PPC Act Implementation Manual takes Center Stage at Training Workshop
A week long procurement training workshop geared towards building capacity of procurement directors and officers from large spending entities of government in the application of newly developed and approved Public Procurement and Concessions Act Implementation Manual, was on Monday, March 29, 2010 concluded in the training room of Liberia Institute for Public Administration (LIPA), in Mamba Point.
During the workshop, several key points were noted, as discussions on the Manual progressed. They include non participation of procurement committee members appointed to the Evaluation Panel in the final decision on the award of contract for the same package, scheduling of regular meetings with heads of entities to draw their attention to the requirement of the PPC Act regarding the composition and role of the Procurement Unit, evaluation panels go beyond bidders documented qualifications, and carry out verification or due diligence on the biddersí qualifications, PPCC should consider use of Bid Securing Declaration as alternative to Bid security, Contracts should be signed only after availability of funds, Conditional notification of award may be issued if funds are not secured at the time evaluation is complete, and difficulties experienced in preparing procurement plans for budgets for entertainment, food, drinks, among others.
The workshop which ran from March 23-29, 2010, discussed several issues as contained in the PPC Act Implementation Manual. They included: Functions of Procurement Committee, Meeting of Procurement Committee, Bid Evaluation Panel, Qualification of Bidders, Description of Goods, Works, Services, Publication Notice of Contract Awards, Goods Procurement Steps, Procurement Planning, Price Adjustment, Records and Reports of Procurement, Margin of Preference, Consultancy Services Steps, Works Procurement Steps, Identification and Justification of Concession Bidding Document, Post Contract Management, Concession Bidding Process, Constitution of Inter Ministerial Concession Committee(IMCC), Annual Concession Plan, among others.
Making remarks at the close of the workshop, PPCC Executive Director, Peggy Varfley Meres, challenged the participants to make use of the newly developed PPC Act Implementation Manual to enhance their work. She thanked the Liberia Economic Governance and Institutional Reform Project (EGIRP) and World Bank sponsored International Procurement Agency (IPA), for teaming up with Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC), to implement the reform program. A huge number of procurement directors/officers from large spending entities of government and PPCC staff attended the workshop. The entities include Ministries of Internal Affairs, Health and Social Welfare, Education, Public Works, Agriculture, and Finance
World Bank/International Procurement Agencyís procurement specialist, Mr. Godfrey Ewool, was the lead facilitator at the weeklong training workshop. The holding of the workshop became necessary following the conduct of training need assessment by PPCC and IPA, with funding from Liberia Economic Governance and Institutional Reform Project (EGIRP), based in the Ministry of Finance.
