Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/224217
25 Letters maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 DECEMBER 2013 Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Central Bank replies to Marilyn Mifsud With reference to the two articles entitled 'Acerbic procurement rules at CBM' and 'Scandals are Forever' – both written by Marilyn Mifsud – which appeared in the Midweed editions of this newspaper on 20 and 27 November 2013 respectively, the Central Bank of Malta would like to respond as follows: The Central Bank issued Tender 4/2013 – 'Survey on Household Finance and Consumption in Malta 2014' on 6 June. This Survey is a project which stems from the Bank's participation in the European System of Central Banks' household finance and consumption network (HFCN), as part of the co-ordinated research originating from the European Central Bank (ECB). The Survey is being co-ordinated across euro area participant countries, allowing international comparisons of the same data as well as a comprehensive national picture in each country, since the Survey is meant to achieve representativeness at country level. Indeed, the Survey provides the Central Bank of Malta and the ECB with micro-level data on households' finances and consumption trends. These data would allow important insights into the economic behaviour of households and their response to policy changes. The foregoing brief description of the Survey clearly highlights the importance of having accurate data and the need to have well trained and experienced interviewers and data compilers who need to extract delicate, sensitive and confidential information from 1,000 households who participate in the survey. To this effect, the Bank's tender award criteria, detailed in clause 3.37.1 of the tender document, listed the following: • Price–50%weighting • Previousexperienceand professional capacity to undertakeprojects–35% weighting • Organisationalstructureof theserviceprovider–10% weighting • Adherencetomeetthetarget dateandqualityassurance–5% weighting By the closing date (26 June 2013) three suppliers submitted their application for this tender. Risk Management Services Ltd (RMS) was one of the organisations which was not awarded the tender and which launched an objection procedure through its representatives George Mangion and Marilyn Mifsud. On1July2013,OPMCircular No 12/2013 was issued. Although the Central Bank has its own procurement regulations, independent from those of the public procurement governed by the Department of Contracts, it decided to implement the regulations outlined in the saidOPMCircular.Thelatter contained new conditions to ensure that precarious employment conditions are eliminated and one of the requirements was that service providers could not subcontract work to third parties. Such instructions came into effect immediately for any tender that was still to be awarded. It is relevant to note that the Bank felt that, in the light of good practice and in order to support the government's efforts to ensure that employment conditions of employees are safeguarded and guaranteed, it decided to adopt theconditionsoutlinedinOPM Circular No 12/2013 scrupulously. Indeed, it is surely not a question of the Bank accepting to be regulated by the Department of Contracts, as claimed by Mifsud. Rather, this criticism by Mifsud Tony Mejlaq was not asked to resign With reference to the article entitled 'Labour's Musical chairs in Government Corporations' published in the 24 November edition of this newspaper, the Ministry For Energy and The Conservation of Water denies that Tony Mejlaq was asked to resign from his post. As stated in the press release issued by the Ministry on 23 November, Mejlaq has resigned as he shall be moving on to new roles within the government, which will be announced at the appropriate moment. Mejlaq's resignation was in no way linked to the appointment of James Davis at Arms Ltd, as alleged in the article which also erroneously stated that James DavishasbeenappointedasCEO at Arms ltd when in fact Davis is servingasactingCEO. The ministry would like to take the opportunity to thank again Mejlaq for the sterling services provided in the roles of Chairman of the board of the Water Services Corporation and Arms Ltd. The ministry would also like to clarify that the appointments at Water Services Corporation will be announced soon. The Ministry would also like to point out that the article also erroneously stated that former Labour candidate and son of former Minister Wistin Abela, engineer Marjohn AbelawillbeappointedasCEO at Water Services Corporation. This is also not the case. As stated in the press release dated 23 November 2013, John Abela; a Computer Information Systems specialist has been appointed as Chairman of ARMS Ltd, not engineer Marjohn Abela. Lindsey Gambin Communications Coordinator Ministry For Energy and The Conservation of Water may be due to the fact that RMS had indicated in their initial tender submission that it was subcontracting part of the work to another organisation. Following the submission of the three tenders by 26 June, a panel was set up to evaluate the tenders. The evaluation process was undertaken in accordance with theBank'sPoliciesandProcedures which stipulate the composition of the evaluation team, namely officials from the business area who evaluate the technical side of the Tender and officials from Procurementwhoevaluatethe tender from an administrative and compliance perspective. The panel examined in detail the submissions of each tender, allocating marks to the various categories of each criterion as mentioned above. For each subcriterion, the evaluation report included a detailed explanation of the score awarded based on information provided by the tenderer and taking into account clarifications provided through exchange of correspondence or during the course of the various meetings held with the tenderers. In particular, the evaluation panel was very much concerned about the modus operandi of RMS in meeting the Bank's standards; guaranteeing that the interviewers are able to collect highly sensitive information (such as salaries and finances) from households. RMS did not have interviewing staff of their own to work on the survey should the tender be awarded to them. The modus operandi, as explained by Mangion during clarification meetings, initially was to sub-contract some aspects of the tender to another company. RMS would engage university students to work on the collection of data. Following the recruitment process, RMS planned to train these students to conduct interviews to gather such sensitive and confidential information from households during the first months of the year; a time when such students would be immersed in their studies to sit for their examinations. This way of working was not acceptable to the evaluation panel as it could compromise the quality and quantity of the fieldwork. RMS had claimed that students were academically trained and therefore able to interview households. However, what is required in such surveys is to have experienced and skilled interviewers who are able to put respondents at ease to extract accurate replies, given the delicate and sensitive issues discussed in the survey. Onthebasisoftheevaluation criteria indicated above, RMS scored highest on the price criterion because of its low price quotation but did not register a high score on the non-price criteria related to organisational structure, previous experience and professional ability to undertake projects and adherence to meet target date and quality assurance because of the reasons outlined above. Another company was preferred because, while it did not score highly on the basis of price, it obtained high scores for each of the other criteria, such that the overall score was higher than that obtained by RMS. The recommendation of the evaluation panel was discussed andapprovedbytheBank'sPolicy Advisory Committee and not by the Deputy Governor, as alleged by Mifsud. In accordance with the Bank's practice, unsuccessful tenderers are informed before the award of the tender to the successful tenderer in order to allow a 10day time window during which any unsuccessful tenderer could submit an objection. RMS filed a letter of complaint requesting a re-opening of the tender award decision-making process. Following this request, the Bank appointed aComplaintsOfficer,aretired senior official of the Bank who is respected for his integrity and experience in such matters, to undertake an independent review of the evaluation and award process. TheComplaintsOfficerexamined all the documents related to the Tender, including the final report of the evaluation panel. Thus, the assertion made by Mifsud in both articles that the Complaints Officerwasnotawareofthe winning bidder price during the investigation process is totally unfounded and clearly shows that she did not verify the facts before she published the information. TheComplaintsOfficeralsoheld meetings with the members of the evaluation panel and officials of the complainant company RMS, specifically Mangion. The ComplaintsOfficerconfirmedthat the evaluation process was carried out correctly and confirmed the Bank's evaluation outcome. As a result, the Bank has now awarded the tender to the successful bidder, details of which are published on the Bank's website. In conclusion the assertions made by Mifsud in both articles are totally unfounded and ignore the fact that RMS displayed serious technical deficiencies and limitations in its ability to carry out this project as requested. It would be much better for RMS to strengthen these deficiencies rather than embark on a baseless attack of the CBM and its evaluation team. As noted above, price was not the only consideration and in this case, limited technical competencies outweighed the price advantage. Stephen Attard Head of Communications Department Central Bank of Malta The solution to the irregular immigration problem Irregular immigration needs to be directly addressed by the United Nations – it is not a problem for Europe only. These men, women and children cross the desert risking their lives where they are often attacked, robbed and even taken captive. If they make it through Libya they risk their lives again by paying for a clandestine passage to Europe from unscrupulous human traffickers. They are crammed onto small boats probably dropped from larger vessels and left to find their way to Europe. All too often the rickety boats are overcrowded and sink. The lucky ones are spotted by the search and rescue vessels which patrol the sea and are taken to Lampedusa, Malta or Sicily. The European Asylum Support Officeishere.Hostingitwas a big mistake as it encourages immigrants to come to Malta to seek asylum. In our small country, it is impossible to absorb the huge numbers. Some which attain refugee status do find their way to the USA or other European countries but these placements are few compared to the numbers that arrive. I believe the solution is for the United Nations with the help of the rich countries to build a reception centre in Libya for all asylum seekers. Here, with the cooperation of the Libyan authorities, they would be given medical treatment, living quarters and protection while their status is decided. Countries from around the world could then take refugees from this centre as immigrants. The centre would be staffed by United Nations personnel. Any immigrants trying to cross to Europe would be immediately returned to Libya so it would be pointless for them to attempt a crossing. K. P. Galea Sliema Download the MaltaToday App now YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt