The Office of the Public Auditor affirmed the Division of Procurement and Supply's decision to deny the appeal filed by GPPC Inc. in its protest in connection with the multi-million Puerto Rico dump final closure project.
In a Nov. 18 decision, Public Auditor Michael Pai affirmed the decision of Procurement and Supply director Herman Sablan to deny GPPC's protest over ITSI's bid package that it said was not timely postmarked by July 24.
The third addendum to the invitation for bid for the Puerto Rico dump final closure project, DPW-09-IFB-019, required local bidders to submit their bid packages by 10am on July 24.
Off-island bidders had to have their bids postmarked by July 24 and received by the Division of Procurement and Supply within seven days of that date.
The bid package of ITSI, one of the participating firms, was postmarked just after 4pm Pacific Daylight Time on July 24 in Ygnacio, California, and was received twice by the Division of Procurement and Supply, first on July 28 and again on Aug. 4.
GPPC argued ITSI's bid package was not timely postmarked since it should have been mailed by 10am local time even though the bidder was in California, and was not timely received.
OPA said GPPC timely filed its protest on Aug. 13.
Not having received a decision from the Procurement and Supply director in the requisite 20 calendar days or being given notice it was a complex issue, GPPC appealed to OPA on Sept. 22.
A day later, the Procurement and Supply director released his decision on the protest.
OPA gave GPPC additional time to supplement its appeal should it wish to address the issues raised in the director's Decision.
GPPC argued that OPA's review should be de novo since the director's decision was late.
“OPA found that the director's delay was harmless error, though OPA concluded it would have reached the same result had it decided the matter de novo, because the dates on the documents were independently verifiable. OPA affirmed the director's decision that the bid was timely postmarked and timely received, and that Procurement and Supply did not err in moving the bid opening back a day in order to give off-island bidders the full seven days after July 24 to have their bids received,” OPA said.
In his six-page decision, the public auditor said GPPC, any interested party who submitted comments during consideration of the protest, the director, or any agency involved in the protest, may request reconsideration of a decision by the public auditor.
The request, he said, must contain a detailed statement of the factual and legal grounds for which reversal or modification is deemed warranted, specifying any errors of law made or information not previously considered.
In May, the Department of Public Works said the Puerto Rico Dump's final closure project had a total of $11.2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs.
The dump had been a source of water pollution for over 50 years and its final closure is expected to greatly reduce the dump's adverse impacts on the surrounding ocean ecosystem.
Since 2003, the Puerto Rico dump has not received additional garbage but federal regulations require it to be completely closed pursuant to strict environmental rules and policies. The local government plans to close the dump and convert the area into a public park.
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