IBB's airport contract still under scrutiny
A court case in which the Namibia Airports Company is seeking to overturn a contract awarded by its previous board will go ahead next week.
Egyptian-owned IBB Military Equipment and Accessory Supplies has failed in its bid to stop the Namibia Airports Company's court application to nullify an agreement on the upgrading of the Eros and Hosea Kutako airport terminal buildings.
The NAC had approached the High Court to declare that there is no binding and enforceable agreement between itself and IBB Military for the exorbitant upgrades.
It asked the court to set aside the purported exemption decision which landed IBB Military the N$156 million tender, and also asked for an order to set aside the purported award letter.
IBB Military countered by saying that the NAC's court application was premised on wrongdoing and unlawful actions of the NAC itself.
IBB Military said with its own wrongdoing as a basis for its relief, the NAC launched a review application in which it sought to set aside its own decisions.
It also said the NAC had not filed its answering affidavit as had been stipulated by a court order on 1 December 2017.
The High Court on Friday ruled that NAC's non-compliance with the court order of 1 December 2017 was condoned. The case was postponed until 13 September.
Background
The previous board of the NAC, under the chairpersonship of Ndeuhala Katonyala-Lewis, exempted IBB Military from the parastatal's tender procedures and awarded it the tender for the upgrades.
These upgrades included the design, supply and installation of check-in counters (at a cost of €2.8 million), seats (€432 015), trolleys (€323 350), CCTV cameras (€340 000), communication systems (€2.3 million), conveyor belts for all counters (€1.4 million), safety equipment and architectural design (€490 000), and cost of supervision of foreign and local labour (€1.2 million).
The new board, under the chairpersonship of Rogers Kauta, countered this lucrative tender award, arguing that the exemption decision could only have been made in terms of the NAC's prescribed tender procedure and on recommendation of its tender and technical committee.
The new board maintained that there was no justification for such an exemption, saying the decision should be set aside.
It said no facts were placed before the previous board to make the purported exemption decision and that the previous board did not apply its mind when the tender award was made.
Alternatively, it was argued that the purported exemption decision did not award the upgrade tender to IBB Military, but merely permitted the NAC to treat it as the preferred bidder, whereafter the NAC should have followed the applicable tender procedures.
Former NAC CEO Tamer El-Kallawi in June 2016 wrote a letter to IBB in which he said IBB Military had been appointed for the job, but the new NAC board countered that there was no enforceable agreement in place.
The new NAC board said a draft agreement drawn up by IBB Military did not stipulate the scope of services and patently left open a number of material provisions that still had to be agreed upon while simply pricing the job at over
€9 million.
CATHERINE SASMAN
The NAC had approached the High Court to declare that there is no binding and enforceable agreement between itself and IBB Military for the exorbitant upgrades.
It asked the court to set aside the purported exemption decision which landed IBB Military the N$156 million tender, and also asked for an order to set aside the purported award letter.
IBB Military countered by saying that the NAC's court application was premised on wrongdoing and unlawful actions of the NAC itself.
IBB Military said with its own wrongdoing as a basis for its relief, the NAC launched a review application in which it sought to set aside its own decisions.
It also said the NAC had not filed its answering affidavit as had been stipulated by a court order on 1 December 2017.
The High Court on Friday ruled that NAC's non-compliance with the court order of 1 December 2017 was condoned. The case was postponed until 13 September.
Background
The previous board of the NAC, under the chairpersonship of Ndeuhala Katonyala-Lewis, exempted IBB Military from the parastatal's tender procedures and awarded it the tender for the upgrades.
These upgrades included the design, supply and installation of check-in counters (at a cost of €2.8 million), seats (€432 015), trolleys (€323 350), CCTV cameras (€340 000), communication systems (€2.3 million), conveyor belts for all counters (€1.4 million), safety equipment and architectural design (€490 000), and cost of supervision of foreign and local labour (€1.2 million).
The new board, under the chairpersonship of Rogers Kauta, countered this lucrative tender award, arguing that the exemption decision could only have been made in terms of the NAC's prescribed tender procedure and on recommendation of its tender and technical committee.
The new board maintained that there was no justification for such an exemption, saying the decision should be set aside.
It said no facts were placed before the previous board to make the purported exemption decision and that the previous board did not apply its mind when the tender award was made.
Alternatively, it was argued that the purported exemption decision did not award the upgrade tender to IBB Military, but merely permitted the NAC to treat it as the preferred bidder, whereafter the NAC should have followed the applicable tender procedures.
Former NAC CEO Tamer El-Kallawi in June 2016 wrote a letter to IBB in which he said IBB Military had been appointed for the job, but the new NAC board countered that there was no enforceable agreement in place.
The new NAC board said a draft agreement drawn up by IBB Military did not stipulate the scope of services and patently left open a number of material provisions that still had to be agreed upon while simply pricing the job at over
€9 million.
CATHERINE SASMAN
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