Cabinet to give up role in contract awards once procurement commission operational

– Harmon

Cabinet will stop giving its no-objection to contract awards once the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) is ready to work, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said yesterday.

Harmon made the comment at a postCabinet press briefing where he also said that though the PPC is not operational owing to vacancies for three key posts, the five members sworn into office four months ago are being paid their salaries.

When asked when Cabinet would stop giving no-objections to contract awards, Harmon said that it is public knowledge that staff is being sought for the PPC. “Those matters, as I understand, are well advanced but I cannot give you a specific timeline when it is going to be finished,” he said, before adding that once the commission is ready to function, Cabinet will cease giving no objections to contracts. In the meantime, he added, since there are public infrastructure projects that are to be executed, “we cannot basically sit and wait.” He said that from the number of advertisements in the newspapers on a daily basis, the ministries are putting out requests for bids. “Once the Public Procurement Commission indicates that it is ready, then Cabinet basically will pull back,” he said.

At a simple ceremony at the Ministry of the Presidency in October last year, Emily Dodson, Carol Corbin, Sukrishnalall Pasha, Ivor English and Nanda Gopaul took the oath of office before President David Granger.

Corbin, who is the Chairperson of the PPC, had told Stabroek News late last year that Cabinet will continue its no-objection role as the commission was in the process of shortlisting applicants for the three key posts. The three posts, Chief Executive Officer, Head of Corporate Services and a Head of Operations, all have to be approved by the National Assembly.

Harmon yesterday said that while the PPC awaits the appointments, its members are being paid. “I believe they are being paid. I haven’t seen a pay slip from anybody but clearly from the time that they were appointed they are entitled to those salaries,” he said.

Meanwhile Harmon yesterday informed that Cabinet has approved the request of the Minister of Finance to remunerate the members of the Bid Protest Committee of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. He said that this committee was established by the Ministry of Finance to facilitate appeals of contracts awarded by the Board.

He said that each request for review attracts a non-refundable fee of $50,000 plus one percent of the complainant’s bid price.

As a result, he said Cabinet approved the payment of fees in the sum of $80,000 for the chairperson and $60,000 for the other members, with these payments to be made on a per case basis.