Reduce paperwork in bidding process
EZULWINI – “Some of the bidding documents are not easy to attain and there is too much paperwork when bidding.”
7his was one of the sentiments shared by some of the procurement practitioners at the 6tandard %idding 'ocuments 6%'s workshop organ ised by (swatini 3ublic 3rocurement 5egulatory Agency (6335A at 7he Happy 9alley Hotel, (]ulwini yesterday.
7he purpose of the workshops was to improve the efficiency and trans parency in public procurement of works, goods, and consulting services to promote good governance and services delivery.7hey described the bidding process locally as time consuming coupled with excessive paperwork and it takes time to get a response. 7he practitioners suggested that the paperwork should be reduced to promote efficiency.
Shortcomings
(6335A &(2. 9usumutiwend vod]a 0atsebula mentioned that unless these gaps and shortcomings were corrected, the public procure ment system in (swatini would re main inefficient, thus causing mistrust between the government and the gen eral public. He said it was important to state that this milestone has been a collaborative effort, support and commitment by different procure ment professionals from within both public entities and private sector organisations, we are forever grateful for their contribution in the develop ment of the 6%'s. ³7he agency in
started the Mourney towards the development of these standard bid ding documents which has brought us together today.´
³7his is part of the agency¶s bid to provide standardised documents as currently existing bidding documents used by different procuring entities are not harmonised, which opens room for non compliance, unsatis factory adMudication of tenders and misinterpretation of obligations by both tenderers and procuring enti ties,´ he added.
0atsebula envisaged that the avail ability of the 6%'s would promote harmonisation and standardisation of procurement practices, facilitates a uniform understanding among procuring entities and tenderers of their rights and obligations, increased capacity by promulgating best prac tices and facilitating predictability in procurement proceedings, enhance and promote transparency as well as provide clarity of tender reTuire ments. He said before the documents were rolled out, they saw the need to that all stakeholders involved in the utilisation of these documents were imparted with skills and understand ing on the preparation and use of the 6%'s.3rincipal 6ecretary 0inistry of )inance representative 1kulule ko 'lamini, who is the 'irector of supply chain and management added that transparency and digitalisation of public procurement have become a top priority of the (swatini *overn ment to ensure sustainable economic growth.
Procurement
He said one of the specific initiatives under the procurement reforms was to ensure provision of procurement tools such 6%'s and other standard procurement documents whose use shall be mandatory in all procurement proceedings by procuring entities.
He said this would promote greater efficiency and transparency in pro curement.³6%'s ensure integrity and corruption prevention in government contracts through greater disclosure on issues of conflict of interests and reinforcing codes of conduct or ethi cal guidelines, especially in contract ing and sourcing goods, works and