NPTAB to expand training programme, agencies to set up procurement units in 2017

GINA, GUYANA, Wednesday, November 30, 2016

The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) will expand its training programme facilitated by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS). This is because all agencies have been tasked with establishing procurement and planning units in 2017.

This is to ensure there are more trained officers in procurement concepts and methodologies, as well as facilitate more effective planning by ministries, departments, and regions to improve the pace of programme and project implementation, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan said.

Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan

Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan

The Minister while presenting the 2017 National Budget on Monday explained that in the 2016 Budget, having identified   a   myriad   of   deficiencies, NPTAB began the process of preparing standard operating procedures, to outline turnaround times for each stage of the procurement process.

Minister Jordan pointed out that, “The existing procurement system is being upgraded to improve the quality of data, enable direct data capture by procuring entities and broaden procurement statistical   analysis   reporting   to   include,   among   other   things,   small   business procurement, as specified in the Small Business Act, by all procuring entities, through clearly defined business processes.”

The Board has begun working with the health, education, and sea defence sectors, through a pilot, to develop procurement plans for each sector, as well as to establish compliance monitoring for procurement within those agencies.

Additionally, through support from another development partner, the Government has begun the process of engineering standardised procurement, accounting and auditing compliant business processes across NPTAB and its appointed tender boards. “These initiatives are intended to move Guyana toward a path of Sustainable Public Procurement,” the Minister said.

According to Minister Jordan, the administration has inherited a national crisis of institutional lethargy and ineptitude, however, the government will invest in ensuring that public services of the highest quality are delivered, Minister Jordan said.

Additionally, to ensure that public servants, at all levels, are better equipped to develop and execute the government’s vision and plans, the recently launched Bertram Collins College of the Public Service will provide for a wide range of training in public administration and related fields, Minister Jordan emphasised.

“Our Government will also further the agenda of public sector reform by utilising the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service to arrest the attrition of qualified public servants,” the Finance Minister related to the National Assembly.

 

By Ranetta LaFleur

CATEGORIES
TAGS