Land And Legal Affairs Minister Questions OPR’s Handling Of HDC Housing Contracts

Minister of Land and Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein has highlighted several instances of alleged bid rigging and what he described as differential treatment by the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR).

During his contribution to the budget debate on Monday, he said a $475 million contract awarded to China Harbour Engineering Company for the Housing Development Corporation’s Santa Rosa Housing Development was later cancelled by the former administration, citing an evaluation report.

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“The internal estimates were $300 million but they awarded a contract to China Harbour, which was $175 million more than the internal estimates. 175 million more. I am told, Mr Speaker, that one of the contractors would have made a challenge of this particular award to the OPR. And you know what happened? They were afraid that all of the information get out there. So you know what they do, Mr Speaker? They run and cancel it. They cancel it.”