Contractors: Provide a schedule of State jobs
Trinidad and Tobago
The Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association (TTCA) believes if a procurement schedule for State projects for the next 12 months is put in place, contractors would be able to allocate their finite resources more effectively.
TTCA’s president Glenn Mahabirsingh told the Express on Tuesday that a three-year schedule would be even more ideal. “Let us know what’s coming in each quarter. This planned pipeline of projects would have the following basic project information: project name, location, scope and timeline. Everyone could be more selective and strategic based on their resource capability and capacity,” Mahabirsingh said.
“The big contractor would not be pressured into bidding on every tender in sight at the start of the year, because of the uncertainty of what would be coming later. Likewise, the small contractor in Point Fortin could choose not to bid for a project in Arima in January because he knows that the following month, a project of similar value would be tendered right in his backyard,” he outlined.
Mahabirsingh said with a procurement schedule, project dollars could be spread more widely and equitably and the State and taxpayers would also earn better returns on every project dollar spent as contractors would be in a better position to make the best bid, break ground sooner on a project and complete it more efficiently.
The TTCA president said the association is hopeful that the long-awaited Procurement Legislation will be proclaimed before Easter, as stated by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in his New Year’s Day message.
He commended the Office of the Procurement Regulator for the groundwork they have laid.
Mahabirsingh identified that the procurement schedule is a requirement under the procurement legislation whereby each Ministry and State body has to publish its work plan within a stipulated period.
Image: HonestReporting (flickr)
“The big contractor would not be pressured into bidding on every tender in sight at the start of the year, because of the uncertainty of what would be coming later. Likewise, the small contractor in Point Fortin could choose not to bid for a project in Arima in January because he knows that the following month, a project of similar value would be tendered right in his backyard,” he outlined.
Mahabirsingh said with a procurement schedule, project dollars could be spread more widely and equitably and the State and taxpayers would also earn better returns on every project dollar spent as contractors would be in a better position to make the best bid, break ground sooner on a project and complete it more efficiently.
The TTCA president said the association is hopeful that the long-awaited Procurement Legislation will be proclaimed before Easter, as stated by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in his New Year’s Day message.
He commended the Office of the Procurement Regulator for the groundwork they have laid.
Mahabirsingh identified that the procurement schedule is a requirement under the procurement legislation whereby each Ministry and State body has to publish its work plan within a stipulated period.