Chairman of the T&T Transparency Institute (TTTI) Dion Abdool on Monday declined an invitation from the National Infrastructure Development Company Limited (NIDCO) to review the tender documents for the Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla Project (CRHEM).
Contacted for comment, Abdool said the inspection of NIDCO tender documents was not the role of the TTTI.
"What we had asked for was disclosure of the process. A review of the tender documents is not our role. That is the role of an expert.
"We didn't cast blame on anyone. It was a cordial conversation with NIDCO," Abdool said.
Nidco recently awarded a $400 million contract to Kallco for phase one of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension to Manzanilla.
NIDCO had said it was wrong for the TTTI to claim there was no procurement legislation in place and noted its tender and procurement policies were strictly followed in the award of the contract.
"It is most unfortunate the TTTI would have put out a statement commenting on a tender and evaluation process that it had no factual knowledge of, save, it appears, what may have been carried in the media," NIDCO had said.
NIDCO then invited the TTTI’s chairman to a meeting at 10 am on Monday to review the procurement process used for the tendering, evaluation and awarding of that contract.
In a statement issued on Monday, NIDCO said: "It is most unfortunate the TTTI has missed this opportunity to see for itself the defined procurement process used for all of NIDCO’s projects, particularly the CRHEM project. NIDCO refutes any speculation and defamatory opinions that may have been caused by the statement released without due diligence by TTTI, for the CRHEM project, as well as future NIDCO projects," the statement said.
It added that employees, management and board of directors of NIDCO have" all been working assiduously" to create a high performance organisation, where integrity and ethics matter.
"However irresponsible comments made by the TTTI may have damaging effects on the morale and reputation of NIDCO’s staff.
"NIDCO stands committed to its mandate from the Government of T&T and continues to work towards the increase of the infrastructural value of our nation," the statement said.