AS Trinidad and Tobago approaches six months since the full proclamation of the Procurement Act, procurement regulator Beverly Khan acknowledges that while there have been some teething problems, she believes that the benefits will far outweigh the challenges.
Delivering the feature address in a webinar hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) on Tuesday Khan stated that full proclamation of the Act represents an important milestone in this country’s development, and offers us the best opportunity to establish a fundamentally new and different culture aimed at driving public sector performance rooted in good governance principles.
“These teething problems are a normal part of the development process especially where the change is so significant. However, the benefits to Trinidad and Tobago as the system progresses and then matures, and the potential sustainability of those benefits far outweigh these early challenges,” she said.
Khan said as taxpayers we are all keen to ensure that public funds are effectively utilised by the government in furtherance of the country’s development and the well-being of all citizens.
“The current system is still in its early stages but it is here to stay and at the OPR (Office of the Procurement Regulator) we accept that there are issues to address and efficiencies still to be gained as we gather more experience in implementation,” Khan said.
Khan said the OPR is committed to building effective partnerships.
According to the World Bank governments around the world spend an estimated US$49.5 trillion in public contracts every year, Khan said.
Khan said here in T&T the OPR estimates that last year the value of public contracts in the central government alone accounted for approximately $9 billion which represented four per cent of GDP and 17 per cent of government expenditure.
“We know that this figure will be far higher when public contracts awarded by state enterprise and statutory bodes are taken into account. If indeed the total value were to be in the range of 15 to 22 per cent of GDP then we can easily have $30 to $40 billion being expended in the system on an annual basis,” she said.
“Over the next full year of operations under the Act the OPR will collect the data that will allow for more in-depth analysis of the value and the nature of public contracts and the performance of the system using key indicators aligned with the objects of the Act,” Khan said.
Khan said any analysis of the performance of the procurement system must be juxtaposed against performance on the international corruption perception index.
Last year T&T recorded a score of 42 out of 100 on the Corruption Perception index and ranked 77 out of 180 countries.
“Based on the data used to compile the CPI, the Act has the potential to impact the CPI score in areas of improving access to information on public procurement, reducing bureaucracy, improving efficiency, offering redress, providing protection from victimisation, and ultimately establishing strict penalties for breached of the Act,” she said.
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Act was fully proclaimed on April 26 and aims to reform the procurement laws of Trinidad and Tobago in keeping with the principles of good governance, such as accountability, transparency, integrity and value for money.