Procurement Commission to be Established by Year End

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, has announced that a Procurement Commission is to be established by year end.

Speaking at Sterling Asset Management Limited’s annual investor forum briefing, at the Spanish Court Hotel, New Kingston, on June 7, the Minister said the Commission will oversee the government procurement process, for which the existing regime is being revamped, consequent on amendments to the Procurement Act, which was passed in Parliament recently.

Dr. Clarke said the accompanying Regulations will shortly be tabled and debated in the Houses of Parliament, thereby paving the way for the Commission’s establishment.

This, he added, will facilitate work on other measures that “we need to take to put the Procurement Commission in place”.

These, Dr. Clarke pointed out, include recruiting suitable staff and undertaking the requisite training, while emphasising that the overall process “will usher in a new regime that will benefit many companies”.

Among the benefits, he indicated, are measures that will facilitate greater participation by small and medium-sized Jamaican manufacturers in the public procurement process.

“So, when a procurement happens for a particular government product or service, there will be the opportunity to have differential treatment for small and medium-sized businesses that will make them more competitive in that procurement environment,” Dr. Clarke pointed out.