Circumvention of certain provisions of the legislation by the Tender Board and the Competent Authority for Public Contracts for the tenders issued for the provision of fire-fighting equipment, identified by the Audit Office in its Special Report on "Audit of the Forestry Department's Management of Aerial Firefighting Equipment Contracts".
Specifically, under the provisions of Article 116 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus and Article 81 of the Fiscal Responsibility and Fiscal Framework Law (Law 20(I)/2014), the Audit Office conducted an audit of the procedures for the procurement of helicopters and aeroplanes for air firefighting operations during the summer periods, as well as the procedures for the purchase of firefighting aeroplanes by the Forestry Department.
General conclusions
In its general conclusions, the Audit Office indicates that "the Department, as the Contracting Authority for the tenders included in this Report, has not adequately applied the public procurement legislation and the basic principles contained therein which should govern public procurement. Although it is understood/accepted by all that the provision of flying fire-fighting equipment is an urgent need of particular importance to the Republic of Cyprus, this cannot be an excuse for circumventing the provisions of the relevant legislation, which, if properly applied, would give the best desired result".
It also notes that "omissions and incorrect handling in some cases, which are recorded in this Report, were also made on the part of the Tender Board and the Competent Authority for Public Procurement".
"All of the above, combined with the specificity of the prevailing conditions as shaped by the war in Ukraine, led to the award of contracts at much higher prices, in the absence of healthy competition, to the detriment of the public", the Audit Office underlines in its report.
"The conduct of studies by committees composed of officials from various departments, three in number to date, for which detailed reference is made in the Special Report of our Office No. TD/01/2021, "Evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the measures implemented by the Forestry Department in relation to forest fire prevention", with different conclusions and without clear and substantiated recommendations, perpetuates and exacerbates the problem that has existed since the day of the first tender for the lease of aircraft by the Republic of Cyprus until today, during which there is reduced/zero competition, since in most cases only one economic operator participates," it adds in its general conclusions.
General recommendations
In its report, the Audit Office recommends the strict application of all the provisions of the "public procurement legislation depending on the procedure followed, and that appropriate tender documents be prepared on the basis of the above provisions, also taking into account the prevailing market conditions and specificities of the market at the material time for each object for which the tender is being held".
It also recommends: 'that serious consideration be given to the possibility of entrusting to a committee of specialists/experts/consultants, selected through a transparent and competitive procedure, the study of the needs of the Republic of Cyprus in terms of fire-fighting equipment, not only volatile, depending on its needs, the morphology of the terrain and the existing infrastructure'.
"As a result of the inability of the State to resolve this problem through permanent solutions, and the recourse from time to time to the appointment of various committees, has made the public hostage to monopolistic situations, resulting in a spectacular/excessive increase in the proportional cost which has been presented in recent tenders for the lease of helicopters and fire-fighting planes", the Audit Office underlines.
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