Salaries for inactive procurement commissioners “wasteful” – Gaskin
Commissioners on the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) are in receipt of their salaries despite the Commission being inactive; this development is not going down well with sections of society.
This situation was on Tuesday described by political commentator Ramon Gaskin as “wasteful”. During an interview with Guyana Times, Gaskin decried the level of unpreparedness exhibited by the Administration, which swore in the Commissioners before the requisite staff was even in place.
Political activist Ramon Gaskin
According to Gaskin, Government should have been more prepared before swearing in the Commissioners, knowing that they would need a fully staffed office.
“Wasteful! They waste the money. Hopefully they will get their act together quickly. They brought in someone from Jamaica to be the Chief Executive Officer. So we’ll have to wait and see how it works out. But they’re wasting a lot of money.”
“Because that’s what they are doing now. They are interviewing people and filling (vacancies), three months later,” Gaskin pointed out.
President David Granger swore in the Commissioners – Carol Corbin, Nanda Gopaul, Emily Dodson, Ivor English, and Sukrishnalall Pasha – on October 28,
The Commissioners after they were sworn in last year; from left are Carol Corbin, Sukrishnalall Pasha, President David Granger, Ivor English, Nanda Gopaul and Emily Dodson
2016. Though the PPC is not functioning, they have been collecting hefty salaries since then.
According to reports, Corbin is paid as much as $1.3 million a month, while the other Commissioners are earning as much as $900,000 monthly.
When questioned about this situation after announcing more contracts, Minister of State Joseph Harmon had stated that “Cabinet will stop granting its no-objection when the PPC is ready to work; they have been advertising for staff for the Commission (and) those matters are well advanced.”
Responsibilities of the Commission
At present, Chapter 73:05 of the Procurement Act 2003 grants the Cabinet the right to review all procurement matters exceeding $15 million. When the PPC came on stream, however, the legislation had catered for the phasing out of Cabinet and decentralisation of the process.
Amendment No 3 Act of 2001; 212 A (1) Constitutional amendment lists some of the PPC’s key functions as monitoring and reviewing the functioning of available procurement systems, to ensure that they are in accordance with the law and any policy guidelines that are determined by the National assembly.
It is also tasked with promoting awareness of the rules, procedures and the requirements of the procurement process, with regards to suppliers, contractors and public bodies. The responsibility to “safeguard the national interest in public procurement matters, having due regard to any international obligations” is also vested with this body.
According to the Act, the PPC also has to “monitor the performance of procurement bodies with respect to adherence to regulations and efficiency in procuring goods and services and execution of works; approve of procedures for public procurement, disseminate rules and procedures for public procurement and recommend modifications thereto to the public procurement entities.”
It also has to “monitor and review all legislation, policies and measures for compliance with the objects and matters under its purview and report the need for any legislation to the National Assembly; monitor and review the procurement procedures of the ministerial, regional, and national procurement entities as well as those of project execution units.”
The PPC is also empowered to investigate complaints from suppliers, contractors and public entities, in addition to cases of irregularity and mismanagement; the body then proposes remedial action.
The Commission also has the option to enlist the aid of experts to provide specialist advice if needed, in addition to consulting with and referring matters to the Guyana Police Force and the Auditor General.
