A report published today by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) into the award by the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) of sole-source contracts to two Miami broadcasters to provide additional broadcasting options for Radio & TV Martí is highly critical of the IBB’s procedures. It says that the awards, made in December 2006, ‘did not reflect sound business practices’.
According to officials from IBB and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the confluence of several interrelated events -ongoing interagency deliberations, the issuance of a July 2006 report by a Cabinet-level commission, and concerns about the health of Fidel Castro - required them to quickly obtain additional broadcasting services to Cuba.
Competition laws and regulations provide agencies with considerable flexibility to use noncompetitive procedures, if adequately justified, to meet their needs. But the GAO says that, in certain respects, IBB did not fully document in its contract files key information or assumptions underlying its decisions to not seek competitive offers, limit the number of potential providers it considered, or the basis used to negotiate the final prices for the services provided.
Additionally, IBB did not actively involve its contracting office until just prior to contract award, though agency regulations and prior work by the GAO identify that timely involvement by stakeholders helps promote successful acquisition outcomes.
Finally, though it partly justified its awards based on urgency, IBB exercised multiple options on the two contracts to extend their period of performance into 2008. Only recently has it taken steps to identify additional providers.
