After being down for several days, the government’s procurement website is back up although not functioning at full capacity.
The eprocure.gov.gy site had been inaccessible for a number of days, with the hosts for the website—Studio 28 Productions—indicating that the account had been suspended, while directing that contact be made with its billing/support department as soon as possible.
A source had indicated to this newspaper that the message usually comes up when a payment has not been made. There has been no announcement by the government about the website being down, even after Stabroek News reported the issue.
When contacted last Tuesday, Press and Publicity Officer for the Office of the President Kwame McCoy said he would check to ascertain the reason for it being down.
The website was set up last year August to host all government ads and notices, following the passage of an amendment to the Procurement Act in the National Assembly. Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon later said that the move was a cost-effective measure being implemented by the administration, given the costs associated with print media advertising.
Former finance minister Carl Greenidge, however, said that while the idea of a website is good and keeping with modern practices, it is clear that it was done to deprive certain media houses of advertising revenue. The reality of the situation, he said, is that the government continues to only satisfy “the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law.” He said that there remain highly irregular patterns in the awarding of contracts where the friends of the government are given contracts when they do not have the most suitable bids.
