There are more important things on the government’s agenda than the long-delayed Public Procurement Commission (PPC), presidential adviser Gail Teixeira says, even as none of the political parties have submitted their nominees to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and there have been no moves to further discuss the issue.
Earlier last year the parties had agreed to arrive at the names of the members of the long-delayed PPC via consensus and on May 10, 2012, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett had announced in the National Assembly that that it would be established by the end of June 2012. However, this deadline was not met.
Former PPP stalwart and former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran, in an article in the Sunday Stabroek last month, had said that the test of the PPP’s commitment against corruption is the establishment of the PPC. He pointed out that the law was passed ten years ago and recalled that at first the party blamed the PNC for insisting that there must be consensus on all the members, instead of the party nominating three and the PNC two, as for other commissions.
“Now that the situation has changed in the National Assembly, the party has adopted the PNC’s position by calling for consensus. This abrupt reversal can only be construed as designed to ensure the continuing stalemate in relation to the establishment of a Procurement Commission. There will never be consensus between the PPP and the opposition on the names,” Ramkarran wrote.
Teixeira yesterday rejected Ramkarran’s contention of the PPP/C wanting to ensure that there is a stalemate. “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” she declared, adding that Ramkarran should offer answers. “What is his solution… what alternatives would he like to offer?” she questioned.
Teixeira, who is also the PPP/C Chief Whip in the National Assembly, said that after budget talks last year, the parties agreed to identify their nominees and agree on them before the process goes to the PAC. “There was agreement that the three parties would exchange names among themselves,” she said. Teixeira said that the AFC made their names public but the PPP never exchanged names and neither did APNU.
According to her, the ruling party wrote to the parties to remind them and got no response. They wanted consensus at the political level before going to the PAC, she noted.
Since then there has been no movement and not only government should be blamed for this but the opposition as well, Teixeira asserted. “They have made no overtures to government to sit down and discuss this issue,” she said. Asked whether government would take the lead on moving forward on the issue, she said that of the major issues confronting them now, “that is not the most important.”
“There are other issues on the agenda. In terms of priorities, it may not be the number one priority,” she said, adding that there are other, more pressing matters.
Meantime, when contacted, APNU and Opposition Leader David Granger confirmed that the coalition had not submitted names but referred Stabroek News to chairman of the PAC, Carl Greenidge. “None of them has submitted their names to the PAC,” Greenidge later said. He related that the issue was discussed at the last meeting of the Committee on December 23 and the representatives of the PPP/C and APNU were reminded of the matter and they “noted” the reminder. He said that the AFC representative was not present at that meeting.
Greenidge explained that the PAC can do nothing in the interim. “There can be no way forward until they submit the names of their nominees,” he said. Asked why APNU had not submitted their names, he said that they were waiting on some information from their nominees. “As chairman of the PAC… the parties were written to asking them to submit their names,” he said.
AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan, meanwhile, accused the PPP/C of deliberately delaying the process. “They are delaying the process deliberately so as to delay scrutiny for another year or maybe more,” he said. “They want the gravy train to run as long as possible.”
Ramjattan said that the AFC had publicly identified its nominees and it is up to the PPP/C and APNU to put up their names.
He said that he had indicated to Greenidge the names of the AFC nominees and the AFC representative on the PAC Trevor Williams had done so as well and while there is no requirement in the constitution for them to formally submit their names if this is required, it will be done “tomorrow.” The AFC last year put forward chartered accountant Christopher Ram and former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran to be its nominees for the PPC and continues to support them, Ramjattan said.
“We would like to see the PAC getting down and recommending the nominees to the President for confirmation,” he said. “It should be done as soon as possible.”
According to the AFC leader, the PPP/C is just making “excuses and pretexts for even further delays” and they do not want a PPC. “They are a pack of maximum delayers on this process,” he said. He noted that over the years the PPP and PNC had fought over the nominees and the fighting should cease and the Commission should be established. “It should have been treated as a matter of priority,” Ramjattan said. “They are not doing the necessary things that they were supposed to be doing a long time ago.”
Controversies surrounding the award of large government contracts have seen frequent calls for the establishment of the PPC over the last decade, during which time the nomination process has been stalled at the parliamentary level. Last November, Teixeira had said that the methodology of trying to find consensus before reaching to the stage of the PAC is the preferred way to go. In July, she had said that the government is ready with its list of nominees for the PPC and accused the opposition of holding up the selection process.
The constitution states that the PPC shall consist of five members who shall have expertise and experience in procurement, legal, financial and administrative matters. It said too that the President shall appoint the members of the commission after they have been nominated by the PAC.
The PPC will specifically have oversight over the procedures of ministerial, regional and national procurement entities as well as those of project execution units. It will also be responsible for investigating complaints from suppliers, contractors and public entities and cases of irregularities and mismanagement, with the power to propose remedial action in all instances.
There have been many calls for the PPC to be set up and five years ago, the Organisation of American States had urged government to ensure that this was done.
