RADA – 33 Road Contracts Valued at $521 MILLION Awarded Without Tender

Auditor General's Findings

In 2015, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority became the implementing agency for the Farm Road Rehabilitation Programme (FRRP). According to the Auditor General’s Performance Report on the RADA’s Management of Farm Roads (October 2019)

1. Direct procurement and emergency methodologies for 33 (of 112) contracts valuing $520.93M were utilised by RADA although the allowable circumstances permitting the direct and emergency procurement methodologies were not met. For instance, in 25 of the 33 direct and emergency contracts valuing $401M (77 per cent) RADA’s justification for the use of these methodologies did not conform with the procurement guidelines.
2. Tender Evaluation Reports (TER) for the 112 contracts examined (valued at $1.6 Billion), revealed no evidence that RADA assessed bidders to determine whether they met the minimum qualifying criteria in compliance with the Instruction to Bidders and Procurement Guidelines. RADA was unable to indicate the basis on which contractors were preselected for an invitation to bid on the road rehabilitation contracts. The Agency’s justification for the use of these methodologies did not conform with the procurement guidelines.