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Karen
Nunez-Tesheira
“The
proposed reforms will have the benefits of studies of international
best practices as they relate to procurement and will therefore,
have significant improvements within the context of T&T’s
public sector expenditure management system.”
Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira
BY
SEAN NERO
GOVERNMENT is close to finalising its reform agenda for
public procurement, but the document will not become law
without public scrutiny of the draft.
Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira made the statement
at yesterday’s conference on Caribbean Public Procurement,
Law and Practice, held at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Dock
Road, Port-of-Spain.
The conference marked the launch of the Caribbean Procurement
Institute and continues today at the same venue.
Nunez-Tesheira said the new procurement arrangements will
improve the quality of government expenditure and the quality
of delivery of public services.
“The
proposed reforms will have the benefits of studies of international
best practices as they relate to procurement and will therefore,
have significant improvements within the context of T&T’s
public sector expenditure management system,” she said.
Citing the private sector’s approach on the issue,
Nunez-Tesheira said government also considered public sector
procurement as a “core management function” that
had widespread influence over the outputs provided by government
departments.
“In
order to maximise the benefits from efficient procurement,
procurement processes within the public sector will move
from a transaction-driven function to one where procurement
is strategically managed and guided by value-added considerations,”
she said.
Nunez-Tesheira said that T&T’s development over
the past seven years was a result of effective governance
by the Patrick Manning administration due to increased productivity
in the public sector.
She said democratic governance at every level, as well as
strengthening the application of good governance systems
and practices in the operations of all government, private
sector and civil society led to successful economic growth,
poverty reduction and the realisation of overall development
aspirations.
“Government’s
strategies, which focus on reducing the opportunities for
corruption and abuse of power, include strengthening the
management of State enterprises, improving public management,
strengthening the Local Government system and reforming
the procurement system for goods and services in the public
sector, including state enterprises,” Nunez-Tesheira
said.
She lauded T&T’s ability to formulate and execute
public policy efficiently and effectively.
She added that Government procurement must be based on value
for money on goods or services which have been procured
for the various agencies and government departments in an
open and competitive manner.
“The
basic objectives are to obtain goods and services needed
to deliver government programmes at the appropriate quantity,
quality and price.”
The fact that procurement had become a financial issue did
not escape Nunez-Tesheira’s attention.
“Also
of note is the trend that procurement expenditures are becoming
an increasingly significant component of public expenditure
and gross domestic product (GDP) and the fact that many
procurement projects involves multi-year expenditures,”
she said.
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