Adhere to law on local content

THE EDITOR: The Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry of TT (JCC) writes to highlight a critical aspect of our new procurement legislation that requires urgent attention from government agencies. The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act of 2015 includes provisions for promoting local content that are, from our observations, not being fully utilised in high-value construction tenders.

As we strive to enhance economic growth through further development in the construction sector, it is imperative that government agencies actively implement the local content clauses in their procurement processes. These provisions are designed to ensure that a significant portion of the expenditure on public projects remains within our economy, thereby supporting local businesses, creating jobs, and fostering sustainable development.

Section 5(1)(c) of the act explicitly states that one of its primary objectives is "to promote local industry development, sustainable procurement and sustainable development in public procurement and the disposal of public property." This establishes local content as a fundamental consideration in public procurement processes, placing it alongside other key principles such as transparency, accountability, and value for money.

Article 28(1) of the act empowers procuring entities to "limit participation in procurement proceedings to promote local industry development and local content." This clause gives procurement officials the authority to establish procurement processes that specifically favour local businesses and content.

However, despite these clear legislative intentions, there is a noticeable gap in the implementation of these provisions in high-value construction tenders. It is essential that procuring entities actively apply these clauses to ensure that local businesses are given a fair opportunity to participate and benefit from public procurement processes.

To effectively implement these provisions, government agencies need to:

Clearly outline local content requirements: In all tender documents, specific criteria for local content should be detailed, ensuring that bidders understand the expectations and can plan accordingly.

Apply domestic preference measures: Where applicable, a margin of preference should be applied during the evaluation of bids to favour proposals with higher local content, as permitted by regulations. Regulation 4(2) prescribes a mandatory ten per cent domestic preference margin for qualifying bids.

Monitor compliance: Contracts should include provisions for monitoring and enforcing local content commitments throughout the project life cycle to prevent post-award deviations; and include the results in their reports to the Office of the Procurement Regulator,who has oversight to review and report to the public via its annual report.

We therefore call on government ministers via permanent secretaries to dictate to procuring entities to adhere to the law as it relates to local content.

FAZIR KHAN

president

JCC