JCC slams AG on procurement legislation
Trinidad and Tobago
The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) for the construction industry is accusing the Attorney General of creating a ruse to delay the procurement legislation.
In a press release on Tuesday, the JCC said it was “sounding the alarm” that statements made by AG Reginald Armour about depending on support from the Office of the Procurement Regulation (OPR) were “disingenuous and dangerous.”
“It is clearly a ruse to delay the full operationalisation of the Procurement Legislation. The OPR has completed all of its mandates, including meeting with all relevant state agencies over the last four years,” the JCC said.
It said the OPR has no power to appoint procurement officers to State agencies.
It noted that since 2016, Finance Minister Colm Imbert has gone to the Parliament promising the operationalisation of the legislation was imminent.
“Every year since, monies were allocated to various public bodies post-budget. Why have the relevant Ministers and Permanent Secretaries not appointed Procurement Officers to operate within the intent of the new legislation?” the JCC asked.
The council said instead, the public has to accept that State funds were being spent without the proper oversight.
Calling on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to take charge of this “languishing” process, the council said the AG’s office must let the public know which State bodies have not appointed procurement officers.
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