Morobe has now become the 14th Province in the country to successfully establish its Provincial Procurement Committee following the swearing in of its members in Lae on Friday.
The members include Morobe provincial administrator Bart Ipambonji as the chairman, provincial finance manager Andrew Namuesh, provincial works coordinator Charlie Sindang and provincial planner Gordon Aking.
They were sworn in together with Markham District Procurement Committee members by the National Procurement Commission (NPC)
NPC chief executive officer Mr Simon Bole said the committee establishment now gives procurement powers to the Morobe Provincial Government to procure goods, works and services up to the threshold limit of K5 million and Markham District up to the threshold limit of K2.5 million.
“The procurement committee establishment is a delegated responsibility which NPC is delegating to the provinces and districts so that they can expedite projects and deliver basis goods and services without delays,” Mr Bole said.
He said NPC through the board is delegating the procurement powers because centralizing all procurement powers in Port Moresby has affected basic service delivery in the districts and provinces.
“In the previous CSTB (Central Supply and Tenders Board), procurement functions and powers are all held by the then tender’s board and were not delegated to provinces and districts.
“This affects service delivery because of the long delay taken to complete procurement process.
“That’s why, we are now delegating this functions so provinces and districts can do their own procurement to expedite projects and delivery goods and services to serve our people,” Mr Bole said.
He said NPC will only provide oversight role to ensure procurement are done transparently and accountably in compliance with the National Procurement Act.
“Every provinces and districts that have the committee established are required to create a secretariat by allocating an office space and an officer who will also be the board secretary in the districts and provinces.
“This officer will perform the administrative functions of procurement activities, keep records and report to NPC quarterly,” Mr Bole said.
He said the Department of Personnel Management (DPM) has already approved staff structure and NPC has advertised procurement officer positions for all the 109 districts and 22 provinces and interest candidates are required to apply.
Morobe provincial administrator Bart Ipambonji thanked NPC for vigorously driving the Government’s public procurement reform and given his assurance that Morobe Province through this committee will performs the function as required within the laws to expedite projects and deliver goods and services.
Meanwhile, Mr Bole urged other districts and provinces that have yet to establish their respective committees to do so before the June 30 deadline.
To date, NPC has successfully established 14 Provincial Procurement Committees, 4 approved and awaiting swearing in (New Ireland, Simbu, Gulf & Western Highlands) and four provinces yet to write to NPC requesting for delegation of procurement powers and functions (Enga, West New Britain, Jiwaka and Autonomous Region of Bougainville).
For districts, NPC successfully established 44 District Procurement Committees, 24 approved by NPC board awaiting swearing in and 21 yet to write to NPC requesting for delegation of Section 77 powers.
