Finance Minister Colm Imbert has responded to comments on amendments to procurement legislation, saying they are not based on fact or best practice.
In a statement issued today, Imbert said the commentary on the proposed amendments to Section 7 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act ‘avoids the true facts and the history of the matter and is not based on reasoned argument or international best practice’.
Imbert’s statement comes after a joint statement by business chambers which called on government to withdraw the amendments under Section 7 (2).
Imbert said there exists exceptions globally for statutory procurement legislation or contracts between public bodies and governments:
‘The truth is that all over the world, there is a general exception from statutory procurement reglation for what is defined as public/public co-operation or contracts between public bodies and/or governments, especially where one of the co-operating public bodies is providing a loan financing or other forms of assistance, such as technical assistance or equity investment.’
He said it is ‘standard practice’ to exempt government contracts from control by procurement regulators:
‘It is settled international practice, therefore, that government to government contracts and other forms of public/public so-operation in procurement are exempt from control by local procurement regulators, and for good reason, since if a public body, international organisation or sovereign government is providing loan financing and technical assistance, it stands to reason that the procurement rules of these bodies should apply, rather than being circumscribed by the rules of local authorities.’
Regarding further discussions, Imbert said government has made it ‘pellucidly clear’ on several occasions:
‘We have made it pellucidly clear in meetings, discussions, and public forums for the last 10 years that we are of firm blue that in appropriate cases there is tremendous value and benefit to the country in accessing specialised expertise…a case in point is the recent procurement of the two new state-of-the-art fast ferry vessels.’
‘In summary, public to public procurement arrangements are well established as international best practice and the uninformed commentary on the issue serves only to undermine public confidence in the legislation before it is even passed and this ill-advised commentary simply facilitates personal and self-serving agendas.’
The Bill was passed with a simple majority in the Lower House and will be brought before the Senate.
According to legislation, Clause 5 of the Bill would amend section 7:
‘Subsection (2) is being amended as it currently gives rise to uncertainty since it provides for a treaty or agreement between Trinidad and Tobago and another State of international financial organisation to prevail in the event of conflict with the Act while, at the same time, requiring the procurement under such treaty of agreement to be governed by the Act.’
‘This may give rise to differences in interpretation and may undermine the prevalence of the treaty or agreement in practice. The subsection could also limit the Government’s access to certain types of financing under treaties, technical cooperation agreements or from international financial organisations. The amendment would therefore afford the Government full access to all international sources of funding that may be necessary to provide financial support to Trinidad and Tobago.’
See Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill here: https://bit.ly/2K18eZi
