LAHORE: The tenders related to the shrimp farming goods procurement are likely to be cancelled as a team looking into the complaints regarding the suspicious bidding process has completed the inquiry and submitted a report to the Forest, Wildlife and Fisheries Department secretary.

“I have not read the inquiry report. But I have come to know that the inquiry team headed by the department additional secretary (admin) has reached a consensus to better recommend for cancellation and refloat the tenders to remove grievances of the affected bidders and ensure transparency in the process,” a senior official source privy to the development told Dawn on Friday.

“I think it is a good decision,” he said.

On the other hand, a couple of bidders have filed written complaints with the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and the fisheries department.

“We have complained to the PPRA against the fisheries department for not accepting our technical bid in hard copies after we found the online portal inoperative, making us unable to submit the papers online. Though, under the law, the department was liable to accept the bid in hard copy in such a situation, it didn’t do so,” a bidder told this scribe while sharing the glitch in submitting the bidding papers online.

According to the complaint filed by another bidder, the bid was successfully uploaded on the online portal but it couldn’t be found on the portal when the tender was opened. On inquiring, the fisheries department told the complainant that it might be due to the system glitches.

“In such a situation, the government must take action by ensuring a transparent bidding process for a healthy competition among all bidders,” the complainant told this reporter.

It may be recalled that the ongoing tendering amid a corrigendum at the eleventh hour for the procurement of shrimp-related articles created doubts from some of the bidders, who believe that some ‘special people’ are likely to be facilitated allegedly by the fisheries department to win the project. The situation turned suspicious after a corrigendum was covertly uploaded on the EPADS website on Tuesday night — just two days before the tender opening date, including Feb 5 holiday.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2025