This was disclosed by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, last week Thursday, at his post-Cabinet briefing in Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.

That discussion had been convened by the Government at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

Luncheon said Cabinet noted that the effort was designed to inform consultants and contractors about the thrust of the Administration, as outlined in Government’s contributions in the 2009 Budget.

“Its thrust is to improve Government effectiveness, particularly in procurement and in the provision of goods and services, a thrust to utilise the increased budgetary provision to support labour intensive employment,” he said.

According to him, the meeting uncovered less than adequate knowledge of the procurement legislation by the suppliers of goods and services and also the inconsistent and improper application of the rules by the procurement entities and evaluators.

He said the participants decided on a number of issues to be addressed through recommendations to Cabinet and they included the utilisation of standard bidding documents which would commit evaluators to the use of documents that would allow consistency in interpretation and application.

They also created a dispute resolution mechanism at the Ministry of Finance, for those occasional problems that arise during project implementation.

Luncheon said Cabinet endorsed those recommended actions and urged the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board to concentrate on the production of those standard bidding documents for the various categories of procurement.

“Cabinet took the opportunity to stress its focus on accountability, under which the performances of the Project Execution Units, the performances of contractors and the consultants would, under the threat of imposition of penalties, be monitored and evaluated continuously,” he explained.

Replying to questions, Luncheon said: “Attention was drawn to the fact that the Public Procurement Commission has not been established as yet and the parliamentarians on the Government side were urged to move and try to have this entity created as quickly as possible.”

However, he noted: “The statutory provision in the Procurement Act does provide the remedy for the delay in the appointment of this Commission and it confers the powers and the responsibilities of the Commission on the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.”

“…the focus at that forum was to say to them: ‘Shape up’ or ‘ship out’. We are going to apply the law on procurement and we are going to enforce compliance,” Luncheon stated.

President Bharrat Jagdeo, who spoke at the meeting, warned that Government is insisting on value for money from contractors and consultants on State development projects and, even the jobs of some Permanent Secretaries will be on the line, if they unduly delay project cycles.

He made it clear the severe penalties, including liquidating damages, will be imposed on contractors who fail to deliver on time and cautioned that the Government will also take a firm stand on consultants found wanting.

The Head of State reiterated that related ministries will have to do a better job in shortening project delivery.

The Head of State charged that some Permanent Secretaries “sit on Cabinet decisions for ages” and their jobs will also be on the line if they do not measure up.

He pointed out that this year’s capital budget is the largest ever and it is extremely important that contractors deliver on projects.

Total expenditure is projected at $127.8B, an increase of 11.6 per cent over the 2008 level and capital expenditure is projected to rise by 27.8 per cent, to $46.5B.

Luncheon was among those present at the Convention Centre all-day session, last Thursday. Others were Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh; Minister in the Finance Ministry, Ms. Jennifer Webster; Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Mr. Kellawan Lall; Works and Hydraulics Minister, Mr. Robeson Benn and Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee and senior officials of their ministries.