Latest update March 25th, 2025 7:08 AM
Latest News
- Surinamese invest US$516M into country’s first oil project
- ExxonMobil impact study for Hammerhead project silent on likely explosion from new pipeline
- ‘A shocking breach’: Trump officials leak military attacks to The Atlantic
- Pensioner goes missing during creek outing at Kwakwani
- Cuban national jailed for entering Guyana illegally
Gov’t insists on continued role in public procurement – Attorney General
The ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has “revolutionised” the public procurement process over the past 20 years, making it clear the party is committed to the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, Attorney General Anil Nandlall said yesterday.
Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall
However, he insisted that the government must maintain its “observer” status in public procurement. Currently Cabinet – the Council of Ministers chaired by the President – has the power to accept or reject recommendations for the award of contracts by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
The Public Procurement Commission was an idea of the Constitutional Reform Commission with the intention of rooting out corruption, fraud and waste in the award of contracts for the provision of goods and services to the government.
In 2003, the government, which then had controlling powers in the National Assembly, agreed to include in the Procurement Act a clause that says that the role of Cabinet would be progressively phased out.
However, the very government has now changed its position.
Nandlall argued that since the government is answerable for the way it uses the public purse and for public infrastructure projects, it follows that it should now be able to have the power to give its approval or disapproval of contracts.
“If Cabinet and the executive are to be held responsible to the electorate for the infrastructural development of this land and for the expenditure of public funds, the Cabinet inevitably must have a role in the procurement process,” Nandlall stated.
He said that the PPP/C is committed to transparency and accountability in public expenditure and this could be seen in the many changes in the process over the years.
Speaking at a press conference at Freedom House, the headquarters of the ruling PPP, Nandlall said that before the PPP came into office 20 years ago, the public procurement process was so veiled that no one knew what state properties were being sold, the conditions under which they were being sold and the price for which they were being sold.
He said that over the years, the PPP passed modern legislation and put in place the NPTAB which is comprised of public servants. Further, he said contractors are able to demand a review of the award of contracts if they feel slighted and that minutes of the meetings of the NPTAD are now posted online.
All of this, he said, is evidence that the government is wholly committed to a transparent and accountable public procurement process.
However, he said that if Cabinet loses its role in the award of contracts, then it would be burdened with the responsibility of being answerable for projects when it would have had no influence in the award of those contracts.
The Constitution provides for the Public Procurement Commission to monitor the procedure under which goods and services are procured and to ensure that works are conducted in a fair, equitable, transparent and cost effective manner.
The Commission is expected to monitor and review all procurement systems and also investigate complaints and irregularities.
The Constitution provides for the Commission to have five experts in procurement, law, finance and administrative matters.
Members of the Commission are named by the Public Accounts Committee but must be approved in the National Assembly by way of a two-third majority.
Nandlall said that the PPP is willing to set up the Commission once there is consensus and once Cabinet maintains its role.
The seven-seat Alliance for Change has nominated chartered accountant and attorney-at-Law, Christopher Ram and former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran.
A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU), which holds 24seats in the House, has nominated Attorney-at-Law Emily Dodson; Accountant Nigel Hinds; Former Budget Director Winston Jordan; Agriculturalist and former Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) Manager Tony Vieira, and Civil Engineer Berkeley Wickham
The opposition parties have been calling on the PPP to submit its nominees.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Desecration, Disrespectful, and Disgraceful
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- The solemnity of Babu Jaan, a site meant to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Cheddi... more
The Caribbean: Destined to Grin and Bear the Consequences of Its Self-Created Vulnerabilities?
By Sir Ronald Sanders For decades, many Caribbean nations have grappled with dependence on a small number of powerful countries... more
Weekend Cartoon
