The Head of State, in a special interview with the Government Information Agency’s (GINA) Beverley Alert, said the Bill is the most comprehensive of its kind in the Region and strongly supports the many efforts made by the Administration over the years to enhance transparency in Guyana.

“Today, we are putting in place a Bill that is so comprehensive that none of the 15 countries in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has such comprehensive legislation as the one we passed,” he said.

The Procurement Bill 2003 was passed in Parliament on June 19 after a lively debate, during which the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) walked out of the National Assembly. However, the Bill was passed and President Jagdeo will soon be assenting to it, so that it can become law.

The Bill represents not only a commitment agreed upon in the Jagdeo/Corbin Joint Communiqué of May 6, 2003, but also in engagements between the Government of Guyana and the World Bank on funding for the Poverty Reduction Strategy.

In 1996, the Government of Guyana was given a project by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to strengthen the Secretariat, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a grant the following year. Government retained lawyers from Washington to draft the procurement legislation. Consultations were held and responses were given, including those from the Guyana Consultants’ and Contractors’ Associations.

By then, Guyana had begun its Constitutional Review Process and was skeptical of going ahead with the legislation while the Review was in progress. However, the Multilateral Financial Institutions set the legislation as a criterion for relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), from which Guyana stood to benefit US$30M in debt relief. Guyana moved ahead with the Bill and it was passed in 2002.

However, the World Bank raised some concerns and cited the need for amendments to the Bill. The 2003 Bill includes these amendments.

“The World Bank thinks it is a good Bill. We received the green light from the World Bank to move ahead,” President Jagdeo said, adding, “I have asked the World Bank to give me any of the 40-odd HIPC countries that has a more comprehensive legislation than the one we passed. They failed to do so. So compared to international standards, this is one of the most advanced pieces of legislation.”

The new Procurement Bill was criticised by the PNCR, after Government did not give in to its demand to send the Bill to a Special Select Committee for further review. The President explained that while Government has agreed to send all complex Bills in the National Assembly to such a Committee, there are also exemptions of emergency Bills. He also argued that the Procurement Bill is an amended version of the 2002 Act and not a new Bill.

“PNC had been in Office for 28 years and they never saw it fit to pass a procurement law…The Procurement Bill 2003 replaces three pages of legislation from the 1920s and four pages from 1958,” he countered.

For the first time ever in Guyana, through the Procurement Bill 2003, non-Governmental persons are included on the Tender Board; record-keeping and publishing of awards are mandatory and contractors will have the right to appeal if they feel cheated.

The document provides comfort for contractors and suppliers because it sets out the ground rules for procurement and provides for independent reviews.

Guyana has come a far way in the procurement arena and has even won the respect of international agencies and organisations.

When this Administration took Office there was no history of public procurement, as most of it was done through single sourcing and not in a transparent manner as being done today. There were no advertisements for tenders placed in the newspapers and the Engineer’s estimates were not made public.

Today, there is a large body of contractors who bids for contracts because the procurement process facilitates competition. Through that competition, Government has been able to bring down the costs of projects. This Bill will consolidate what has been taking place. It gives legislative effect to what the Government has done since 1992 in terms of public procurement, which is now being done in a more regulated manner.

Noteworthy also, is the role the Auditor General now plays in the procurement process. The Auditor General did not have a role to play in public procurement because he was not allowed to audit the public accounts of the country. Today, he has a role to play in the procurement process.

Over the last decade, tenders for the disposal of public assets were advertised and all 65 of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils now have for the first time, records of public procurement.

The Procurement Bill 2003 was presented for its first reading in the National Assembly in June 2003, and is essentially a revised version of the Bill enacted in 2002. The Parliamentary Opposition, the Builders Group and other stakeholders raised concerns about certain clauses of the Bill both at the technical and policy levels. Consequently, consultations with these groups began.

Consensus was reached on the Procurement Bill 2003 through the consultation process which was hosted by the Ministry of Finance with the Parliamentary Parties, the Builders Group and the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE).

Many of the contentious issues were amicably explained. The Builders Group comprises the Association of Consultative Engineering Services, Guyana Association of Professional Engineers, Quantity Surveyors Group, Institute of Architecture and the Contractors Association.

Representing the Parliamentary Parties were People's National Congress Reform Member James McAllister, Manzoor Nadir of the United Force and Sheila Holder of the GAP/WPA. Although invited, notably absent from the consultation was Leader of ROAR Ravi Dev. The Ministry of Legal Affairs Draftsman was present at all the sessions.

The Parliamentary Parties’ concern was based on their interpretation of both the technical and policy aspects of the 2003 Bill.

"At the technical level, we have been able to explain to both the Opposition and the Builders Group that what they were trying to look for in the Bill are some things that are better contained in Regulations. That was a major dialogue we had on how certain clauses of the Bill would be implemented. Because it is an Act, you cannot describe the implementation mechanisms there,” the President said.

The Regulation will naturally follow the Bill, but details of these have not yet been worked out. It is anticipated that the Regulations and the Procurement Commission Review will be operable by the end of the year.

A major concern was the policy issue of the Bill. That policy related to the composition of the Public Procurement Board and the PNC/R’s recommendation was accepted here.

The members of the Public Procurement Board will be required to declare their assets before the country’s Integrity Commission for transparency purposes.

The Builders Group has expressed concerns about this requirement, since two persons from the Group will be sitting on the Board. Their argument is that they do not have a fixed income because of the nature of their work, and hence, it will be difficult for the Integrity Commission to monitor their income, accumulation of assets and their way of life. The Ministry of Finance has advised that this would be a matter for dialogue with the Integrity Commission. This group is also calling for a 4-3 representation on the Board, instead of the 5-2 as proposed in the new law.

Another contention raised by the Opposition relates to the authority of the Cabinet to award contracts. A contract in excess of $15M has to get Cabinet’s approval before it is awarded. Cabinet will in no way determine who is awarded the project. Cabinet’s purpose now is to ensure that the procedures leading to the award of that contract are in place.

The Procurement Bill 2003 stipulated that the Procurement Board will not be voluntary, but a paid Board with two full-time members and part-time members. The bidding document for local, regional and international contractors and suppliers will now be a standardised document and will not vary in description as it is now. The tender document will contain criteria to be used to select the lowest bid. It facilitates the establishment of a pool of evaluators who will be trained and no less than three will be selected to assess the tenders. Any appeal made to the Tender Board will be dealt with by the Procurement Commission to be nominated Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.