Modern, e-procurement system to be rolled out by year-end

President Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday announced that a modern, electronic procurement system will be implemented by the end of the year, in keeping with a manifesto promise made by the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).
“I’m pleased to tell you that the finance secretary is leading the effort to have, before the end of this year completed, the e-procurement system fully completed and integrated,” the President informed a news conference on Tuesday.
He said the e-procurement system will have a digital bidder’s register, an e-tender lifecycle module, a national e-tender portal, and an e-marketplace.
This, the President noted, will transition the system from a paper-based process to a fully digital one.
The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) already has a bidder register, but under the e-system, it will be expanded to include additional information for each contractor, supplier and consultant.
These include beneficial ownership, Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) compliance status, contractor classification by size, past performance, and any debarments or suspensions.
The e-tender lifecycle module will digitise the full tender process end-to-end, covering procurement planning, tender creation, publication, bid submission, evaluation, contract award, contract administration, variation, payment processing, and real-time tracking. The module would automate routine checks; flag compliance; risk support evaluation teams with structured scoring tools; detect anomalies and potential red flags; and generate a dashboard for management oversight.
The e-marketplace will be a catalogue-based marketplace for routine, low-to-medium-value goods and standard services that would allow procurement agencies to procure the same from pre-qualified suppliers using standard specifications, published prices, framework segments, and electronic purchase orders.
According to President Ali, “This, of course, would help small and medium-sized enterprises.”
“…and just like other systems around the world, we are looking to have maybe 25 to 30 per cent of procurement set aside for small and medium-sized enterprises,” he added.
Moreover, the Head of State noted that this new system will ensure greater transparency in public procurement.
“It’s gonna be available for the whole public. So, from end to end, anyone can go on the electronic system, any bidder, and see from the bidding all the way to the award of the contract, every aspect of the bidding process,” he remarked.
“You can go and see this contract was awarded to Mr X, and when you look at the system, you will see that Mr X got 20 outstanding works, so that is what the system allows; it allows full access to information…and that is critical for the transparency of the entire system,” he added.

Laws will be updated
President Ali further explained that the necessary laws will be updated to support the rollout of this e-procurement system.
“When we launch the digital platform…that will necessitate maybe some amendments in the legislation itself. Because when you launch the digital procurement system you also have to have that blacklisting system working because then you’ll have contractors that are not delivering on time or contractors that have a number of outstanding projects, all of which will form part of the evaluation,” he noted.
Just a few months ago, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall had noted that contractors and engineers will be held more accountable under soon-to-be-updated procurement laws and contracts.
Nandlall said the Government will update the Public Procurement Act as well as bid documents and pre-contract documents that form part of the tendering process. Additionally, he said the Government will update the standard form contract in keeping with international standards.
“These contracts that are being used are not the most modern model contracts available. We have to review them to bring them in compliance with and in sync with the International Federation of Consulting Engineers models that are being used across the globe,” he had explained.
According to the Legal Affairs Minister, a key focus of the review will be strengthening contractual provisions to ensure that contractors and engineers are held more accountable for fulfilling their obligations.
“We will review the regime of remedies that flow when there is a breach, and we will strengthen the regime of remedies so as to offer to the State greater protection when there is breaches or non-compliance,” Nandlall had stated.
“Significantly, the review will also be focused on the role of the engineer or supervisor of these contracts. These engineers and/or supervisors are paid huge sums of money to monitor and evaluate the performance of the contract for and on behalf of the State… They are supposed to police the contracts, monitor and evaluate the contracts and ensure that when there are breaches, these breaches are reported and are remedied under the terms of the contract,” the Attorney General had noted, acknowledging that many times, this does not take place.
He noted that, “Unfortunately, invariably, these engineers and our supervisors tend to align their interests more with the contractor than the employer.”
“For example, instead of preventing and resisting attempts at variations in contracts that would inevitably result in an upward movement of the contract price, the engineers and our supervisors support the contractor’s request for an extension. Why? Well, I can’t say why, but the engineer and/or supervisor are paid based upon that increase. Their remuneration package is tied to a variation that necessarily increases the contract price, and perhaps that is an incentive to give support. We have to ensure that that is reviewed, that state of affairs that I just outlined, a state of affairs that seems to reward rather than penalise a contractor for a variation,” Nandlall had outlined.
He emphasised that the responsibility of the engineer/supervisor is to prevent such variations from taking place, but instead, “the evidence will disclose that, invariably, they stand in support. And one can’t discount that one of the reasons that may be influencing that posture is a financial one, because when the variation is granted, the supervisor’s contract or the engineer’s contract is also extended.”
“That must be looked at,” Nandlall had affirmed.
In the PPP/C’s manifesto, the party noted that it will continue to ensure that the public procurement system is fair, transparent, competitive, efficient, and promotes value for money.
“We will further democratise access to Government procurement opportunities, improve both the competitiveness and fairness of the system, facilitate deepening of capacity on the supply side, and improve value for money in Government procurement transactions,” the party outlined in its manifesto.

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