Prosecutor requests installment payment for netbooks.

MP-GO_ Public Prosecutor Villis Marra issued a recommendation to the State Secretary of Education, Tiago Peixoto, to change the type of bidding process used for the purchase of computer equipment. Therefore, the revocation of Public Notice No. 5/2012 is requested, so that the type of bidding process is changed to "lowest price per item," instead of "lowest overall price," as was done by the secretariat.

The prosecutor clarifies that the department initiated a bidding process, in the form of an auction, to acquire computer equipment such as netbooks and notebooks, as well as solutions for managing and monitoring the equipment. The objective is to implement the technological modernization of classrooms in the state education network through the Amigo Project.

However, a public civil inquiry initiated to investigate possible irregularities in the bidding process indicated that the justifications provided by the department for defining the bidding procedure as a single lot were insufficient. According to Villis Marra, if the possibility of dividing the object into parts exists, this should be the administration's duty, otherwise it would be violating specific principles of bidding, such as competitiveness.

She further notes that the object of the bidding process is divisible, and that the division into parts is technically feasible. Furthermore, she emphasizes that the doctrine of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) teaches that bidding by item should always be defined by the administrator, except when the object is indivisible, which is not the case here.

In its defense, the department argued that the winning company must guarantee the installation, integration, and operation of all equipment, as well as unified support for all solutions. It also pointed out that dividing the project into lots would violate the principles of efficiency and cost-effectiveness, as there could be incompatibility between the systems.

Villis Marra, however, considered that the definition of the type of bidding process is not at the discretion of the administrator, but is linked to the Bidding Law (Law No. 8.666/1993), which explicitly states that the object of the bidding must be divided. Finally, she exemplifies that, recently, the Public Prosecutor's Office held bidding processes for the purchase of items that are part of those to be bid on by the secretariat, and the acquisition was made in a divided manner. Click here to read the full recommendation. (Cristina Rosa / Press Office of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Goiás)