There is no contradiction in the Procurement law

Dear Editor, The procurement law as legislated by Parliament in 2003 did prescribe a role for Cabinet in the procurement system.  Yes it did!  The Cabinet is an equal stakeholder in the procurement process like anyone else and they have a right to lodge their displeasure, objection; call it what you may, with the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) if or when they believe the Minister of Finance and his agent in the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board ((Tender Board) has failed in following best procurement practices. In other words, the Constitution grants the cabinet the power to intervene, even against the Minister of Finance, if he does not follow the rules established by Parliament in the procurement process.  Therefore, there is no contradiction in the procurement laws. So for the Minister of Finance to say that there is a contradiction in the procurement law is erroneous and misleading to say the least. What the government wants is for the cabinet to have special powers, but such powers are only granted to the PPC which comprises members of the PPP and the main opposition party. That was the wisdom of the then Parliament and it is a much more superior to the political poppycock that the Minister of Finance wants us to believe today. We want to be absolutely clear that the entire procurement system from the invitation of bids to the evaluation of tenders and to the award of contracts is 100 percent controlled by the agents of the Ministry of Finance. Who is in charge of the Ministry of Finance? Is the Ministry of Finance not part of the Cabinet of Guyana? So why the incessant fluff from the Minister? And why is the opposition allowing him to turn Parliament into a farcical institution? The Minister continues to mislead the nation by trying to pretend that upon the establishment of the PPC, the Executive and Cabinet will have no say in the Procurement Process.  This is absolutely false!  As we stated above, they can lodge complaints with the PPC like any other stakeholder to the system.  What else do they want; a golden seat at the table? We are now certain that this administration will stop at nothing until they have total control over all the people and gain full access to all of the country’s finances and resources. But what is even worse is that the entire Parliament, including the majority opposition, voted with the PPP to defer the establishment of the Procurement Commission by up to six months?  What are these Parliamentarians really thinking?  When is the opposition going to represent the interest of the people? The people have already lost faith in their non-combative and lackadaisical style in Parliament. The PPP continues to bully its way by causing an undue delay in the establishment of the Procurement Commission and to force the Anti-Money Laundering Bill through the House. If the majority opposition does not secure a fully established Procurement Commission before the Anti-Money Laundering laws are passed, then they have only themselves to blame, as they will more than likely end up with no Procurement Commission, no local Government election, no assent to the Bills passed by Parliament, and no progress on good governance. Under this system, all members must vote in accordance with their party unless otherwise stated. Anyone who violates this cardinal rule will be asked to resign both his/her seat in Parliament and as a member of the executive of his/her party by the leader of the party. This will be a classical example of party discipline and strong leadership. It will convince the people that the party is serious and ready to govern.

Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh