National Procurement Commission

NPC Board chairman, Kenneth Thompson said setting up the National Procurement Special Committee at NHC is a very important milestone.

Thompson said that not all the corporations and other government departments had the opportunity to have a special committee for themselves; and that all of these special committees are directly approved by the board after the APC Committee has vetted and given the okay to establish these committees.

Chief Executive Officer, Simon Bole said 30^th June is the deadline for all provincial and district procurement committees to be established and those that fail to do so would be unable to undertake procurement of goods, works and services.

“All their procurement for goods, works and services above K500, 000 limit for section 32 officers will be sent to NPC for procurements, because it will be illegal for them to procure themselves under the National Procurement Act (NPA),” Mr Bole said.

As majority of our people live are living in rural areas.

Mr Thomson raised this during the commissioning of Unggai Bena District Procurement Committee in recently.

He said Port Moresby only comprises of a small percentage of the country’s population and centralizing all decision making powers for service delivery in Waigani must be relooked.

Mr Thomson said with the Unggai Bena DPC established, the district now has the powers to undertake procurement of goods, service and works via transparent tender up to the threshold limit of K2.5 million.

He said the Government is supporting the growth of local businesses by giving certain exclusive rights to local contractors under the new procurement laws and contractors must ensure they deliver as expected.

Thompson said this when executing a Contract on behalf of the State valued at K2.6 million awarded to Atika Investment Limited (AIL).

The contract valued at K2, 625,850 is for the construction of new residential building and office complex for the Public Service Commission (PSC) at Kagamuga in Mount Hagen, Western Highlands Province.

The swearing-in which took place on Friday 12th February in Port Moresby, is big a relief for the province moving forward with its public works, some of which have been shelved due to the stringent requirements of the provincial government.

Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of the Provincial Procurement Committee at the National Procurement Commission head office, Governor for East Sepik, Alan Bird admitted there is K80million sitting in the provincial bank accounts allocated for public works. 

Komo-Magarima in Hela province and Nipa Kutubu in Southern Highlands both had their district procurement committees sworn in together with the Port Moresby General Hospital’s special committee on Monday 9^th November at the NPC office in Port Moresby.

NPC CEO, Simon Bole addressed the new committees by explaining some of the administrative procedures within a newly set up procurement office. He said the boards are only the end part of the administration powers, while the administrative functions complete the processes.   

The National Procurement Commission (NPC) chief executive officer, Simon Bole, said this when commending the Western Highlands Provincial Government for swearing in their Provincial Procurement Board last week.

He called on all provincial administrators and chairmen of DDAs that have yet to establish their procurement committees, to immediately write to the NPC to facilitate their establishment.

The centralised system aims to ensure strict guidelines are met and complied with.

Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan, said too often contracts where given under suspicious circumstances. But with the centralised system, all procurement will achieve value for money.

He said the Central Supply and Tenders Board (CSTB) has been transformed into the National Procurement Commission (NPC). And it will operate under the revised Procurement Act.

“The (revised) Procurement Act will now be the guiding principle under which procurement will take place.