The Ministry also said that it will not suspend a tender call for suppliers to lease IT to the government for the next five years, as requested by the GRTU on the premise that the process would create “a new monopoly or oligopoly and destroy completely the large array of small businesses operating in this sector.”  

The Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology announced its new policy on the procurement of computers and computer equipment used by the public service and in public schools, last April. Private suppliers are asked to provide their service on a lease for 5 years all personal computer equipment required for the administration and the education system.  

In a statement on Saturday morning, the GRTU pointed out that existing E-Procurement system was successful therefore it could not understand why the government should resort to such drastic measures. However in a statement of reply in the afternoon, the Ministry said that E-Procurement system put the Government in considerable disadvantage when purchasing and products sold to it were often below-standard.  

The Chamber further added that the process would also cost more in terms of public funds. The GRTU also claimed that the implications of furthering with the tender are a higher cost to the public Treasury, a distortion of the competitive structure of the computer hardware market, distortion of the competitive structure of the IT service market and destruction of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Information and Communication Technology (ICTT) resulting in loss of employment in this sector.  

Although the scope of the tender is for the leasing of 15,000 computers, the Ministry said that the government has retained the option to procure smaller tranches from multiple suppliers, provided that this results in a lower total cost to Government.  

The Ministry also highlighted that the new system would allow the government to entirely outsource the repair and maintenance of its equipment, focusing its in-house IT specialist resources at MITTS Ltd into more strategic functions and cutting down considerably on duplicated costs from acquiring and retaining the knowledge needed for several different brands and products.  

“The government’s decision to outsource repairs and maintenance of the computing equipment it uses means it is both reducing its own costs to use its tools but also encouraging private sector growth in this sector,” continued the Ministry.  

Although the Ministry noted that the government finds GRTU’s objections “understandable”, it feels that it they are also “unreasonable”. The Ministry added that it sees no reason why it should consider further GRTU’s advice to suspend the ongoing procurement process in which members of the GRTU remain invited to participate.  

The GRTU's said that it could find no acceptable reason why the government was rushing headlong with the change without any consultation whatsoever with the representatives of the hundreds of small and medium enterprises operating in this sector. However, the Ministry claimed that a 12-month thorough assessment policy was undertaken prior to the change. According to the Ministry,  MITTS Ltd made several attempts to meet the GRTU to discuss the change in the procurement process but the Chamber did not respond to repeated requests on the matter.  

Concluding its statement the Ministry said it finds no objection to meet up with the GRTU so that it can respond to its queries accordingly.