Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad Bissessar has said that her party will not be supporting the government’s procurement legislation which is set to be brought to parliament today.
Speaking at a meeting last night, Persad Bissessar claimed that the government has made key amendments to the bill that she won’t be supporting.
“Tomorrow (today), we go to parliament and we go bold, we go brave, we go strong, we go united and we will not support this law, we cannot support it in all good conscience,” she said.
Reading from the proposed amendments which state that the Act will not apply to purchases regarding medical, legal, financial, accounting and auditing services, Persad Bissessar said she suspects there’s a nefarious underlying strategy.
“Any time a contract coming up in the Cabinet and it concerns a minister’s friend, family and so on that he has to recuse himself, he’ll just make an order, delete that service so the Act will not apply.
“The Act will not apply to legal services, why? Which lawyers you want to pay but you don’t want the public to know and have it under scrutiny? Why isn’t it applying to tech-financial services? I have stood on our platform and told you about NCB Global Finance.
“These people are making law for themselves. They are making law so they’ll continue to fleece the taxpayers,” she claimed.
While, in its current state, the bill only requires a special majority to pass, Persad Bissessar said she’s done her homework and has a plan for that, too.
“Our research has shown us that the original law needed a constitutional majority. The status of the law is that whether an amending piece of law that comes to amend it or change it, it still requires a special majority,” she said.
The bill is set to be brought to parliament during the 1.30pm sitting today.
