Set up procurement committees before June 30: NPC

ABOUT four provinces and 20 districts have two weeks until the end of month to set up their procurement committees, National Procurement Commission (NPC) chief executive officer Simon Bole says. Bole said this during the swearing-in of Chimbu and Gulf’s Kikori procurement committees in Port Moresby on Friday. He said the transfer of NPC board powers to provinces and districts would enable them to award contracts worth up to K5 million and K2.5 million respectively for service delivery. He called on provinces and districts, which had yet to establish their procurement committees, to do so as soon as possible. According to NPC board, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, West New Britain, Enga, and Jiwaka are yet to establish their committees along with 20 other districts. The Chimbu committee members are administrator Sebastian Kee, works manager Peter Bau, finance and planning member Peter Nilkare, while Kikori administrator Tars Sauka, finance manager Helen Kavo and community representative Kuma Aua are the procurement members to approve contracts in the district. Kee described the establishment of their provincial committee as the essential part of service delivery in Chimbu. “It will enhance our accountability to manage the provincial finance and deliver service effectively,” he said.  Meanwhile, NPC chairman Kenneth Thomson said provinces and districts needed to come forward before the June 30 deadline and set up their procurement committees to start awarding contracts. “I make this call to the provinces and districts that are yet to establish their procurement committees to quickly come and we’ll help to get your committees up and running,” Thomson said.