Guyana
DPI – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, has assured that the contract for the development of the national electronic identification card (e-ID) was done in conformity with the procurement laws of Guyana.
The government recently signed a US$35.4 million contract with German based Company, Veridos Identify Solutions, for the implementation of the e-ID card in Guyana.
Electronic identification is a digital solution for proof of identity of citizens or organisations. They can be used to access benefits or services provided by government agencies, banks or other companies, for mobile payments among other things.
The attorney general during his weekly programme cited security concerns as one of the major factors for the decision to single source the company that will be developing the system.
“These are not contracts that can go into open tendering. They involve matters of social security, they involve national documents that require protective mechanisms that you can’t go on the open market to compete for,” Minister Nandlall explained.
He emphasised, “That is how it is done all over the world. Have you ever seen a government advertise publicly to buy passports? …We have complied with the procurement act in respect of these types of services”.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh has also defended the government’s decision to single source the contract for the development of the electronic IDs.
Dr Singh stressed that it was done in keeping with Guyana’s legislation and added that the German company is an ‘internationally reputable group’.
President Irfaan Ali, at the recent contract signing, noted that the electronic identification cards will not only enhance the way transactions are being done in Guyana, but will be one of the most technologically advanced.
The cards will be compliant with 18013-5 of the ISO Standard and will be accepted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for international travel.
Its capabilities are also in keeping with the government’s commitment to promoting e-governance to improve the productivity of businesses and the delivery of government services through the introduction of e-health, e-education, e-security, e-agriculture and license processing among other areas.
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Barbados
Individuals and companies supplying goods and services to the Government have to register under a revamped public procurement system that Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn says will make doing business with the government hassle-free.
The e-procurement system, Bonfire, is in a pilot phase that runs from April 1 to September 30.
“This is about making it easier to do business with government,” said Straughn who spoke about the transition from a paper-based procurement system to an electronic platform at a training workshop last week.eg that if you wanted to provide services to the Parliament of Barbados and you register with the Government Procurement Department through Bonfire as a supplier, and you then decided you wanted to provide some service to the National Assistance Board or some other entity, you do not now have to go and present the same information to those entities when they put out a specific tender. Therefore, this process allows everybody to be able to streamline what they are doing,” he explained.
Straughn said public officers who will manage the system have received intense training and suppliers have been sensitised.
Minister Straughn said the six-month pilot phase of Bonfire will allow all existing suppliers “to register and to get a feel for what is happening”.
“Ministries and departments will be putting out things on Bonfire in order to test their internal processes because as you would appreciate, this would mean a change of process for government and it also means a change of process for those persons who are accustomed to supplying government.
“And, therefore, over the next six months, as departments and suppliers ease their way into navigating the system you are going to see an acceleration of the e-procurement cycle. The bid information will also still be advertised in the paper because, over a certain threshold, you have to put things into the public space in terms of official tenders,” Straughn explained.
He urged all Barbadians interested in supplying the Government through the Procurement Department, formerly known as Central Purchasing, to register.
“Supplier registration is important because it is a single sign-on process. You submit your information, it is stored in the system…. You have the opportunity on registration to determine if you want to see everything that the Government is putting on or just the very thing that you are interested in with respect to the process,” the minister said.
“Management of procurement process will now be much more efficient. The officers recognised the ability to cascade information instantaneously and to manage the process through which the information is sent to the registered suppliers, makes their internal efforts a little easier. They can now take queries and respond to those queries all in one go without having to screen different calls and different sets of communication. That as a value added is going to be something that is particularly important,” Straughn pointed out.
He said Bonfire will be fully implemented by October 1 and procurement will therefore be online only from that date.
Straughn noted that local entities registered on Bonfire will have the opportunity to secure additional business and jobs outside of Barbados.
“If there is an opportunity in St Lucia, Jamaica, whatever that meets the criteria, that opportunity will be published on Bonfire for the entity overseas, and you being a supplier here in Barbados will get that additional information through the portal that also allows you to see whether or not you want to participate in procurement outside of Barbados,” Minister Straughn told Parliament.
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Cayman Islands
(CNS) Government is in the process of finding more private sector consultants to promote its proposed Car Free Week planned for some time this spring. The tender from the Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency is inviting bids from event planners or marketing companies for a month-long multimedia campaign to launch on 21 April ahead of the seven-day period, likely in late May, when the public will be asked to get around without using their cars.
The successful consultants will also develop, implement and manage the week-long schedule of activities for Car Free Week as well as the marketing campaign ahead of the week promoting alternative transport options such as riding bikes and scooters or using a special free park and ride service from all the districts and a free George Town shuttle.
The consultants are asked to liaise with the National Roads Authority and police to set up safe riding paths for cyclists, among a number of other ideas to get people out of their cars for a whole week. they will also be expected to promote a “car-free pledge from individuals, schools and businesses” according to the documents on the procurement site, and provide an education campaign on the existing public transport service.
The bid process closes next Monday and a winner will be selected by the end of the month. The tender process comes against the backdrop of continued traffic trauma for drivers commuting from the Eastern Districts but also when local bus drivers refused to stick to what they say are poorly planned routes and as they seek a hike in fairs due to the increase in fuel prices, which has so far been refused.
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Bahamas
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Nearly 1,500 vendors have registered on the government’s new procurement platform since its launch last November according to Prime Minister Philip Davis, with the government realizing nearly $3 million in savings from its use.
During his contribution to the Public Finance Management and Public Procurement Bills debate, Davis said: “We will also have fully digital public procurement with the roll-out of the Go Bonfire Platform: a best-in-class procurement platform that is being implemented throughout the public sector and in the Public Hospitals Authority.
“Since the launch of the platform last November, 1,490 vendors have been registered. 299 opportunities have been contracted during this period and the estimated savings from the use of the platform is $2.6 million. This number is expected to grow as more agencies move their procurement processes online.”
Davis noted that the new Public Finance Management and Public Procurement Bills would repeal and replace the Public Finance Management Act 2021, the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2018, sections of the Financial Administration and Audit Act and The Public Procurement Act 2021, while “correcting issues surrounding practical implementation, and delivering improved government financial management and transparency on behalf of the Bahamian people.”
Davis argued that the previous Public Procurement Bill produced unintended public policy consequences that his administration is keen on avoiding.
“One of the worst examples of this is seen in the unequal granting of contracts,” he continued.
“The processes put in place created an environment in which large vendors are able to dominate the competition. For example, in the procurement of food, one vendor by virtue of its size and corporate relations, dominated the procurement of food on behalf of the Government.
“Under the current Act, this dominance is allowed. In fact, it is an outcome that the Act, as written, intentionally brings about. However, common sense would tell you that the government nor the Bahamian people want to exist in a reality where only the largest, richest companies with the most resources get every contract. We can all agree that the role of government should be to broaden opportunities for a diverse range of Bahamians. Our small and medium-sized businesses deserve opportunities too,” said Davis.
He added: “The new Bill does the opposite of what the current Act does, by allowing for the preferential treatment of specific groups. We will introduce preferences for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, women-owned businesses, Family Island businesses, and youth-owned businesses. These are high-priority areas we are targeting as a government to diversify opportunities in The Bahamas.“
The prime minister further noted that the government is ensuring that all participants in procurements processes are registered by the Public Procurement Department where the current Act did not include international bidders in the registration process.
“We are lowering the threshold for establishment of a tender committee to review bids and award contracts from $50,000 to $25,000 for more transparency on government contracts. We have revised all financial thresholds for greater flexibility, transparency, and efficiency, to facilitate faster procurement agreements and completion of contracts. Contracts below a certain threshold will now automatically be reserved for national bidders,” said Davis.
“Special permission will have to be granted for these procurement processes to allow for international bidding. Specific justifications must be given for approval of this request. For example, it could be for a good or service that is not available in The Bahamas. In all other cases, any contract amount below that threshold will be reserved and granted to local companies. We are preserving opportunities for Bahamian business owners.
“We are also introducing greater accountability for all parties. Under the new Bill, bidders who attempt to influence or induce the award of a contract by offer of employment, gratuity, or any other offer of value will be disqualified. This is yet another area that will be strengthened, among many others clearly and specifically outlined in the Bill.”
Davis sharply criticized the former administration for failing to replace the existing financial management systems despite the funding being left in place to do so.
“We left in place funding to replace the existing financial management systems when we demitted office in 2017. To our shock, when we returned to office in 2021, there was very little progress. The Government’s payroll system has been in use since 1998. The hardware it sits on is no longer supported by the manufacturer. Despite the funding being in place, in four years they did little to address this situation,” Davis said.
“No wonder the payment backlog increased so much while they were in office. Defunct software and outdated hardware were kept in place by obsolete leaders. The real victims of their inaction were the thousands of public servants who showed up to work every day but were unable to receive the money they earned.
“This is not just a hiccup in the system,” Davis sajd.
“We are talking about people’s careers and livelihoods here. On realizing the full extent of the issue, within our first month in Office, we got to work clearing out this backlog. Some of the stacks of files were piled all the way up to the roof of the Ministry of Public Service and were left untouched for four and a half years.
“That could not happen on our watch. Every public servant deserves the pay they have earned. And as we prioritize getting owed payments through the system, we are investing in a Digital Document Management System and Human Resource Management Information System to ensure that this backlog never happens again,” said Davis.
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Jamaica
Work will shortly commence to alleviate water challenges being experienced by residents of Pepper, situated on the border of Manchester and St. Elizabeth, and adjoining communities.
This was disclosed by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda.
Addressing residents during a recent tour to ascertain the progress of the Greater Mandeville Water Supply Improvement Project, Senator Samuda said aspects of the work will begin, come next month.
“We have done an assessment of this area and others which are close by, and what exists is simply not suitable to provide the community with water, because whenever you turn on your pipes, you don’t get reliable water supply. I have given a commitment…
that… the work for this community, which will involve a three-kilometre extension of the one-kilometre pipe, will commence in April,” the Minister said.
He informed that although the work is critical to the Greater Mandeville Water Supply Improvement Project, residents of Pepper should also benefit from the undertaking.
“So, you have my word that the work will extend two kilometres longer than it currently runs… [a] two hundred per cent increase. With the new pipes, we will be providing reliable water that flows from the existing well that will significantly improve flows to the community of Pepper,” Senator Samuda added.
He further noted that work will also commence shortly to repair and restore a 50,000-gallon tank, which has been decommissioned for some time, in order to significantly improve supply flows and create resilience.
“I’ve been advised that the procurement [process] is under way… the tender documents are almost complete… [and] we will have a contractor in three to four months to start the work,” Minister Samuda said.
He added that several projects will be undertaken to significantly improve supply in the area.
“We will commission your water supply long before the water starts lifting to go anywhere else,” the Minister assured.
Senator Samuda advised that additional work will also be done in other communities.
The Greater Mandeville Water Supply Improvement Project will ensure reliable access to water for thousands of residents of Manchester and sections of neighbouring St. Elizabeth.
The multibillion-dollar project, which spans five years, is now in its third year of implementation.
It includes the supply of well pumps and transmission pipeline replacements, supply and installation of a 200,000-imperial-gallon steel tank, construction of three new well sites, and installation of new transmission mains to replace aged infrastructure and seven new pumping units.
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