"Foul!"cried the bidding companies
Read about the the Three bidding companies which cried foul at the irregularities allegedly made by the government procuring body in selecting a competitor to produceAlbania’s new biometric passports and identification cards. The country’s opposition denounced the deal in parliament.
By Alban Beqa, Tirana
Posted on December 22nd, 2009
Yet, the government went ahead and chose SAGEM. Violations that SAGEM allegedly made included incomplete documentation in the final stages of the tender, which was even recorded on video during the bid announcement meeting. Besides, the specimens offered by the company had been produced in 2004, and probably by a Dutch company called SDU. The government adviser on the bid was a member of the same company. While the specimens had to be personalized, that is, offer details that would include specific traits of individuals, what SAGEM offered were general ones.
Some raise suspicion of the company’s technological ability to produce the passports.
Other problems with SAGEM included a corruption scandal on a similar passport producing bid, which has been reported by the main international media, and had sent three Nigerian ministers and two SAGEM representatives to jail. SAGEM produced the biometric passports of Kosovo as well.
This article was published in the newspeaper Zeri i Popullit (Tirana) on April 30th 2008.
To read the whole article in Albanian, click here and here.
