WELCOME TO THE Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry

PROM0TING A BETTER TRINIDAD & TOBAGO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

JCC MEMBERS
Previous slide
Next slide

JCC Meets With
OPR Regulator

The following notes of our meeting with The Regulator provide the salient points discussed and information shared by the OPR with the JCC

READ MORE

JCC CRIME SURVEY

The JCC has confirmed through an online survey of its members in December 2023 that the vast majority of its membership has been impacted in some way by the escalation of crime within the construction industry operations. When asked, “Do you know anyone or their company who has been a victim of crime on a construction project in T&T?”, a whopping 77% of the respondents answered in the affirmative.

crime1
criminal
crime2

When the question was posed more personally as in, “Have you or your company been a victim of crime on a construction project in T&T?”, the respondents answering “Yes” was a bit lower as expected, but still very significant at 60%.

crime3

Extortion appeared to be the most prevalent type of crime affecting the industry as 65% of the respondents indicated in their response to, “To what type of crime are you referring?”.

crime4

The call by the TTPS for the public to report crimes appears to have been answered by the construction industry as 82% of the respondents surveyed indicated that the crimes that they cite in this survey, were actually reported.

crime5

When asked however, “Are you aware of any outcome?”, 86% of the respondents in this survey responded negatively, pointing to either very low detection rates by the TTPS or failure to communicate outcomes.

By doing this survey within the Construction Industry, we have confirmed what appears to be the case at a country level regarding the effects of crime and its impact on citizens. The numbers are alarming and once again we call on the government of the day top take all steps necessary to curb this trend as we step into the year 2024.

Fazir Khan
President – Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry

Online Survey carried out by Eng. Ian Cox (APETT)

REGISTER
ON THE OPR DEPOSITORY

Because of the one-stop shop now available on the OPR Depository, suppliers and procurement entities would save thousands of man-hours by eliminating the need to register with multiple government agencies to provide goods and services each year. While enrolling on the OPR repository and becoming prequalified may take some time now, the benefits will be realized next year and continue to accrue.
OPR DEPOSITORY
SEPT. 2023

ADDRESSING PROCUREMENT REFORM

The JCC is encouraged to see all stakeholders working together to address the practical implementation of procurement reform via the new legislation. This augurs well for the country as we strive for greater value for money, transparency, and accountability in public procurement. However, we feel that much more education and effort is required of both procurement entities and suppliers...
READ MORE
AUG. 2023

PROCUREMENT LEGISLATION PERSPECTIVE

The JCC is cognizant of the various parties' concerns regarding the recently enacted procurement legislation and would like to provide some perspective on this issue. It is reasonable that any new legislation aimed at introducing significant reforms to an inefficient and challenged system with a lack of transparency in public expenditure would experience the expected initial obstacles.
READ MORE
AUG. 2023
association of professional engineers of trinidad tobago

Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago

APETT is dedicated to the development of engineers and the engineering profession within Trinidad and Tobago.

VISIT WEBSITE
ttca 1

Trinidad & Tobago Contractors Association

The TTCA lobbies for issues affecting contractors and continuously pursues the various publics for the improvement and development of the sector.

VISIT WEBSITE
trinidad and tobago institute of architects

Trinidad & Tobago Institute of Architects

The Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Architects (TTIA) is a non-profit organisation that promotes the ethical practice, art and science of architecture in Trinidad and Tobago.

VISIT WEBSITE
trinidad tobago society of planners 1

Trinidad & Tobago Society of Planners

TTSP is a professional association committed to promoting spatial, sustainable and inclusive planning principles as an essential means of efficiently allocating public and private resources and sustaining vital communities.

VISIT WEBSITE
association of professional engineers of trinidad tobago

Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago

ttca 1

Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association

trinidad and tobago institute of architects

Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Architects

trinidad tobago society of planners 1

Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners

JCC Website Sponsors

Previous
Next

Keep up to date
with the latest JCC news!

The JCC carefully tracks legislative issues relating to the Trinidad and Tobago Construction Industry. Subscribe to receive the latest news and updates on Procurement and Planning Matters.

Subscribe to receive our latest updates in your inbox!

Linkedin Facebook

© JCC 2023. All rights reserved. Site by EdgeStream Media.

Addressing Procurement Reform

The JCC is encouraged to see all stakeholders working together to address the practical implementation of procurement reform via the new legislation. This augurs well for the country as we strive for greater value for money, transparency, and accountability in public procurement. However, we feel that much more education and effort is required of both procurement entities and suppliers interested in providing goods and services to the government bodies under the new legislation.

As it relates to the two recent Orders promulgated by the MoF, the law as it stands, under Section 36(1) requires that the procuring entities must publish the details of the contracts awarded.
The JCC can find no such information published by either the Judiciary or any other Ministry or government agency related to contracts awarded for goods and services recently executed for providing jury services or for the Caricom event.   We therefore, urge the contracting agencies to comply with the law and publish this information on their websites or any other electronic media.
Failure to do so can result in a complaint being lodged under Section 36(2) of the Act, which should trigger an investigation by the OPR.
The other issue that seems to be subject to misinformation is the need to register at the OPR Depository and thereafter Prequalify.   The OPR is not the responsible for prequalification of registered suppliers. This is the responsibility of the procuring entities. So any backlog here is currently coming from the procuring entity and a contributing factor is the inability of the procuring entities to appoint procurement officers under Section 61(2) of The Act.  This needs to be addressed immediately.  The OPR has already arranged to allow delegates of the Procurement Officers to have access to the Depository to assist in the process.

 

Fazir Khan
President Joint Council for the Construction Industry
Close

Procurement Legislation Perspective

The JCC is cognizant of the various parties’ concerns regarding the recently enacted procurement legislation and would like to provide some perspective on this issue. It is reasonable that any new legislation aimed at introducing significant reforms to an inefficient and challenged system with a lack of transparency in public expenditure would experience some initial obstacles. One recent example highlighting the issue surrounding contracts required to provide goods and services for CARICOM’s 50th Anniversary, which demonstrated the growing pains associated with national progress. To address these challenges, a fundamental change is necessary on the government side to become more proactive in planning and budgeting.

The operationalization of the procurement legislation in March 2023, after years of delay, appears to have caught many stakeholders off guard, particularly those who were comfortable with the status quo. However, it is important to note that government entities have been adequately trained by the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) over the past five years, as documented on the OPR’s website (Ref: https://oprtt.org/2023-sessions/). Even after the legislation came into effect, the Ministry of Finance conducted seminars to educate various ministries about the new procedures required for compliance with the new law.

For routine activities such as capital investment projects or maintenance contracts, government agencies should already be prepared to operate within the framework of the new legislation. However, if there are upcoming events such as summits, the respective state agencies in charge should start the procurement process now to ensure the timely acquisition of goods and services. Section 27. (1) (a) of the 2015 Act mandates procuring agencies to publish information on planned procurement activities for the next twelve months on their website or in any other electronic format, no later than six weeks after the approval of the National Budget.

The JCC firmly believes that increasing exemptions under Section 7(6) (e) of the Amended Act (2020) is not a viable solution, as it would undermine the effectiveness of the legislation in promoting transparency and reducing corruption in public spending over the medium and long term.

Complaints from various arms of the private sector about the perceived hurdles they need to overcome should not be taken too seriously, in our opinion. The private sector understands that if they wish to conduct business with any government agency involving public funds, they must comply with the registration requirements of the OPR’s online Depository. Unlike state-owned companies, private organizations are driven by profit-making incentives, and therefore, they should stop complaining and fulfill the necessary online registration and maintenance obligations. We are aware that the OPR has dedicated personnel available to assist with the registration process. The current system of the OPR Depository serving as a one-stop shop replaces the previous annual registration calls (with associated fees) from each state body. This represents a significant step towards increased efficiency, resulting in substantial time savings for both suppliers and the agencies themselves.