Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has urged Permanent Secretaries and other senior public officers to ensure they are familiar with the new procurement legislation and the duties they are required to perform under the recently proclaimed law.
Dr Rowley was speaking at the Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act Seminar which is being hosted at the Diplomatic Centre on Tuesday 9th May.
In attendance were Members of Cabinet, Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Permanent Secretaries and other senior public servants.
The Prime Minister said, “you the Permanent Secretaries…you are required to understand this Act, understand the law, understand the depth of it, the spirit of it and the letter.”
He added, “I trust that these people who are now to be procurement officers that they make an effort to understand the law and to follow the law and to act with integrity.”
The seminar aims to provide a deeper understanding throughout the public service on the implications of the new law.
Dr Rowley noted that bringing the legislation to this point has not always been smooth sailing as it is the most complicated and broad-based legislation that has come through the Parliament in recent times.
He said, “the accusation was from the very beginning that the Government was interested in delaying this. I want to put on record this morning that nothing was further from the truth.”
He said, “the Government wanted to get to this point but the legislation is so complex and so far reaching that we genuinely tried to make it more workable and usable.”
He said, “my view is that there will be need for further adjustments along the way as the operationalisation takes place.”
The Prime Minister has instructed that similar seminars are to be held with other groups of professionals within the public service.