–Commissioner Chase takes Oath of Office

COMPLETING the appointments to the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) was Attorney-at-Law Pauline Chase, who was sworn in on Friday by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali at State House, on Main Street, a statement from the Office of the President said.

Chase, current President of the Guyana Bar Association, was unavoidably absent when the other members of the Commission were sworn in recently.
She joins the other four members of the PPC: Messrs Joel Bhagwandin, Rajnarine Singh, and Berkley Wickham, and Ms. Dianna Rajcumar, who were all sworn in on July 1.

The PPC is a critical body, as it is constitutionally responsible for the oversight of the public procurement of all goods and services, along with the monitoring of all infrastructural works to ensure that they conform to the relevant laws and guidelines.

Guyana has been without a PPC since October 2019, when the previously-appointed Commission had reached its statutory term limit. That Commission, which had been appointed in 2016, had served for three years with Ms. Carol Corbin serving as chairperson.

Giving brief remarks at the ceremony earlier this month, President Ali had said that the government has embarked on a development path that is transformative.
“Important to that transformation,” he said, “are issues of public accountability, transparency, and ensuring that social mechanisms and systems that allow the public expenditure to occur are not only strong, but they are continually renewed, in an effort to advance and enhance transparency and accountability.”

The Head-of-State pointed out then that the function of the Commission adds a tier to the institutional mechanisms for ensuring oversight of public financing. In this case, His Excellency had said, oversight of procurement to strengthen transparency in an accountable manner.

He explained also that under the Constitution of Guyana, commissioners are required to have “a specific skill set” to support Guyana’s reputation of transparent, democratic and open governance.
“I have all confidence that the combined experience, knowledge, and diverse expertise of the members of this Commission will add value to your work, and will bring the necessary benefits to the country, and to government systems as we work together, enhancing and building a stronger framework through which we will transform and develop our country,” the President had told the newly-appointed commissioners.