Hong Kong lawmakers have called for tougher vetting of bidders for government tenders, accusing authorities of accepting information submitted by companies at face value after awarding a HK$52.9 million (US$8.8 million) bottled water contract to a firm suspected of deception.
In the tender document provided by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau on Thursday, the government said it would consider a bid based on various factors, including whether it complied with sample evaluation, delivery and certification requirements, and whether the manufacturer could meet the required annual production capacity.
But the document pointed out that bids would be “evaluated based on the tender price” without prejudice to other rights and powers of the government not to consider a tender under other applicable provisions.
It also specifically required the tenderer to declare whether any professional misconduct, convictions for serious offences in Hong Kong or overseas such as bribery or dishonesty, and other specified events, had occurred.
