{"id":27626,"date":"2023-04-27T23:41:58","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T04:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=27626"},"modified":"2023-04-27T20:05:37","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T01:05:37","slug":"go-bonfire-digital-procurement-platform-has-saved-government-2-6m-since-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/go-bonfire-digital-procurement-platform-has-saved-government-2-6m-since-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Go Bonfire digital procurement platform has saved government $2.6m since launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bahama<\/p>\n

ECONOMIC Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis said government had saved about $2.6m since launching a new digital procurement platform in November.<\/p>\n

He said 1,490 vendors have registered on the new Go Bonfire platform, and 299 opportunities have been posted there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese numbers are expected to grow as more agencies move their procurement processes online,\u201d he said during his contribution to a debate before the Senate passed the Public Procurement Bill and the Public Finance Management Bill.<\/p>\n

Mr Halkitis reiterated his view that the Public Procurement Act the Minnis administration passed was \u201cstrange\u201d and \u201cunworkable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a necessity to pass these replacement legislations for the orderly development of this society,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is no ulterior motive. The simple fact is that because of sins of omission or commission, we have been burdened with a compendium of legislation on critical functions of the government which is simply unworkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2021 Public Procurement Act is a strange Act in the context of The Bahamas as it ignores the structural imbalance in the economy, an imbalance which the government is obliged to correct.<\/p>\n

Mr Halkitis said the new law creates provisions for preferential treatment of small and worker-owned, women-owned, Family Island-owned, and youth-owned businesses.<\/p>\n

The Organization for Responsible Governance has criticised elements of the bill.<\/p>\n

It noted that while the timeline for publishing awarded contracts remains 60 days, terminology changes in the latest bill may allow some awarded contracts to remain unpublished.<\/p>\n

The government has yet to comply with reporting requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unclear what has prevented the government from adhering to the reporting of awarded contracts thus far, and it is essential to begin immediate adherence to this mandated requirement in the interest of the awareness and trust of the public and private sectors,\u201d ORG said in a statement in October.<\/p>\n

The organisation identified numerous opportunities for strengthening the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese include changes to the appointment, composition, and financing of the Procurement Board for greater independence and representation,\u201d ORG said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, greater accountability and consistency can result through the reduction of the categories of procurement contracts listed in the bill. For example, audit, actuarial, accounting, legal, and financial consultancies that are excluded from the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother significant opportunity to ensure the law is favorable to small businesses is the restoration of a dedicated Procurement Review Tribunal as a more accessible mechanism to resolve concerns about awarded procurement contracts.<\/p>\n

Unlike the previous law, the soon-to-be law does not include a Procurement Review Tribunal.<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: Pixabay (Pexels)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bahama ECONOMIC Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis said government had saved about $2.6m since launching a new digital procurement platform in November. He said 1,490 vendors have registered on the new…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":27644,"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":[166,143,125,206],"class_list":["post-27626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","tag-bahamas","tag-ict","tag-public-procurement","tag-website"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Computer-code-coding-programming-pexels-pixabay-270360-e1731337253847.jpg?fit=1025%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-7bA","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27629,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/new-procurement-act-to-end-large-firm-dominance\/","url_meta":{"origin":27626,"position":0},"title":"New Procurement Act to end large firm \u2018dominance\u2019","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"April 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas The Prime Minister yesterday\u00a0said the Government\u2019s digital procurement platform has\u00a0generated\u00a0$2.6m savings in just four months since its launch as he slammed his predecessors for giving large firms \u201cdominance\u201d in contract awards. 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Carl Oliver, the acting chief procurement officer and Ministry of Finance's deputy director of economic planning, told Tribune\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\/2018\/08\/Contract-agreement-signature-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Contract-agreement-signature-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Contract-agreement-signature-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Contract-agreement-signature-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30925,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/govt-should-be-compliant-on-procurement-law-by-years-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":27626,"position":2},"title":"Govt should be compliant on procurement law by year\u2019s end","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"November 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas THE government is still not complying with the Public Procurement Act\u2019s requirement to be transparent about contract awards, with Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis saying this should change before the end of the year. 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