The JCC is extremely concerned about the Procurement Regulator’s failure to issue the Annual Report as required under Section 24 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, which was operationalized in April 2023. This independent report was due for submission to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and the Minister of Finance in Dec 2023 and the new procurement laws require the following to be included in said report:

(a) A figure representing the total value of contracts as awarded by public bodies, and another figure representing the cost of the total value of procurement contract variances for that 2023;

(b) The number of unfulfilled contracts awarded by public bodies in respect of procurement;

(c) A summary of transactions in respect of each public body specifying in respect of public procurement— (i) the number of procurement contracts awarded; (ii) the number of procurement contracts varied; (iii) the quantum of those variances; (iv) the number of unfulfilled procurement contracts and the quantum of cost incurred; (v) with respect to the procurement for a project, a brief description, the awardee, the value, the scope of works and the expected deliverables of the project; and (vi) lessons learnt as a consequence of the management of procurement contracts;

(d) a summary of transactions in respect of each public body concerning the disposal of public property

(e) Details of changes implemented to ensure current best practice for procurement, and disposal of public property;

(f) The names of public bodies that have failed to comply with this Act; 

(g) An assessment of the overall performance of the procurement system; 

(h) A summary of unresolved issues that are to be dealt with; and

(i) Any recommendations requiring action on the part of a procuring entity.

This report is therefore supposed to supply critical data and information to parliament and to the public. Only then can any assessment of the efficacy of the new legislation be determined and adjustments can be made. This is even more dire at this time, when the 2024 mid-year budget review presented by the Finance Minister now projects a $9B deficit. Procurement reform is supposed to eventually realize savings in the vicinity of $4B to $5B annually. The JCC has previously indicated to The Regulator that about 80% of the expenditure in public procurement is spent by only 10% of the approximately 400 public entities; so that they (The OPR) can concentrate their resources on the fewer large spenders in order to have the largest positive impact soonest. A very dangerous precedent is being set by the OPR, in not issuing the Annual Report. This does not instil confidence in the public and sends a bad message to procuring entities that its business as usual. We therefore urge the OPR (The Regulator) to issue the Annual Report in compliance with Section 24 of the Procurement Act, immediately.

Fazir Khan – President – Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry