Perceived corruption in govt procurement

The United States Department of State has highlighted the “lack of transparency” and “perceived corruption” in government procurement in The Bahamas.

In its 2020 Investment Climate Statement on The Bahamas, the US opined that The Bahamian government does not have modern procurement legislation and companies have complained the tender process for public contracts is not consistent, and that it is difficult to obtain information on the status of bids.

“US firms have identified corruption as an obstacle to FDI (foreign direct investment) and have reported perceived corruption in government procurement and in the FDI approvals process,” the report stated.

It continued, “negative aspects of The Bahamas’ investment climate include: a lack of transparency in government procurement.”

The State Department pointed to the Minnis administration’s draft Public Procurement Bill, 2020 which was tabled in Parliament last June along with the 2020/2021 budget.

The bill seeks to establish a public procurement board, a digital procurement platform, and an electronic vendor registry, to modernize existing procurement systems with international best practices.

The Ministry of Finance indicated in its recent fiscal snapshot that the bill is slated for debate during Q3 of the 2020/2021 fiscal year.

The Investment Climate Statement also stated “the absence of transparent investment procedures and legislation is also problematic”.

“US and Bahamian companies alike report the resolution of business disputes often takes years and collection of amounts due can be difficult even after court judgments,” the report said.

“Companies also describe the approval process for FDI and work permits as cumbersome and time-consuming.”

In its executive summary released in October, the Economic Recovery Committee (ERC) made close to two dozen recommendations on ways to transform the investment regime to accelerate FDI.

The ERC proposed that only the largest or most complex FDI projects be processed under the National Economic Council (NEC) and that those projects valued under $20 million should be processed under established standard operating procedures.

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis also announced that applications under $10 million would not be required to be submitted to the NEC.

The State Department said, “Efforts to accelerate foreign direct investment (FDI) have been announced but remain unclear. In response to the losses from Hurricane Dorian and the economic fallout from COVID-19, the government announced requirements for domestic and foreign investment would be liberalized and eligible investment proposals under review would be accelerated to speed up economic recovery.

“Public pronouncements alluded to a streamlined approach for reviewing lower value applications that now go to the NEC for approval, prioritizing foreign investment proposals that could generate inflows and stimulate construction activity, and expediting investment applications to specifically assist Grand Bahama and the Abacos post-Hurricane Dorian. Despite these announcements, the embassy is not aware of any formal guidelines concerning changes to investment procedures that have been made publicly available.”

Other areas the US State Department highlighted include: shortages of skilled and unskilled labor in certain sectors, a bureaucratic and inefficient investment approvals process, time consuming resolution of legal disputes, the high cost of labor and the high cost of energy.

In recent days, the issue of procurement has come up after opposition members accused Prime Minister Hubert Minnis of breaching the Emergency Powers (COVID-19 Pandemic) Regulations, by not submitting a report to Parliament that details expenditures and suppliers of the goods and services procured during the state of emergency.

The attorney general has said Minnis is not in breach, however, because he has never issued any order to waive any procurement rules.

 

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/perceived-corruption-in-govt-procurement/