The Ministry of Finance was already working toward stricter procurement processes and more explicit tendering policies in 2010, well before this April’s signing of the Protocols for Effective Financial Management, according to the MOF’s annual report for that year, which was tabled at a July House of Assembly sitting.

“Ministries and departments not following standard procedures in procurement matters,” was listed as one of the procurement unit’s major challenges for the year, as was the cancellation or waiving of the tendering process. The unit held workshops on “the complete procurement cycle” and revised its Public Sector Procurement Handbook during 2010, according to the report.

“It is hoped that during 2011 the Public Sector Procurement System will be revised and changes made and implemented to ensure good procurement practice,” the report states.

A total of six projects were put out to tender in 2010: external works on the new Peebles Hospital, supplying government vehicles, job analysis proposals, cleaning services for the Central Administration Building, and insurance plans for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and the CAB.

See the Sept. 6, 2012 edition for full coverage.