(Trinidad Express) Planning and Economy Minister Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie says the Procurement Joint Select Committee, of which he is chairman, is working towards bringing public sector procurement legislation to Parliament in this upcoming term.
Tewarie told the Express yesterday that the legislation has been in the making for sometime and is designed to modernise the procurement process, to make it more transparent, to make the system more accountable and to provide value for money.
“The issue reached a head when the Uff Commission (into the Construction Industry) raised the issues about many matters including the procurement process,” Tewarie said.
“It is against that kind of background, we are really trying to establish an enlightened procurement system and process in Trinidad and Tobago and we are really trying to make sure that the system can function and work efficiently and effectively. As part of the process, the Committee has invited Jamaica’s Contractor General, Greg Christie, to make a presentation and hold discussions.
“Christie’s responsibilities as Contractor General include monitoring and investigating the award and termination of all Government contracts, licences and permits with a view to ensuring probity, propriety, accountability, competition and transparency in the Jamaica public sector procurement, contract award and licensing processes.
“Christie arrived in the country yesterday and will meet the Committee in a private session today.”
Tewarie said the Committee believes the session will help to pave the way forward.
“At the last meeting, we considered various issues one of which was whether we try to benefit from the experience of the Contractor General in Jamaica because they passed new procurement legislation sometime ago and has had now about a decade of practice. We wanted to find out what worked and what didn’t work as well as they anticipated and what were some of the issues they would wish to raise for our thinking.
“We are really trying to benefit from his knowledge and experience and the experience of the Government and people of Jamaica.”
Christie, a British-trained lawyer, is vested with the powers of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Jamaica and has extensive statutory powers of investigation, enquiry, search, discovery and subpoena.
He has lectured for 10 years in the Law Faculty of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, in a wide range of disciplines, including corporate law, criminal law, insurance law, public international law, aviation law, outer-space law, the law of the sea, and the laws and legal systems of the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Christie has also worked at the Hugh Wooding Law School as a tutor in insurance, banking, credit and securities law.
Last week, Christie wrote to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller outlining a raft of anti-corruption recommendations that his office wants her administration to give urgent consideration, with a view to early implementation.
