The Public Contracts Review Board dealt with over 130 cases of appeals tied to public contracts in 2013.

The PCRB’s chairman, Dr Anthony Cassar, today presented the 2013 public contracts annual report to Minister of Finance Edward Scicluna during a news conference held at the board’s premises in Floriana. Dr Scicluna is expected to present the report to parliament.

The PCRB’s main role is to review appeals tied to tenders.

Dr Scicluna said that it is evident the autonomous board is promoting transparency by tabling the court’s conclusions of all appeals presented.

He remarked that cases which involve the back up of European funds are given priority.

Dr Scicluna noted that there were 1five0 objections in 2013 while there are only 14 appeals still to be decided.

“There are times when information given on tenders is not clearly given or requests of tenders by bidders do not follow the full tender requirements ,” he said, referring to the public procurement regulations, citing an example whereby a bidder appealed their case but lost it due to the fact that a clause in the tender’s requirements went unseen.

Dr Cassar said that the board established that it should review up to 14 appeals a week, adding that the board receives a great number of appeals.

He said that some bidders who appeal their case do so due to the fact that the cost of an appeal is as little as 400 euros and therefore take a gamble.

Dr Cassar pointed out that a number of bidders would not have lost their appeal or would have had to appeal their case had they read the full procurement regulations well in the first place.

Dr Scicluna said it is vital that training is given to those persons who provide information on tenders so as to avoid a number of hurdles later.