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OPA denies appeal in Tinian’s gym project
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Posted on Jul 15 2008
The Office of the Public Auditor has denied a procurement appeal filed by a failed bidder for the Tinian gymnasium project.
OPA, in a decision issued yesterday, said the CNMI Division of Procurement and Supply was correct in declining the protest by Resources Management International Corporation over the rejection of its bid for the hardening and retrofitting of the Tinian gymnasium.
RMIC, co-owned by Joaquin Manglona, Perry Inos, and Antonio Rasiang, submitted the lowest bid, $95,488, for the project. The company’s bid was about $60,000 less than the next two lowest bids.
However, RMIC’s bid was rejected after the Procurement and Supply director found that RMIC “does not have a satisfactory performance record or the necessary organization, necessary, experience and skills to successfully perform the contract.” The director’s conclusion was based on the evaluations of the Department of Public Safety’s buildings on Rota and Tinian, which are two of the construction projects RMIC recently completed.
RMIC protested the bid rejection, saying the determination about the company’s non-responsibility was unsubstantiated. When the Procurement Division denied the protest, RMIC filed the appeal with OPA. The company asked OPA to reverse the Procurement Division’s decision and order the director to award the contract to RMIC.
Public Auditor Michael Sablan affirmed the director’s authority to determine whether a proposed contractor is responsible or not. He added that the director’s decision appeared to be reasonable and based on a fair evaluation of RMIC’s previous work.
“It is well settled that contracting officers have wide discretion in determining responsibility. Determining a proposed contractor’s ability to perform a contract requires a projection and is essentially an exercise of business judgment. Although that judgment must be based on fact, reached in good faith, and within CNMI Procurement Regulations and the law, it must be left largely in the hands of the director,” Sablan said.
