Guyana
The government, through the Ministry of Public Works, is looking to pre-qualify contractors and/or firms for the reconstruction of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
In an advertisement on Friday, the ministry informed that the government has applied for financing from the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) toward the cost of the project and intends to apply part of the proceeds of this financing to payments under the contract for the reconstruction of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
The ministry’s work services group (WSG) will be prequalifying contractors for the upgrading of the existing 72.43km two-lane, single-carriageway, and rural arterial highway.
The scope of work entails milling of existing asphalt surface course, application of varying pavement structures above the milled sections of pavement inclusive of asphalt, sand asphalt, and sub-base; full-depth pavement reconstruction in certain sections, construction of two roundabouts along the alignment, sidewalks extension to nine multi-span bridges, drainage work and utility relocation, and installation of roadway lighting.
The tender document stated that prequalification will be conducted through prequalification procedures specified in the Islamic Development Bank’s guidelines for Procurement of Goods, Works and Related Services, and is open to all bidders from eligible source countries, as defined in the guidelines.
Interested eligible applicants may obtain further information from and inspect the prequalification document at the ministry’s Kingston, Georgetown office. A complete set of the prequalification document may be uplifted by interested applicants on the submission of a written application or email.
Applications for prequalification should be submitted in sealed envelopes, and delivered to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, Ministry of Finance, by November 23, 2022.
Earlier this year, a team from the ISDB visited Guyana on an appraisal mission for a US$120 million loan request, paving the way for the upgrading of the major thoroughfare. (Department of Public Information)
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Jamaica
The Government of Jamaica has entered into a Financial Advisory Services Agreement (FASA) with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to develop the North Coast Highway Project.
The US$800-million agreement was signed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, and IFC Managing Director, Makhtar Diop.
A FASA details the permissions granted to an advisor by their client, for the purpose of creating a legal consulting arrangement.
The FASA is further to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Government and the IFC in April, in relation to the same project.
According to Dr. Clarke, “Last year we signalled that the Government would leverage the improvement in Jamaica’s macro-economy to utilise an improved modality for highway infrastructure procurement that is open, competitive and transparent.
“With enhanced fiscal credibility and entrenched stability, Jamaica is now in a position to put together a complex transaction of this nature with the realistic prospect of attracting large international firms to compete,” he pointed out.
The Minister further stated that the Government is pleased to enter into this definitive agreement with the IFC, whereby they will advise on the structuring and execution of the transaction.
The FASA details that IFC will provide a full-service advisory that assists the Government in all steps of project structuring and implementation to successful closure of the expansion, improvement and maintenance of the Mammee Bay to Salem (12.3km), Seacastles to Greenwood (6.8km) and Greenwood to Discovery Bay (40.7km) road segments.
These services include detailed technical, legal, financial environmental and social studies, designing the bidding process, and implementing a competitive tender that results in a bankable project for investors that meets clear public-sector goals.
Additionally, working with the IFC may also allow the Government to access grant resources that can help finance the cost of this advisory service.
IFC’s Regional Director for the Caribbean, Mexico, Colombia and Central America, Martin Spicer, said the project will open new paths for Jamaica’s social and economic development.
“IFC has extensive expertise in public-private partnerships for large infrastructure projects, and we are confident that this project will be an important boost for tourism and open up new areas for economic development in Jamaica,” he added.
Financial Secretary, Darlene Morrison; Director General, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wayne Henry, as well as other senior members from IFC attended the signing ceremony.
The signing was done during the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Annual Meetings being held in Washington DC, USA.
Dr. Clarke is also meeting with other multilateral partners on Jamaica’s economic programmes, as well as with international credit rating agencies and investment banks.
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Guyana
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has created and approved strict ethics and procurement policies, sharing the new rules with its membership to improve accountability and transparency in football as part of the ongoing FIFA reform process.
The documents were signed off by the GFF Council- formerly the GFF Executive Committee- bringing the national federation and its membership in line with the highest global standards in football.
“The GFF is committed to managing football in the most professional manner in order to ensure the long-term stability and development of the game and its administration” said GFF President Wayne Forde.
“It is one of our strategic goals to continue to strive for good governance because football cannot thrive and grow without a strong institutional foundation.”
“We believe these new standards place the GFF at the forefront of good governance in sports administration in the Caribbean region,” President Forde added.
The policies apply to the GFF Council and General Secretariat, as well as its regional associations, member affiliates and member clubs. The full documents can be found online on the GFF’s website.
The Ethics, Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy supports the GFF’s zero tolerance approach to unethical and illegal behaviour in football, covering areas such as gifts, hospitality, facilitation payments, kickbacks, employee and contractor responsibilities, record-keeping and conflicts of interests. It establishes a register of interests for senior officials across the football community.
The Procurement Policy outlines rules and thresholds for tendering goods and services across a range of budgets, from open and restricted tendering to the request for a quotation for the GFF and its members.
“All procurement now requires a clear paper trail and an accountable, transparent process,” Forde said.
“This will ensure the GFF and its members not only adhere to ethical practices, but also ensure that money is well spent through a fair process for service providers.”
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Bahamas
The government’s nearly $800 million allocation in the 2022/2023 fiscal period for recurrent and capital expenditure represents “vast” procurement opportunities, according to Prime Minister Philip Davis, noting that a new Public Procurement Bill will soon be made public for consultation.
Speaking at the launch of the government’s new eProcurement platform, Davis noted that the new platform will retire the previous procurement platform which was launched back in 2005 and was limited in its function.
The new platform, designed and built by GobonFire, will enable vendors to receive customized procurement opportunity notices, search for procurement opportunities across all Government agencies, and provide instant access.
Davis said: “For fiscal year 2022/2023 we have allocated approximately $795 million for recurrent and capital expenditure. That represents vast procurement opportunities for goods and services and for construction services.”
“We have carefully selected this solution because it will ensure that procurement is consistent across the public sector, reducing cost without compromising quality, minimizing product failures, and assuring operational efficiency to improve outputs of the supply chain. The fallout from Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic left many suppliers struggling to meet their business obligations because of lockdowns and business uncertainty.
He said: “Contracting agencies, therefore, must act to support their at-risk suppliers and potential suppliers, carefully avoiding the imposition of unnecessary burdens or constraints, so that they are better able to participate in procurement activities.”
Davis also noted that the government is committed to allocating five percent of all Government procurement contracts to businesses owned by young Bahamians.
“Small businesses, Family Island businesses, businesses owned by women, and businesses owned by young Bahamians will be monitored as key performance indicators (KPIs) for this Administration,” he said.
Financial Secretary Simon Wilson described the new eProcurement system as “best in class”.
“It allows the government to implement first-class procurement legislation. It is user-friendly, very transparent, and should streamline procurement for the country,” said Wilson, who added the system was fully automated “so there is no human intervention”.
Wilson explained that the platform has a $150,000 price tag and is a software-as-a-service platform.
Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employer’s Confederation (BCCEC) chairperson Krystle Rutherford-Ferguson noted that procurement is a lever that can be pulled by the government to spur economic activity.
“Notwithstanding the fact that some levels of the tendering process were available online, we welcome the move to modernize and to improve on what existed before,” she said.
“Modern, open, and fair public procurement systems benefit not only businesses but government and its citizens as well. Furthermore, governments are an important source of business for the private sector, which in turn build communities and provide jobs. As a person with a vested interest in the success of our country, we can appreciate that at all levels we should want to see systems implemented that are efficient, fair, and accountable.”
All businesses are encouraged to register on the new portal to access government opportunities. Companies currently registered on suppliers.gov.bs are also required to register on the new portal, as the suppliers.gov.bs system will phase out on October 3, 2022.
Some of the key upgrades include built-in transparency, a categorized notification system as well as an improved, intuitive user interface. Each vendor will need to provide their business NIB number and business license number.
Additionally, each vendor is required to upload a digital copy of their valid business license. In the absence of a valid business license, a vendor can still register on the portal. However, vendor registration will be incomplete and the supplier will not be able to bid on opportunities.
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Bahamas
THE Free National Movement intends to take legal action against the Davis administration to initiate a judicial review targeting the government’s failure to follow the Public Procurement Act.
FNM Leader Michael Pintard made the revelation to The Tribune yesterday as he pushed back against what he described as the government’s “flimsy” excuses for not abiding by the law.
Plans to take the legal route came after the FNM exhausted several avenues, including a written communication to the prime minister and an attempt to use provisions in the Freedom of Information Act.
However, the latter option yielded no results, as the FOIA’s relevant provisions have yet to be enforced.
The situation was similar when the opposition attempted to use the powers of the Public Accounts Committee, with Mr Pintard telling The Tribune there was some concern that the committee had not received the responses that it expected certain agencies to provide.
He spoke to this newspaper after the official opposition tabled questions to the government in the House of Assembly, several of them targeting the Procurement Act.
“We, just in the House of Assembly tabled a number of questions, a number of them surrounding the identical issue, the violation of the Public Procurement Act and we have asked questions in the House of Assembly during the debate,” Mr Pintard said during an interview at his office on Parliament Street.
“We’ve spoken to members of the media. I have written to the prime minister and we have utilised the Public Accounts Committee and we have also sought to go through the Freedom of Information Act, but the provisions that empower those who have responsibility for the Freedom of Information Act, those provisions are not yet enforced and so that has not been helpful to us.”
He continued: “We have gone through every avenue. I have spoken with two attorneys. We have now received the quote of the retainer for one of those attorneys.
“We are looking now to take legal action with respect to this administration and initiate a judicial review so we could determine through law exactly why the government is so recalcitrant and refuses to follow.”
The Davis administration has said the Public Procurement Act, which was made law under the Minnis administration, is unworkable.
Last month, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the Davis administration planned to rewrite the Public Procurement Act as opposed to amending portions of it to allow for greater transparency and ease of administration.
At the time Mr Pinder told reporters the legislation in its current format had several “material issues” that restricted the government’s ability to govern effectively.
Because of this, Mr Pinder said, officials decided to change its approach entirely in dealing with the bill.
Mr Pintard rejected these assertions yesterday, saying: “I just think there is a culture that is endemic in the system and I also think that different agencies and their heads take a cue from the executive and the executive have shown a blatant disregard for the law.
“They have used flimsy excuses such as they have intention of amending the law and therefore until they have done so they refuse to comply.
“They claim that it’s unworkable and the provisions are onerous, which is untrue because in the last administration obviously elements of that law were still in fact used to report, including in cases where people wish to single source a contractor to do work and you want to go through a no-bid process.
“There are provisions that are available for you to act and if there is a need to take some action as in an emergency, the law as it exists was utilised during COVID.
“So, the excuses they have given have been flimsy.
“I just think that the arrangements that they have entered into that they are not comfortable with the public knowing what those arrangements are and I don’t think they feel any obligation to follow the law.
“They have a pathway that they have determined to follow and that’s what they are doing.”
The intended legal action will also seek to make public the settlements the government has reached with people who sued the state for various reasons.
In recent months the government settled a lawsuit with Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander and Deputy Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux.
The men filed suits against the government when they were deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner of police, respectively, after the Minnis administration forced them to take vacation leave and later seconded them to minor posts upon their return to active duty.
Details of the settlements have not been made public.
“There will more than likely be other elements that we will look at,” Mr Pintard said yesterday. “One particular decision that they have made that has also caused us some concern and we believe it ought to be challenged in court and that is keeping secret the settlements that they have entered into, some of which were in court. Some we understand the attorneys for those persons were signalling that they are going to court. So, again what motivated their decisions to award what they did and what was the amount?
“Was the amount justified given what the grievance was that the persons had?” The Public Procurement Act was partly a response to long-term criticisms of the country’s procurement processes.
It is intended to shine the light of transparency and accountability across the award of all public sector contracts, thus improving taxpayer value for money and reducing fraud, wastage, and corruption. It is also supposed to improve procurement efficiency by having all bids and contract awards handled through a centralised e-procurement supplier registry, with all companies interested in bidding registering with this portal.
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