Jamaica
INGSTON, Jamaica – On Wednesday, Daryl Vaz, the Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications, and Transport, announced that a fleet of 300 buses will be introduced at the beginning of the new academic year. This initiative aims to alleviate passenger frustration and reduce waiting times.
“I thought it prudent to give a brief update, especially in relation to the transport arrangements for back-to-school, because obviously, that would be a critical part of a successful return to school for September morning,” Vaz said.
“So, as of right now, based on emergency procurement of spare parts, we have been able to rehabilitate and restore 125 buses, which gives us 265 buses without the 50 new buses. With the 50 new buses, we will have 315 buses on the road for back to school,” Vaz added.
Vaz was addressing a Post Cabinet Press Briefing at Jamaica House.
Earlier this year, during his contribution to the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, then Minister of Transport and Mining Audley Shaw disclosed that 45 diesel and five electric buses would be added to the JUTC fleet by the end of May.
Shaw had also stated that 20 compressed natural gas (CNG)-fuelled units would also be added to the fleet under a joint arrangement with private-sector partners by September.
On August 25, 50 buses were unloaded at the Kingston Wharves.
READ: 50 JUTC buses arrive at Kingston Wharves ahead of new school year
“You will recall that we had the 50 buses arrive in Jamaica last week Friday, and I’m pleased to say that we were able to clear them on the weekend, and we are now in the process this morning of licensing them for them to be able to go out for the weekend to various depots to be available for Monday morning,” Vaz said.
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Trinidad and Tobago
Since the recently-proclaimed Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Act came into full effect, the American Chamber of Commerce TT (Amcham) has noted various challenges being faced by its membership.
Amcham, in a release, said it has been working with the Office of Procurement Regulations (OPR) and the Finance Ministry to address the concerns companies have outlined with the new requirements and platform.
A virtual information session for its members was hosted by Amcham in collaboration with the OPR on August 25.
The session addressed the concerns about the procurement platform and the operationalisation of the procurement act, the release said.
Procurement regulator Beverly Khan, in her opening remarks, said the OPR understands the challenges being experienced by contractors and suppliers and has been working with the Finance Ministry to make the system more efficient.
The OPR proposed the following changes: staying at level two on the UN standard products and services code (UNSPC) system; introducing new codes to customise the lines of business; and removing the need for pre-qualification on the depository so that it becomes a registry of suppliers and contractors with particular lines of business. However, pre-qualification would still be a requirement at the level of the procuring entity.
Khan said this process will relieve the requirements of contractors and suppliers from producing on an ongoing basis – even outside of tender periods – a host of documents thereby allowing them to more easily register the name of their company, company address, articles of incorporation, additional company information, and the lines of business.
Only at the time of the evaluation and the pre-qualification process will companies be required to meet the statutory requirements concerning NIB, BIR, and VAT documents, she said.
“We want a registration process. It will be a marketplace for suppliers and contractors to engage for public bodies to see what are their offerings, and that will begin the process,” she said. “We have taken that pressure off our international suppliers and contractors. A lot of our public bodies have been encountering the challenge.”
Amcham said they understand the challenges but remain optimistic about finding a right mechanism to address these concerns, while simultaneously ensuring the act allows for increased transparency in the spending of public money and reduces corruption.
Amcham CEO Nirad Tewarie said, “We welcome the proposed changes outlined by the procurement regulator to make this process more efficient. We appreciate the engagement of the OPR on this issue and we look forward to building on the collaboration to create mutual trust and ensure that the procurement process becomes easier and more transparent at the same time.”
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Trinidad and Tobago
Tobago Minority Leader Kelvon Morris has revealed plans to write to the Chief Administrator expressing concerns that the procurement laws are not being adhered to by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).
In April this year, the Cabinet approved the full proclamation of the remaining sections of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, No 1 of 2015.
The law makes it mandatory for anyone providing services in the public sector to be registered with the Office of the Procurement Regulator (OPR).
However, at a virtual news conference yesterday, the Minority Leader expressed reservations that the THA may not be fully compliant with the law.
“I have great concerns at this time that even now there are a number of procurement activities happening with respect to the proclamation of this new act and whether the THA is in fact in breach,” he said.
Morris said his information is that not many suppliers of services of the THA are registered with the OPR as is required.
“If that is the case, then it begs the question, how are they going about procuring goods and services for the THA? I see this as an important matter,” he added.
Morris said this was why he is reaching out to all the administrators of divisions in the THA.
“Because it is important that they understand the role that they play in the procurement process, in fact, the administrators and the Chief Administrator is the key person and she provided delegated responsibility to other administrators and they are really seen as the procurement officer of the division and the accounting officer of the division. So in that realm any breach or flout of the law they are ultimately responsible and culpable and therefore it falls upon them to ensure that before they award contracts that the process can stand scrutiny, that the process is in keeping with the law.”
He encouraged the Chief Administrator to take the lead on this to ensure THA has the necessary systems in place to comply with the law.
In response to the concerns raised by the minority Deputy Chief Secretary Dr Faith B Yisrael said, “It’s clear from listening to the members of our Parliament last week, that it was practically impossible to be fully compliant with the new procurement legislation.”
She told Guardian Media that notwithstanding the THA has been working with its procurement officers, its legal officers and its administrators to ensure that all activities within the THA follow the law as closely as possible.
“It is important to note that the OPR is yet to publish the modified regulations to accompany the amendments to the legislation passed last week. So, like many other organisations, we wait,” she said.
Final amendments to the procurement law were passed last week with Government votes alone in the House of Representatives, as the Opposition withheld its support.
According to the Government, the amendments were necessary to deal with excessively lengthy processes in the law which could have made government operations grind to a halt.
The issue of two exemption orders passed for the Caricom summit and the Judiciary was publicly queried by Barataria/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein with threats of legal action.
This resulted in Parliament subsequently being recalled for extraordinary sittings to rectify the issues.
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Turks and Caicos Islands
The Howard Hamilton International Airport has not been sold and there is no intention to completely privatise the facility.
An increasingly important theme in airport government policy around the world and nearly always controversial, is private sector involvement or privatisation.
Similarly, the Howard Hamilton International Airport formerly the Providenciales International Airport has seen its fair share of contention, ever since the government announced its intention to seek a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for the redevelopment of the facility.
However, Chair of the Board of Directors for the Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (‘TCIAA’) Mr Selvyn Hawkin in an attempt to set the record straight, said no preferred bidder or partner has been identified for the redevelopment of the airport.
One of the things we think is important to clarify in this process is that there has been no sale and there is no intent to sell the airport or to completely privatise it , he explained during a recent town hall meeting.
Hawkins argued that the PPP model being proposed to potential investors will in fact do the opposite and allow the TCIAA and by extension the TCI government, to leverage the expertise and skills of the private sector whilst maintaining ownership of the asset at all times.
We’ve been given the green light to explore the possibility of redeveloping the airport by a private-public partnership, and just for the record, I want to say that the process as far as we know has been wholly compliant with TCI laws, so we’re starting off on good footing.
“I know some persons may say it has taken quite a long time to get here, but we got here because every step of the way, we were trying to make sure that we complied with TCI law.
He underscored that the PPP process is being explored by running an open, transparent and public tender exercise under the supervision of the Government s Procurement Board to further explore if value for money can be obtained through such a project.
He emphasised that if in the end, the project yields unfavourable results, the project as intended will have to be reconsidered or possibly abandoned.
Need for redevelopment
The multi-million dollar redevelopment and modernisation of the airport in Providenciales, TCI s main gateway for international travel is deemed a priority project for the government, as the island s economy is largely dependent on tourism.
Turning his attention to the plethora of challenges facing the airport, which handles an increasingly high traffic volume, Hawkins reminded that it is no secret that the airport is in dire need of expansion and upgrade.
He said: It’s indicative that there’s a demand for the Turks and Caicos that exceeds our ability to meet it on our own in terms of infrastructure.
And so, we realised that we need to maximise these opportunities to address terminal passenger constraints, airside constraints, constraints resulting in late arrivals and late departures, health and safety concerns, due to the congestion that’s currently there, and just the state of the current asset itself, there are concerns with regulatory compliance, there’s a need for enhancing our maintenance and obtaining better procurement.
He acknowledged that the territory has been very fortunate to have a robust tourism sector and its main airport has to reflect the tourism luxury brand.
We are an award-winning traveller s destination, with several accolades around the world, connected to our beaches, and to the services that we provide on the luxury tourism scene.
I’m happy to note that the reputation we boast is that of luxury or niche tourism and it’s something that we re working hard to preserve.
But one of the things that we want to set in is that, whilst we may be thriving on the fact that we are luxury, tourism award winning tourism destination, traveling into the destination at present, doesn’t seem so luxurious.
It’s just the reality of what we’re currently faced with at the Howard Hamilton International Airport.
And so, I think the pictures alone are revealing in that not only is there a need for a new terminal, but there’s a need for bringing in some form of world-class or international expertise in understanding what is needed to meet the international demands of what we would say should be the transport or gateway to a luxury destination.
The airport registered 1.2m passengers in 2019, demonstrating a steady growth over the past decade, and it is estimated that by the year 2040, those numbers will double reaching about 2m passengers annually.
In the aftermath of Covid-19, travel into and throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands returned at a rapid rate and surpassed its pre-pandemic traffic volume.
If all goes according to plans, the massive project will see the construction of a new passenger terminal building of a minimum of 270,000 square feet for a capacity of approximately 2.5m passengers including boarding bridges, increased commercial areas and increased VIP lounges and an expansion of the airside to add domestic and international standards, including the addition of a parallel taxiway.
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United States Virgin Islands
Property and Procurement Acting Commissioner Lisa Alejandro is one step closer to dropping “acting” from her job title after a Thursday meeting of the Rules and Judiciary Committee.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. tapped Alejandro to lead the department in February following the resignation of former Commissioner Anthony Thomas. She previously served as Property and Procurement’s assistant commissioner, overseeing the Procurement, Vendor Management and Central Stores divisions.
Flanked by family and supporters, Alejandro testified Thursday that she was aware of “the opportunities and challenges we face as the custodian agency of the Government’s fleet, its property, assets and all acquisitions.”
Alejandro said two of her priorities will be managing the fleet of vehicles and reducing bureaucracies to make the property management and procurement system more efficient and transparent.
Upon approving Alejandro’s nomination, Committee Chair Sen. Diane Capehart told her she had cleared the first hurdle in her path to becoming Property and Procurement Commissioner.
“Your resume, your experiences, says it all for yourself,” Capehart said. “You are one of those nominations that I knew — right off the bat —that you would go through this committee favorably.”
Lawmakers later approved a slew of official acts and resolutions, including five which recognize and celebrate notable Virgin Islanders.
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