Proclaim Procurement Bill in its entirety now

In the Budget, the Minister of Finance stated that the Government will use public-private partnership arrangements where and if possible to deliver public goods. With all the questions being raised (usually in the media first) about the award, process and firms being awarded lucrative contracts by State agencies and the ministries, can we say we have confidence in the system, our institutions and those that we elect or hire to oversee same? Or is it a case of pouring new wine in old vessels? One such example which has started to create rumblings among contractors is the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway extension to Manzanilla, Phase 1.

Contractors are questioning the selection criteria applied for the project. Out of all the contractors that tendered (local and international), the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) has selected China Railway and rejected the technical proposal of all other tenderers, without comparing their prices.

Contractors are saying that it is no more than a beauty parade as all of them have built roads before of a greater magnitude and scale than the Manzanilla highway, so their competence and access to resources is not an issue; the price should be considered up front.

Without the Procurement Act in place, neither the public nor the contractors can understand how or why Nidco rejected everyone in favour of China Railway.

Assuming there was a feasibility study which justifies this project, we are in hard times and need to make sure we spend our money in a responsible manner. If ever there was a time when we needed to ensure value for money in our expenditure, it is now.

With the economy in difficult times and the public suffering, state enterprises and public officials must be made accountable and the Procurement Bill is an important tool to ensure accountability. The role of State enterprises is not to further the benefit of any public official or patron but to advance the cause of the public and people of TT .

Therefore, we are calling on the Minister of Finance and the Government to proclaim the Bill in its entirety now. Let us the citizens be given the power to hold these public officials and people that spend taxpayers’ money to account, if the politicians don’t want to do so.

KEITH KING Arima