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– Removes entity from under control of finance ministry
Government on Tuesday announced the names of the members of the reconstituted National Procurement and Tender Board Administration an assemblage of PPP/C sympathisers- some of whom were candidates of the party at the recent General and Regional elections.
Also the board which previously was under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance has been shifted to Ministry of Public Works.
Minister of Works, Juan Edghill has charged the Board to ensure contracts are awarded in a timely manner.
So far, Mr. Tarachand Balgobin has been appointed temporary Chairman of the Board, while Mr. Bernard Lord, Mr. Desmond Mohamed, Mr. Omar Narine, Mr. Steve Ninvalle, Mr. Mark Conway and Ms. Gloria Beharry will serve as Board Members.
Minister Edghill congratulated the team, who he was keen to note, has hundreds of years of experience when put together. Nonetheless, the minister laid out his expectations for the new board. He explained, “Your job, primarily in the first instance, would be to uphold the high principles of ensuring transparency, accountability, competitive bidding, good governance, value for money and ensuring that you create an architecture that is free from corruption.”
In addition, Minister Edghill told the team that he anticipates the timely awarding of contracts to boost the implementation of projects’ percentage. On that note, the Minister of Public Works tasked the new board to review the evaluators attached to NPTAB, with the view of ensuring that the work is done promptly. He explained that time delays may be occurring at the evaluating level and must not be allowed to continue. Furthermore, Minister Edghill pointed out that these evaluators must be reminded that they work for the Government of Guyana and not for contractors, hence a full review of staff will be conducted to stamp out “skullduggery”.
Meanwhile, the newly installed is positioning itself to facilitate electronic submissions of bids as Guyana prepares to undertake major transformative projects.
Chairman, Balgobin said this option should encourage wider participation in the process.
“Public procurement is not to eliminate people. It is to encourage people to participate in the procurement process, to create competition and therefore create opportunities for value for money,” he said at the Board commissioning ceremony today
Mr. Balgobin said once the proposal is greenlighted it would allow bids to be submitted utilising PDF format or by flash drive.
“I have already spoken with our IT department to create a platform within our architecture where these documents cannot be compromised,” Mr. Balgobin said.
On receipt of the electronic submissions, NPTAB will cross-reference those with the official hardcopy submissions. Additionally, the evaluators will be provided with the electronic submissions, which they will only be able to access pending the completion of their work.
“There is no need to send another document to them, which is what we are doing now… The evaluation that they do will be resubmitted to us in an electronic form,” the Chairman explained.
Mr. Balgobin also committed to ensuring that the Board meets its mandate.
