Latest update February 11th, 2025 2:15 PM
Latest News
- Govt. makes move to cancel CGX, Frontera Corentyne block license in 30 days
- ExxonMobil paying taxes in Bahamas but not a cent to Guyana
- Canadian company completes airstrip, roads to kick off 5.4M ounce gold project in Guyana
- Hamas threatens to postpone next hostage release, claiming Israel has broken terms of ceasefire deal
- Twelve-year-old girl missing for three weeks
MPs need to tighten Procurement Act – Former AG
As parliamentarians are reviewing the Procurement Act to make amendments, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran suggests they take the opportunity to tighten the current Act to ensure loopholes are eliminated.
Anand Goolsarran
But Government has always maintained it has one of the most progressive procurement processes.
According to Goolsarran, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) reports to the Minister of Finance, who is a member of Cabinet. Cabinet is responsible for giving “no objection” to contracts valued at $15 million and over. The Minister appoints all seven members of the NPTAB: not more than five persons from the Public Service; and not more than three from the private sector after consultation with their respective organizations. It is not publicly known who the members are and how long they have been in place.
The NPTAB and its evaluation committees are the ones that determine who gets a contract, subject to the “no objection” from Cabinet. Again, it is not publicly known if there were instances where Cabinet objected to the award of a contract. Given the significant involvement of the Minister as it relates to the NPTAB, it would not be surprising that there were no such instances.
Another weakness of the Act is the absence of the provision for the rotation of members of the various tender boards. It does not provide for ineligibility of members who would have served, say two terms, in keeping with international best practice.
In addition, the Act lacks the involvement of the NTPAB in the prequalification of contractors, and it is left to the Ministry or Department to do so. This is a significant risk.
He noted that the Act does not apply to procurement involving national defence or national security cases.
“Over the years, the Guyana Defence Force has been one of the worst violators of the tendering process, and it is not clear what alternative procedures the Army uses in relation to the procurement of goods/services and the execution of works.”
The Auditor General’s report for 2012 sheds no light on this, and there has been no commentary in relation to the award of contracts.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Are we better off today than we were before first oil?
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News-If you had asked me ten years ago what I wanted for Guyana, I would have said a few things:... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
