The government today blacklisted Omni Business Corporate International (OBCI) – that was involved in a controversial procurement deal of medical supplies – for one year.
Issuing a public notice today, the Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) has said that Omni will not be qualified for any public bidding for the next one year.
The decision of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office – at the recommendation of the Department of Health (DoH) – came amid allegations that the government has been protecting the ‘controversial company’. The company has been blamed for charging several times more than the actual costs of the medical equipment it supplied to the government.
Earlier, the parliamentary committees had also shown serious concerns over the government's motive behind not blacklisting the Omni.
The Department of Health had – on April 1 – decided to cancel the procurement deal with the Omni after there was huge public opposition as the company – believed to be owned by the relatives of those in the government – was found to have charged exorbitantly high prices for the medical supplies.
The department – under Health Ministry – had reached an agreement with the Omni to procure necessary medical equipment from China, but the decision courted controversy as the contract had been awarded to Omni without any competitive bidding process.
Meanwhile, the Public Procurement Monitoring Office has also blacklisted construction companies including Shree Arun Construction at Maiwakhola in Taplejung for a year and Shree BT/Taudaha/Phasku JV for two years, for their failure to complete the tasks on time.
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