One hundred and twenty-five public officers are currently receiving training to effectively navigate the new changes to the Procurement Regulation Act of Trinidad and Tobago by the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR).
At today’s Joint Select Committee on Finance and Legal Affairs, representatives from OPR and the Ministry of Finance sought to bring clarity.
According to Procurement Regulator Beverly Khan, readiness to operate under the new legislative framework is sadly lacking, along with the necessary human resource capacity throughout public bodies to engage with the new systems in a meaningful way.
She noted the process was stifled, with no procurements occurring as individuals did not understand what to do.
“The system did not allow for it to progress, and that is the situation that the OPR has had to regulate. I want to say, however, that this is not unique to our circumstances, or to our country. Any country that has taken onboard public procurement reform, as we have done, has encountered that kind of challenge.”
Despite not having a training mandate, the OPR decided, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, to undertake the task of training 125 new public officers at the basic level. Ms. Khan also said they intend to undertake another cohort of trainees before the end of the year.
“In addition, the OPR has embarked on a change management strategy. A huge problem that we are seeing is just resistance to change. So some people don’t understand, there are people who understand what to do, but they are resisting moving from the status quo. So we initiated that exercise.”
Concerns were raised by the Minister of Digital Transformation, Hassel Bacchus, during the proceedings pertaining to engaging in the practice of non-competitive bidding. According to Ms. Khan, as long as those purchases are documented and justifications are provided, it can be acceptable.
Mr. Bacchus stated: “It is interesting, that security procurement, and if I may be specific in this case with some of the procurement that we have to do at my Ministry, cybersecurity procurement. I have long argued that it is impossible and foolhardy to do security-level procurement through the traditional methods that we have, which would include open tendering and so on. Invariably, you place yourself at a significant risk.”
According to JSC Chairman Hazel Thompson Ahye, due to the comprehensive nature of the objectives of this particular JSC, representatives from both OPR and the Ministry of Finance would need to reappear at a later date.