The timing of government’s increase in thresholds for restricted tendering should be questioned given that the Cabinet should have resigned with the December 21st passage of a no-confidence motion against the government, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran has said.
Goolsarran told Stabroek News yesterday that while there is nothing wrong with the process undertaken by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan to raise the thresholds, “the timing of the increases in the light of the 21 December 2018 vote of no confidence” is in question since Jordan would have acted under subsidiary legislation granting to him that right as a minister.
Article 106 (6) of the Constitution provides that “the Cabinet including the President shall resign” if the government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of no confidence, while Article 106 (7) states that notwithstanding its defeat, the government shall remain in office and shall hold elections in three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine.
As of Monday, government significantly raised the thresholds for the restricted tendering for the procurement of goods and services, as well as construction.
The circular, signed by Deputy Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) Mark Bender and released by PPP/C MP Juan Edghill, advises permanent secretaries, agency and corporation heads and regional administrations that the threshold for restricted tendering in the case of contracts for goods and services has risen from $3 million to $10 million –an increase of 233% – while the threshold in the case of construction has risen from $10 million to $20 million. Additionally, they can also now use requests for quotations for contracts valued up to $3 million, which is a 50% increase over the previous threshold of $1.5 million,
While these methods of tendering still must adhere to the Public Procurement Act and its regulations, critics have previously argued that it is easier to channel such contracts to a select group of persons as distinct from open tendering where there would be public advertising. The higher thresholds would mean that a significant number of contracts would no longer be available to open tendering and the procuring entities would have a major say in who would be invited to tender. With no advertising or tender opening at NPTAB, it is unclear how the public will know how many contracts each respective ministry would have handed out over a specified period.
Goolsarran pointed out that Section 61 of the Procurement Act provides for the Minister, on the advice of NPTAB, to make Regulations that may be necessary for the administration of the Act. The last time the threshold for restricted tendering was increased was February 18th, 2016.
However, he stressed that while the thresholds have increased, the conditions set out in the Procurement Act for the award of contracts using the restricted tendering process must still be adhered to.
“Section 26 of the Procurement Act permits the use of the restricted tendering method when: (i) the goods, construction or services are of a highly complex or specialised nature and are available only from a limited number of suppliers or contractors; and (ii) if the estimated cost of the contract is below the threshold set out in the Regulations. Only qualified suppliers or contractors are invited to submit tenders, and all other steps and requirements applicable to open tendering are to be applied, including the notification to such suppliers; adherence to the procedures for tender opening; the appointment of an evaluation committee to assess the bids and to identify the lowest evaluated bid; and the Cabinet approval of all contracts in excess of $15 million. In restricted tendering, the only difference is that there is not public advertisement, but this presupposes that a register of prequalified suppliers and contractors is maintained and regularly updated, preferably at the beginning of the year,” he stated.
“In the case of Requests for Quotations (RFQs), the estimated value of the procurement contract must not exceed such amount as may be prescribed by the Regulations. Other procedures to be followed before the contract is awarded include: (i) obtaining and comparing quotations from as many qualified suppliers or contractors, but not fewer than three; (ii) making dedicated efforts to check prices on the Internet to ensure the reasonableness of quoted prices; and publishing the price of its most recent procurement at least once a quarter in a newspaper of national circulation,” he added.
