Persad-Bissessar upset at new procurement bill

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Wednesday strongly hinted the Opposition will oppose the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill, 2020, set for debate in the House of Representatives on Friday. The bill amends the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 2015 which was only partially proclaimed and lacks regulations.

Her statement was titled, Kamla: Amendment to the procurement act will not make it operational; It will water down the legislation.

The Opposition recently had abstained on the Government’s Anti-Gang Bill, withholding support for this special majority bill until the Government fully enacts the 2015 procurement act.

However the bill now on offer raised the Opposition’s ire as a “boldfaced tactic by the Rowley regime to demoralise and destabilise our independent institutions and our very democracy.”

Persad-Bissessar listed the act’s aims as including the promotion of accountability and value for money; fairness and public confidence; and local industry development.

She hit, “For the past five years, there has been no attempt by this Government to make any moves to operationalise this legislation.

“After repeated calls by the Opposition and civil society, this Government has failed to fully proclaim the legislation.”

She alleged this would be the Government’s third attempt to water down the act, while again failing to bring to the Parliament the regulations required to operationalise it.

“The Government will move an amendment to the procurement act to extract the teeth out of the legislation, leaving it without any bite at curbing corruption.”

Persad-Bissessar said the Government wants to amend the act to remove from its scrutiny legal, financial, accounting and auditing, medical services and any other service as the minister may by order determine, subject to Parliament’s negative resolution.

“This PNM government now wants to remove these services and transactions from scrutiny not just of the (Procurement) Regulator, but of Parliament as well.

“What makes this more distasteful and unethical is that we passed this act in 2014 with a special majority and this Government now proposes to defeat the very object and purpose of this act by a simple majority vote.”

She called on the Government to say why these services should be excluded from the scope of the procurement act.

“The Minister must answer why legal services and medical services are exempt from the act.” Persad-Bissessar asked if this was because a top public official has an interest in a medical company. She asked if the exemption for the provision of financial services was because another official provides financial services to the Government.

“The Prime Minister as chairman of the Cabinet must explain the reason for this amendment.

“The Procurement Regulator and his team have not yet been given a chance to oversee the procurement practices and disposal of public property, and they have already been rendered impotent by this Government’s proposed amendments.”