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Public Procurement Commission …PAC to select nominees without Govt’s submission
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chaired by A Partnership for National Unity’s Carl Greenidge, is likely to select nominees for the Public Procurement Commission shortly, even though Government has not yet submitted the names of its nominees.
Carl Greenidge, Chairman of PAC
This was confirmed by Greenidge during an interview with this publication yesterday. He noted that a definitive decision has not yet been made, but the Committee is most likely heading in that direction.
Greenidge enlightened that prior to the Committee breaking for the National Budget 2014 debates and consideration of the estimates; members were looking at the criterion for selecting qualified persons to be part of the Commission.
The joint Opposition- Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) – have submitted the names and resumes of their nominees for quite some time.
The AFC has nominated former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran and Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram while APNU has submitted in excess of 20 nominees.
The Public Procurement Commission, a constitutional body born from the Public Procurement legislation, was expected to be established in 2012. In May of that year, Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett had said that the Commission would have been established by the end of June 2012. That did not materialize even though it is one of the provisions of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union.
However, at a recent press conference, President Donald Ramotar gave an insight as to why Government has not prioritized the establishment of the Commission.
According to Ramotar, the issue of the Public Procurement Commission came about in the Eighth Parliament. He explained that the Procurement Act was sent to the National Assembly where it was modified on the floor “ill advised”.
Negotiations on the modifications broke down and the Bill was passed. He said that Government needs to maintain its no-objection in the award of contracts.
According to Greenidge, the last presentation from the People’s Progressive Party showed that they still want to retain the no-objection clause. Once the Commission comes into being Cabinet’s role in offering its no-objection would not be needed.
In November 2013, Government tabled amendments to the substantive Procurement Act in the National Assembly to ensure it could continue to give its no-objections even with the Commission in place.
Greenidge emphasized that, that legislation was not accepted by the House. As such, the legislation was withdrawn and Government had said it would discuss the matter further with the Opposition.
He finds the Government’s position unreasonable since the Minister of Finance is the individual responsible for appointing members of the National Tender and Procurement Administration Board.
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