Ministry of Agriculture’s NDIA debunks Stabroek News Letter on Procurement of Pumps
The Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) wishes to debunk incorrect and erroneous statements made in a letter in the Stabroek News titled” Ministry of Agriculture needs to respond to queries regarding procurement of Morrison Pumps” dated March 11th, 2022 by Mr. Justin Defreitas, concerning the procurement of pumps.
In a previous statement, the ministry noted that the NDIA had issued public advertisement of tenders for construction of pump stations across the country. Successful bidders of these projects would then work with consultants of these projects in putting forward designs in accordance with specifications laid out in the contract. Once these specifications are met, a “No Objection” is issued by the NDIA. However, in some instances more due diligence is done by the NDIA.
Hence, at no time does the NDIA direct the contractor where the pumps should be sourced from. Therefore, the statement by Mr. Defreitas that the NDIA is recommending and directing contractors to source pumps from a particular company is untrue since it is the contractors who source their manufacturers and suppliers of pumps.
Recently, some contractors would have recommended the Morrison Pump Company. The NDIA then wrote the Guyana Consulate in Florida to verify the authenticity of the company as a manufacturer of drainage pumps. The Guyana Consulate indicated that the company was not defunct but was an active unit of Patterson Pump Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gorman-Rupp companies.
Further, each contract provides for testing of pumps at facilities of the manufacturing company by the NDIA as was done in the case of the India Line of Credit pumps. The same would occur for any pump that is being sourced. Therefore, engineers would be sent to the manufacturing facilities to verify and approve that the pumps are being done to specifications.
Notably, in 2013 NDIA engineers visited and evaluated pumps manufactured, which were found to be defective and were wholly rejected. However, in 2018-2019 the previous government procured pumps from an Indian manufacturer and accepted pumps which are now encountering operational difficulties.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s NDIA urges that persons contact the entity regarding issues before putting incorrect and ill-advised statements in the public domain.