Rebound in Dakar. The urban and peri-urban water leasing contract has been provisionally awarded to Suez. This is the decision taken by the Central Procurement Department (Dcmp) validating, she said, the choice of a bid evaluation committee set up at the Ministry of Hydraulics …
The French group temporarily supplants the Senegalese Water Company (Sde), a subsidiary of Eranove, belonging to the US Emerging Capital Partners Fund. Far from giving up, the SDE, which ensures the distribution of water since 1996 heard by the voice of its director general, Souleymane Baal, file a gracious appeal before the Ministry of Hydraulics. In case of failure, a contentious request to the Public Market Regulatory Authority (Armp) is not to be dismissed in what would be a kind of return to square one. The
As a reminder, Suez had already been designated provisional purchaser in October 2018 before being withdrawn the market following the recourse of its two other competitors.
A few weeks ago (March 2019), the Suez award procedure was declared contrary to the “principle of transparency” by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority. The award had therefore been canceled and the authority had requested a review of the three files – SDE, Veolia and Suez – by the commission of the Ministry of Hydraulics. It has renewed its original choice, namely Suez, retained for the first time last October.
At least Mansour Faye, former minister in charge of this portfolio, bequeaths a hot potato to his successor, Mbaye Thiam, who should review the appeal presented within 5 days after notification of the provisional appointment. “I simply recall that this is a procedure that has been carried out in a transparent and independent manner. This procedure is not tainted by any irregularities. This is a normal procedure, because bidders have the opportunity to appeal if they are not happy or satisfied, “said the outgoing minister.
The new Minister of Water and Sanitation is reassuring: “everything will be done in the rules of art, because Senegal is a country of law”, he said on the sidelines of the ceremony of provision of services.
The award process of this contract is fueling controversy. The latest delivery of the French weekly Le Canard enchaîné, revealing Thursday, April 11, the delivery of five dump trucks for the collection of garbage in the city of Saint Louis (whose mayor is none other than Minister Mansour Faye him -before) before the tender comes to add water to the mill of all those who are wondering how the offer of Suez, yet more expensive than that of the SDE, was retained.
