Gov’t to revamp procurement guidelines

BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Senior Staff Reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, July 01, 2010

THE Ministry of Finance will soon be presenting Cabinet with proposals for new procurement guidelines for the public sector.

Deputy Financial Secretary Robert Martin made the announcement during yesterday's meeting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament.

He appeared before the committee to discuss the US$4.5-million airlift guarantee deal between Jamaica Vacations Limited (JAMVAC) and American Airlines in 2008, which Contractor General Greg Christie said was a "breach of government policy".

Several government entities have consistently flouted procurement guidelines over the years, at times blaming the bureaucratic process for their failure to obey the rules.

Christie, in a report to Parliament, had charged that the Bruce Golding administration was misled about details of the US$4.5-million airlift guarantee deal, which he said was "improperly and irregularly awarded" and signed before it was presented to the Cabinet.

Parliament, by resolution, referred the matter to the Committee in May.

Martin told the committee that while he believed "airlift agreements are basically not a procurement, that doesn't preclude that a certain system of approval be put in place".

At the same time, the finance ministry's procurement specialist, Shirley Gayle Sinclair, said while procurement rules concessions were approved to accommodate specific entities, including the Port Authority, Petrojam, Air Jamaica, the Jamaica Tourist Board and JAMVAC, the airlift agreement was not part of that package of concessions approved by Cabinet.

"It was not considered at all. What we considered were activities that the Tourist Board had to carry out, such as joint hosting of trade shows. The arrangement with American Airlines was something new. We have categorically stated that this did not qualify as a procurement contract," she said.

Gayle Sinclair made it clear, however, that while Cabinet gave approval for some entities to substitute their own internally developed procedures to acquire certain goods and services, it did not mean that the normal approval process should be thrown out.

"So they were still required to observe certain reporting requirements. They were also required to observe the standing requirement that Cabinet approval must be sought as long as its a major project," she told the committee.

She said concerns raised by quasi-government entities who have experienced difficulties working under the guidelines, unlike their colleagues in the ministries, have been taken into consideration with respect to the proposed changes.

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Gov’t to revamp procurement guidelines