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Minister
in the Ministry of Finance Christine Sahadeo, right, shares
a light moment with Natalie Neeley of Perfect Commerce service
providers during a seminar on the e-auction process at the
Trinidad Hilton, Port-of-Spain yesterday.
Photo: Wendy-Ann Duncan
BY
SHERWIN LONG
With T&T’s state enterprises purchasing an estimated
$30 billion in goods and services annually, the Government
is positioning online auctioning to boost transparency in
its procurement process.
Minister in the Ministry of Finance Christine Sahadeo gave
this assurance yesterday during an e-auction seminar held
at the Hilton Trinidad, Port-of-Spain.
Sahadeo described e-procurement as the most transparent
procurement regime to date.
“It
makes the tendering process more efficient and transparent
and guarantees value for money,” she said. “Companies
have reported as much as 25 per cent to 30 per cent savings
on their procurement costs.”
Over the past year and a half special interest groups in
the construction sector have constantly criticised Government’s
procurement procedures.
One of their main grouses is the long time it is taking
Government to lay the white paper on public sector procurement
reform in Parliament.
Sahadeo revealed that the Government has received several
new recommendations and inputs that must be reviewed before
the white paper becomes law.
She did not say how much longer it would be until the white
paper is laid in Parliament.
However, she championed e-auctioning and cited examples
of local state enterprise companies benefiting such as WASA,
the Telecommunications Authority of T&T and YARA.
She noted that WASA has saved over US $4 million through
e-auction events.
Leslie Figaro, WASA’s general manager of corporate
services, said since July 2006 the company has saved six
per cent on computers and 25 per cent on pipes and fittings
for its infrastructure development thrust.
Sahadeo assured that local suppliers would not be eliminated
from supplying state enterprises and said training would
be provided for them on the e-auction process.
During the seminar, senior executives from service providers
such as PA Consulting Group, Perfect Commerce, Ariba and
SAP gave demonstrations of the e-auction process.
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