Opposition wants Procurement Act reviewed
MINISTER of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke says that public sector bureaucrats have to make themselves much more familiar with the provisions in the Procurement Act than they are currently.
“There are a lot of tools that can be used, depending on the circumstances, that we have to redouble our efforts in training procurement officers in the use of the Procurement Act,” Dr Clarke told the House of Representatives after tabling the third supplementary estimates at Gordon House last week.
He was responding to questions raised about the Act and its influence on projects on procurement, including a $40-million road programme which has been delayed despite its approval 10 months ago.
“There is a lot in there that can allow for accelerated performances of capital projects. But, having said that, we continue to review the Procurement Act, and at some point not too far off in the future we plan to introduce a few amendments that can help to make that system more efficient,” Dr Clarke said.
“However, no matter what changes are made, we have to ensure that the persons who are responsible for signing the Act are familiar with it,” he reiterated.
Dr Clarke was responding to Opposition spokesman on finance Julian Robinson’s questions about the failure of the Act to fulfill certain obligations. Robinson said he wanted to know the extent of the Public Procurement Act’s contribution to debates on capital expenditure.
He said that the Parliament was headed for a situation where all capital programmes would have to be approved by the procurement body, after lengthy processing.
“We are getting to the stage where we cannot implement the projects. I believe we have to examine how we deal with public procurement. We want to ensure that there is no corruption but when you get to a system where you have $8.7 million that you cannot spend, that is a problem,” Robinson said.
“That is retarding economic growth and development and, frankly, it is not stopping corruption. I believe we have to examine it,” Robinson insisted.
