Heritage Petroleum Company Limited (Heritage) has embarked on a project to dispose of its obsolete assets.

In response to calls from the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA) for Heritage to engage in a “sole-select” approach and engage with TTSIDA only for this project, the company said this was not proper public sector practice.

In a statement, the company said as a wholly owned State Enterprise, it is “guided by the principles of the State Enterprise Performance Monitoring Manual (SEPMM) and Heritage’s associated processes, procedures, and guidelines.”

It added: “The public tender process of inviting bids allows a wide cross-section of interested parties to participate by submitting bids instead of giving only one party/body the opportunity to bid.”

Heritage said it had never indicated to TTSIDA that it would deviate from the public tendering process, reaffirming that it is committed to a “fair and transparent process in the disposal of its obsolete assets.”