GRDB explains procurement procedures  

Dear Editor

The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) wishes to advise the public on its procurement process in reference to a letter printed in the Guyana Chronicle on August 25, 2020.

The GRDB’s process of procurement follows the government’s policy with respect to procurement. A request for services originates from one of our departments, an invitation to tender is advertised in the daily newspapers and the Board’s social media pages for a number of days. If no bids are received by the deadline, the second method of restrictive tendering is used. This involves contacting persons on record at GRDB who previously bid and have the relevant services which are required.

All bids received are opened in the presence of the respective bidders who chose to attend the opening and then evaluated by an Evaluation committee. One mandatory criteria for evaluation is the submission of both NIS and GRA compliances. As such, any bidder that lacks these compliances are immediately disqualified.

An Evaluation report is then submitted to the Procurement Sub-Committee. This committee is comprised of members of the Board and staff members, and is chaired by a member of the Board of Directors. Based on the recommendations of the report provided by the Evaluation Committee, the Procurement Sub-Committee then makes a decision on whether or not to approve these recommendations.

The paddy that is sold to Millers by the GRDB is paddy that could not be classified as seed paddy. This is paddy that does not reach the necessary parameters to be termed as viable seed paddy, it is sold as regular paddy to be processed. Paddy that does not reach the quality to be termed as seed paddy was sold for $3100-$3200 per bag.

Nikosi Bruce 
Communication Officer