{"id":20645,"date":"2022-02-10T22:00:13","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T03:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=20645"},"modified":"2022-02-10T15:24:53","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T20:24:53","slug":"imbert-new-procurement-law-lets-disgruntled-bidders-go-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/imbert-new-procurement-law-lets-disgruntled-bidders-go-to-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Imbert: New procurement law lets disgruntled bidders go to court"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Trinidad and Tobago<\/p>\n<p>ANY bidder for a public contract who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the bid will be able to challenge it in court under new procurement rules, Finance Minister Colm Imbert told the House of Representatives on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>He moved to approve regulations which give effect to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 2015, and said further regulations (already drafted) were pending which do not need the House\u2019s nod (known as an affirmative resolution.) Imbert said he expected the act, now partially proclaimed, will be fully proclaimed very soon.<\/p>\n<p>He said the regulations had been laid last July and then again last December, each time to garner public comments, on what he said was \u201ca very complex matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Imbert said a plethora of court decisions both in Trinidad and Tobago and abroad had ruled that hitherto insufficient public law elements exist to allow a court to get involved in contract awards.<\/p>\n<p>This had been the ruling in the case of NH v Udecott and Spancrete v Udecott, he said.<\/p>\n<p>The only current exceptions were in cases of alleged corruption or a breach of statutory duty.<\/p>\n<p>Imbert then said that under the new procurement regulations, for the first time ever, the award of state contracts will include public law elements into which courts will be able to intervene.<\/p>\n<p>He said the regulations have \u201cset the stage for the full proclamation of the act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Disputed matters will be decided firstly by the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR), secondly by a review board and then thirdly if still required by the law courts.<\/p>\n<p>He remarked that while the evaluation of any bid was supposed to be done on both price and non-price factors, there was a general concern that state bodies often focus only on the lowest price, but ignore quality issues such as the use of inferior materials. He urged the item\u2019s life cycle be considered, not the bid price.<\/p>\n<p>Imbert promised \u201ca paradigm shift\u201d after the proclamation of the act and the passage of the current regulations and more regulations pending.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this time the commercial decisions of state enterprises are not subject to judicial review in TT unless a prima facie case of fraud, corruption or bad faith can be established.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat this (new regulations) is going to do now is it is going to allow someone who feels that the persons who evaluated his bid did not give him a correct number of points or did not take into account all the features of his bid or his particular circumstances\u2026.This will now allow the OPR to get involved and sit in the shoes of the evaluators of the tender committees in state enterprises.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the change was \u201ca very serious move\u201d that the country had asked for and had taken a very long time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will lead to greater transparency, there\u2019s no two ways about that, and we shall see how it affects the pace of development in the country. We shall see whether it is indeed the panacea it is held out to be.\u201d He thanked his ministry officials, expert consultants, construction industry voices and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p>He said TT was now \u201cwell on the way in the very near future to full proclamation and implementation of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/newsday.co.tt\/2022\/01\/15\/imbert-new-procurment-law-lets-disgruntled-bidders-go-to-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>image: pexels-cytonn<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trinidad and Tobago ANY bidder for a public contract who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the bid will be able to challenge it in court under new procurement rules,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":17910,"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":[250],"tags":[173,137],"class_list":["post-20645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","tag-contracts","tag-trinidad-and-tobago"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-cytonn-photography-955394-scaled-e1644524676129.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-5mZ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34784,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/joint-consultative-council-where-is-procurement-regulators-annual-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":20645,"position":0},"title":"Joint Consultative Council: Where is Procurement Regulator\u2019s annual report?","author":"Michele Marius","date":"June 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) is concerned about Procurement Regulator Beverly Khan\u2019s failure to issue an annual report as required by section 24 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, which was operationalised in April last year. In a press release on Monday, the\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\/2019\/08\/Transparency-magnifying-glass-files-HonestReporting-flickr-e1565992586412.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Transparency-magnifying-glass-files-HonestReporting-flickr-e1565992586412.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Transparency-magnifying-glass-files-HonestReporting-flickr-e1565992586412.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35570,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/joint-consultative-council-where-is-procurement-regulators-annual-report-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":20645,"position":1},"title":"Joint Consultative Council: Where is Procurement Regulator\u2019s annual report?","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"August 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) is concerned about Procurement Regulator Beverly Khan\u2019s failure to issue an annual report as required by section 24 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, which was operationalised in April last year. In a press release on Monday, the\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\/2020\/07\/Legislation-gavel-sign-Alpha-Stock-Images-The-Blue-Diamond-Gallery.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Legislation-gavel-sign-Alpha-Stock-Images-The-Blue-Diamond-Gallery.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Legislation-gavel-sign-Alpha-Stock-Images-The-Blue-Diamond-Gallery.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Legislation-gavel-sign-Alpha-Stock-Images-The-Blue-Diamond-Gallery.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35261,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/joint-consultative-council-where-is-procurement-regulators-annual-report-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":20645,"position":2},"title":"Joint Consultative Council: Where is Procurement Regulator\u2019s annual report?","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"July 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) is concerned about Procurement Regulator Beverly Khan\u2019s failure to issue an annual report as required by section 24 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, which was operationalised in April last year. In a press release on Monday, the\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\/07\/pexels-goumbik-590041.jpg?fit=1024%2C678&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/pexels-goumbik-590041.jpg?fit=1024%2C678&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/pexels-goumbik-590041.jpg?fit=1024%2C678&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/pexels-goumbik-590041.jpg?fit=1024%2C678&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4325,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/questions-still-linger-on-procurement-of-vessel-devant\/","url_meta":{"origin":20645,"position":3},"title":"Questions still linger on procurement of vessel\u2014Devant","author":"Michele Marius","date":"February 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Reacting to Finance Minister Colm Imbert\u2019s disclosures on the purchase of a new vessel for the seabridge, former Transport Minister Devant Maharaj accused Imbert of continuing to \u201cobfuscate the issue without clarifying the core issues surrounding the procurement of the new ferry.\u201d Maharaj said Imbert\u2019s statement left the door open\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\/2017\/08\/Ferry-Via-Tsuji-flickr.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Ferry-Via-Tsuji-flickr.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Ferry-Via-Tsuji-flickr.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Ferry-Via-Tsuji-flickr.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29709,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/cal-needs-procurement-exemption-says-imbert\/","url_meta":{"origin":20645,"position":4},"title":"CAL needs procurement exemption, says Imbert","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"August 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago CARIBBEAN Airlines (CAL) will have to be exempt from the procurement regime or else it would not be able to operate. So said Finance Minister Colm Imbert yesterday as he wound up the debate on the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Validation and Amendment) Act\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-tarik-nachat-112116-scaled-e1693536592277.jpg?fit=1024%2C745&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-tarik-nachat-112116-scaled-e1693536592277.jpg?fit=1024%2C745&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-tarik-nachat-112116-scaled-e1693536592277.jpg?fit=1024%2C745&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-tarik-nachat-112116-scaled-e1693536592277.jpg?fit=1024%2C745&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23152,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/fiddling-while-rome-burns\/","url_meta":{"origin":20645,"position":5},"title":"Fiddling while Rome burns","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"July 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago If the Government would stop procrastinating and \u00adfully operationalise the Office of the Procurement Regu\u00adlator, there would be independent oversight of the tender process for all these special-purpose companies spending public money. This includes UdeCOTT with its dubious Calder Hart history. As it stands, the public is\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\/01\/pexels-rodnae-productions-7841812-scaled-e1648207457324.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\/01\/pexels-rodnae-productions-7841812-scaled-e1648207457324.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pexels-rodnae-productions-7841812-scaled-e1648207457324.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pexels-rodnae-productions-7841812-scaled-e1648207457324.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20645","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=20645"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20668,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20645\/revisions\/20668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}