A new phase of the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB’s) public procurement reform programme has started in the Eastern Caribbean.
The CDB, which is helping countries in the Eastern Caribbean to increase efficiency and effectiveness in government procurement, has transitioned to its second stage, which includes finalising legal reforms and establishing electronic systems. This second stage was kicked off this week with a workshop involving 47 participants held recently in the Virgin Islands, a release from the bank states.
The second phase of the procurement reform, estimated to last until mid-2024, will also involve the completion of the outstanding legal and regulatory reforms, the formation of dedicated procurement institutions in the countries, the development of standard procurement documents and support for the introduction of electronic procurement to provide for greater transparency and efficiency.
“Better expenditure management provides a foundation for building stronger and more inclusive economies. This can be achieved through robust public procurement that provides transparency and accountability by promoting civil society participation, stimulating private-sector growth and investment, and encouraging wider improvements in governance,” said CDB Head of Procurement, Douglas Fraser.
Few countries had dedicated procurement frameworks
Before the procurement reform started in 2018, CDB-financed assessments showed that few countries had dedicated procurement legal or regulatory frameworks. In addition, existing systems relied on outdated financial and administration Acts.
The CDB noted that often appropriate institutional structures were not in place to undertake and oversee procurement and almost none of the public servants were dedicated to procurement, whilst those involved in procurement lacked suitable qualifications. It was also noted that typically, public procurement can account for more than 10-15% of a country’s gross domestic product.
However, the amount can be considerably higher for Small Island Developing States such as those in the Caribbean, where US$8-11 billion is spent every year on public procurement. Consequently, there is significant need for CDB to support its Borrowing Member Countries’ development objectives in this area.
Reform taking place in OECS
In the past four years with support from the CDB, legal and regulatory reform took place in Antigua and Barbuda and the Virgin Islands, and is at an advanced stage in Anguilla, Dominica, Montserrat and St Kitts and Nevis. Across the member countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), chief procurement officers and other senior procurement officials were appointed, often in newly-created posts.
Some 20 senior officials from across Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent received Diplomas in Procurement and Supply, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply through the Caribbean Procurement Training Programme, after long-term study.
The CDB also actively advocated for all of the OECS countries to join and participate in the Inter-American Government Procurement Network to share technical knowledge and best practice, with the result that for the first time all the OECS procurement leads had a venue to meet and build technical relationships.
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Jamaica
Ground will be broken this year for major expansion works at the Spanish Town Hospital (STH) in St. Catherine.
“We are well advanced; the designs have been completed. We are now going to market for the procurement process to select a contractor, and we hope to break ground this year in the 60th year of our Independence,” said Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton.
He was addressing hospital staff on Wednesday March 23, following the visit of their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to the facility.
Dr. Tufton told the staff that they can expect to see some activity taking place at the hospital later this year to include some temporary relocations as the facility is prepared for major development.
He said that the institution, which will celebrate 70 years of service in 2022, is well-deserving of what is slated to be “one of the largest investments in the history of healthcare infrastructure in Jamaica”.
“I am very happy to say we can all identify with this legacy project, and of course, what it will mean is that patient care will be advanced significantly, and deservedly so,” he added.
The Government of Jamaica is investing approximately $3.5 billion for the expansion project, with the objective of significantly improving capacity to meet the growing public health demand on the facility resulting from the increase in housing construction and development projects that will be undertaken in the parish.
The hospital upgrade will include a new building encompassing a six-storey modern facility with an estimated area of 17,633 square metres. There will be several points of access for staff and patients, including a basement car park and a skywalk to link the existing wards.
The new upgrades will include services such as urology, oncology, cardiology, opthalmology and psychiatry to meet the growing needs.
The Spanish Town Hospital was built in 1952 with a bed capacity of 200. Today, it accommodates approximately 430 in-patients.
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Trinidad and Tobago
Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young says he is optimistic that Trinidad and Tobago’s global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking will improve during the next annual report to reflect the work done by the government in implementing legislation to improve transparency and accountability.
At a webinar in January, the Transparency Institute (TITT) announced that TT showed a slight improvement in its ranking, moving from number 40 in 2021 to 41 in 2022.
The CPI is calculated using international economic and civil oversight groups which rank 180 countries on a scale from 100 (very transparent) to 0 (highly corrupt).
Responding to a question in the Lower House on Wednesday, Young said TT’s ranking was based on data gathered from 2020, and argued that work done in reducing corruption would not be visible until the next report was published.
He referred to legislation passed to better regulate the gaming industry, amendments to civil-asset-recovery acts and the introduction of policies to tackle malfeasance in the public and private sector.
“The government over the past year has passed the Gambling, Gaming and Betting Control Act 2021 to regulate an industry flagged by the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as a root contributor in money laundering and corruption matters.
“We also passed the TT Revenue Authority Act 2021, assented to on December 23, 2021, to treat with the better administration of revenue, and in particular to allow for the elimination of tax evasion as a predicate offence in money laundering, which is a hallmark of corruption; and three, to introduce the Representation of the People (Amendment) No 2 Bill 2020, now referred to a parliamentary joint select committee (JSC) to treat with the issue of campaign finance legislation, which has been flagged as a root cause of corruption.
“We have also passed the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 2020 and the ten regulations required to operationalise the act with the regulations affirmed by the Senate in February 2022, which will improve the systems of procurement across all public bodies, again addressing a core issues.”
Young also said whistleblower legislation was introduced in Parliament in January.
He stressed the importance of such laws to protect witnesses to misconduct, highlighting the need for opposition support in passing the legislation.
Caribbean countries which scored higher than TT in this year’s CPI were Barbados (65), the Bahamas (64), St Vincent and the Grenadines (59), Dominica (55), Grenada (53) and Jamaica (44).
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Jamaica
Culture Minister Olivia Grange says she has been vindicated by an Integrity Commission (IC) report that has cleared her of allegations of nepotism and conflict of interest in the award of a $15-million Grand Gala contract in 2016.
“The findings of the Integrity Commission are in keeping with what I said when this matter was raised. I hope this report will bring closure to this matter,” said Grange in a statement issued Wednesday to The Gleaner on the IC’s 49-page report on an investigation into the award of the contract to cultural expert Trevor Nairne to provide artistic direction for the gala.
Grange said she has not yet gone through the full report but will be looking at the recommendations made to strengthen the procurement and accountability systems at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) and her ministry, to which the agency reports.
In Parliament in April 2017, then Opposition Spokesperson on Culture Lisa Hanna raised allegations of nepotism and corruption surrounding the award of the contract “lock, stock, and barrel” to Nairne, without any negotiation on proposed cost.
She questioned the process after pointing out that Nairne and Lenford Salmon, a senior adviser to Grange, were two of four directors of Jambiz International, a theatre production company.
Nairne was contracted to design costumes, choreograph performances, and pay assistants – all of which Hanna claimed could have been done by the JCDC.
Grange had blasted Hanna for the allegations and insisted that she was not aware of the contract.
In his report, IC Director of Investigation Kevon Stephenson concluded that there was no conflict of interest involved in the process and that he had seen no evidence to indicate that Grange was directly involved in the procurement, award, or execution of the contract.
Stephenson confirmed that Nairne submitted an unsolicited proposal in May 2016, which the JCDC board approved in June that year. He said at the time of the submission, Nairne had a long-standing friendship and professional relationship with Salmon.
But Stephenson said he found no evidence to prove that any public official or employee of the JCDC or the ministry influenced the submission of the proposal or that Salmon had been directly or indirectly involved or had influenced the contract procurement.
The director of investigations said the payment of 50 per cent of the contract value on the same day an invoice for the full value was submitted was in keeping with the terms of the duly executed contract.
But the IC has criticised the JCDC for how it handled aspects of the procurement process.
The commission said the accounting officer breached the Government’s public-sector procurement procedures by failing to observe ‘other guidelines’ or industry practice, or to develop internal procedures to guide the procurement of Nairne’s services.
The accounting officer also breached the then Contractor General’s Act as the JCDC failed to report a contract whose value triggered mandatory reporting to the then Office of the Contractor General, the commission said.
At the time of the contract, the JCDC was headed by Delroy Gordon, who died in March 2017.
Among the IC’s recommendations is for the JCDC to develop and implement guidelines to deal with unsolicited proposals.
It has also recommended that Grange’s ministry should issue a policy directive to entities under its control to develop specific procurement guidelines on the procurement of artistic and cultural performance services.
The commission said the JCDC currently lacks a definitive procurement procedure on cultural products and services.
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Jamaica
The Government has approved the construction of the Port Antonio Bypass in Portland as part of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project.
“As currently conceptualised, the project will see the construction of 17 kilometres of four lanes of arterial road around Port Antonio, and two standard shoulders,” the Prime Minister informed.
“The medium-term objective is to plan out residential and limited commercial development along the bypass corridor, which will connect with the 140,000 square-foot Boundbrook Urban Centre,” he added.
The project, he said, will create opportunities for the people of Portland to have access to structured development, while lessening the urban use burden on Port Antonio.
Construction on the Port Antonio Bypass Road is targeted to begin in the 2023/24 financial year.
The Prime Minister was making his 2022/23 Budget Debate presentation in the House of Representatives on Thursday (March 17).
In addition, he informed that the National Works Agency (NWA) is carrying out shoreline protection work on sections of the North Coast Highway that lead through Annotto Bay.
The agency has also finalised an alignment route for the bypass road.
“Design work will begin this year and we expect to have the project through the investment approval and procurement process in time for construction in the next fiscal year,” the Prime Minister said, noting that the work will assist in relieving traffic congestion in the town.
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