Provincial council makes changes to procurement process

THE EAST New Britain provincial executive council (PEC) endorsed a new procurement process in the provincial administration in Kokopo on Tuesday.
Provincial administrator Akuila Tubal said there were new guidelines to strengthen and improve government processes in the province on how best to improve processes and procedures in awarding contracts.
Tubal said according to the Public Finance Management Act (PMFA), there were only two available processes of awarding contracts and that was the public tender and certificate of inexpediency.
He said other contracting processes such as direct price negotiation, prequalification selective tendering or nepotism selection were illegal and not acceptable.
Tubal said the procurement process would be done through the provincial supply and tenders board (PSTB) of which he was chairman.
“Newly approved amendments of the PFMA is to avoid issues of quality and compliance.”
 and to strive for value for money. That is required of any awarded contracts in the right direction for this province in terms of good governance,” he said.
Tubal said the new threshold approved recently were: K10m and above to be executed by the NEC, K500,000-K10m by the Central Supply and Tender Board, K500,000-K5 million by the PSTB.
 and any money below K500,000 by the procuring agency.
“These levels are also applicable to other sources of funding such as PSIP, DSIP and LLGSIP that are directed by Joint Provincial Priority and Budget Priority Committee.
Tubal said outside these limits, no contracting work should be awarded outside government policies.
“The new system of arrangements will follow stringment measures to ensure that quality and compliance are fully achieved,” he said.
He called on the people to report any such matter involving politicians awarding contracts to their “friends and cronies.”
He said that plans were underway for an administrative team to conduct awareness on the changes at the local level governments in the four districts of ENB; Pomio, Gazelle, Rabaul and Kokopo.
Tubal said that the changes were necessary to improve service delivery and to be accountable for the huge funds coming into districts and LLGs under the current government.