[UPDATED] Transparency, MSJ, surveyors critical of Procurement BIll

THE TT Transparency Institute (TTTI) on Thursday urged the Government not to amend the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 2015.

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill 2020 is due for debate in the House of Representatives on Friday.

The TTTI made its call at a virtual briefing held by the Private Sector Civil Society Group (PSCSG.)

While TT had improved over the years on Transparency International’s 100-point Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 35 in 2016 to 41 in 2018, TTTI said, it wanted even more to be done.

TTTI secretary Susan Gordon declared, “Every year since 2015 the TTTI has confidently expected that the full operationalisation of the procurement legislation would boost TT’s CPI score as there is no question that in our country state contracts are a significant avenue for corruption.”

She recalled that at the launch of the 2019 CPI, TTTI had noted the three required steps to curb corruption: procurement legislation, campaign finance legislation and availability/disclosure of information.

While acknowledging the establishment of the Office of Procurement Regulator (OPR,) Gordon noted the lapsing and failure of legislation on campaign funding and the whistle-blower protection respectively in Parliament. She urged, "Both of these pieces of legislation need to be brought back to Parliament in the very near future.”

Gordon lamented the proposals of the upcoming 2020 procurement bill.

“Today TTTI is dismayed and disappointed at Government’s intention to amend elements of the public procurement provisions by removing the OPR from involvement in government-to-government arrangements and arrangements with international financial organisations and from disposal of real property owned by the Government.”

She said the TTTI joined with the other PSCSG members in urging these amendments should not be pursued.

“Coupled with the inordinate and unnecessary delay in fully operationalising the public procurement regime, they undermine credibility and throw into question the sincerity of assurances given regarding commitment to transparency, accountability and value for money.”

Newsday was unable to contact Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi or Finance Minister Colm Imbert for a reaction.

The Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) also expressed its concern in a statement on Thursday over the Government’s entire approach to procurement legislation including the latest bill.

The party said the legislation should prevent bid-rigging, bribery, nepotism, favouritism and bargain basement give-aways of state assets, while ensuring value for every tax dollar spent.

The MSJ said after a decade of public pressure the act was passed in 2015, but not implemented by the People’s Partnership government nor the PNM when it took office in 2015. The PNM had brought two amendments – one laid in Parliament in November 2015 and passed in June 2016, the other laid in December 2016 and passed in March 2017.

More than three years later, regulations on procurement have been drafted, but not been laid in Parliament, so the regulator is toothless, the MSJ lamented.

“Instead of having the act fully proclaimed and implemented, the PNM government has now introduced a bill in the Parliament to further amend the act that has been passed and twice amended.

“We are extremely disturbed that the minister has not yet laid the regulations in Parliament. Without regulations, the regulator cannot regulate!”

The MSJ has very serious concerns about the bill, asking if it needs a special majority, given that the act and two amendments previously were passed with special majorities. Saying the bill is silent on this, the MSJ said, “Out of an abundance of caution we recommend that it be passed by a special majority.”

The MSJ said it was “dangerous to the extreme” for the bill to seek to remove legal and other services from the act.

“We must recall that in one case a senior attorney pleaded guilty before the Courts to being improperly paid..”

The party feared public-private partnerships, such as build-operate-lease-transfer construction projects, might be classified as a "financial service" and so removed from the act, and wanted this exemption withdrawn. The party warned against removing from the bill government-to-government deals, and those between the Government and international institutions.

“How many times in the past have we felt ‘ripped off’ by these government-to-government arrangements?”

The MSJ called on the Government to withdraw that measure.

The MSJ supported the bill‘s proposal to strengthen the definition of "bid-rigging" and to alter the definition of "cohabitant."

“The PNM must withdraw the two offending amendments as identified above and the UNC must support the other amendments.”

The Institute of Surveyors of TT (ISTT) in a statement on Wednesday also expressed concerns, many centred on its own sector.

“We also lament the absence of publicly available draft regulations for comment up to October 2020,” it pointed out.

The ISTT regretted the absence of a penalty for bypassing procurement legislation, such as a chairman viewing a tender report before it was submitted. It also criticised the absence of surveyors from the Procurement Board or Procurement Review Board.

The ISTT alleged that the board’s guidelines lacked an understanding of the benefits of different methods of procurement.

While pleased the guidelines allowed for the selection of an optimal contractual form, the institute was concerned at a lack of specifics, a focus on the FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) form of contract and the prevalence in TT of the use of highly-modified FIDIC contract, which it said overly burden contractors.

The ISTT wanted the legislation to be amended to include the acquisition of land and other real property. It claimed the board’s guidelines ignored the practice of a preliminary inquiry, and so did not include the whole tender process.

This story was originally published with the title "TTTI: Don’t amend Procurement Act" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

THE TT Transparency Institute (TTTI) on Thursday urged the Government not to amend the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 2015 as proposed by a bill due for debate in the House of Representatives on Friday, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill 2020.

The TTTI made its call at a virtual briefing held by the Private Sector Civil Society Group (PSCSG.)

While TT had improved over the years on Transparency International’s 100-point Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 35 in 2016 to 41 in 2018, TTTI wanted even more to be done.

TTTI secretary Susan Gordon declared, “Every year since 2015 the TTTI has confidently expected that the full operationalisation of the procurement legislation would boost TT’s CPI score as there is no question that in our country state contracts are a significant avenue for corruption.”

She recalled that at the launch of the 2019 CPI, TTTI had noted the three required steps to curb corruption: procurement legislation, campaign finance legislation and availability/disclosure of information.

While noting the establishment of the Office of Procurement Regulator (OPR,) Gordon noted the lapsing and failure of legislation on campaign funding and the whistle-blower protection respectively in Parliament. She urged, "Both of these pieces of legislation need to be brought back to Parliament in the very near future.”

Gordon lamented the proposals of the upcoming 2020 procurement bill.

“Today TTTI is dismayed and disappointed at Government’s intention to amend elements of the public procurement provisions by removing the OPR from involvement in government to government arrangements and arrangements with international financial organisations and from disposal of real property owned the Government.”

She said the TTTI joined with the other PSCSG members in urging these amendments not be pursued.

“Coupled with the inordinate and unnecessary delay in fully operationalising the public procurement regime, they undermine credibility and throw into question the sincerity of assurances given regarding commitment to transparency, accountability and value for money.”

Newsday was unable to contact Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi or Finance Minister Colm Imbert for a reaction.