NParks officer suspended, bike vendor
advised to stop tours as Ministry calls for internal audit into
tender for foldable bikes
$57,200 bike tender goes
downhill
"MND has decided that the discrepancies
were significant and warrant further investigation .
Meanwhile, the NParks officer
responsible for the transaction has been suspended from
duty.
-Statement from MND
REPORT: BENSON ANG
AN OFFICER with the National Parks Board (NParks) has been
suspended from duty following probe by the Ministry of National
Development(MND):
And BikeHop, the vendor which sealed the deal to supply
26 bikes to NParks, has been advised to stop the cycling tours it
organises for tourists.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB told The New Paper that
such tours require a licence.
Its spokesman said: "In the case of BikeHop,
an advisory has already been issued to the company. STB will
monitor the situation closely to ensure compliance by BikeHop and
take enforcement actions as and when required".
NParks bought the Brompton foldable bikes for its
officers to use on patrols after a tender was issued in
January.
The bikes cost $57,200 in total.
In a statement last night, MND said Minister Khaw Boon
Wan called for an internal audit team to work with
NParks to review the purchase last month.
It was to ascertain if the purchase was justified and to
see if its procurement process could be improved.
The internal audit found that the reasons for purchasing
foldable bikes to enhance work productivity of NParks' field staff
were valid, the statement said.
But the audit also uncovered some discrepancies which
suggested "the possibility of bias in the procurement", although
the discrepancies were inconclusive by themselves.
The statement said: "MND has decided that the
discrepancies were significant and warrant further
investigation.
"Meanwhile, the NParks officer responsible for the
transaction has been suspended from duty."
MND said NParks officer Bernard Lim was overseeing the
procurement of the Brompton bikes.
A manager at NPark's park connector network invited
companies to bid for the tender in January.
This tender was eventually awarded to bicycle shop
BikeHop. The controversy erupted after Lianhe Zaobao reported on
the purchase on June 22 and wrote about it in a commentary two days
later.
The New Paper then reported on June 29 about the disquiet
that followed the purchase. Some people felt that, at $2,200 each,
the bicycles were too expensive and a waste of public
funds.
MND
investigations
By then, MND was already conducting its own
investigation.
But online, the saga continued.
Some wanted to know more about the relationship between
the directors of BikeHop and the NParks officer involved in the
tender process.
One netizen, who identified himself as a concerned
citizen, claimed about two weeks ago that Mr Bernard Lim is
Facebook friends with BikeHop and its three directors.
Responding to TNP queries, the MND spokesman said: "On
July 10, NParks discovered links between Bernard Lim and the owners
of BikeHop in Bernard's Facebook account
"However, Bernard's FB account was also found to have
nearly 300 other 'friends', including other bike suppliers and
vendors as well as many other biking enthusiasts.
"Bernard was a known biking enthusiast.
"Nevertheless, inquiries persisted and subsequently
certain discrepancies were uncovered which led to the decision to
suspend Bernard from duty and to proceed with further
investigation."
Too little time, single
bid?
But there
were other questions - was there enough time for others to put in a
bid?
The invitation to quote a bid was published on government
procurement portal GeBiz on Jan 25, which was the third day
of Chinese New Year.
The closing date to quote was on Jan 30. During this
period, BikeHop was the only bidder.
"Concerned citizen" told TNP that he was trying to alert
the relevant authorities to relook the issue since many
Singaporeans had expressed their unhappiness with it online.
He made his posting about two weeks ago.
While the NParks officer may have been suspended, focus
is also on BikeHop after STB advised it to stop its cycling tours
because it does not have a Travel Agents (TA) licence.
STB said it will not hesitate to take action against
those who flout the rules and if convicted, they can be jailed up
to six months and/ or fined up to $5,000.
Ride hops stopped
BikeHop's management announced on its website last week
that it had stopped providing guided rides.
It said: "BikeHop riders will not be able to ride with
you for the time being. We are working on resuming our guided ride
services to you."
When contacted, BikeHop's managing director, Mr lawrence
Lim, said: "We have responded to STB's advisory and have updated
our website.
"When we have decided on our plans, we will share them
with the authorities to ensure there won't be any more
violation."
Regarding MND's investigations, Mr Lim said: "It is good
that the matter is investigated further. Hopefully, this will put
an end to the speculation online.
"We will cooperate with the authorities."
Mr Lim declined further comment.
Some
wonder if NParks could have got better deal
THE National Parks Board (NParks) bought 26 foldable
Brompton bicycles for its officers to use on patrols earlier this
year.
The purchase was first reported in Lianhe Zaobao on June
22, which also wrote about it in a commentary on June 24.
Some people then asked if the chosen bikes-which cost
$2,200 each - were too expensive.
The purchase attracted much attention in online
forums.
Some pointed out that BikeHop - the company NParks bought
the bikes from - is not the authorised distributor of Brompton
bikes in Singapore.The official dealer is Diginexx.
Others wondered if NParks could have found a better deal
if it had looked harder.
But NParks said it adhered to government procurement
requirements when buying the bicycles.
Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan said in a
blog post earlier this month that while he has no quarrel with the
choice of the bikes for NParks' Staff, the stat board may have
secured a better price if there had been more participation in the
bike deal.
He said: "I have asked MND (Ministry of National
Development) staff to discuss this case with our agencies, to see
if there are lessons which we can draw from this case.
"In all purchases we should always satisfy the criteria
of 'value for money' when public funds are involved."
NParks replies to TNP's
queries
Why were there only three working days as
the quotation period?
A: NParks' quotation was open for six
days, which included four working days.
This was allowed for such purchases under current
rules.
However, on hindsight, NParks agrees that it would have
been better to open the quotation for a longer period so as to
increase the opportunity and chances of more bidders
participating.
Why wasn't the tender process extended in
order to allow for more bidders?
A: As the proposal submitted met the
specifications and the quoted price was found to be reasonable
after comparing it with market prices at that time, NParks decided
to proceed with the purchase instead of calling for a re-tender to
secure more bidder participation.
On hindsight, greater prudence should have been exercised
to do so.
How does the Ministry respond to charges
that the specifications called for were so specific,onty one (type
of) bicycle could fit the requirements? For example, weight of
between 11-13kg, 16-inch wheels,etc.
A: As far as we are aware, this is not
true.
Based on NParks' product search and findings, there are
at least four foldable bikes that met the required specifications
within the budget range.
These are namely Flamingo, Dahon, Brompton and Bike
Friday. They are cqmparable in prices, with some bearing a higher
price tag than the Brompton bike model procured.
What changes will
MND be instituting with regards to the procurement
process?
A: MND is working with NParks as well as other
MND agencies to consider ways to strengthen our procurement
controls for tenders and quotations.
For a start, we have imposed additional oversight
requirements where single bids in any tenders are involved.
Appropriate approving authorities and proper
justifications will be required over and above the current
prbcurement procedures, to ensure that single bid awards are an
exception to the rule and when accepted, are confirmed after
critical assessment to be reasonable and justifiable.
We are also reviewing, in consultation with the Ministry
of Finance, other aspects of our procurement system like the
tender/quotation duration and are working towards an internal
procurement guide to advise and guide our officers in their
purchases.
We will continue our efforts to ensure that prudence is
always exercised in the use of public funds.
We are mindful that government purchases need to be
justified on a cost-benefit basis, that the procurement process
must be open and fair, and that decisions taken satisfy the
criteria of value for money.
News, The New Paper, Wednesday, July 25 2012, Pg 2-3
