Contractors Are Warned: Govt Deals ‘Not Automatic’
A Cabinet minister has described enforcement of the Construction Contractor’s Act and e-procurement as two of the greatest challenges facing the construction industry.
The electronic procurement process was recently launched by the Ministry of Finance for all public sector contracts, and Desmond Bannister, minister of works, warned: “Getting a contract from the government is not going to be an automatic thing. There are certain procedures that are being put in place, and which will have to be followed.
“Those contractors who decided not to show up to this seminar will miss out on some very important information which will be needed as we move forward.”
The minister spoke as he officially opened a contractor’s seminar yesterday at the Church of the Ascension Hall. The event was held by the Ministry of Public Works, and was designed to update Grand Bahama contractors on some of the new procedures set to be implemented by the ministry.
Some of the topics covered during the seminar included pre-qualification documents and assessment criteria; the Construction Contractor’s Act; contract pricing and payment procedures; project management; and site safety and e-procurement.
He thanked those who attended the seminar, but expressed disappointment in what he called a “poor showing” for Grand Bahama.
“We are introducing new procedures to the Ministry of Public Works, including our pre-qualification process, and no one should take it for granted that they are going to get work from the Ministry of Public Works,” said Mr Bannister.
“All of you would be given a pre-qualification form, and it will be important for each of you to pre-qualify. It is going to be a new era of transparency in how we do work. The world is changing, so the information that we will be disseminating in this seminar will be very important.”
Mr Bannister told the contractors that the success of the Ministry of Public Works is very much in the hands of the private sector, as the government seeks to develop the building environment in The Bahamas.
“What I have found since coming to the ministry is that many contractors do not use the services of a quantity surveyor, and often rely on their experiences to calculate and tender prices, which often leads to a wide range of prices coming into the Ministry of Public Works,” said Mr Bannister.
“I have seen this too often, where someone comes in too low and someone comes in too high. Quantity surveyors at my Ministry are working to develop standards to help contractors. In doing that we plan to bring uniformity to our pricing structure.”
The minister added that he is well aware there are contractors who have difficulty in trying to get paid in a timely fashion by the Ministry of Public Works for works that have already been completed.
He said the session on payment procedures was designed to give contractors insight on all the information required when an invoice is submitted, so as to minimise the amount of time it takes for them to be paid.
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