients in hospital. The procurement board did not even list a requirement that companies with no experience should seek technical partners,” they said.
‘Scary reality’
“The ministry cannot be allowed to take chances on companies that have never done catering, let alone specialised food catering for hospital patients. It is a scary reality that the future suppliers of food to patients in our hospitals are not qualified at all,” the aggrieved bidders said.
According to CPBN board chairperson Amon Ngavetene, reasons for the awarding of the bid had been published.
He also urged concerned stakeholders to approach the procurement board with their concerns.
The CPBN on 23 October issued the awarding contract to seven bidders - Nutri Food/Trade Vest Holding Group joint venture, James and Young Enterprises, Tuthikameni Pamwe Investment, Ongurukena Investments Fourteen, Stream Two Properties, Oshipaya Investments and ATR Investments - in a combined bid valued at over N$1.1 billion.
A total of 39 companies submitted bids to the CPBN, but only seven were selected. Of the seven, only the Nutri Food/Trade Vest joint venture is said to have done specialised catering for hospitals, while the other six businesses allegedly do not boast any prior experience in this regard, a medical food supplier said.
Sharing the spoils
Nutri Food/Trade Vest’s award for the Khomas Region is valued at N$159 million. James and Young Enterprises’ bid for food supplies to hospitals in //Karas, Hardap and Omaheke is valued at N$39 million, while Tuthikameni Pamwe Investments’ bid - for food supplies to hospitals in Erongo - is valued at N$27 million.
The bid Ongurukena Investment Fourteen won, which will see it providing food supplies to hospitals in Otjozondjupa, is valued at N$34 million, while Stream Two Properties’ bid for Oshikoto and Oshana is valued at N$153 million.
Oshipaya Investment, which will cater to Kavango West and Kavango East as well as Omusati, won a bid to the tune of N$59 million, and ATR Investments’ food supplies tender to hospitals in Kunene and Ohangwena is valued at N$121 million.
Re-advertise, CPBN advised
The concerned parties urged the CPBN to re-advertise the bid due to the non-experience of the selected bidders.
“None of the other companies have done catering-related business. The best thing that we can do going forward is to re-advertise the tender. The companies which won the bids were previously engaged in activities not related to specialised food supplies,” bidders said.
“These companies were previously involved in construction, while another was once responsible for supplying laptops. They do not have any experience in the food supply business.”
The procurement board was endangering the lives of vulnerable patients by allowing the bid to go ahead, they claimed.
“The CPBN cannot give this bid to a company that has never done specialised catering; there are vulnerable patients in hospital. The procurement board did not even list a requirement that companies with no experience should seek technical partners,” they said.
‘Scary reality’
“The ministry cannot be allowed to take chances on companies that have never done catering, let alone specialised food catering for hospital patients. It is a scary reality that the future suppliers of food to patients in our hospitals are not qualified at all,” the aggrieved bidders said.
According to CPBN board chairperson Amon Ngavetene, reasons for the awarding of the bid had been published.
He also urged concerned stakeholders to approach the procurement board with their concerns.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article