Local contractors urged to get ready for opportunities of new ‘procurement policy’
According to Premier and Minister of Finance, Honourable Andrew A. Fahie (R1), his Government has been working over the past few weeks to develop a procurement regime that would allow greater participation by local contractors and service providers, while at the same time adhering to the principles of international best practice and assuring quality, value for money, transparency and accountability.
“In the Ministry of Finance, and together with our partner agencies, we have designed a procurement policy recently approved by Cabinet for times of emergencies, such as natural disasters, catastrophic events and pandemics, that will overcome these obstacles and allow us to engage local contractors, while having a rigorous system of checks and balances operating throughout,” Premier Fahie stated in a live statement to the Territory under the theme ‘An Economic Boost for Virgin Islands on the Horizon: The Construction Industry’, this evening, August 9, 2020.
More local contractors to benefit
Premier Fahie said the policy framework has already been completed and it is being discussed with funding partners such as international lending agencies.
“This is because we would need their approval to change conditions attached to those funds so that it would allow more qualified local contractors to benefit from these opportunities. By doing this we would be allowing the monies to stay in the Territory and circulate numerous times to positively contribute to the national flow of income.”
One important feature of the new emergency procurement policy is that it will allow for, in some cases, the subdivision of larger projects into smaller packages. In this way, according to Premier Fahie, more local construction companies – including smaller contractors – would be able to share in the opportunities that are created by Government to stimulate the economy through construction, among other areas.
According to the Premier, professionals in the construction fields can testify to some of the challenges local contractors face; “problems that lock them out from being even considered for projects that they are capable of delivering.”
He said this process will open many doors of opportunities for all contractors in the VI amidst the COVID-19 era.
“The feedback has been positive and your Government is feverishly working with the Attorney General’s Office to get the legislative changes, that may be necessary, submitted. After which, approval by both the Cabinet and the House of Assembly will be sought.”
It was noted that the East End-Long Look Sewerage Project is one project that Government is looking at for subdivision and spreading the benefits. “It is one, but it will not be the only one,” Hon Fahie assured.
Get prepared
He also said local contractors should begin preparing themselves and their workers immediately.
“Get yourselves ready, especially with all your needed paperwork, because once all the legal steps are finished with this new policy, we want to hit the ground running, and with momentum.”
Meanwhile, Premier Fahie said the emphasis at this time is on construction and not businesses such as barbershops and hair salons because these projects and funds are a booster shot into the economy.
Booster shot
“When we apply this booster shot in the construction sector, the Territory is able to get some value from the expenditure of this money, and the money will spread into our other sectors which will benefit as well…
“When they earn their salaries, their entire families will benefit. The family is now able to spend the money in the supermarkets, the salons, the barbershops, and the other stores and businesses, and be able to pay their rent and even build homes for themselves.”
An added benefit, according to the Leader of Government Business, is that the money will be kept circulating in the local economy for a longer period than what was obtained previously, when more foreign-based contractors were used.
He also said this is the time to help local contractors to step up and prove they can deliver the quality goods, “and for us to redefine the dynamics of these sectors in favour of Virgin Islanders in an accountable and transparent manner while maintaining quality and value for money.”
More plans to be announced
Meanwhile, Premier Fahie noted that Government is feverishly working towards fine-tuning and finalising details to present to the people, in short order, on various sectors of the economy.
“Your Government intends to inform you about the plans and efforts to revitalise all sectors of the economy. This is to say; we will be speaking about different sectors of the economy in a phased approach.”
16 Responses to “Local contractors urged to get ready for opportunities of new ‘procurement policy’”
If you want to benefit from this at all, you got to be a labourer or a trademan cause that's part of the working class. If you is a contractor, you have to accept a handout from the big crabs, iron rods and yellow fish and make sure to leave something back on the plate if you want to eat again if at all.
Government ain't slick.