Prime Minister Tables Public Procurement Bill 2022 in the House of Assembly

Thu, Oct 6th 2022, 10:58 AM

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. PhilipDavis tabled the Public Procurement Bill 2022, in the House of Assembly onWednesday, October 5, 2022.

This came on the heels of the launch of GoBonfire eProcurement Platformthrough which goods and services for all government and quasi-government willbe sourced, with the objective of providing a higher level of accountability.

The eProcurement Platform, a milestone in governance, was presented by PrimeMinister Davis at Margaritaville Beach Resort, Compass Rose Ballroom, onMonday, October 3, 2022.

As he tabled the Bill during the morning session of parliament on October 5, theprime minister explained that the proposed Bill, when enacted would repeal andreplace the Public Procurement Act 2021.

“The Bill is the first of several Bills, which will be brought to the House to eitheramend or repeal legislation which was rushed through with little thought aboutthe practical consequences on the governance process,” he said.

The prime minister also debunked beliefs of his administration’s stance on publicprocurement, stating that much if it is untrue.

“This administration is committed to fair and transparent public procurement.However, more importantly, as I said at the launch of the new procurementportal on Monday, we believe that public procurement, when used correctly, is atool to correct some of the historical inequalities in our system. In other words,there is space in every procurement framework for affirmative action,” he toldparliament.

He explained that fair and transparent procurement is not just publishing thenames of contract awardees but ensuring that a process is followed whichdemonstrates value for money concerning the use of taxpayers’ funds.

“As we have seen concerning the pandemic-related expenditure, this seems to bea forgotten concept in Government during the last administration,” he said.

The primary objectives of the Bill are:

1. To increase transparency by expanding the number of procurementcontracts subject to tender committee review;

2. To create greater administrative efficiency by increasing financialthresholds for committee review, board review, and cabinet review;

3. To discourage and detect procurement process abuse by the expansion ofcontrol mechanisms; and,

4. To encourage the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs), women-owned businesses, youth-owned and Family Islandbusinesses.

Some critical parts of the Bill reflect that the application of the Act has beenrevised to exclude additional areas that are not procured due to their nature. Theother excluded areas are financial consultancy concerning public debt, auditservices, contracts entered into by the Government in support of or pursuant toan international treaty, accord or convention or other international multilateralagreement, an agreement between the Government and an internationalfunding agency, whose procurement rules are mandatorily applied to anyprocurement contracts partially or wholly funded by monies loaned or advancedpursuant to such agreement.

“The Procurement Review Tribunal has been removed to decrease administrativeburdens and costs of establishing another appeal commission when existingbodies’ remit may be expanded to cover the review of complaints,” the primeminister said. “Instead, a bidder may appeal to the Tax Appeal Commission, andtheir remit will be expanded in a forthcoming amendment to the Tax AppealCommission Act.”

He said given the significant changes, the reorganization and revision of materialprovisions relating to bidding methods, and the introduction of several newclauses and definitions, it was determined that repealing the Act would be abetter approach than amending the Act.

“The Government intends to receive comments from Civil Society on thislegislation. Comments from multilateral financial institutions have beenreceived and largely incorporated into this Bill,” the prime minister said.

 

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip
Davis tabled the Public Procurement Bill 2022, in the House of Assembly on
Wednesday, October 5, 2022.
This came on the heels of the launch of GoBonfire eProcurement Platform
through which goods and services for all government and quasi-government will
be sourced, with the objective of providing a higher level of accountability.
The eProcurement Platform, a milestone in governance, was presented by Prime
Minister Davis at Margaritaville Beach Resort, Compass Rose Ballroom, on
Monday, October 3, 2022.
As he tabled the Bill during the morning session of parliament on October 5, the
prime minister explained that the proposed Bill, when enacted would repeal and
replace the Public Procurement Act 2021.
“The Bill is the first of several Bills, which will be brought to the House to either
amend or repeal legislation which was rushed through with little thought about
the practical consequences on the governance process,” he said.
The prime minister also debunked beliefs of his administration’s stance on public
procurement, stating that much if it is untrue.
“This administration is committed to fair and transparent public procurement.
However, more importantly, as I said at the launch of the new procurement
portal on Monday, we believe that public procurement, when used correctly, is a
tool to correct some of the historical inequalities in our system. In other words,
there is space in every procurement framework for affirmative action,” he told
parliament.
He explained that fair and transparent procurement is not just publishing the
names of contract awardees but ensuring that a process is followed which
demonstrates value for money concerning the use of taxpayers’ funds.
“As we have seen concerning the pandemic-related expenditure, this seems to be
a forgotten concept in Government during the last administration,” he said.
The primary objectives of the Bill are:
1. To increase transparency by expanding the number of procurement
contracts subject to tender committee review;
2. To create greater administrative efficiency by increasing financial
thresholds for committee review, board review, and cabinet review;
3. To discourage and detect procurement process abuse by the expansion of
control mechanisms; and,
4. To encourage the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs), women-owned businesses, youth-owned and Family Island
businesses.
Some critical parts of the Bill reflect that the application of the Act has been
revised to exclude additional areas that are not procured due to their nature. The
other excluded areas are financial consultancy concerning public debt, audit
services, contracts entered into by the Government in support of or pursuant to
an international treaty, accord or convention or other international multilateral
agreement, an agreement between the Government and an international
funding agency, whose procurement rules are mandatorily applied to any
procurement contracts partially or wholly funded by monies loaned or advanced
pursuant to such agreement.
“The Procurement Review Tribunal has been removed to decrease administrative
burdens and costs of establishing another appeal commission when existing
bodies’ remit may be expanded to cover the review of complaints,” the prime
minister said. “Instead, a bidder may appeal to the Tax Appeal Commission, and
their remit will be expanded in a forthcoming amendment to the Tax Appeal
Commission Act.”
He said given the significant changes, the reorganization and revision of material
provisions relating to bidding methods, and the introduction of several new
clauses and definitions, it was determined that repealing the Act would be a
better approach than amending the Act.
“The Government intends to receive comments from Civil Society on this
legislation. Comments from multilateral financial institutions have been
received and largely incorporated into this Bill,” the prime minister said.
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