MPs start discussing bill to exclude law breakers from tenders

The House watchdog committee on Tuesday began discussing a bill aiming to ban companies proven to have broken the law from tendering for public contracts.

Speaking to reporters after the session, AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou said the bill as submitted by the government (the Treasury) was deficient.

“As it stands the bill has significant gaps, as the accompanying regulations were not also submitted,” she said.

MPs have therefore asked the Treasury to prepare the regulations as swiftly as possible so that they can go to the plenum as a package.

Lawmakers hope this could be done before parliament is dissolved ahead of May’s legislative elections, Charalambidou added.

This was important, as a delay now would mean the bill would likely not be passed until November.

In the meantime, companies in breach of the terms of a public tender, or found to have engaged in unlawful activities (corruption) would not suffer the sanctions provided for in the bill, which is not retroactive.

“Those who dished out bribes, and still do, must not be allowed to escape so easily by re-branding themselves as witnesses for the prosecution,” the MP said.

She was evidently alluding to the Helector company, officials of which have been charged and implicated in an ongoing corruption investigation into two waste-management contracts.

At the same time, it’s understood that certain Helector officials will turn state witness in an upcoming trial.

The bill blacklists for several years companies found to have violated the terms of a public tender or who have broken the law.

It stipulates that a central body will have the final say on blacklisting companies. But the bill does not clarify who will sit on the panel or to whom the body is answerable. The accompanying ordinances will spell out these details.