Procurement legislation goes to the Senate

THE Senate will sit on December 8 and 10 at the Red House from 1.30 pm to debate the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill 2020 and four other bills which were passed in the House of Representatives early Saturday morning.

This was disclosed by Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat in a post on Facebook. The other bills passed were the Miscellaneous Provisions [2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)] (No. 2) Bill, 2020; Miscellaneous Provisions (FATF Compliance) Bill, 2020; Miscellaneous Amendments (Powers of Statutory Authorities and Matters related to certain Boards) Bill, 2020 and the Miscellaneous Provisions (Administration of Justice) Bill, 2020.

Rambharat observed, "The five Bills cover a range of matters including covid19 provisions; public procurement, changes to the provisions for appointment of boards to WASA, the Children’s Authority, NLCB and NIHERST, changes to the power of board at TTEC and the power of the THA to issue securities, and changes to a series of Acts dealing with financial crime and terrorist financing."

He said the Senate will sit from 10 am on December 8. Originally, according to the Parliament's website, the Senate was supposed to sit from 1.30 pm on December 8 to debate the Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2020. This is successor legislation to the Evidence Amendment Bill 2019 which was laid in the Senate on January 29, 2019. That bill lapsed on July 3.

The objective of that legislation was to provide for the use of different identification procedures, interviews and oral admissions, special measures, the taking of evidence by video link and witness anonymity orders. The bill required a three-fifths majority for passage in the Senate and House of Representatives for passage (19 and 25 votes respectively).

At present, there is a legal challenge to the taking of evidence by video link mounted by former independent senator Sophia Chote on behalf of her client who is before the court on a corruption charge.

Chote has argued that no emergency legislation was enacted and assented to that would allow the practice directions to override protections afforded to citizens under the Constitution and in specific legislation.

The judge in that matter was expected to deliver her ruling on Friday, but it is now expected on December 10.

Meanwhile, the House will sit on December 9 from 1.30 pm to debate a motion by Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon to exempt certain classes of imported goods from import duties from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2023.

These goods are listed for approved industry; approved agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries; approved hotels;approved mining purposes and for other approved purposes. Before the debate on this motion starts, the Prime Minister will take questions from the Opposition in keeping with the House Standing Orders, which states that Prime Minister's questions take place in the House at its second sitting each month.

The House's first sitting for this month was on December 4.