Written by Vanessa Narine
THE Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2013 was read for the first time in the National Assembly on Thursday evening.
In addressing the Amendment which is to be debated at the next Parliamentary sitting, President Donald Ramotar maintains that the provision is not an unreasonable one.At a press briefing on Friday at the Office of the President, the Head of State said: “All the Cabinet is asking for is to have a ‘no objection’ to any contract or procurement that is awarded. This is based on the principle that if we are the ones who will be held responsible and are answerable, then the minimum we have to have is a ‘no objection’…we do not think it is unreasonable.”

The bill is am act to amend the 2003 Principal Procurement Act by making the change of deleting Subsection Six of Section 54.
Section 54 deals with Cabinet’s involvement in reviewing the award of procurement contracts, and the phasing out of its functions with the establishment of a Public Procurement Commission, in the interest of decentralising the procurement process.
Sub-section Six states thus: “Cabinet’s involvement shall cease upon the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, except in relation to those matters referred to in Sub-section One which are pending.”

The President thinks the amendment provides for Cabinet’s involvement at a minimum–an allowance that is grounded in the principle of accountability. He references the fact the Guyana’s partner agencies, including the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the World Bank among others, operate in a similar way. “All of them have to give a ‘no objection’ before any contract is awarded…we are moving on this in a very principled way,” he said.

The Head of State made it clear that Cabinet is not seeking the legislative power to award contracts, as is the misunderstanding in some quarters.

Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, who moved the motion for the Amendment Bill to be read, was asked why the Bill was brought to the House with changes that the Opposition have already indicated its non-support of. In an invited comment, he said: “The amendments proposed to the Procurement Act are grounded in principle. There are strong arguments in favour of the amendments, and there is good reason why those amendments should be enacted. We intend to make those arguments in the House and to the people of Guyana. If the Opposition elects to go against the merits of those arguments, then the people of Guyana will judge them on that basis. We will not shy away from doing what is right and good for Guyana simply because we think the Opposition will vote against it.” The Finance Minister said.

The Principal Act seeks to regulate the procurement process to promote fairness and transparency, and government’s position is that the amendment should be passed through the National Assembly before the Public Procurement Commission is set up.