Procurement commission ready by April: Ngangan

THE national procurement commission (NPC) it to be fully established by April this year, Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan says.
Dr Ngangan, who is also the chairman of Central Supply and Tenders Board (CSTB), told The National that the NPC was currently in transition.
“Officially on April 1, the new national procurement commission will be implemented,” he said. “We are now in the process of transitioning from the CSTB into NPC. I’m still the acting chairman of the CSTB.
“I am a member of the board and it’s up to National Executive Council to decide who chairs the new commission.
“It will only be a meeting chairman, not an executive of the commission.”
Parliament passed the National Procurement Bill 2018 on Sept 12 last year.
The Papua New Guinea’s public procurement framework, currently set out in the Public Finances (Management) Act 1995, would soon be replaced by a substantially different framework to be set out in a new National Procurement Act (NPA).
This will be the most significant reform to the management of public procurement in PNG for more than 20 years.
The National Procurement Act abolishes the Central Supply and Tenders Board and creates a new national procurement commission.
The new law also provides revised procurement thresholds and gives local companies exclusive rights to bid for State contracts valued under K10 million.