The inquiry Monday hosted Jim Gaye, the sales and marketing manager of QuantumNet (Espace Motors), to give evidence pertinent to the ‘Mballit’ trucks.
Gaye testified that QuantumNet is the company name, while Espace Motors is a trading name. He said they applied for a contract tender costing D10,000 at the KMC for the supply of 19 ward trucks and 4 council trucks separately in December 2018, which they won.
He added that the contract was signed between KMC and Espace Motors on 6 March 2019, later disclosing that the trucks were delivered on 22 June 2019, while the 4 council trucks were delivered on 11 October 2019. He said the 19 trucks for the wards were 10-wheel, while the trucks for the council were smaller except one, which was a compactor truck.
Gaye said the trucks were purchased from Photon in China, adding that QuantumNet/Espace Motors had an agreement with the Chinese company to be their distributor in The Gambia. Asked to provide the agreement and correspondence, he claimed he did not know the unit price of each truck. He did however testify that they paid for the trucks before they were delivered.
Witness Gaye was asked whether they had previous business transactions with the Chinese company but could not provide an answer. He was asked whether the KMC ‘Mbalit’ Project was the first transaction entered for the purchase of vehicles, but he requested time to check from their records.
He was given one week to provide the list and the details of the previous transactions in which they purchased vehicles from Photon. Gaye will reappear to be engaged over more detailed issues.
