PPADB to revise tender committee thresholds
Isaac Pinielo | Thursday October 26, 2017 18:00
Officially opening a capacity building workshop for District Administration Tender Committees (DATCs) in Gaborone this week, PPADB executive chairperson, Bridget John said the intention is to increasingly devolve authority to ministries and districts for improved efficiency.
“Challenges that come with the devolved mandate need to be acknowledged and addressed for improved procurement performance,” she said.
Currently, the highest financial ceiling for the Ministerial Tender Committees (MTCs) is for the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security at P300 million, with the lowest being the Administration of Justice at P25 million.
This means tenders worth above P300 million will be adjudicated by the PPADB instead of the ministry’s tender committee.
On the other hand, the highest ceiling for DATCs is for Francistown at P10 million, and the lowest is Charleshill at P2 million.
John encouraged procuring entities to embrace sound procurement practices to deliver on their core functions, noting that procurement can no longer be treated as a menial stand-alone task that is not a priority for those in leadership.
“It should be recognised as a strategic function that can save ministries and districts funds, and drive efficiencies, if well executed,” she said.
According to John, the board, together with MTCs and DATCs, serve to provide a quality assurance level to check if indeed contractors are selected appropriately and in line with the requirements of the tender and as stipulated in the evaluation criteria.
She said the need for checks and balances in procurement is important, as it is one way of curbing corruption in tenders.
She therefore urged DATCs to freely interrogate and scrutinise tender submissions placed before them, with the full understanding that their role is not to rubber stamp recommendations of procuring entities.
“I call on you members to execute your mandate with responsibility, dignity and accountability. Let us not allow committees or its members to be unduly influenced in decision making,” John said.
She stated that tenders are awarded to those who meet requirements in line with the disclosed evaluation criteria, adding that award decisions do not take into account irrelevant factors such as “who knows who, or associations of any sort with those in decision-making”.
John regretted that such perceptions that are held by some people are generally baseless.
“We however encourage anyone who may have evidence of impropriety happening in procurement that is overseen by PPADB, MTCs or DATCs to report any such cases through the tip-off anonymous service of PPADB that is managed by Deloitte,” she said.
She further encouraged the bidding community to seek debriefing from procuring entities whenever they lose tenders so they may improve on their future bids.
She said bidders should raise any concerns they may have during the tender floating period if they believe the tender violates basic principles of public procurement, or is biased to favour certain parties.
“It would not help the reputation of this country if those who lose tenders automatically attribute such loss to corruption as they will not improve their bids,” she said.
Hence, John said the PPADB needs to be more transparent and put out as much information as possible to create awareness and address negative perceptions.
She implored tender committee members to share any information that may raise red flags with authorities such as the Competition Authority or the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime for investigation.
“You should strive to adhere to performance standards that the Board has set to avoid delays in decision making,” she advised.
She said members should always liaise with PPADB specialists who serve as committee contact persons for any support or advice that they may require.
“We need to avoid unnecessary costly litigation that arises from failure to address complaints well, and on time,” said John.