Crisis brews over contractor out

This news has been read 8496 times!

Cabinet to hear grievance

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 13: A new crisis is currently on the table of the Cabinet’s Grievance Committee due to the exclusion of a private oil company by the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) from tenders for a period of six months after CAPT learned from the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) about a case filed against the main contractor, reports Al-Rai daily quoting informed sources. They explained that the matter was related to a tender for the maintenance of pipelines belonging to KOC. It was extended for more than a year, which prompted the main contractor with the lowest price to withdraw from the tender after he had extended the initial insurance throughout this period.

After his withdrawal, the agency was surprised by the case filed against the withdrawing contractor by another company – a subcontractor – demanding the return of the initial deposit amount that was paid under the account of this tender, until it was finally awarded. This prompted CAPT to exclude the main contractor, and prevent it from entering tenders for a period of six months. The main contractor then submitted a grievance to the Council of Ministers for its exclusion from the tenders, referring to the decision to request to withdraw from the tender, and explaining that the tender was extended for a long time and was long overdue in awarding.

The main contractor’s grievance is due to the fact that it is participating in other tenders, and the authority’s decision would exclude it from them. The sources revealed that CAPT’s decision was based on the request of KOC to apply article No. 85 to the contractor after the discovery of the case filed against it regarding the tender. They indicated that the Cabinet’s Grievances Committee informed CAPT, based on the main contractor’s grievance, that it is in the process of considering and deciding on the grievance, which requires suspending the procedures for the grievance decision, and excluding the company from the tenders in which it is currently participating, until the matter is resolved.

This news has been read 8496 times!