Chartered accountant Christopher Ram yesterday said that new restricted tendering thresholds unveiled by the government are illegal as they usurp authority that is now ensconced in the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).
Ram made the comment to Stabroek News while expressing disagreement with the opinion of former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran who said that the government’s recent increase in thresholds for restricted tendering is legal even though the timing is suspect.
Ram said that Goolsarran “completely” ignored the provisions of the Constitution which deal with the PPC.
On Thursday, the same day that Stabroek News reported on the issue, Goolsarran in an invited comment to this newspaper had said that while there is nothing wrong with the process undertaken by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan to raise the thresholds, “the timing of the increases in the light of the 21 December 2018 vote of no confidence” is in question since he would have acted under subsidiary legislation granting to him that right as a minister.
