The Minister of Works and Engineering has accused former Auditor General Larry Dennis of making "irresponsible" and "evil" comments over his questioning of Government's tendering process.
Derrick Burgess accused Mr. Dennis of implying improper motives during an interview with The Royal Gazette on August 28.
"To say that I was dismayed by a number of comments attributed to the former Auditor General would be understatement indeed," said Mr. Burgess.
"By suggesting that 'the tendering process in Bermuda is really a sham' and that 'we have very few open tenders', Mr. Dennis is by innuendo impugning my integrity, the integrity of the Government that I serve, and the integrity of civil servants within the Ministry of Works and Engineering.
"These kinds of comments can easily be characterised as mischievous and evil."
He said: "I am particularly surprised and disappointed by Mr. Dennis's statement that he is unable to think of one construction project 'which was proper'.
"Mr. Dennis has expressed concern in the past about the Magistrates' Court/Hamilton Police Station construction project. These concerns have been addressed fully in Parliament, elsewhere in the public domain, and before the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Assembly.
"Allegations of mismanagement or improper conduct of the project have been refuted outright and, I believe, to the satisfaction of any impartial observer.
"Mr. Dennis has no detailed knowledge of the many other construction projects managed by this Ministry. If he had, he would know that they are managed properly, that is, in accordance with best management practices and Financial Instructions."
Mr. Burgess said: "It is most alarming that a former civil servant with more than thirty years' experience in a senior role should make such irresponsible remarks.
"Mr. Dennis seems to be concerned about those instances where construction projects are sole-sourced or where invitations to bid are extended to only a small group of contractors.
"After more than thirty years in his former role, Mr. Dennis should be intimately familiar with Financial Instructions and with Government's tendering process.
"He should know, therefore, that it is permissible for jobs to be sole-sourced when: a particular body of expertise is known to exist in a certain company; when a company has performed outstanding work in the past on a specific project and is, therefore, extremely familiar with it; when a particular company is known to offer financial guarantees that others cannot offer; or when time constraints militate against the normal public tendering process, for example.
"He should know that in all of those cases measures are in place to ensure that the public's money is expended appropriately.
"Citing the Magistrates' Court/Hamilton Police Station construction project, Mr. Dennis expresses concern as he has done ad infinitum in the past about the fact that the contract was not awarded to the contractor who was recommended by the Ministry's technical team.
"Mr. Dennis should know that Cabinet is not obliged to accept the recommendations of the technical team, nor is it obliged to accept the lowest bidder.
"On occasion, matters unknown to the technical committee are taken into consideration by Cabinet, matters that lead Cabinet to the decision that it would be in the best interests of the community as a whole if a contract is awarded to one bidder rather than another. There is nothing improper or unethical about that process. And the former Auditor General knows that.
"Similarly, the former Auditor General will be aware that in cases where a particular service is offered by only a small number of local companies (for example, companies that are certified by the Ministry of Health to engage in asbestos abatement), then it is sensible and practicable to invite only those companies to submit bids it would be a waste of time to invite bids from companies that do not possess Ministry of Health certification. And the former Auditor General should know that.
"Mr. Dennis refers to a Police probe that is focusing on possible wrongdoing within the public service. Let me state emphatically that the Ministry of Works and Engineering, in collaboration with the Head of the Civil Service, drew to the attention of the Bermuda Police Service and the Office of the Auditor General possible financial impropriety within one of its Departments.
"I have zero-tolerance for wrongdoing in any realm of our operation. We have nothing to hide. It is for that reason that when the former Auditor General wrote in January of this year to inform me that he was to conduct a value-for-money audit of the Magistrates' Court/Hamilton Police Station construction project, I instructed my Permanent Secretary to advise him that we would cooperate fully with the audit.
"I reiterate: we have nothing to hide. It was only when we suspected that the former Auditor General was not conducting the audit fairly or ethically that we withdrew from the process, albeit for a short period.
"I close by making the point that the Ministry of Works and Engineering welcomes any assistance that the Office of the Auditor General is able to offer to ensure that we maintain high standards of fiscal responsibility."
