Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, is expected to make a statement on the regulations to the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act 2018, when the House of Representatives sits again tomorrow.
The minister is expected to address the “special and differential treatment measures,” which are to be included in the regulations to protect local bidders for procurement contracts with the government, especially operators of medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMES).
OBSERVER ONLINE understands that the government intends to ensure that at least 20 per cent of the contracts under the new Procurement Act will be guaranteed for local MSMEs, while another 20 per cent will protect special and differential treatment of other local businesses.
Clarke, who piloted the amending Bill through the House of Representatives last week, said that the new Bill will ensure that the provisions of the substantive Act are effective in keeping Jamaica within internationally accepted standards and procedures for public procurement and will be in place with the of the substantive Public Procurement Act which although passed previously in the House has still not been implemented.
It is understood that the original Act which is awaiting these developments for implementation seeks to regulate the procurement of goods, works and services by public procuring entities.
Clarke noted that the Government, as the single biggest spender in Jamaica, is committed to using procurement strategically to drive key polices aimed at creating a pillar for sustainable economic growth and increased economies of scale.
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On Wednesday, May 23, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) together hosted an integrity workshop in Georgetown, Guyana. This joint workshop is the first in a series of events aimed at promoting integrity in CDB and IDB development financing interventions in each institution’s respective Borrowing Member Countries.
The objective of the CDB-IDB event was to raise awareness among workshop participants of the multilateral development banks’ (MDBs) integrity frameworks and improve their capacity to manage risk in development-financed activities, including project procurement. Officials from various Government of Guyana agencies and ministries attended the workshop.
Both MDBs take a collaborative approach to dealing with integrity issues that may arise in projects they finance, and the workshop was intended to raise awareness about the role of CDB’s Office of Integrity, Compliance and Accountability (ICA) and the IDB’s Office of Institutional Integrity (OII). ICA is mandated to prevent and investigate fraud and corruption in the Bank’s activities and projects. CDB works to prevent, investigate and sanction violations of its policies and procedures, particularly those that are procurement-related.
The IDB’s Office of Institutional Integrity is an independent office of the IDB Group, which was created to investigate and prevent Prohibited Practices in IDB Group-financed activities. OII works closely with the IDB’s Country Office in Guyana to manage integrity risks in IDB-financed operations. OII is part of the IDB Group’s Sanctions System in order to address allegations of corruption and other prohibited practices in IDB Group-financed activities. The IDB Group requires that all participants in the activities it finances adhere to the highest standards of ethics and report to the IDB all suspected acts of Prohibited Practices they know of or become aware of during the procurement processes or contract implementation. As part of its outreach efforts in Guyana, OII staff met with leaders of the Guyanese business community on May 23rd.
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The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank has approved a project that aims to increase the use of technology to build greater climate resilience throughout the Region. Funded through a grant of USD1.5 million and to be executed by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) over a three-year period, the project approved on May 28 will support flight-mapping services to collect Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data for almost 10,000 square kilometres of vulnerable Caribbean coastal areas.
The grant provides resources for the preparation of an Intellectual Property Policy (IPP) and the creation of a product development and marketing strategy for the Centre, as well as the training of 38 end-users from the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) in the applications of LiDAR data.
“Generating quality scientific data and information products, data sharing, and ease of data access and transfer, are important aspects of building climate resilience across the Region because they support an improved understanding of climate risks and impacts,” said Daniel Best, Director, Projects Department, CDB.
“LiDAR-based mapping technology can therefore assist the Region in addressing some of the problems being experienced, due to the absence of geo-spatial data for decision-making, and improve the capacity of stakeholders to make better-informed decisions, for more effective management of natural hazard and climate risks,” he added.
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The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has released its 2017 Annual Report, highlighting the institution’s performance, initiatives and results delivered during the year.
“The Bank recorded strong growth, and exceeded targets in both total approvals and disbursements,” said President, Dr. Wm. Warren Smith. “The Bank was able to respond quickly and meaningfully to the various setbacks and the challenges that Borrowing Member Countries faced during the year. With this level of support, CDB was able to maintain its position as a leading source of long-term development financing and capacity-building in the Caribbean,” he added.
In 2017, the Bank approved capital loans and technical assistance interventions totalling USD364 million (mn), an increase of 18% compared with 2016. Disbursements to its Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) rose by 13% to USD233 mn during the year.
Economic Review and Outlook
The Annual Report details CDB’s economic outlook and review for the Caribbean Region. The Bank reports that in 2017, on average, there was an overall uptick in economic growth of 0.5% in BMCs, led by a rebound in oil prices, and supported by buoyant tourism and construction activities. “Fiscal balances remained weak in most cases; and public sector debt continued to be worryingly high in many BMCs,” according to the review.
The Bank forecasts that the regional economy will grow by 1.8% in 2018 due to anticipated improvements in global economic growth, with risks tilted to the downside. “Mitigating these risks will require improved resilience on many levels. Macroeconomic stability, increased competitiveness, improved human development, and environmental preparedness are conditions that are necessary to improve resilience, and ensure sustainable and inclusive growth and development,” the Report notes.
Project Performance
In the newly released publication, CDB also reports on its project performance across several sectors.
- Environmental sustainability: The Bank provided Emergency Relief Grants totalling USD800,000 to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) following the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Four Immediate Response Loans with a value of USD2.8 mn were approved to assist with immediate hurricane recovery efforts in Antigua and Barbuda, and BVI. In addition, the Bank provided a grant of USD3.5 mn to the Government of Haiti to cover its annual insurance premium to CCRIF SPC.
- Renewable energy and energy efficiency: CDB continued to promote its streetlight retrofitting programme, encouraging BMCs to undertake network-wide replacement and sustainable disposal of inefficient high-pressure sodium lamps with LED lamps. In 2017, loans were approved for streetlight retrofitting in Jamaica and Suriname; and the implementation of similar projects in Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines advanced. When these projects are fully implemented, savings of at least 50% in streetlight energy consumption, system-wide, are expected.
- Economic infrastructure: Infrastructure projects under implementation during 2017 included the construction and upgrading of approximately 32 km of roads, benefitting over 130,000 people in Belize, BVI, Guyana, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In The Bahamas, the Bank supported the installation of water supply infrastructure that improved access to water for 1,150 households. Under the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund, implementation advanced for a project in Antigua and Barbuda, which will construct and upgrade approximately 8.7 km of roads, benefitting approximately 65,000 people.
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The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a loan of USD1.3 million (mn) to assist in upgrading the water sector in Guyana. The funds, provided to the Government of Guyana, will be used to provide consultancy services to develop a national water policy, as well as to provide designs and estimates for the construction of water treatment plants and the upgrade of related infrastructure.
“The Government of Guyana is currently seeking to enhance the management of its water resources, as well as increase the availability and access of water to communities. We expect that these funds will be used to provide technically viable solutions for the improvement of water supply to approximately 68,000 people who live along in the coast as well as in the hinterland regions,” said Daniel Best, Director of Projects at CDB.
In laying the groundwork for the construction of water treatment plants and the upgrade of existing infrastructure, under the Water Sector Enhancement Project, consultants will also conduct a study to determine the feasibility of using water from the Hope Canal for potable water purposes; prepare a national water policy, and develop recommendations for institutional strengthening.
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