Gov’t to Develop Public Procurement Catalogue

The Government plans to develop a public procurement catalogue, says Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke. 

This undertaking, to be spearheaded by the Ministry, will enable greater efficiency across the civil service when procuring items for use and is part of the wider rollout of shared services in government. 

Dr. Clarke made the announcement while delivering the keynote address during the 2024 Caribbean Public Sector Financial Management Conference at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (May 22). 

He said the catalogue will eliminate the need for all government entities to duplicate the procurement process when purchasing commonly used items across the public sector. 

“So, what will happen is that there will be a single procurement that goes out on an annual basis. In some cases, it might be every two years, but that is yet to be determined, whereby the Government will say we intend to purchase, let’s say, 100 pens over the next year. We need persons to come and bid for the price at which you will supply pens to the Government. There’s a bid that takes place and then somebody will win,” he outlined. 

Once the procurement process is completed for the items, all public sector procurement officers can use the catalogue to make purchases utilising a simplified form.  

“At the beginning of a year, ministries, departments, and agencies will have a procurement catalogue where, on each page, you’ll have the goods that Government has gone out and secured pricing on in a competitive open and transparent manner. 

“It will indicate what those prices are, it will indicate the approved suppliers, and all you have to do is call them up, fill out some paperwork and you’ll have the pens and pencils and the commonly used items, rather than replicating the procurement of each of these for every occasion,” the Minister further explained. 

Dr Clarke said the new process will enable procurement departments to focus their efforts on acquiring services where there is a special need, thereby increasing overall efficiency. 

“So, the Government is working hard to use best practices and international standards in public financial management to ensure that Jamaica has the best chance to improve and to deliver the goods and services that our citizens need in an efficient way, both with respect to time and with respect to financial resources,” he added.  

The conference was held under the theme ‘Creating a Sustainable, Resilient and Value-Adding Sector’.