Contractor General Says Office Performed Creditably Last Year

Contractor General, Greg Christie, has said that the office performed “relatively creditably” last year, in terms of the discharge of its contract monitoring and investigation mandates, the provision of services to the National Contracts Commission (NCC) and conducting procurement outreach and educational workshops.
Mr. Christie, in his introductory remarks in the 2005 report for the Office of the Contractor General, which was tabled in the House of Representatives on July 25, noted that that during the year, the office monitored and investigated 330 government contracts, licences and permits; conducted 526 contractor verification visits; completed 890 contract monitoring and site inspection trips; attended, facilitated and supported 49 NCC meetings and 280 NCC sector committee meetings; and provided support for the NCC to review and endorse 401 government contracts valued at some $27 billion.
In addition, the Office processed applications for, and completed the registration of approximately 300 new goods and services contractors and approximately 250 new works contractors; monitored scores of tenders and procurement processes of public bodies; and conducted off-site educational workshops for public sector agencies.
Meanwhile, the Contractor General informed that efforts were underway to revise the public sector procurement handbook, as some public sector agencies have been experiencing difficulties in interpreting it, leading to the award of contracts on conditions of less than maximum competition.
The NCC and the Ministry of Finance and Planning are assisting in the revision process and the updated handbook should be available soon.
Mr. Christie noted that while greater effort was being made by government agencies to comply with the procurement procedures, some entities still failed to adequately justify or obtain the requisite approvals, resulting in a rejection of their contract award submissions and further delays in the procurement process.
He informed in the report, that based on the number of requests for assistance regarding the preparing of tender documents, as well as the interpretation of the handbook, it was clear that there was need for a structured programme of continuous training, which would be facilitated through workshops or direct consultation with the Office.