{"id":18103,"date":"2021-08-26T21:33:40","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T02:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=18103"},"modified":"2021-08-26T19:05:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T00:05:18","slug":"daniel-ferguson-procurement-e-portal-not-being-maximised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/daniel-ferguson-procurement-e-portal-not-being-maximised\/","title":{"rendered":"Procurement E-Portal Not Being Maximised"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bahamas\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I wish to now elaborate more on the electronic portal that is the Bahamian government\u2019s e-procurement supplier registry.<\/p>\n

This was launched by the Ministry of Finance on December 19, 2017, with the then-deputy prime minister and minister of finance, K Peter Turnquest, saying: \u201cThis government administration is keeping its promise to bring greater accountability, transparency and modernity to the government by changing how persons and businesses bid for government purchasing opportunities, otherwise known as procurement.<\/p>\n

\u201cProcurement will move from a very paper-based, time-consuming process to an online automated system that utilises standardised forms with clearly-defined evaluation criteria. Interested bidders can prepare and submit documents through the online portal, which will be known as the e-tendering and supplier register system.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore importantly, these initiatives will leap the country forward in terms of having a transparent and accountable use of public resources that will ultimately expand opportunities for a greater number of Bahamian businesses and save taxpayers some money in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Turnquest said the government is a major procurer of goods, works and services, spending in excess of $1.475bn to deliver public services. \u201cThis underscores the importance of having in place effective, fair and efficient procurement arrangements to ensure that the best value is obtained for the monies being spent,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Again, on November 29, 2018, while opening the Ministry of Finance\u2019s e-procurement reform seminar, which was held at the Pelican Bay Resort in Freeport, as well as officially launching the e-procurement and supplier registry system in Grand Bahama, the former deputy prime minister said: \u201cThe whole idea of the reform is to make the process of government procurement transparent, and to ensure that there is fairness across the system so that everyone has an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that for most businesses in The Bahamas that I have come across, one of the things that they have been concerned about is fairness and access,\u201d he added. \u201cWe know how it worked in the past, where if your party is in power you get the contracts, and when your party is not in power, you\u2019re out of luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis system seeks to try to create some balance, some equity and fairness across the system, so that we can take out these kinds of bias. If we allow the system to work the way it has been designed to work, it is going to create equity and it will result in savings and GDP business growth for all Bahamians.\u201d<\/p>\n

More recently, Elsworth Johnson, minister of financial services, trade and industry and Immigration, said on March 15, 2021, while closing the debate on the Public Procurement Bill: \u201cFor about five years or more persons have been discussing the necessity of having an electronic process; how persons would tender, how they would appeal as Killarney said, and how persons can be treated justly.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it was just last month that his ministry advised the Department of Immigration to engage a vendor to provide meals for detainees of the Detention Centre. The electronic process and print media were not used to invite bids for this service, as prescribed by the government\u2019s tender process for any contract in excess of $50,000.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the Committee of Experts of the Follow-Up Mechanism on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (MESICIC), of which The Bahamas has been a signatory since 1998, visited this nation and interviewed myself and other officials from the Ministry of Finance to follow up on the public procurement reform process. This was part of a series of visits, and this one was considered as round five.<\/p>\n

In their final report dated September 18, 2018, MESICIC made recommendations that the government should consider enacting a new comprehensive legal and regulatory framework which encompasses all the branches and agencies of the state applicable to the public procurement of goods, works and services.<\/p>\n

It added that this should be done in a way that embodies the principles of openness, equity and efficiency as outlined in the Convention, and called for the creation of a centralised registry of contractors of works, goods or services.<\/p>\n

MESICIC added that this should be mandatory for all state bodies and dependencies, while registration was also to include a list of sanctioned contractors in order to foster the principles of openness, equity and efficiency provided for in the convention.<\/p>\n

It has been two years and seven months since the e-procurement supplier registry\u2019s initial launch, and two years since all government ministries, agencies and state-owned enterprises were mandated to use the portal for all procurements.<\/p>\n

To date there are 2,266 vendors who have registered on the system. However, 208 of them will not receive e-mail notices of the opportunities available to them because, since the departure of the international consultant and procurement officer at the Ministry of Finance in March this year, the ministry has lacked the ability to approve these vendors on the system electronically, causing them a grave inconvenience. The same dilemma exists for new buyers and those sending in requests for technical assistance via e-mail. Approximately four months have passed now but the Ministry of Finance also has yet to hire an IT systems manager to address these situations and more.<\/p>\n

The following is a list of ministries, agencies, departments and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that have not registered on the e-procurement supplier registry to date:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

more\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

image : pexels-soumil-kumar<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bahamas\u00a0 I wish to now elaborate more on the electronic portal that is the Bahamian government\u2019s e-procurement supplier registry. This was launched by the Ministry of Finance on December 19,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":18106,"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":[166,71,224],"class_list":["post-18103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-bahamas","tag-procurement","tag-project"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-soumil-kumar-735911-2-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1709&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-4HZ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24794,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/government-launches-improved-e-procurement-portal\/","url_meta":{"origin":18103,"position":0},"title":"Government launches improved e-procurement portal","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"October 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas The Ministry of Finance has launched an improved e-procurement portal in order to fulfil its commitment of \u201ctransparency and ease of access to procurement opportunities required under the Public Procurement Act, 2021\u201d, even as the government seeks to rewrite that legislation, having shirked the act since coming to office.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Bahamas\"","block_context":{"text":"Bahamas","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/tag\/bahamas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pexels-soumil-kumar-735911-scaled-e1666942765270.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pexels-soumil-kumar-735911-scaled-e1666942765270.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pexels-soumil-kumar-735911-scaled-e1666942765270.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pexels-soumil-kumar-735911-scaled-e1666942765270.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31525,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/public-procurement-in-the-bahamas-the-e-procurement-supplier-registry\/","url_meta":{"origin":18103,"position":1},"title":"Public procurement in The Bahamas: the e-Procurement Supplier Registry","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"December 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas One must talk less about transparency but rather strive to be transparent.\u201d In part two of my article\u2019s series, I spoke briefly about the Bahamas government\u2019s e-Procurement Supplier Registry and today I wish to elaborate more on the electronic portal. The eProcurement Supplier Registry was launched by the Ministry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","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\/12\/pexels-peter-olexa-4012966-scaled-e1701993237235.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\/12\/pexels-peter-olexa-4012966-scaled-e1701993237235.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/pexels-peter-olexa-4012966-scaled-e1701993237235.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/pexels-peter-olexa-4012966-scaled-e1701993237235.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25440,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/procurement-platform-to-level-playing-field\/","url_meta":{"origin":18103,"position":2},"title":"Procurement platform \u2018to level playing field\u2019","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"December 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas GRAND Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey launched the \u201cnew and improved\u201d e-Procurement platform by the Ministry of Finance yesterday, which officials say levels the playing field for businesses. \u201cGrand Bahama business owners have access to opportunities to bid on relevant government contracts, to provide goods and services to government and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","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\/12\/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-6169668-scaled-e1670541131529.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-6169668-scaled-e1670541131529.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-6169668-scaled-e1670541131529.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-6169668-scaled-e1670541131529.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18117,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/keep-em-coming-businesses-urged-to-register-for-eprocurement-platform-more-than-2220-signed-on-to-date\/","url_meta":{"origin":18103,"position":3},"title":"KEEP \u2018EM COMING: Businesses urged to register for eProcurement platform; more than 2,220 signed on to date","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"August 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas\u00a0 NASSAU, BAHAMAS \u2014 Over 2,200 businesses are registered on the government\u2019s e-Procurement system to date, according to Ministry of Finance officials, who noted that each government agency will have to produce an annual procurement plan. 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