Firm: No contracts

 NO supplier and service contracts have been issued to any supplier to build mobile towers in Papua New Guinea for Vodafone bemobile, a company statement said yesterday.

The company’s new management was responding to a publication by Business Advantage PNG that Vodafone bemobile had awarded a US$30 million (K64 million) contract to Fijian company Network Services Ltd for the construction of 300 mobile phone towers in PNG.

Outgoing acting managing director for bemobile Michael Ah Koy said “the decision to award service and supplier contracts in the restructed bemobile rests entirely with the new management”.

“I can confirm that no supplier and service contracts have been issued to Network Services Ltd or any other supplier as reported yesterday,” Ah Koy said.

Bemobile regional chief executive officer Pradeep Lal also confirmed that no supplier contracts had been issued to Network Services Ltd or to any supplier by the new management.

“We have a strict evaluation and governance process that needs to be followed before awarding of such contracts,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, we have not even called for any expression of interest from prospective suppliers for any supply contract.

“We are, therefore, very disappointed with such inaccurate and insensitive reporting.”