All must account for public funds

THE EDITOR: Open letter to Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo.

As the nation anticipates the reading of the 2025/26 budget in Parliament on October 13, this moment provides an essential opportunity to reaffirm our collective commitment to accountability and transparency in public procurement.

The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) respectfully reminds you that the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, No 1 of 2015 – championed and initially enacted under the leadership of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar – was intended to transform the use of public funds and elevate standards governing procurement and the disposal of public assets across TT.

Since the act’s operationalisation in April 2023, the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) has documented uneven progress in compliance throughout the public sector. According to the OPR’s 2023/2024 Annual Report, several agencies remain notably non-compliant, despite receiving targeted training and repeated calls from the OPR to adhere to the new legal framework.

This persistent non-compliance risks prolonging the public’s scepticism in both procurement and the disposal of public property, and it undermines confidence in the strengthened safeguards the act was meant to establish.

One of the top non-compliant agencies, as highlighted in the OPR report, has been the Ministry of National Security – a ministry that received nearly $7 billion in the most recent fiscal allocation. With the recent reorganisation of this ministry under the current government, there is now an opportunity and responsibility to improve administrative and financial compliance.

The JCC, alongside civil society, recognises the urgent necessity of implementing national security plans, but we are equally certain that robust procurement and accountability must not be sacrificed on the altar of expediency. TT simply cannot afford such a compromise as we continue to face harsh economic realities.

In addition, several divisions of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) were cited by the OPR for serious non-compliance with the act. We urge the THA to make every effort – with the ongoing assistance of the OPR – to fully and transparently account for the use of public funds.

With budget deliberations imminent, the Finance Ministry and the government as a whole are urged to show decisive leadership, ensuring that all public bodies meet their legal obligations under the Procurement Act. This will not only fulfil the spirit of the law as envisioned by PM Persad-Bissessar ten years ago, but also go a long way towards restoring public trust in the stewardship of the nation’s finances.

FAZIR KHAN

president, JCC