by Linda Straker
- Threshold moves from EC$15,000 to EC$100,000
- Increase will go into effect immediately after law is published in Government Gazette
- Norland Cox concerned about competencies and practicalities with proposed increase and formula used to raise threshold
Members of the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament have given their approval for Government to increase the threshold for sole sourcing or procuring of government goods and services contracts. The change will go into effect immediately after the law is published in the Government Gazette.
“The Bill does not have a commencement clause because the intention is for this Bill to come into effect upon its publication in the Gazette,” said Adrian Thomas, Leader of Government Business in the Upper House as he presented the amendment to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act.
Originally approved in 2014, the Act which created the Public Procurement Commission came into force on 21 April 2015 by an Order signed by then Finance Minister Dr Keith Mitchell — currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament — and published in the Gazette.
Thomas explained to members attending the 4 April sitting that the amendment seeks to increase the procurement threshold, but regulations and conditions for Government contracts will remain the same.
“What we need to do is enforce them so that we can guarantee we get value for money. Let us not sit here and believe that it is too risky to move it from EC$15,000 to EC$100,000. We trust our people, we trust ourselves and we believe that Grenadians have come to a stage in their life now where it is important to give value for money and the State must be respected for that,” he said.
Norland Cox who served as Infrastructure Minister from 2020 to 2022 and is currently one of 3 opposition senators, told the House that he was concerned that moving single source contracts from EC$15,000 to EC$100,000 can or could have implications not just for Government, but for those who will be awarded single source contracts.
Cox explained that the EC$15,000 was used in the original legislation as part of government policy to deal with urgent matters in communities or constituencies. He then admitted that there was some level of failure in the original law to not provide clarity when it comes to awarding EC$15,000 contracts. “It didn’t say what the EC$15,000 can be used for and now in trying to address certain measures you find that EC$15,000 is becoming more and more difficult to be awarded,” he said, informing the House that from his knowledge there is need for an increase but EC$100,000 is too great.
“I believe there is a need for an increase but what we have not heard is how we arrive at this EC$100,000. There is too much of a grey area; EC$100,000 is not about trust… it’s about competencies and practicalities,” said Cox. “Whether it is practicable to give somebody EC$100,000 without proper oversight ensuring that their estimates are correct and ensuring that the person has the capacity and competency to manage the project.”
“We all know that if someone doesn’t have the competencies to manage large sums of money it can easily be spent. It is within that context my concern is centred around,” he said while requesting to know the formula used to move from EC$15,000 to EC$100,000.
