The Public Finance Rules have been amended to include sunset provisions to make it more convenient for the cabinet to award projects on a single-source procurement basis.
The new change goes against the principle of procuring goods and services through an open tender as envisioned in the Public Finance Rules.
The Public Finance Rules state that the objective of single-source procurement is to adequately procure a required item or service, or perform a required task, in situations where there is no time for a competitive tender or its cost does not appear to be favourable in a competitive environment.
But in February this year, the government amended the Public Finance Rules to allow cabinet-approved essential projects without bidding.
According to the amendment, projects can be awarded without a bid if the cabinet or a cabinet committee determines they are projects that improve living standards.
The Public Finance Rules were amended for a second time on Monday to change the procedure for determining projects which can be awarded without bidding.
Under the previous procedure, a government office could submit a proposal to the ministry and a cabinet committee or the cabinet could decide on the proposal.
But the current procedure allows state agencies to apply for single-source permits to the cabinet without going through the ministry.
The wordings were also changed in the Public Finance Rules so that the cabinet could directly award projects.
The approval for projects will be given by the cabinet or a committee of cabinet ministers. This rule was previously in place only for SOEs.
The general procedure for approval of procurements is to conduct it under a system comprising the procurement departments of offices, the bid committee and their financial managers. High-value projects have to go through the National Tender Board.
Before these changes, amendments to the Public Finance Rules paved the way for the projects to be awarded without bid security, performance guarantee or advance money guarantee. The new amendment allows contractors to get a 15 percent advance payment.
The rules will be effective until February 26, 2027. This is a period of two years from the date of amendment of the Public Finance Rules.
There has been concern among the public over these changes, which could lead to corruption.
