KINGSTON, Jamaica, Oct 3, CMC – Government Senator Sherene Golding Campbell is calling for significant reform of Jamaica’s procurement laws and processes, arguing that the system should be less onerous while imposing severe penalties on violators.
Golding Campbell said reform was necessary if Jamaica was serious about improving productivity and ensuring that government procurement delivers value.
“If we’re serious about transforming Jamaica’s productivity, then we must transform the way in which the Jamaican state purchases goods and services,” she said during the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Friday.
She said the current system focuses heavily on whether bidders and procuring entities have complied with legislative procedures, rather than whether the process produces value.
Golding Campbell said the system, while designed to ensure transparency and efficiency, was overly rigid and could result in procurement processes being cancelled and restarted, creating additional costs for the Government and businesses.
“There is very little room for curing non-compliance or, if you will, incomplete compliance,” she said.
She said micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) were particularly disadvantaged because they, like larger companies, are required to meet bid security requirements.
According to Golding Campbell, this can tie up significant sums and impede cash flow when procurement processes are cancelled and restarted.
She also pointed to what she described as gaps in the application of procurement rules when procuring entities fail to meet statutory timelines or those set out in bidding documents.
Golding Campbell said bidders may be asked to extend the validity period of their bids, leaving them with little practical choice but to agree or withdraw from the process.
“If they don’t like that, then their option is to seek judicial review of the procuring entity’s conduct. If they agree, they’re subjected to the inevitable delay,” she said.
She argued that neither the country nor businesses seeking government contracts benefited from such situations.
“Perhaps we need to change a mindset by making the process less onerous but with severe penalties for violators,” she said.
Golding Campbell said a procurement system that encourages compliance was critical, drawing a comparison with security checks at airports.
She said not every passenger’s bag is searched at Miami International Airport, but the possibility of random searches and severe penalties for carrying contraband encourages compliance.
“So maybe that’s the approach we need to take in terms of our procurement framework,” she said.
Golding Campbell said significant reform of the procurement laws is necessary to improve productivity and achieve transformation to further build the country.
“Jamaica has come too far to be satisfied with stability alone,” she said. “We have built a foundation, but now we must build on it.”
She said the next chapter would require discipline, courage, innovation and a willingness to make government more responsive, businesses more productive, people more skilled, institutions more effective and the economy more competitive.
CMC