{"id":25619,"date":"2022-12-22T22:05:04","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T03:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=25619"},"modified":"2022-12-30T09:04:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T14:04:14","slug":"procurement-law-skittishness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/procurement-law-skittishness\/","title":{"rendered":"Procurement law skittishness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trinidad and Tobago<\/p>\n

Despite an impassioned plea by Independent Senator Hazel Thompson-Ahye on November 15, there continues to be little government enthusiasm for fully proclaiming the Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Act of 2015.<\/p>\n

Chairing a joint select committee hearing, the senator said, \u201cThe future of our country, our citizens, depends on us getting it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Procurement Regulator Moonilal Lalchan supported her views, explaining that ten-30 per cent of the country\u2019s spending is lost through procurement-related corruption \u2013 a horrifying statistic. As he said, \u201cThink what we could do for the country (with that money) \u2013 health care, schooling and infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the country grapples yet again with flooding and landslides, we wonder what state the overwhelmed and collapsing roads, bridges and drainage systems would be in, had those funds been available to repair and maintain them.<\/p>\n

Instead, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh fretted over minor aspects of the law and spurious problems that Mr Lalchan deftly set aside.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Port of Spain South MP Keith Scotland pondered whether misgivings expressed by the Judiciary should be addressed before proclaiming the act.<\/p>\n

Mr Lalchan countered that they had been addressed.<\/p>\n

An exchange of letters between the Chief Justice and the Attorney General in June included concerns about staffing to manage its procurement unit.<\/p>\n

This was despite efforts to gut the 2015 act, including the arbitrary reduction of the regulator\u2019s term of office from seven years to five (Mr Lalchan\u2019s term ends in January) and the exemption of government-to-government contracts from procurement oversight.<\/p>\n

The president of the Joint Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) Fazir Khan, meanwhile, has raised pointed concerns about what he described as the \u201ccharade\u201d of government agencies perpetuating a status quo that all parties acknowledge has led to financial leakage in government spending for decades.<\/p>\n

In June, AMCHAM, the TTMA, the TT Chamber and the Transparency Institute issued a joint statement calling for the legislation to be proclaimed and implemented urgently. That document lamented the unreadiness of state enterprises, which the Government can order to prepare for compliance with the law.<\/p>\n

If there were any doubt about the importance of enforcing the procurement act, it should have been settled by the shenanigans of the THA in recent months. The new administration has run roughshod over established practices to build an ill-advised \u201cstage in the sea,\u201d while also taking shortcuts in procuring services for roads and road repairs.<\/p>\n

The public procurement legislation, assented to in 2020 and acknowledged on all sides as deficient, is simply not being taken seriously.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, government spending continues without independent oversight and the controls and accountability guaranteed under the act.<\/p>\n

The continued reluctance to proclaim this legislation fully does not sit well with the private sector, and should worry taxpayers,whose funds continue to be at risk of corrupt, or at best careless spending.<\/p>\n

But as for the government, it appears to like it so.<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n

image: Law-scrabble-tiles<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trinidad and Tobago Despite an impassioned plea by Independent Senator Hazel Thompson-Ahye on November 15, there continues to be little government enthusiasm for fully proclaiming the Public Procurement and Disposal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":3644,"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":[153,71,137],"class_list":["post-25619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","tag-legal","tag-procurement","tag-trinidad-and-tobago"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Law-scrabble-tiles-CQF-Avocat-Pexels-e1649276824460.jpeg?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-6Fd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21774,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/young-confident-new-laws-will-improve-trinidad-and-tobagos-corruption-ranking\/","url_meta":{"origin":25619,"position":0},"title":"Young confident new laws will improve Trinidad and Tobago’s corruption ranking","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"April 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago \u00a0 Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young says he is optimistic that Trinidad and Tobago's global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking will improve during the next annual report to reflect the work done by the government in implementing legislation to improve transparency 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\/2017\/10\/Law-scrabble-tiles-CQF-Avocat-Pexels-e1649276824460.jpeg?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Law-scrabble-tiles-CQF-Avocat-Pexels-e1649276824460.jpeg?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Law-scrabble-tiles-CQF-Avocat-Pexels-e1649276824460.jpeg?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Law-scrabble-tiles-CQF-Avocat-Pexels-e1649276824460.jpeg?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31799,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/benefits-will-far-outweigh-the-challenges\/","url_meta":{"origin":25619,"position":1},"title":"Benefits will far outweigh the challenges","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"December 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago AS Trinidad and Tobago approaches six months since the full proclamation of the Procurement Act, procurement regulator Beverly Khan acknowledges that while there have been some teething problems, she believes that the benefits will far outweigh the challenges. Delivering the feature address in a webinar hosted by\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-pixabay-209224-scaled-e1703815769509.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-pixabay-209224-scaled-e1703815769509.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/pexels-pixabay-209224-scaled-e1703815769509.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/pexels-pixabay-209224-scaled-e1703815769509.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24136,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/pm-procurement-legislation-coming-soon\/","url_meta":{"origin":25619,"position":2},"title":"PM: Procurement Legislation coming soon","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"September 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinidad and Tobago \u00a0 Despite the recent call by several stakeholders for the proclamation and implementation of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says there is going to be \u201ca little delay\u201d in its execution. 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The Association is pleased to announce that this year\u2019s engineering conference is being hosted alongside its\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\/08\/pexels-luis-quintero-2774556-scaled-e1692322506446.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-luis-quintero-2774556-scaled-e1692322506446.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-luis-quintero-2774556-scaled-e1692322506446.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-luis-quintero-2774556-scaled-e1692322506446.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34784,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/joint-consultative-council-where-is-procurement-regulators-annual-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":25619,"position":4},"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. 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It marks the first serious attempt since the passing of the 1961 act establishing the Central Tenders Board to eradicate sleaze in public affairs. 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