By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE approved amendments to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill may seek to question the independence of the Office of the Procurement Regulator (OPR).
And instead of making the procurement process easier, may make it more difficult especially if the OPR does not agree with the Minister of Finance.
Member of Parliament for Barataria/San Juan Saddam Hosein made these comments while speaking on the motion to have the amendments made in the Senate considered by the House of Representatives on Monday.
Paid Political Ad
Parliament met for a third time and a second extraordinary sitting of the Lower House to discuss the bill after it was passed in the Senate last week.
The motion was brought forward by Attorney General Reginald Armour.
One of the amendments made in the Senate was to change the wording in Clause three of the Bill, the words “in consultation with” be replaced with “with the agreement of the Office”.
With the amendment, the clause will read, “Such other services as the Minister may on the recommendation of the Office or upon the recommendation of the Minister with the agreement of the Office by Order determine.”
Hosein said with the amendment, the Minister of Finance now has to act according to the amendment with the agreement of the OPR if he chooses to have certain goods and services exempted from the procurement process.
“The government finds it easier to convince an independent institution than come to the Parliament,” Hosein said.
Problems could arise if the OPR is not in agreement with the minister.
He asked if government will have to apply to a court for judicial review action for a court to supervise that process of the OPR.
Hosein said, “Because the minister wants this. The OPR is saying ‘no’. What recourse does the minister have? The only recourse I can see Madam Speaker is that the OPR is a public body under the judicial review act and can be susceptible to judicial review.”
He emphasised the Opposition’s stance on affirmative resolution.
“All we are saying is that just come to the Parliament, come in the full public glare of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and exempt what you have to exempt. Let the country see what you are doing,” Hosein said.
He said one of the government’s concerns was the bureaucracy to the procurement process but with that particular amendment he questioned if another layer of bureaucracy will be added which was exactly what the government was attempting to avoid.
“If the minister now has to seek the approval and the agreement of the OPR, is the minister now having to add a layer of bureaucracy?” Hosein asked.
He continued, “Because if the OPR says no to the minister and he does not agree, will it then grind government services to a halt? Because that’s why we are here to prevent the government from grinding to a halt.”
Hosein suggested the wording of the clause be “affirmative resolution of the House.”
“If its cumbersome to go in both houses of Parliament, it should have just been the minister exempt the services with the affirmative resolution of the House just like how we would approve the Commissioner of Police right here in this particular Chamber,” he said.
