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OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is hoping that the nine Independent Senators would join the UNC's six senators in blocking passage of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill 2020 when it is debated in the Senate.
The bill, along with four other bills which were passed in the House of Representatives last Friday, will be debated in the Senate on Tuesday and Thursday.
The other bills are the Miscellaneous Provisions [2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)] (No. 2) Bill, 2020; Miscellaneous Provisions (FATF Compliance) Bill, 2020; Miscellaneous Amendments (Powers of Statutory Authorities and Matters related to certain Boards) Bill, 2020 and the Miscellaneous Provisions (Administration of Justice) Bill, 2020.
The Opposition abstained when the procurement bill was put to the vote in the House. Speaking with reporters at Parvati Girls' High School on Sunday, Persad-Bissessar said, "Well I hope the Independents would indeed be independent."
She continued, "When you examine the piece of legislation, it is really a brutalisation of procurement and the processes that we had put in for open and fair and transparent government."
Persad-Bissessar said opposition senators will vote against the bill. She claimed medical services were taken out of the bill but wondered if medical services were being procured by the Government. She also claimed that Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi is on record as saying he recused himself from two medical matters which were discussed by Cabinet. She alleged those matters had to with "procuring health services, generally" and "waiving VAT and customs duties on CT scan machines."
In a statement, the joint business chambers, Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) and the TT Transparency Institute (TTTI) agreed with Office of Procurement Regulator (OPR) chairman Moonilal Lalchan that all amendments to the bill were acceptable except for the proposed clause five which seeks to amend Section 7(2) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 2015. The groups agreed with the OPR that "this amendment serves to undermine the objective of the Act – and specifically, accountability, integrity and in particular - transparency and value for money."
They argued that the amendments could see local suppliers /contractors being deprived of a fair and equitable chance to participate in procurement proceedings: arrangements which are repaid with public money fall within the ambit of the Act, especially the principle ‘value for money’ and should have the oversight of the OPR – without exclusion.
The groups said, "In view of the above considerations, we call on the Government to withdraw amendments to Section 7(2) and commit to a definite date for the laying in Parliament of long-promised regulations to operationalise the Act."
They reiterated their view that the bill lays "the foundation for transparent, accountable process that relies solely on a fair and equitable process for all." Former Senate president Timothy Hamel-Smith in a statement on Sunday also criticised the passage of the bill in the House.
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