{"id":16753,"date":"2021-05-27T13:26:42","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T18:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=16753"},"modified":"2021-05-27T13:26:42","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T18:26:42","slug":"procurement-commission-could-be-seriously-affected-by-pac-gridlock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/procurement-commission-could-be-seriously-affected-by-pac-gridlock\/","title":{"rendered":"Procurement commission could be seriously affected by PAC gridlock"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The reluctance of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair, Mr David Patterson, to step down from that position, or end the gridlock, is putting at risk the continued employment of staff at the PPC (Public Procurement Commission) whose contracts are coming to an end. The staff cannot be on the job after the expiration of their contracts, as it is only the Commission that can authorize the renewal of those contracts. It would be illegal for anyone else to usurp this authority.<\/p>\n<p>It would also be a huge waste ($ millions) of taxpayers\u2019 money to have a PPC Secretariat staff without a functioning Commission. When the costs for rental, security, utilities and other services are added, the amount of wastage soars.\u00a0 The gridlock at the PAC should, therefore, not be allowed to derail the appointment and work of the PPC as well as put the jobs of the 20+ employees at risk, and undermining the foundational principles of transparency and accountability in the procurement and contracting process where billions of dollars are allocated annually.<\/p>\n<p>The term of the last Public Procurement Commission that was set in motion in 2016, expired on October 27, 2019; but 2 Commissioners were each granted a one-year extension (until October 2020) in accordance with the constitution. Thus, from October 2020, there has been no oversight in the contracting process. In the circumstances, the challenge to transparency and accountability has become formidable.<\/p>\n<div class=\"in-article\">\n<div class=\"in-article-wrapper\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The PPC, citing Article 212 AA of the Guyana constitution, indicates that its purpose \u201cis to monitor public procurement to ensure \u2026.fairness, equity, transparency, value for money and competition\u2026.(and) that the procedures of public procurement are executed in accordance with the Laws of Guyana.\u201d\u00a0 While the PPC has no enforcement authority, it could make recommendations to Parliament for corrective measures, including the application of sanctions. Two cases involving malfeasance highlight the significance of the PPC\u2019s role in contract administration.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016 the Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson awarded the \u201cDemerara Harbour Bridge Feasibility Study\u201d contract in the sum of $161.5 million to an unsolicited vendor, LievenseCSO Engineering Contracting BV. The first Expressions of Interest for that feasibility study did not result in any vendor being selected. The Ministry was required to re-tender the solicitation but did not do so. Instead, it accepted the unsolicited proposal from the Dutch Company, LievenseCSO, and awarded the contract accordingly. The PPC investigated the contract process and found that it was awarded in the contravention of the Procurement Act. Minister Patterson and Rawlston Adams (of the Demerara Harbour Bridge) were recently indicted for this aberration.<\/p>\n<p>Another well-known case arose in 2017 when the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) awarded a contract to ANSA McAL for $605 million on a sole-source basis for the purchase of \u201cemergency drugs.\u201d The PPC investigated the contract award process and found breaches in the procurement rules. However, no one was sanctioned for those breaches.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stabroeknews.com\/2021\/05\/10\/opinion\/letters\/procurement-commission-could-be-seriously-affected-by-pac-gridlock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>image: pexels-sora-shimazaki<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The reluctance of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair, Mr David Patterson, to step down from that position, or end the gridlock, is putting at risk the continued employment of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":16755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[112],"tags":[190,173,116,71],"class_list":["post-16753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-construction","tag-contracts","tag-guyana","tag-procurement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5668473-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-4md","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27842,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/the-public-procurement-commission-is-comatose\/","url_meta":{"origin":16753,"position":0},"title":"The Public Procurement Commission is comatose","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"May 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana SN article on the progress of the Bamia Primary School highlights the challenges that exist when previously untested contractors are awarded contracts for major infrastructure projects. Based on public information, this contract was awarded to a company that was established only three (3) months before the award, bringing into\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16278,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/pac-invites-nominees-for-procurement-commission\/","url_meta":{"origin":16753,"position":1},"title":"PAC invites nominees for procurement commission","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"April 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Despite continuing contentions over its chairmanship, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has moved to seek nominees in order to reconstitute the Public Procurement Commission (PPC). During a virtual press conference on Thursday, Chairman of the PAC David Patterson said that at a meeting on Monday there was a unanimous agreement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News\/Developments&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Notice-Marker-Hand-Nick-Youngson-Alpha-Stock-Images.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Notice-Marker-Hand-Nick-Youngson-Alpha-Stock-Images.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Notice-Marker-Hand-Nick-Youngson-Alpha-Stock-Images.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Notice-Marker-Hand-Nick-Youngson-Alpha-Stock-Images.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21997,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/new-public-procurement-commission-poised-to-be-sworn-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":16753,"position":2},"title":"New Public Procurement Commission poised to be sworn in","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"May 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana \u00a0 The National Assembly Wednesday night unanimously approved the five persons\u00a0 who would be serving on the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) Those approved by the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee as \u201c\u201dsuitable candidates\u201d to sit on the PPC are Attorney-at-Law Pauline Chase, Economist Joel Bhagwandin, Rajnarain Singh, Berkeley Wickham and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-cottonbro-7430328-scaled-e1651713240764.jpg?fit=1024%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-cottonbro-7430328-scaled-e1651713240764.jpg?fit=1024%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-cottonbro-7430328-scaled-e1651713240764.jpg?fit=1024%2C783&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-cottonbro-7430328-scaled-e1651713240764.jpg?fit=1024%2C783&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26890,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/covid-19-procurement-breaches-come-into-focus-at-pac-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":16753,"position":3},"title":"COVID-19 procurement breaches come into focus at PAC meeting","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"March 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana Following an audit report over breaches in relation to COVID-19 purchases, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee [PAC], Jermaine Figueira, has recommended that the Ministry of Health make recommendations for the amending of the Procurement Act 2003 to include emergency acquisitions and improved regulations. Figueira made the recommendation yesterday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-3951628-scaled-e1679011883996.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-3951628-scaled-e1679011883996.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-3951628-scaled-e1679011883996.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-3951628-scaled-e1679011883996.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29494,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/procurement-body-invites-complaints-on-award-of-govt-contracts\/","url_meta":{"origin":16753,"position":4},"title":"Procurement body invites complaints on award of gov\u2019t contracts","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"August 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana Amid criticisms of it,\u00a0 the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) is inviting persons aggrieved over the award of\u00a0 any government contract to lodge a formal complaint so as to trigger an administrative review. \u201cDissatisfied with the rejection of your bid? Lodge a complaint for an administrative review,\u201d a notice in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5673488-scaled-e1692322490716.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5673488-scaled-e1692322490716.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5673488-scaled-e1692322490716.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5673488-scaled-e1692322490716.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33960,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/patterson-questions-whether-value-for-money-being-obtained-from-procurement-commission-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":16753,"position":5},"title":"Patterson questions whether value for money being obtained from procurement commission","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"May 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana APNU+AFC MP, David Patterson on Monday grilled Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira on whether the public was getting value for money from expenditure on the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) which he has frequently accused of not doing its work. The start of the consideration of estates\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/pexels-rdne-stock-project-7841410-scaled-e1708641541147.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/pexels-rdne-stock-project-7841410-scaled-e1708641541147.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/pexels-rdne-stock-project-7841410-scaled-e1708641541147.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/pexels-rdne-stock-project-7841410-scaled-e1708641541147.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1091"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16753"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16764,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16753\/revisions\/16764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}