President Donald Ramotar last week blamed the opposition for the prolonged delay in establishing the constitutionally mandated Public Procurement Commis-sion (PPC) but he remained cautiously optimistic that the two sides would reach agreement.
“I hope that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC )will work on it to establish it, whatever methodology they use and so forth we ll see,” said the President in response to a question on why the commission is not yet established. He added that he hoped the PAC would take steps to fast-track the process.
Tracing back the origins of the disagreement prior to the November 28 General Election, Ramotar recalled that the then PAC, of which he had been a member, had agreed to the criteria of qualifications and number. The President said he said had suggested to then main opposition PNCR that the government should occupy three of the seats and the opposition two.
“I proposed to the then PNC opposition let us set it up. The names we had were not political names because the law prescribes what qualification these must have and both sides stuck to [that]…,” he said.
However, he said the opposition appeared to be interested in controlling the entire commission.
“I think they probably wanted to have all five or something. But they disagreed with that but then things started to roll on. Parliament changed and we never really got around to it again,” he added.
Presidential Adviser on Governance Gail Teixeira on July 17 of this year had said that the government was ready with its list of nominees for the PPC and accused the opposition of holding up the selection process.
Teixeira had said then that the opposition needs to have more of an “appetite” for the talks to continue so that the establishment of the commission and other outstanding issues could be addressed.
“The three parties agreed to put up the names in June and to have those names before the Public Accounts Committee. No party has submitted names but the Alliance for Change made an announcement of their nominees,” Teixeira said. She added that the government has identified its nominees but is waiting on the opposition parties to agree on a time for the resumption of the tripartite engagement.
According to Teixeira, the commission was but one of several outstanding issues that are on the agenda for the tripartite talks. She said that there has been no follow up on the matter. “I have been reminding them but there seems to be no appetite,” she added.
Chartered accountant Christopher Ram and former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran have been nominated by the Alliance For Change to be members of the PPC.
On May 10, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett had announced in the National Assembly that that the Public Procurement Commission would be established by the end of June 2012.