The Office of the Auditor General has raised concerns about the composition of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), which it says contravenes the guidelines set in the Procurement Act.
The Act empowers the Minister of Finance to appoint persons to serve on the National Board, which should comprise of seven members, with not more than five from the Public Service and not more than three from the Private Sector after consultation with their representative organisations.
The Act also makes provision for two members of the Board to serve on a full-time basis, with the Minister also appointing one of the two full-time members as Chairman.
Despite these regulations, the Auditor General’s 2015 Report stated that at the time of reporting, while the Board was constituted with all seven members, the composition was not in keeping with the Act since six members were from the Public Service and one was from the Private Sector.
The Ministry’s response to the Audit Office did not address this issue.
Berkley Wickham is Chair of the NPTAB, which also includes Vice-Chair Lavern Lawrence and members Trevor Baird, Bernard Lord, Ron Rahaman and Lauren Grant–Williams.
In the absence of the Public Procurement Commission, which is yet to be sworn in, the Procurement Act grants the Board the responsibility for (a) the making of regulations governing the procurement of goods and services; (b) determining the forms of documents for procurement; (c) reporting annually to the Minister of Finance on the effectiveness of the procurement process; (d) organising training seminars regarding procurement; and (e) adjudicating debarment proceedings.