Jagdeo says PPC has failed to inspire confidence

Six months after the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) raised concerns with the pace at which the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) is conducting their work and the finding with some of its report, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo now said the Commission has not done anything to inspire confidence.
Jagdeo told a news conference on Thursday that the National Procurement Tender and Administration Board (NPTAB) is currently mired in corruption scandals, including the tampering with evaluation criteria and setting criteria in contravention of the law, among other things.
The Opposition Leader also pointed to examples of major infractions of the procurement laws which he claimed are being ignored. In addition to that, he said that several contracts are being awarded in clear violation of the Procurement Act, which makes it clear that bids must be awarded to the lowest bidder.
Further, he noted that the 2016 Auditor General Report listed 71 breaches of the Procurement Act, as well as 82 breaches of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA). Jagdeo, also the General Secretary of the PPP/C, said this is a grave matter of concern and should not be taken lightly.
Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira had expressed that she had already expressed ‘no confidence’ in the PPC, since she believed that a thorough probe would not be conducted into the award of a contract to Dutch company LievenseCSO for a feasibility study on the proposed new Demerara River bridge.
Teixeira’s ‘no-confidence’ remarks were made based on the fact that PPC Chairperson Carol Corbin promised to look into the matters raised with the relevant entities and also wrote that this would be done “within the confines of (the Commission’s) work programme and available resources”.
The Opposition MP had expressed concern about the Commission’s response, noting that the law mandated it has to investigate complaints. Teixeira, who wrote requesting the probe of the feasibility contract, even described the Commission’s response as scary – when its responsibilities are considered.
Meanwhile, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall had stressed that the PPC’s functions and mandates are outlined in the Constitution. “So it’s not a capricious or whimsical schedule that they can construct. They have to have a work programme that is within their constitutional mandate. And the matters requested in the letter are matters that ought to find priority within their constitutional mandate.”
According to the Opposition MPs, the Commission has also responded in similar fashion to requests for probes into the D’Urban Park Project and the Sussex Street bond. Opposition MP Juan Edghill had confirmed that the Commission also responded in similar fashion to his request for two probes.
In a letter to PPC Chairperson Corbin, Edghill identified aspects of the D’Urban Park Project the Party is most concerned about. Edghill noted that despite promises to the contrary, no account of donations received between September 2015 and January 2016 was made public.
The PPP/C had therefore queried the procurement process used for works on the project; as well as the scope a private company has to engage contractors and receive funding for a public project. The Party queried the budgeted and actual costs throughout the project, as well as the final cost. In addition, the Party demanded information on what payments were made to individuals and contractors up to June.
In the case of the Sussex Street bond, Edghill also approached the PPC to call for an investigation into the contract inked between the Public Health Ministry and a known financier of the coalition Administration.
Until now, not a single investigation has been launched into any one of those incidents.