…for Public Procurement Commission

THE long-awaited Public Procurement Commission (PPC) will soon be established and put into operation, according to Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.“I am told that a lot of progress has been made,” he told Guyana Chronicle last week. According to the Prime Minister: “the process is now awaiting some administrative procedures, including finalising the remuneration packages.”

A building, the Prime Minister said, has already been identified and operations will soon commence once the members are sworn in. Last August, Members of Parliament on both sides of the National Assembly approved a motion which listed possible candidates who will sit on the constitutional body. The members, to be appointed by President David Granger following their nomination by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly, are Emily Dodson, Carol Corbin, Ivor English, Sukrishnalall Pasha, and former Labour Minister, Dr Nanda Kishore Gopaul.

English is the former head of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD); Pasha served as chairman of the Small Business Council; Corbin was Programme Manager at Caricom Secretariat; and Dodson is an experienced attorney–at-law.

The establishment and operationalisation of the PPC will effectively end Cabinet’s role in the award of multi-million dollar contracts. The amended Constitution, which paved the way for the PPC some 14 years also, allows for the dismantling of the Bid Protest Committee and reducing the responsibilities of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.

Only Saturday government in a statement urged bidders who have concerns relating to the process of bidding to provide goods or services to the government to take their protest to the Bid Protest Committee (BPC).
This Committee was established in June of this year under regulations of the Public Procurement Act and is chaired by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams and includes Mr. Archie Clifton and Mr. Ewart Adams.
The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) statement noted that government has received a complaint from a manufacturer over the award of a contract for the supply and delivery of boxed juice for national distribution to nursery schools in anticipation of the start of the current school term.
It was noted by the OPM that the recommendation for award of the contract was made by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, which stated that all the technical and administrative requirements had been satisfied by the winning bidder. The recommendation was subsequently considered by Cabinet and a no- objection was issued for the contract to be awarded accordingly.
“In this case, Cabinet was advised that the lowest bidder was not recommended for the contract in view of continued issues with past performance dating back to 2012. Further, the second lowest did not meet a technical requirement of 25% natural juice content in each box after tests conducted by the Food and Drug Department,” the statement clarified. As such, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board therefore recommended the third lowest bidder in view of that bidder having satisfied all technical and administrative requirements.
“The government once again reaffirms the right and implores any bidder which is dissatisfied with this or any government bidding process to pursue via the Bid Protest Committee,” the statement concluded.