Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer
Government ministries and agencies are for the first time being asked to submit their contract procurement plans to the Finance Ministry, along with other priorities, in preparation for the drafting of the national budget.
Traditionally, each portfolio ministry is asked to submit its corporate and operational plans as part of the 'budget call' in preparing the annual estimates of expenditure.
In the face of growing concerns about breaches of procurement guidelines on various government projects, however, the decision has been made to include projections for new procurements in the exercise.
This was disclosed by Rolda Grey, deputy financial secretary, public expenditure, at Wednesday's meeting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament.
"More and more we are having breaches of the procurement process and we are trying to get ministries to come to the point where we have fewer breaches taking place," she told the committee.
Public outcries
Despite repeated public outcry about the procurement issue, some ministries continue to spend "in line with what they requested, instead of how much money has been allocated," she explained.
In other instances involving small contracts, she said some ministries consistently ignored the provision that quotations should be received from at least three suppliers, going instead to one regular supplier, or in other cases, fail to seek the approval of the National Contracts Commission.
The contract procurement process is one of the primary areas of focus for the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee, which is chaired by Dr. Wykeham McNeill, an Opposition MP.
Dr. McNeill and other members stressed that, if the committee was to be truly effective, it would have to be able to monitor and call attention to the likely occurrence of breaches in public expenditure before the money has been spent or the wrong procedure is pursued.
Ronnie Thwaites, MP for Central Kingston, repudiated any continuation of this practice.
"Every time an element of expenditure off the agreed path takes place, it is a denial of service to those who we have been mandated to represent. Where it involves further debt, it denies our children the opportunities that they hold for," he stressed.
The committee has appointed a subcommittee, comprising two Government members and two from the Opposition, to meet with the Finance Ministry. The two sides will then determine an appropriate mechanism through which there will be an adequate flow of information from the ministry to the committee in order for it to carry out its oversight functions effectively.
