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Pikitup’s Nair speaks out on tender

Pikitup boss Amanda Nair took out a full-page advertisement in several daily newspapers on Tuesday to justify her decision to award a R263 million contract to a firm implicated in alleged fraud. The Star revealed last week that Nair had awarded a contract to Aqua Transport Plant Hire, even though the City of Joburg bid adjudication committee (BAC) had questioned her decision because a forensic investigation by Ernst & Young had implicated the company in alleged wrongdoing. Pikitup paid almost R6m for Ernst & Young to investigate companies providing services to it. It was recommended that Aqua be charged criminally for fraud because of alleged irregular activities, including suspected tender collusion.

In today’s advert, Nair says the BAC recommended Aqua be given the contract. This is despite the fact that the committee met in January and refused to recommend that Aqua be granted the contract. It said that if Nair wanted the deal to go ahead, she should issue a letter stating she was comfortable with the tender going to Aqua. In today’s ad, Nair says there was full compliance with all tender processes. “I deemed it appropriate to ensure full probity throughout the Yellow Plant tender process and to this end, a firm of forensic auditors was appointed to conduct a full due diligence of every step. “The final assessment… was that the process was fair, open and transparent… there was no reason for myself, as the accounting officer, not to award the tender to Aqua.

“I also requested a peer review of external auditors prior to approving the recommendation of the BAC to conduct a review… as I anticipated the process and award may well be placed under scrutiny. They arrived at the same conclusions as the forensic auditors. “Pikitup has had to make some tough changes… not everyone is comfortable with the change or has the appetite to go through with it.” Nair explains the utility’s education tour to Austria and Germany by saying Pikitup needs to learn from the best. “Both countries are at the cutting edge of alternative waste technology. Our choice of appropriate technology must be informed by a first-hand understanding of available technologies,” she says.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Pikitup’s Nair speaks out on tender

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