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Procurement Act amendments for Parliament today

Nov 07, 2013 News

 
–    Cabinet wants to maintain role in procurement

Amendments to the Procurement Act would be read for the first time in the National Assembly today. The intention is to have Cabinet maintain its role in public procurement even with the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission.
This is according to Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon during his post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday at the Office of the President.
The odds of the amendments being approved in the National Assembly by the joint Opposition, who have a one-seat majority, are slim. And, that may essentially impact the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism amendment (AML/CFT) Bill 2013.
The Alliance For Change (AFC) said it would approve the passage of the AML/CFT amendments once Government establishes the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) without amending the Procurement Act. The AFC supports the Procurement Act as it is since the establishment of the Commission would eliminate Cabinet’s no-objection role in the award of contracts.
Dr. Luncheon finds the linkage between the Commission and the AML/CFT by the AFC, absurd.
“It was probably the 2001 Constitutional amendment which provided for the creation of the PPC…Unfortunately the PPC has not been established…However, I doubt whether anyone here would argue that the consequences over the years since 2001 to 2013 have been so dire that the linkage of its creation with the enactment of AML Bill is reasonable and make sense,” he said.
While, tasking persons to look dispassionately at the impact of the failure to establish the PPC, Dr. Luncheon said the consequences of the non-passage of the legislation are already being felt, particularly in the public sector.
However, Leader of the Opposition, David Granger recently said that the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission is not a concern that the APNU shares at this time, more so with respect to tying it with the passing of the Anti-Money Laundering Legislation. This was met with serious objections by the Guyana Trade Union Congress.
According to Dr. Luncheon, Government will be identifying its nominees for the parliamentary consideration to sit on the Commission subsequent to the enactment of the amendments. He said Government expects that APNU would support the measure.

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