Public procurement guidelines now in the President’s court
Sri Lanka’s much awaited public procurement guidelines with necessary amendments to the relevant gazette have been forwarded to President Maithripala Sirisena enabling him to present it in Parliament via the leader of the house in accordance with the Constitution, a top official disclosed.
Sri Lanka’s National Procurement Commission (NPC) which was formed after the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and passed in Parliament in 2015 has devised a new set of procurement guidelines to usher in more transparent, fair, equitable, competitive and cost effective public procurement process, replacing the earlier guidelines.
The new guidelines formulated following an extensive consultation process is aimed at increasing efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity in the public procurement system which would eventually save millions of tax rupees.
Chairman of the NPC Eng. B. Nihal Wickramasuriya told the Business Times that the Commission has already gazetted the new procurement guidelines in mid-2018 and these are subject to Parliament approval.
The relevant gazette and other documents were submitted to Presidential Secretariat for the consent of the President and later to be presented to Parliament.
However the President submitted the gazette to Cabinet of Ministers for its approval before presenting it in Parliament, he said.
Several Ministers including the Finance Minister requested more time to review the guidelines and accordingly the Finance Ministry has made several observations relating to certain terms in the gazette.
The NPC has taken measures to include some of the suggestions made by the Treasury and made necessary amendments to the gazette once again and finalised by the working committee, legal personalities and the members of the commission in September 2018.
The latest gazette containing public procurement guidelines has been re-submitted to the Presidential Secretariat for the endorsement of the President and present it in Parliament via the leader of the house, he revealed.
According to the gazette, the new procurement guidelines will replace all previous procurement guidelines, circulars and directives within 30 days following Parliamentary approval to become law.
He noted that the 30-day period will provide sufficient time to make any further amendments relating to these guidelines.
It promotes effective competition among bidders, establishes the level playing field for all bidders to compete on equal ground and a level playing field ensuring cost effectiveness quality and efficiency as a part of objective of achieving value for money.
A level playing field will be ensured in the application of guidelines for state owned enterprises and local government institutions. The introduction of procurement information systems and formal work agreements is another novel addition to the new guidelines while addressing the delay in multiple supplies for common user items.
Sri Lanka will soon roll out an e- government procurement platform to streamline public procurement, Mr. Wickramasuriya said pointing out that it will improve efficiency, transparency, competition and fairness.
Bids and procurement information will be widely accessible, which will allow more suppliers to participate, he claimed.
An open contracting data standard is on the cards to improve the transparency and stakeholder confidence in the public procurement process, he disclosed.
Digitalisation of information in public procurement and adherence to the Right to Information Act were among the new inclusions under the new guidelines.