The government yesterday passed long-awaited amen-dments to the 2003 Procurement Act that will ensure that small businesses are given at least 20 per cent of all state contracts.
The Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2019 will become law when signed by President David Granger. The passage of the amendments paves the way for local small contractors to benefit from 20 per cent of all state procurement. It also provides for a register of all bidders, and mandates procurement entities to submit procurement plans for each fiscal year. It also provides clarity to Section 26 of the Act.
Although the Small Business Act of 2004 provides for at least 20 per cent of all contracts required annually by the government to be obtained by small business, Public Procurement Commission (PPC) Chairperson Carol Corbin had pointed out that the Procurement Act needed to be changed to allow for this.
