With a quote of Tk 64 crore, which is Tk 30 crore lower than the second and third lowest offers, the bidder, DCL & Associates, may in fact build the plant with substandard and inadequate materials, said sources.

After scrutinising the tender process, the review panel has concluded that if this contract is awarded to the so-called lowest bidder, the purpose of the tender will not be properly served.

The recommendation of the technical evaluation committee (TEC) for accepting the bid of DCL & Associates as the lowest evaluated bid has violated the provisions of Public Procurement Regulations 2003 and lacks in transparency, the panel observed in its report submitted to the government last week.

It recommended that the bid be rejected and the procuring entity (Project Director) re-evaluate the remaining responsive bids in line with the relevant PPR provisions.

Earlier, the Chittagong Wasa tried to get clearance for this tender from the cabinet purchase committee. But the committee became suspicious after a member of the tender's technical evaluation committee had registered a note of dissent.

Meanwhile, the second lowest bidder, smelling foul play, lodged a formal complaint on July 10 with the Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation Department (IMED) of the planning ministry. In response, the IMED formed the three-member review panel.

The review panel in its report also slammed the project director of the work, chairman of Chittagong Wasa and secretary of local government for 'their wilful negligence' in disposing of the complaints.

"The three entity mentioned above are personally liable for the wilful violation of mandatory provisions of the PPR," the report said adding that finally the complaint has to be referred to the review panel after failing to get response from the authorities concerned.

This is not the first time that a review panel has given a verdict on a tender process.

Last year, another review panel gave a report against selection of Chinese company Harbin for the Chandpur 150-MW power project. The cabinet committee, however, had trashed the review panel's recommendations and upheld the selection.

This time, the review panel headed by AFM Nazmul Hossain Choudhury, ex-chairman of BTTB, has scanned the tender documents and found that DCL & Associates had deviated much in certain areas in the second-stage bid from those of the opening stage in gross violation of the PPR regulations.

"The minimum [value of] construction experience for a foreign firm in a single work within last five years was Tk 50 crore while the value shown by DCL-SBA was Rs [rupees] 18.06 crore which was much below the required Tk 50 crore when converted. This was later corrected by submitting a new document," the panel report reads.

The panel found wide discrepancies in pile work between the first stage and second stage by the DCL and Associates, but such variations are not permissible during the second stage where only price is to be quoted.

Besides, spares/equipment having financial implications have been drastically reduced in the second stage, which too is not permissible.

Similar deviations were rectified in about 100 items through a series of clarifications which amounts to giving the bidder undue opportunity to make correction. In the process, substantial and material changes took place in the offer of DCL-SBA.

Regulation 31 (5) of PPR may interpret this as a negotiation with the bidder, the panel observed.

The review panel then recommended that the authorities expedite the entire process from evaluation to awarding the contract, taking into consideration the extreme urgency for increased water supply in the port city. The work has yet to begin although about three years have passed since the prime minister laid foundation for the plant.

It also asked the procuring entity to submit its recommendation to the approving authorities within two weeks from the date of receipt of the review panel's decision.

Earlier, a two-stage tender was invited for a 90 MLD (million litres of water daily) surface water treatment plant at Mohara on a turn-key basis. Out of 13 pre-qualified bidders, eight submitted first-stage tender in September last year. Of them, four were evaluated responsive.

Thereafter, all the responsive bidders submitted quote for the work. The DCL and Associates quoted Tk 63 crore, Singly dro-SAHCO JV Tk 95 crore, EPI-BFEW Consortium Tk 95 crore and CAMCE-CNMEDRI-ABCJV Tk 190 crore.

The technical evaluation committee found DCL and Associates and EPI-BFEW responsive and the other two firms non-responsive. The ministry then recommended for the DCL and Associates to win the work as the lowest bidder.