The sole bid for constructing a café in Academia national forest park in Nicosia did not provide an analytical report of the projected value of works to be carried out, while the tender did not include detailed terms for the services required, the Audit Office said on Wednesday.

The tender had been issued twice, the first time in 2020 and the second in 2021.

In 2020, there was only one bid of €426,604.42, which was considered to be 78 per cent higher than the estimated value of €240,000 and was thus cancelled.

A year later, the estimated value was set at €400,000 and again only one bid was submitted, this time for €456,495, which was only 14.12 per cent over the estimated value.

“We noticed that within seven months the estimated value of the said tender had increased by 66.7 per cent and the price of the lowest bid had risen by 7 per cent,” the Audit Office said in its report.

In 2024, the Audit Office requested the analytical values of the two tenders, however the Forestry Department was unable to provide them as the detailed reports did not exist.

The Audit Office said the whole procedure raised questions and recommended that detailed terms for the services required be included in the preparation of documents, including the analytical estimated value.

Furthermore, the Audit Office said there had been delays in issuing instructions on behalf of the project engineer, which resulted in unnecessary delays in completing the project.

The Audit Office recommended that the Forestry Department effectively monitor actions on behalf of the engineer to avoid delays.

It also pointed out that the report did not examine the environmental aspect of the contract for the construction of the café and environmental impact on the park itself from construction works.