Tiensten denies contracts claims

NATIONAL Planning and District Development Minister and Pomio MP Paul Tiensten says he has been wrongly accused of awarding contracts without due regard to the procurement process.
Speaking last Sunday when addressing the Pomio Joint District Planning and Budget Priorities Committee inaugural sitting in Sea View Resort, he urged his local level government (LLG) presidents to clarify to their people that the project procurement process as stipulated under the Public Finance Management Act.
“People must understand that I alone cannot award contracts, there are different procurement levels as stated under the Public Finance Management Act and people need to understand that projects go through a process before they are awarded,” Mr Tiensten said.
He said that projects worth K300,000 and below were screened by the respective district project management units and awarded.
He said projects worth K300,000 to K3 million needed to go through the provincial supplies and tenders board, K3 million to K10 million projects were screened and awarded by the central supplies and tenders board, while the National Executive Council screened projects worth more than K10 million.
He said these levels of procurement were independent bodies and not influenced by political affiliations.
Meanwhile, Mr Tiensten had commended his LLG presidents for demonstrating solidarity under his
leadership.