Tonight, there is a puzzling proposal before the Belize Port Authority. Puzzling because it offers a high cost management system which the BPA never asked for. But, according to sources, this one has some major political backative and there was pressure on the board to sign off on it. So much so, that reports say a lack of enthusiasm for the multimillion dollar proposal was a factor in Board Chairman Major Lloyd Jones being recently replaced.
Jules Vasquez had a look at the Panama proposal:
"Jota Efe's" management system proposal for the Belize Port Authority came out of nowhere - according to insiders we spoke to. There was no request for proposals and nothing was put out to tender. But, out of the blue, this Panamanian gaming firm appeared with a 15 page 1.32 million US dollar proposal.
The proposal outlines a plan to digitize paper processes and integrate all these processes.
The proposal speaks about meeting ISO standards but a visit to the Jota Efe site does not inspire confidence or suggest a firm that is specialized in this type of work. In fact it is an entertainment site, dealing with what it calls "traditional lottery products" in Panama.
The website only has three pages and it doesn't have what is called a "SSL certificate" and your browser will recognize it as a "not secure" site. It doesn't speak about any specialization in Ports - in fact it makes scarce mention about anything much outside of gaming.
But, looking at the price tag - their specialized services will cost 1.32 million US dollars - something the Port has neither budgeted for nor requested.
This morning on Sunup, the Ports Commissioner described it as a novel idea that came to them.
Kaylon Young - Commissioner of Ports
"This was just a novel idea that came to the Belize port authority about digital transformation, and so there's no concrete, there's nothing, there's no approval….it's just an idea that we're exploring and see if it's something that fits for what we want for Belize Port Authority. And if it's something that makes sense for us. So just an idea being floated around at this time."
Renata Samuels
"So, no implemntation, nothing along that….?"
Kevin Mendez
"No contract signed...?"
Kaylon Young - Commissioner of Ports
"No contract signed. Nothing."
Renata Samuels
"Nothing along that line to say that this is happening next week two months from now, anything like that, it's still just being explored?"
Kaylon Young - Commissioner of Ports
"It's just an idea being explored."
An idea being explored all the way in Panama - but computer and networking experts we spoke to said it can be done for a fraction of the cost by local experts in Belize.
We'll keep following the story.
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