-73 days after Parliamentary approval
A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Member of Parliament (MP) Ganesh Mahipaul is questioning the President’s seeming disinterest in swearing in the members of the Public Procurement Commission.
Mahipaul in a Facebook post yesterday highlighted that contractors and suppliers have been complaining bitterly of being sidelined and about how unfair they are being treated by NPTAB, Ministerial Tender Boards and Regional Tender Boards. The PPC is a body established under our constitution to address their concerns, he said.
On April 13, 2022, the National Assembly unanimously approved five names to become Commissioners on the Public Procurement Commission (PPC). The names are Attorney-at-Law Pauline Chase, Economist Joel Bhagwandin, Rajnarain Singh, Berkeley Wickham and Diana Rajcumar.
The PPC is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the functioning of all public procurement systems to ensure that they are in accordance with law and such policy guidelines as may be determined by the National Assembly.
The MP questioned why after 73 days since the unanimous approval of the National Assembly, the President is yet to swear in the Commissioners. What is causing this delay? Ganesh wonders.
Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Jermaine Figueira who was a part of the selection of the names to sit on PPC told Kaieteur News earlier this month that there is no reason why the Commission has not been constituted except for the government’s non-interest in having multimillion-dollar contracts scrutinized.
He noted, “There are literally multimillion and billion-dollar contracts being handed out without any oversight. The Public Procurement Commission is mandated to investigate the complaints of aggrieved contractors and bidders and stop any unfair or biased practices in the procurement process of public projects.
The Public Procurement Commission adds a layer of transparency and accountability to government spending. That is not something I believe that they want because as you can see while the President has appointed members for the Integrity Commission and the Police Service Commission, there is no word on this very vital commission, Figueira argued.”
More, In The Ring.
