Filenews 30 March 2023
If these helicopters fly again, we risk having a new Sun," an air force spokesperson told the Audit Committee, where there was discussion about a report by the Audit Office for the Department of Forests.
The Auditor General, Odysseas Michaelides, presenting the report, said that in addition to the increased costs, there is also an issue of gaps in the technical characteristics of helicopters, something that also highlights a police report.
Regarding the cost of the contract awarded by the Department of Forests for the rental of the helicopters, the Auditor General stated that in the initial estimate for the cost of the tender announced in March 2022, it would be €142,000 per month (while the previous contract was €133,000), an amount that was revised to €350,000 during the negotiation process, while the cost of the bid awarded in July 2022 finally amounted to €399,000.
As Mr. Michaelides pointed out, the bid selected during the negotiation process was 287% higher than the initial estimate and amounted to €17.5m. for four years, while the initial estimated expenditure amounted to €6.8 million. He noted that the bid awarded, which was the lowest of the two involved in the negotiation process, was 14% higher than the revised cost, and appears to have had technical shortcomings, including the lack of a water pre-announcement system, a blue sky network monitoring system and a cable impact warning system.
The justification given by the Department of Forests for the increased costs, according to what the Auditor General said before the Committee, is that the initial estimate was incorrect, as the actual market prices were higher. Mr. Michaelides pointed out that the Department of Forests would have the opportunity to revise this assessment, after the first cancellation of the tender announced in February 2022. If the initial cost estimate had been higher, he added, there would probably have been many more bids from companies in other countries as well, which often do not express interest in very low-cost tenders.
In this regard, the Auditor General stated that "the helicopters were received by a majority" on 4/8/2022 by the competent committee and added that the committee accepted as "minor deviations" the deficiencies required by the helicopter specifications required by the contract.
Absence of security certificates
In addition, Mr. Michaelides also referred to a report of events by a member of the Police, who was asked to sign for the receipt of the helicopters, but refused to do so, saying that he found no safety certificates.
Speaking before the committee, Engineer Sergeant Marios Ioannou, said that a helicopter insurance certificate under the European regulation, a pilot's certificate, a logbook for maintenance and flight times, an air operator's certificate, while the certificate of airworthiness was of unknown origin, were requested but not presented.
The representative of the air force in the Control Committee, in his intervention, said that, as long as these data are true, "if these helicopters fly again, we risk having a new Helios".
CNA
