Presidential Adviser on Governance Gail Teixeira yesterday said that the government is ready with its list of nominees for the Public Procurement Commission and accused the opposition of holding up the selection process.
Speaking to Stabroek News, Teixeira said the opposition needs to have more of an “appetite” for the talks to continue so that the establishment of the commission and other outstanding issues could be addressed.
Up to yesterday, she said she was awaiting the response of the opposition parties to continue talks. “The three parties agreed to put up the names in June and to have those names before the Public Accounts Committee. No party has submitted names but the Alliance For Change made an announcement of their nominees,” Teixeira said. She added that the government has identified its nominees but is waiting on the opposition parties to agree on a time for the resumption of the tripartite engagement.
According to Teixeira, the commission was but one of several outstanding issues that are on the agenda for the tripartite talks. She said that there has been no follow up on the matter. “I have been reminding them but there seems to be no appetite,” she added.
But speaking to the Stabroek News on the state of the talks, Leader of the Opposition David Granger said that government is the one dragging its feet. “We are not satisfied with the pace of the tripartite talks,” said Granger. “We entered the process in good faith last December,” he said, adding that the government is going ahead on what was not agreed to.
He said that while the issue of local government was on the agenda for discussions, the government still went ahead and commenced the dissolution of Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and the arbitrary transfer of opposition party overseers early in the year.
On May 10, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett had announced in the National Assembly that that the Public Procurement Commission will be established by the end of June 2012.
She was speaking during a debate in Parliament on a motion to ratify the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Cariforum countries and the European Union. The Minister was at the time responding to APNU MP Deborah Backer, who, in making her contribution, had noted clauses in the EPA which called for the establishment of the commission.
On May 31, the AFC said that it had nominated Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram and former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran to be members of the commission. The AFC will also bring to the agenda the arrangements to conclude the process of setting up the commission.
According to members from the AFC, there were a number of attempts to fix meetings but every time something would come up causing the meeting to be postponed.
The commission will specifically have oversight over the procedures of ministerial, regional and national procurement entities as well as those of project execution units. The commission will also investigate complaints from suppliers, contractors and public entities and cases of irregularities and mismanagement, with the power to propose remedial action in all instances. According to Article 212 X (1) of the constitution, the commission shall comprise five members, “who shall have expertise and experience in procurement, legal, financial and administrative matters.”
The President is required to appoint the members after such members have been nominated by the Public Accounts Committee and approved by not less than two-thirds of the elected members of the National Assembly.
