Government ministries continue to take advantage of the National State of Emergency to fast track procurement. As reported in El Caribe, most procurement operations are being carried out under the “exceptions” modality.
Last year, exceptions to ordinary contracting modalities accounted for 52.64% of the amount authorized by the government for public works, purchases and contracts, reports El Caribe.
In total, RD$43.37 billion was contracted through exception processes, almost half of the amount transacted in the Transactional Portal of the Public Procurement Agency during 2020 that amounted to RD$82.40 billion.
Interestingly, in 2019, the year before the pandemic, distribution of the total amount transacted was not very different from that of 2020. The funds awarded to exception processes also evidenced an important participation in the public procurement total.
As of 30 November 2019, 24 contracts made under exception procedures accounted for 49% of the resources (RD$40,155,810.68) that had been executed, RD$81,350,843.49.
The El Caribe feature points out that when the exception to the rule becomes the rule, a close look at the exception is needed. The new authorities at the Public Procurement Agency have submitted a bill to the Executive Branch with changes they suggest to make government contracting more transparent and efficient.
The legislative proposal establishes 15 reasons in which an exception process can still be justified.
Among the proposed exceptions are:
Those procurements carried out during a state of exception authorized by the National Congress,
Those carried out in emergency situations, for which the President must indicate through a decree the cause of the emergency and the region of the country affected.
Those related to defense or national security activities
Those related to fortuitous, unexpected, unforeseeable, immediate, concrete and proven cases in which the application of established selection procedures is not possible.
For the contracting of scientific works, the restoration of historical monuments and artistic works or services, the execution of which must be entrusted to companies or specialists who are the only ones capable of carrying them out.
The director of the Procurement Agency, Carlos Pimentel says that the exception procedures are not a concern if they are carried out filling the legalities.
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El Caribe
28 September 2021