No information has been released for several weeks now by the government on contract awards despite repeated promises to do so.
Contractors have expressed concern over the non-disclosure as many who spoke with Stabroek News last Tuesday, at the opening of tenders at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), say that while they learn through the media who bid for contracts, they are at a loss as to who eventually wins. The declaration of the winner is a pivotal aspect of the transparency process.
“After you bid here, if you don’t win you don’t know who win…only if you take it on yourself to say you go find out something, or hear from somebody or something, or know the company, that kinda thing,” the CEO of a building company told Stabroek News.
Although Minister of State Joseph Harmon personally promised Stabroek News to intervene to make public the “hundreds of millions of dollars” in contracts Cabinet has given its no-objection to over the past seven weeks, this has not been the case.
“Really? Really? You have not seen any projects coming out of Cabinet for the last weeks? No man, can’t be true. Up to just now at Cabinet we approved projects” Minister of Finance Winston Jordan told Stabroek News, when asked on the sidelines of the May 24th sitting of the National Assembly.
“They are going to come out tomorrow at the press conference,” Jordan assured before catching up with the Minister of State and relaying this newspaper’s concerns.
“Hi Joe, this reporter said Stabroek News ain’t see no no-objections from Cabinet in weeks what happened?” Jordan asked Harmon.
A seemingly perplexed Harmon related that the contracts were sent out by the Ministry of the Presidency press department and that Stabroek News needed to recheck releases sent. “You are not checking the Cabinet releases from Ministry of the Presidency?” he asked, further pointing out, “Up to last week (it was sent out). Check, Check with them. There were releases (and) they were sent out. We have approved several projects over the weeks at Cabinet, hundreds of millions in projects, check check.”
No such releases were sent out.
Harmon said that if there was any difficulty in getting the information that the reporter should contact his office and he would facilitate giving the list of contracts that Cabinet had given no- objections to during their weekly meetings.
However, Stabroek News’ attempts have been to no avail.
Harmon’s Secretary Malika Ramsey tried to assist but later informed that the release of information, such as the no-objection to contracts, from Cabinet meetings would fall under the Ministry of the Presidency’s Press Department and pointed this newspaper to that department’s head, Mark Archer.
Several calls to Archer’s phone went unanswered and when he did reply it was to state that he was either in a meeting or driving.
On the 17th of May, Archer said that no information was released for the week ending May 13th 2016 and “whatever is still current will be released this week.”
He has since not returned calls or messages relating to the issue.
The absence of information on the contract awards raises concern not only for bidders as observers say it creates the perception that there is something to hide and they repeated calls for the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).
The APNU+AFC government had promised the PPC within its first 100 days in office but one year after its ascension to office the date or timeframe for the PPC’s establishment is unknown.
Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, PPP/C MP Irfaan Ali said last week that the committee is presently “shortlisting” candidates for the PPC but could not give any other pertinent details.
For years, the PPP/C while in office had haggled with the PNCR, APNU and the AFC over candidates for the PPC and how many should be nominated by either side.
Both APNU and the AFC, while in opposition, had lobbied for the removal of Cabinet’s “no-objection” role in the procurement process.
According to the Procurement Act, Cabinet shall have the right to review all procurements, the value of which exceeds $15 million. However, once the PPC is commissioned, Cabinet’s no-objection powers will be phased out so as to decentralise the procurement process.
Though the Act was implemented in 2003, Cabinet still holds full powers as it relates to its role in the procurement process owing to the fact that the PPC has not been constituted. Cabinet presently signals its no-objection to contracts and only then can they proceed. This “no-objection” role had been strongly opposed by APNU and the AFC when they were in opposition. However, the role continues.
