Tender and Evaluation Process for Bicycles Purchased by NParks

Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Government discovered any discrepancies in the recent purchase of Brompton bicycles by NParks; (b) whether the Ministry has investigated the purchase for possible breaches of procedures and possible conflict of interest between the sole tenderer and NParks officers and, if so, what are the results of the investigation; (c) what was the urgency in purchasing the bicycles which accounts for the unusually short tender window; and (d) whether the Ministry is reviewing its procurement procedures to introduce greater oversight of tender evaluations.

Mr Pritam Singh askedthe Minister for National Development with regard to the purchase of the Brompton bicycles, (a) what prompted the Ministry to initiate audit proceedings on the procurement process; and (b) what role did the online media, particularly the blog post on therealsingapore.com, play in (i) the Ministry's decision to report the matter to CPIB; and (ii) the Ministry's press statement on 24 July 2012.

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Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for National Development regarding the recent purchase of the Brompton foldable bicycles by NParks (a) what budget was established for the purchase; (b) whether it was benchmarked to any reference price points; and (c) what was the variance, if any, between the budget and the eventual cost of the Brompton bicycles chosen.

I first knew of the NParks' purchase of 26 Brompton foldable bicycles on 22 June after reading an article in the Lianhe Zaobao. That day, I asked NParks to explain and address two key questions. First, why the need for foldable bicycles; and second, whether the procurement had been conducted properly. NParks replied to me on 30 June.

On the first question, NParks explained that the use of bicycles would enable the park officers to cover more ground and complete more work each day than they could otherwise manage on foot. Their work-load has increased significantly over the last two years. For instance, an additional 50 km of newly-completed park connectors have become part of the area for them to inspect. Furthermore, they have increased the frequency of tree inspections by more than 30%, in response to changing weather patterns.

They decided on foldable bicycles to give the park officers greater flexibility as they can use public transport to reach their various work locations. The alternative is for an office van to fetch them and the bicycles to and from their deployment sites each day, and that will be more costly. Moreover, some of the inspection tracks require them to cross roads using overhead bridges. A foldable bicycle is easier for the park officers, especially our female officers.

NParks conducted a market study of foldable bicycles which would be durable enough to meet the demands of heavy usage of up to 40 km for each field inspection and have multiple gears to manage rough terrains. They also tried out several models, bringing them on public transport to assess their portability, compactness and weight. A proposal to acquire 26 foldable bicycles at a budget capped at $2,200 per unit was then submitted to and subsequently approved by the NParks top management.

I was satisfied with NParks' explanation on their decision to introduce foldable bicycles for some of its park officers, to do their work more productively.

On the second question pertaining to the procurement process, NParks explained that they had followed the Government procurement procedures. An open invitation-to-quote (ITQ), based on a set of general specifications, was published via the Government Electronic Business (GeBIZ) system. All Government agencies are required to publish quotations and tenders on the open platform of GeBIZ. It is to ensure equal opportunities to all suppliers in the market. This is an open transparent system which is well established and well-known in the industry.

NParks set aside a four-working day opening period for the ITQ, in line with the prevailing Government procurement rules then. When the quotation closed, NParks received two offers from one bidder: Brompton at $2,200 each and Bike Friday at $2,500 each. NParks proceeded to award the contract to the sole bidder for the less costly Brompton model.

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While NParks had adhered to the procurement rules, I had some misgivings on the procurement outcome. Whenever a quotation or a tender attracts a single bidder, my instinct is to ask "why?" There must be many bicycle dealers out there. Why did they not take part? Will a longer opening period attract more competitive bids? Although a single bid can be accepted under the public service procurement rules, I thought NParks could have recalled the quotation with a longer opening period to try and get more bids. With greater competition, I feel that NParks might have gotten a better deal.

That day, on 30 June, I tasked the MND Internal Audit Team to scrutinise this transaction to see if there were shortcomings and whether there were lessons which we could learn from this episode. The MND Internal Audit Team concluded its investigation on 20 July. It went through NParks' internal investigation report, interviewed the relevant officers and external parties. It discovered several discrepancies and other evidence which collectively pointed to the possibility of bias in the procurement. As the findings were materially significant, we decided to report the matter to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on 23 July. The next day, we issued a press statement to keep the public informed.

Mr Pritam Singh asked about the role of the online media in our investigation. In any investigation, we look at all inputs, regardless of the source or the medium through which they are expressed. We, hence, welcome information, wherever they come from. In this specific case, the online media discussion made two observations. First, some netizens shared information on the various types of foldable bikes and their price range. This was helpful as it added to the body of information that the MND Audit team had collected as part of their investigation. Second, some netizens observed that the NParks officer involved in the purchase and the successful bidder were Facebook "friends". This piece of information was not new as the MND Audit Team working with NParks management had earlier examined the officer's Facebook and had noted over 300 Facebook "friends", among whom was not only the successful bidder but the other bike suppliers as well.

What was material to our decision to refer the case to the CPIB investigation were some disclosures by certain parties interviewed by the Audit Team. These critical facts were duly reported to the CPIB.

The CPIB investigations are still on-going. We should observe the due process of the law to allow all facts of the case to be surfaced in due course before passing any judgement.

Meanwhile, MND has tightened its procurement controls and introduced new measures to enhance oversight. In line with the procurement changes announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam last month, we have set seven working days instead of four, as the minimum opening period for the quotations called by our Statutory Boards in GeBIZ to encourage participation from more suppliers. Departments are also free to recall the quotations with a longer opening period if they feel that this would help secure more competitive bids. In addition, for quotations resulting in single bids, MND now requires any such awards to be cleared in person by the CEO or Deputy CEOs of our agencies. MND has also updated its internal procurement guide to sensitise and guide all our officers in their purchases.

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Let me stress that we do not and will not condone any wrong-doing. When we discover it, we will not flinch from taking the right course of action. But we must do so in a measured and reasonable way. In the pursuit of justice, we should always act and conduct ourselves in a manner that is dispassionate, balanced and fair to all parties.

Sir, I would like to ask two supplementary questions. First, how was the budget of $2,200 determined? In my view, this is high. Second question, are there any other cheaper bicycles that can equally do the job?

As I have explained in the reply, the NParks officers involved in this purchase did some market research, checked out various models and ascertained their retail prices. And based on that, they made their decision or made a judgement call that $2,200 as the upper-bound of the budget would be adequate. Whether it is high or low depends on needs, which really is the second question. Are there cheaper bikes? Of course, there are all kinds of bikes. I used to cycle as a kid. I remember my bicycle, at that time, was less than a hundred dollars, but the market price of such cheap units now is probably a couple of a hundred dollars. So, there is a wide range.

Members may have read in the newspapers that I have been cycling, picking up an old hobby but with a purpose because I wanted to check out our park connectors. I have covered many stretches of park connectors by now. My sense is this – the different stretches of park connectors are of different nature and the needs for bicycle type vary. For example, when I cycled with my Bruneian counterpart at the Punggol Waterway, it was an easy stretch. I think a low-cost, simple bicycle without gears, costing maybe a couple of hundred dollars, would suffice. But unfortunately, our NParks officers do not have a choice. We do have park connector stretches which the Hokkiens say "teruk". [Interruptions] Not Hokkiens. The Malays call it "teruk". [Laughter]

I had problems with some of those stretches myself. But, more importantly, what convinced me about the need for foldable bikes is that I have seen some stretches where we actually had to carry the bicycles up the overhead bridges. It might be temporary but whatever it is, that is part of the design of the park connectors at this point in time. It is not easy. If the Member would like to join me in some of my cycling trips, she is most welcome. Carrying all those bicycles, as I have said, is challenging, especially for our female staff.

So, I am convinced of the need for foldable bikes. Once we go in to foldable bikes, then again, there is a wide range. In fact, as I have cycled with my NParks colleagues, what I noticed was that many of them used their own bikes and when I checked with them, looked at their bikes, I found that their bikes are not cheap at all. Several thousands of dollars, but they buy it on their own. The question is, should an employer continue to take advantage of this – just because your staff have their own bicycles? The management decided that they should provide bicycles to some, not to everyone, but to some, depending on needs, and then the requirements will vary as to the requirements of the jobs.

I have deliberately tried out various models of bicycles. I have tried simple bicycles. I have tried a fixed frame bicycle, unfoldable. I have tried two different brands of foldable bikes by now, with different capabilities. As I said, if the tender has attracted many more bids, the outcome might have been very different. That is the reason why I posted that first blog comment to express some misgivings, in fact, unhappiness, that I think if we had attracted a wider range of bids, even for foldable bikes, we might have received a better deal.

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I would like to thank the Minister for his reply. According to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, in his reply to Member of Parliament Cedric Foo in this House last month, Deputy Prime Minister stated that competency in procurement procedures amongst civil servants has been a problem, and that delegation and supervision are also concerns. Can the Minister please elaborate on how the procurement of assets and expendables has been tightened in his Ministry since the Brompton bicycle scandal broke out?

What action has the Ministry taken to ensure that a similar incident will not occur in future? I ask this because Deputy Prime Minister Tharman mentioned that "the core of the clean and functioning procurement system lies on the active oversight and supervision within each Ministry and agency". It will be helpful if the Minister could inform the House what changes have been made in the Ministry of National Development.

Sir, I thought that was already in my reply.

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