THE National Hosting Authority (NHA) has rubbished allegations that that their staff have been involved in corrupt dealings in the procurement of uniforms for Iumi Team Solo for the upcoming Pacific Games.
NHA Executive Director (ED) Christian Nieng yesterday denied the allegation when responding to a question raised by a listener during the Games Organising Committee (GOC) weekly update on the games’ preparation.
He told the national broadcaster that there is a rumour circulating via the media that certain officers within the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) and NHA have been involved in the corrupt dealings by awarding tender to a certain officer close to NOCSI to procure uniforms for Iumi Team Solo.
Mr Nieng explained that there are two different procurement processes in getting uniforms and the one for Iumi Team Solo was done by NOCSI.
“NOCSI being a separate entity has it also own procurement process. They follow their own process and submitted their request to NHA for finance.
“So, any information and claims against NHA and its committee, including SINIS (Solomon Islands National Institute of Sports) and the Project Management Unit, I categorically deny any involvement by our officers,” the ED said.
He said those who have information about any corrupt dealings should present the facts to them so that the GOC and NHA can deal with them.
“We have the games and board to make decisions and they follow the rules complying with Pacific Games Act.
“So, I think there’s no way that we have gone wrong,” he said.
He said, NOCSI has had also followed due process to offer the tender based on merit.
“In terms of the claims, based on the submission made by Team Solomon to NHA for funding, we believe they have followed due process.
“They did the tendering and they have a technical evaluation committee that met and went through evaluation and made their decisions based on merit.
“There were declarations of conflict of interests that were made and NHA saw it and supported the request from NOCSI to award the tender as given out by NOCSI,” Mr Nieng said.
The ED also highlighted that given only 56 days remaining for the commencement of the games, it is critical for any supplier to produce 700 pairs of uniforms.
He also appealed to all Solomon Islanders to support Iumi Team Solo.
“We need to get back behind Iumi Team Solo, rather than criticising the team,” he said.
By MOFFAT MAMU
