The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) is concerned about Procurement Regulator Beverly Khan’s failure to issue an annual report as required by section 24 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, which was operationalised in April last year.
In a press release on Monday, the council, through its president Fazir Khan, shared its concern, while also saying this was important given Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s projected $9 billion deficit.
In a June 4 press release, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – which welcomed Trinidad and Tobago’s sustained economic recovery – commended the proclaimed Procurement Act, which it said “should help improve the efficiency of public spending.”
The council’s release said the independent report should have been submitted to Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George, Senate president Nigel de Freitas and Imbert in December 2023.
It added that eight items were to be included in that report, including a figure representing the total value of contracts awarded by public bodies, another representing the cost of the total value of procurement-contract variances for 2023 and the number of unfulfilled contracts awarded by public bodies in respect of procurement.
Other items to be included were a summary of public procurement transactions for each public body, including subsections with the number of procurement contracts awarded; the number of procurement contracts varied; the quantum of those variances; number of unfulfilled procurement contracts and cost incurred; a brief description of the projects for procurement, the awardees, the value, scope of works and the expected deliverables of projects,as well as the lessons learnt from the management of procurement contracts.
The report also should have included the names of public bodies failing to comply with the act, an assessment of the overall performance of the procurement system and a summary of unresolved issues to be addressed as well as recommendations needing action on the part of the procuring entity.
The release said that report would have supplied critical data and information to Parliament and the public.
“Only then can any assessment of the efficacy of the new legislation be determined and adjustments can be made.
“This is even more dire at this time, when the 2024 mid-year budget review presented by the Finance Minister now projects a $9 billion deficit. Procurement reform is supposed to eventually realise savings in the vicinity of $4 billion-$5 billion annually.”
On June 18 at 8:30am (EDT), the forum “Haiti Now: Development Priorities and Interventions” will discuss recent developments in #Haiti.
Panellists will share views on how the new interim council, as well as the new administration might work with international and regional partners to restore stability and maintain peace.
The forum’s objectives are:
(a) to outline the current socio-economic/security situation in Haiti;
(b) to share World Bank’s approach to development in Fragile States;
(c) to reiterate the Government of Haiti’s Development Plans and Priorities; and
(d) to highlight CDB’s Haiti Programme and its alignment with Haiti’s Priorities and CDB’s Strategic Objectives.
$5.5 million spent on Bahamas Jubilee Games, $1 million more than government allocation
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Auditor General’s Report examining the accounts of The Bahamas Jubilee Games has revealed that the government spent $5.5 million funding the games, just over $1 million more than the government’s initially allocated amount.
The Auditor General also raised concerns regarding unauthorized salary increases for employees, among other irregularities.
The report ultimately criticized the accounting to the Secretariat, noting that accounting records were not properly maintained as there was missing documentation, financial records lacked certain financial transactions, and profit and loss statements were not regularly generated.
The report, which was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, noted that the operating budget of the Bahamas Games Secretariat was $5.5 million. The government initially allocated $4.5 million for the games, with just over $1 million being requested by the Secretariat after the event
The Auditor General’s report noted a lack of transparency concerning expenses related to preparing the games and a lack of accountability regarding the discretionary allocation of honorariums, overtime payments, and salary increments. The report also noted that procurement procedures lacked formalized procedures and transparency.
According to the report, the Secretariat received $59,000 in revenue from ticket sales, booklets, and souvenirs during the games; however, the OAG was unable to determine the specific breakdown.
The Auditor General noted that a government-appointed was supposed to oversee the Secretariat’s responsibilities but was never appointed.
The Auditor General also found that the Secretariat’s petty cash fund was improperly utilized for payment receipts concerning the acquisition of two vehicles. The sum of those transactions amounted to $4,000. The petty cash management document specified that no individual claims should surpass $500; however, several expenses exceeded that limit. The Auditor General recommended that car loan payments via the petty cash account be discontinued.
The report also raised concerns regarding some employee contracts, which stipulated that they were to be paid certain sums monthly but instead were paid monthly and instead were paid weekly. It was also noted that while employee contracts did not include vacation entitlements, the OAG observed that various employees availed themselves of vacation time, although there were no supporting documents substantiating their eligibility for such leave.
The report also noted that the Secretariat failed to make a $4,108 payment to the National Insurance Board, exposing itself to a fine for non-compliance.
According to the report, the Secretariat purchased two vehicles for $15,000. However, “There was no official documentation authorizing the purchase, and it was observed that two employees were making monthly contributions toward eventual ownership, although the exact amount for monthly payments was not specified in records.”
While BEL says it had been signaling the need for greater power generation for some time, it was not able to tackle the issue fast enough. The company is now hoping to get two new gas turbines up and running to generate additional power to the tune of fifty megawatts. The turbines, being constructed in the Belize District, are expected to be completed by the end of this month, and BEL believes the machines will greatly improve its ability to meet the country’s demands. But what took so long? General Manager of Energy Supply and Transmission, Jose Moreno, says the company’s plans were hindered by the laws governing the country’s energy sector.
Jose Moreno, General Manager of Energy Supply and Transmission, BEL: “Last year our board made the decision that we have to deploy generation resources. BEL is not responsible for the procurement regulations. BEL tells the regulator what our forecast is and then they are supposed to go and open up the market to attract those investments but we haven’t seen that since 2014. In 2013 there was an RFP for seventeen megawatts of new generation we only managed to finalize eight megawatts. So since then we haven’t added any new generation and our demand has been growing. So here we are. Last year we said we will have to invest in generation because at the end of the day those are our customers and we need to be responsible to guarantee their supply and that is why we are doing the upgrade of the gas turbine at mile 8 and the new addition of twenty megawatts of another gas turbine that is going to San Pedro. In the case of San Pedro the planned called for battery storage that hasn’t realized itself yet. We also had a new cable, there is a project for a new cable. We are working arduously on that to get that project off the ground and hopefully by 2026 or earlier we will have that new supply there but as far as generation resources are concerned we believe that after this weekend we are supposed to be in a better situation because we’re going to add thirty additional megawatts and by the end of May we will have an additional twenty megawatts from that turbine that we are deploying to San Pedro.”
Moreno added that one of the main temporary solutions to its energy woes is the shedding of power. However, he says that it is difficult for the company to decide which communities are affected by the decision.
Jose Moreno, General Manager of Energy Supply and Transmission, BEL:“The reason why we load shed is because we come up with a situation where we cannot meet the demand and that happens only if Mexico tells us “listen I have a situation in my system I need you to back off, I need you to curtail the supply.” right? Until then we don’t know. We cannot go ahead and forecast and put advisories out there if things are not gonna happen and that’s why they advisories that we have been sending out to our customers are general. Just telling them listen we are in this precarious situation, we might need you to come off or we might have to take out the feeder in our area out of service. Now last night we did mostly feeders in Belmopan, in San Ignacio we had two feeders out in San Ignacio. We had the Rural Belize feeder and one feeder in San Pedro Feeder 4 , that is the southern part of the island. We don’t expect if we need today we don’t expect to touch those feeders again unless we have one of those unfortunate occurrences where something goes wrong and we lose the entire system. Hopefully not.”
The company says that it will not be implementing rolling blackouts to curtail the country’s energy demand.
The lease agreement necessary to progress work on the wind farm projects slated St. Thomas and St. Croix is now in the hands of the Department of Property and Procurement. That was the word from Joel Hart of Advance Power, who provided an update to the V.I. Public Services Commission during its monthly meeting on Tuesday.
“We have formally executed and acknowledged the site lease, and it has been overnighted to Property and Procurement,” Mr. Hart said. Now begins the potentially lengthy bureaucratic process, with approvals needed from the Attorney General’s office, the Senate, and the governor.
“For the permitting and approval process, we can’t formally initiate that without having the leasehold and the site leads completed,” Mr. Hart said, while noting that Advance Power is nevertheless conducting preparatory work in anticipation of the completion of the leasing process.
Mr. Hart also told commissioners that the structure of the lease had changed, so that instead of Advance Power subleasing the property from WAPA as originally contemplated, they would be the primary leaseholder in the agreement with Property & Procurement.
PSC Commissioners questioned the total acreage of land on St. Croix and St. Thomas that would be leased under the agreement. Mr. Hart explained that it was too early to provide an exact figure, as the agreement is structured to allow maximum generation capacity on the site. “We’re talking about having the flexibility to locate …each patch site dependent on the actual engineering as we develop a formal site plan,” he told commissioners. “We’re looking at approximately two and a half acres for carve out for each pad site, more or less. But then… we’ll have easements for interconnection purposes and collection systems and metering and so forth,” he noted. After construction has been completed, an as-built survey would then determine the total acreage occupied by Advance Power. “Anything else would be turned back to Property & Procurement,” Mr. Hart said.
Pressed for more exactitude by several commissioners, Mr. Hart estimated that 10 windmills would be installed at Bovoni Point on St. Thomas, with 20 east of the St. Croix refinery. However, he cautioned that the numbers are “subject to change based on engineering; we want to put as few turbines as we can, but we want to meet the targets that are set out in the PPA.”
There is still internal discussion about whether to use 1.5 MW or 2 MW turbines, which would impact the total number that are eventually installed, Mr. Har
