Trinidad and Tobago
I refer to press reports that, “State-owned development company Nidco, the project manager, acted as just a ‘rubber stamp’.” This was reportedly said by Renuka Sagramsingh-Sooklal, member of the Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure at the sitting earlier in the week of the JSC which is conducting an enquiry into the Point Fortin contract.
The Joint Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) understands that the alleged wastage of public funds occurred before the new procurement legislation was enacted and operationalised in April 2023 and therefore the alleged “enablers of the associated corruption and wastage” cannot be penalised under these present laws.
While that may be the case, the JSC should seek to at least name and shame the relevant people for this travesty. Imagine that the OAS was paid US$150m or 20 per cent of the contract sum, as an advance payment, when the tender was based on ten per cent?
We would like to think that this cannot happen today as complaints can be filed under Section 41 of Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act of 2015 to The Regulator of the Office of the Procurement Regulation (OPR). In other words,the state entity, NIDCO in this case cannot be directed or pressured by powerful enablers, without these transgressions coming to light via the OPR.
The JCC cautions the public that too much time has elapsed since the annual report from The OPR was due at the end of 2023 and it yet to be delivered to the House of Representatives.
The impact of the new procurement laws is heavily reliant on this OPR annual report, which will provide transparent information to the public for the first time in the history of this country of exactly how much public money has been spent; how is spending these monies and who are the contractors and service providers.
We cannot underscore the vital importance of this information nor the following information that the OPR has to include in the report:
(i) the number of procurement contracts awarded;
(ii) the number of procurement contracts varied;
(iii) the quantum of those variances;
(iv) the number of unfulfilled procurement contracts an the quantum of cost incurred;
(v) with respect to the procurement for a project, a brief description, the awardee, the value, the scope of works and the expected deliverables of the project; and
(vi) lessons learnt as a consequence of the management of procurement contracts;
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Saint Lucia
- ST. LUCIA-TRADE-St. Lucia signals intention to join PJCPP
St. Lucia has signalled its interest in signing the protocol governing public procurement in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME).
The CSME allows for the free movement of services, goods, skills and labour across the majority of the 15-member regional integration movement.
Earlier this month, Castries hosted the second meeting of the CARICOM Permanent Joint Council on Public Procurement (PJCPP) and a statement posted on the St. Lucia government website Monday, said while the island “has not yet signed the protocol, it participated as an observer during the meeting, signaling its interest and commitment to the deliberations”.
Director of the Barbados-based CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) Unit, Titus Preville, a former senior St. Lucia public servant, during the meeting highlighted the significance of the PJCPP, noting that it would focus on adopting its rules of procedure. Additionally, the meeting aimed to approve proposals encompassing rules, guidelines, norms, and standards outlined in the protocol for administering public procurement.
Furthermore, the PJCPP intended to scrutinize its work programme for the period spanning 2024 to 2026, along with proposals for integrating E-Procurement into the Community Public Procurement Notice Board.
Preville said at the moment seven member states Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname have signed the protocol on public procurement and the declaration to provisionally apply the protocol since it was approved by the Conference of Heads of Government in St. Kitts and Nevis in 2019.
“Of the seven Barbados and Belize have moved to ratify the protocol. In keeping therefore with article 36 of the protocol, once at least five member states have signed the protocol and the declaration to provisionally apply the protocol, the protocol is determined to be provisionally applied among these parties.
As a consequence of that provisional application of the protocol, under article 30 of the protocol the permanent joint council can be established,” he added.
Permanent Secretary in the Department of Finance, Francis Fontenelle, acknowledged that while St. Lucia has not yet signed the protocol, the country has made significant strides in modernizing its procurement reform processes.
He said the island has introduced a new Public Procurement Act and accompanying regulations, as well as standardized tender documents to streamline compliance. Additionally, an E-Procurement Platform has been implemented to enhance accessibility, record-keeping, and reporting, aligning with parallel efforts within the CSME.
“We are very grateful that we are afforded observer status to the functioning of the Permanent Joint Council. This affords us insight into the direction in which the concept of regionally integrated public procurement is headed. We wish to recognize the contributions made by the CARICOM Secretariat and by the CSME Unit to the development of public procurement in the region.”
The Permanent Joint Council, consisting of senior trade and public procurement specialists from member states, is tasked with implementing the provisions outlined in the community protocol on public procurement.
This council holds the responsibility for overseeing the execution of the protocol’s mandates and regularly reports to the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on the protocol’s performance.
“Now is the time for the remaining CARICOM, CSME member states to sign the protocol and be part of the design of the framework of what will govern the parties to the protocol in the future,” said Preville.
Fontenelle said St. Lucia will continue to pursue some internal steps to ensure that the policies are “sufficiently understood and accepted prior to assimilation into our policy framework.
“In essence, we want all concerned parties to be comfortable that this is acceptable to us and that it is not being adopted solely to meet an external requirement,” Fontenelle said.
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Jamaica
Trelawny Northern MP says procurement process stalling rehabilitative works
TOVA HAMILTON, member of parliament for Trelawny Northern, is appealing for her constituents’ patience as she battles with the lengthy procurement process to address deteriorated roadways in her constituency.
Hamilton, while responding to queries from The Gleaner, shared that she has been pushing for the commencement of major road rehabilitation projects in the constituency. However, she further explained that with the lengthy procurement process in place by the Government, these projects are still in the pipeline as the National Works Agency (NWA) is yet to award the contracts.
“Hopefully, they can be a little patient with me because I have to go through processes just the same and it’s not as though I can just execute a project on my own. I don’t get the resources to do it, so I have to go to the agencies that have the resources.”
According to Hamilton, motorists traversing the Duncans to Clark’s Town main road should expect better road conditions once the proposed project is completed. She told The Gleaner that approximately $20 million has been allocated for the project and the procurement process was initiated last year.
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Guyana
Chairman of the NPTAB, Tarachand Balgobind said on Wednesday that he has acknowledged the criticisms of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) in its summary of findings regarding the tender board’s timely submission of documents and is working to acquire a robust “electronic records” management system.
As in the case of the awarded $865 million contract for the pump station at Belle Vue (West Coast Demerara) to inexperienced company Tepui Group Inc. R Kissoon complained to the PPC on January 24, 2023 that its bids for the maintenance and servicing of drainage and irrigation pumps were unsuccessful even though they were the lowest for two lots and met all of the requirements. The NPTAB did not supply documents as requested or did so very late.
Balgobind when contacted by Stabroek News said the NPTAB is working with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to procure an advanced and reliable electronic system where information can be disseminated expeditiously.
He said the NPTAB welcomed the PPC’s review of the awarding of a contract for the construction of the pump station at Belle Vue, West Bank Demerara, Region 3, and the report issued on 16th April 2024.
The Chairman referred this newspaper to a statement following the release of the PPC’s Summary of Findings on the award of a pump station contract to Tepui Inc
The NPTAB remains fully committed to working closely with its evaluation committees to ensure scrutiny of bids and strict adherence to the evaluation criteria. Moreover, the NPTAB reiterates the importance of procurement entities drafting evaluation criteria that clearly outline all relevant issues for evaluators to analyze and make recommendations”, the release said.
“NPTAB also notes the need to eliminate inconsistencies, where they exist, in the instructions to bidders. This recommendation is aligned with ongoing reforms being undertaken currently and will be implemented through
collaboration with the PPC to strengthen bidding documents, particularly when tenders are advertised in lots. Additionally, the NPTAB has commenced two consultancies to strengthen records management and develop a public procurement management system. Both will introduce information technology solutions to current processes and procedures and pave the way for a robust e-procurement system”, the statement said.
On Wednesday this newspaper reported that it took eight months for the PPC to throw out a complaint by R Kissoon Contracting Services over a bid for D&I pumps but more irregularities have surfaced in the tendering system including errors by the evaluation committee and the signing of the disputed contract on January 1st 2023, a national holiday.
The PPC discovered based on the documents submitted to it that the Evaluation Committee of the NPTAB said R Kissoon was non-responsive on three of the criteria and its bids were therefore thrown out. However, the PPC found that R Kissoon could possibly only have been deemed non responsive in relation to one guideline and had actually complied with the other two.
This discovery will raise further questions about the arbitrary conduct of the evaluation committees of the NPTAB and how certain contractors could be favoured over others. Despite having failed several guidelines, including the requirement to have previously built a pump station, the evaluation committee admitted the bid of Tepui Inc as responsive. Tepui was later awarded the contract and this has triggered a major controversy.
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Bahamas
The Bahamas’ education system is to undergo a significant transformation through the USD43 million Bahamas Education Sector Transformation (BEST) project launched by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas at the Grand Lucayan Resort Convention Centre in Grand Bahama on Monday, May 6, 2024.
Funding will go towards constructing a new state-of-the-art comprehensive school in East Grand Bahama and rehabilitating and retrofitting two primary schools damaged by Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
Since the hurricane, students in East Grand Bahama have faced commutes of up to 100 kilometres. The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted the local education system, causing learning losses and exacerbating existing inequities in access to technology. The new and refurbished climate-resilient schools will be designed to improve student achievement, increase access and completion rates, and enhance community life.
The BEST project goes beyond building schools. The Ministry of Education will also benefit from enhanced data accessibility and information technology processes, and improved staff recruitment and development programmes.
CDB Acting Vice President, Operations, Mrs. Therese Turner-Jones, said the project will uplift the learning environment, improve teaching methods, and strengthen the education system’s governance.
“The CDB is proud of its partnership with The Bahamas. Education is key to making sure all Bahamians have a better than fighting chance of competing in the global labour market. No child, whether he or she is on Sweeting Cay, High Rock, West End, or Freeport should be deprived of learning. Education is the single most important investment a government can provide to its population. No one should be left behind. This means including special needs in the education strategy, making use of technology, and ensuring that teachers are equipped to do their jobs,” Mrs. Turner-Jones said.
“The Bahamas has special challenges in that the population is spread across many islands with small populations. This requires additional resources to cope with the needs of children in remote areas who are entitled to good education. We are here to help the Ministry of Education work through these problems and arrive at ways to resolve them in the interests of giving every child a chance,” Mrs Turner-Jones added.
Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Hon. Philip Davis, said the BEST project would help to make the Bahamian education system more inclusive, resilient and gender-responsive.
“By investing in infrastructure, curriculum development, teacher training and technological innovation, we will create an environment where every learner can thrive and reach their full potential. BEST is an investment in quality education for all learners,” Prime Minister Davis said.
The BEST project launch is among a series of activities being carried out by a CDB team currently on mission in the Bahamas. During the visit, the Bank representatives will also visit sites of ongoing interventions including the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) Enhancement Project and the Bahamas Water Supply Improvement Project. Additionally, the CBD team will meet with officials to discuss future support for Skills Development and Technical and Vocational Education programmes to enhance employability and workforce readiness in The Bahamas.
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