KINGSTON, Jamaica – Plans are being made to review the public procurement system as the Government aims to achieve greater levels of efficiency.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, said this will be a “data-driven approach towards reviving the procurement system”.

“The Ministry is undertaking a data-intensive process where we will be retrieving information on 27 variables in procurement [relating to] economic efficiency, regulatory compliance [and] efficiency with respect to time,” he noted.

Dr Clarke was speaking at a ceremony hosted by the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) in Kingston on August 24, to celebrate the milestone achievement of ISO 9001:2015 Certification.

The Minister emphasised that the public procurement system, overall, “needs some review, because many procurements take too long in many [government] agencies and ministries”.

“Part of the problem is that we have too many layers in the procurement process, and we have to recall that the process was put in place prior to us having an independent investigative body, with its own prosecutorial powers and powerful anti-corruption entity,” he added.

“It might mean that one level or another level may no longer be necessary, and if so, we have to have the courage to make those changes, because two years to get a procurement through, is not going to get us anywhere on our development agenda,” the Minister said.

Dr Clarke pointed out that the Government has received a grant of more than $1 million from the United States that will be used towards revamping the system.

“[This will help to] make it more efficient and a procurement system that serves the people of Jamaica that is consistent with our development objectives,” he said.