House passes bill to help empower small businesses
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan (Photo by Samuel Maughn)
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan (Photo by Samuel Maughn)

…to get at least 20 per cent of state contracts

THE Procurement (Amendment) Bill was passed in the National Assembly on Wednesday to address some of the deficiencies within the Procurement Act of 2003, however, with that Act being dubbed highly deficient, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, told the House that it would need to be repealed.

This bill will pave the way for small businesses to be given preferential treatment for certain procurements. Once the Bill is assented by President David Granger, Part II, Section 3A (1) would mandate procuring entities to procure only from small businesses approved under the Small Business Act, goods, works and services as specified by regulations made by the minister with the advice of the Public Procurement Commission or the National Board.

Additionally, the Bill, once brought into effect, will mandate the National Procurement and Tender Administration to maintain and keep updated in a registry, a register of bidders.
“Every supplier or contractor shall apply to be registered as a bidder in the register of bidders in order to participate in procurement proceedings at least seven days before taking part in any procurement proceedings,” a section of the bill states.
Minister Jordan told the House that the current Procurement Act of 2003 came into effect in June 2003, following the repeal of the Procurement Act of 2002 – after being enforced for only one year.
He said the record would should that the then government – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), despite major objection from the opposition, hastily passed the Procurement Act of 2002. The auditor general, at the time, reportedly had reservations as well.

“Although the 2003 (Procurement Act) was an improvement and did have the support of the House and some other stakeholders outside of the House, still the 2003 Act is very deficient in a number of areas,” the finance minister told the House.

He said a decade and a half later, the Ministry of Finance has opted to enlist the services of a consultant to examine the Procurement Act of 2003 with the intention of bringing the legislation on par with international standards and requirements.

According to him, the consultant, after discovering that there were several areas to improve upon, advised the Finance Ministry to repeal the legislation and bring in a new Act. Minister Jordan noted that his Ministry is awaiting the Attorney General’s Chambers to complete the Bill, which will replace the Procurement Act of 2003.

He noted that until the new Bill is completed and placed for the House, the current amendment would help to cater to small businesses.

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