No bidding in awarding ventilator supply contracts, delivery delayed

Health Minister Abdulla Ameen, on Wednesday, said that the government had contracted the procurement of ventilators to private companies without a formal bidding process, and that the decision to bypass a formal bidding process had been made out of the need to secure ventilators as soon as possible.

South Machangolhi MP Ahmed Haitham had asked the Health Minister to present details regarding the bidding process, if any had been held, for the procurement of ventilators.

Ameen answered the query in a letter addressed to the Parliament Speaker this morning.

TWO MALDIVES-BASED COMPANIES, ONE DUBAI-BASED COMPANY AWARDED CONTRACTS

He said the policy committee had made the decision to increase ventilators in Maldives to 200 to prep up the health system for a potential escalation in virus cases in Maldives on March 15, following which the Health Ministry gathered the necessary information and drew up specifications, and on March 18, sought quotations from three Maldives-based companies via email.

Ameen said that the three companies were trusted companies which had supplied medical instruments and machineries in the past, and were judged by the Health Ministry to be capable of supplying the necessary ventilators.

“Ministry’s technical team reviewed the quotations and specifications sent by these three companies, found them to be suitable, and given that these machines were urgently needed, two companies were selected and contracted to supply them under single source procurement on March 19,” says Ameen in his letter.

Naadu Private Limited was contracted to supply 26 ventilators for MVR 8.3 million, Medtech Maldives Private Limited was contracted to supply 50 ICU ventilators for MVR 14.4 million, and later, Dubai-based Executors General Trading LLC was contracted to supply 75 ventilators through the World Health Organization (WHO) for MVR 34 million.

Ameen said the companies which had been awarded the contracts were facing major challenges in supplying the ventilators within the promised timeframe; lockdowns on countries which produce ventilators, disruption in the operations of companies which produce ventilators, and the surge in demand for ventilators in countries which produce them, as well as other powerful countries across the globe.

He said the companies had informed the Health Ministry that those factors, coupled with transport disruptions, could delay the supply of the ventilators.

The companies said they had not expected to face the challenges when they had issued the quotations, he said.

The Health Ministry, after the companies said they had already paid manufacturers for the ventilators but were facing challenges in receiving the supply of the ventilators, met with officials from the companies for discussions regarding how the government may help to ease the problem, and had supplied the companies with additional documents they had requested.

Ameen said that the Health Ministry had awarded the contract to supply ventilators through WHO to Dubai-based Executors General Trading LLC because the local companies may face challenges in accessing ventilators.

Executors General Trading LLC had been awarded the contract on April 2, also under single source procurement.

ANTICIPATED DELIVERY DATES

According to Ameen, Medtech said it expected a shipment of 18 of its ventilators to reach Maldives on May 1, a shipment of 10 more ventilators on May 15, and said it would keep Health Ministry appraised of delivery dated for additional ventilators as soon as it received confirmation.

Executors General Trading, too, said it expected a shipment of 10 of its ventilators to reach Maldives on May 1.

Meanwhile, Naadu informed the Health Ministry on April 22 that the manufacturer of its 26 ventilators was delayed in production, and that it was now exploring alternative options.