Public procurement refers to the process by which public sector organizations, such as government departments and agencies, acquire goods, services, and works from private sector companies. The Saint Lucia Public Procurement Act [Chapter 15.10] provides a legal framework to ensure that this process is conducted in a transparent, efficient, and fair manner.
Under this Act, the Minister of Finance is responsible for issuing guidelines and instructions, which are executed through the Director of Public Procurement. The Act delineates the roles of three primary authorities charged with awarding contracts: the Accounting Officers, the Public Procurement Committees, and the Central Public Procurement Board. These entities ensure that procurement activities align with the Act’s foundational principles as outlined in Section 3, which emphasize fairness, transparency, integrity, and value for money in the procurement process.
Central Public Procurement Board
There is established a Central Public Procurement Board.
(1) The Board shall, in respect of a public procurement of a major value —
(a) establish appropriate internal procedures for the operations of the Board
and ensure compliance with them;
(b) (deleted by Act 13 of 2020)
(c) receive and publicly open tenders;
(d) select persons from a list of qualified evaluators maintained by it to act as
members of a Tender Evaluation Committee and oversee the examination
and evaluation of tenders; and
(e) review the recommendations of a Tender Evaluation Committee.
(Substituted by Act 13 of 2020)
(1A) Where the Board accepts the recommendations of the Tender Evaluation
Committee, the Board may approve the award of the public procurement contract.
(Inserted by Act 13 of 2020)
(1B) The Board —
(a) shall examine the grounds for the dissenting views;
(b) may require the Tender Evaluation Committee to review its evaluation on specific grounds, where the Board is in receipt of the recommendations of the Tender Evaluation Committee with dissenting views that has a significant effect on the result arrived at by the Board.
(Inserted by Act 13 of 2020)
(1C) The Board may, if dissenting views persist —
(a) decide on the issue and approve the award of the public procurement contract;
(b) cancel the tendering process; or
(c) appoint another Tender Evaluation Committee to make a new evaluation.
(Inserted by Act 13 of 2020)
(2) The Board shall strive to achieve the highest standards of transparency
and equity in the execution of its functions, taking into account —
(a) the evaluation criteria and methodology disclosed in the tendering documents;
(b) the qualification criteria and methodology disclosed in the tendering documents;
(c) equality of opportunity to all tenderers;
(d) fairness of treatment to all parties;
(e) the need to obtain the best value for money in terms of price, quality and
delivery, having regard to set specifications; and
(f) transparency of process and decisions.
(3) The Board shall exercise such functions, as may be assigned to it under any
other enactment.
(2) The Board shall strive to achieve the highest standards of transparency and
equity in the execution of its functions, taking into account —
(a) the evaluation criteria and methodology disclosed in the tendering documents;
(b) the qualification criteria and methodology disclosed in the tendering documents;
(c) equality of opportunity to all tenderers;
(d) fairness of treatment to all parties;
(e) the need to obtain the best value for money in terms of price, quality and
delivery, having regard to set specifications; and
(f) transparency of process and decisions.
(3) The Board shall exercise such functions, as may be assigned to it under any
other enactment.
(1) In the discharge of its functions under section 12, the Board may —
(a) carry out any study relevant to the determination of the award of a public procurement contract for public procurement of a major value;
(b) request any professional or technical assistance from any appropriate person in Saint Lucia or elsewhere; or
(c) do all such acts and things as it may consider incidental or conducive to the
exercise of its functions under section 12.
(2) Where —
(a) any variation in a public procurement contract price subsequent to the conclusion of a public procurement contract entered into by a procuring entity causes the total public procurement contract amount to exceed the major value by more than 20%; or
(b) the lowest tender submitted in response to an invitation made by a procuring entity exceeds the major value; the matter together with all the tendering documents and the public procurement
contract, if any, shall be referred to the Board for approval.
(3) Where it comes to the knowledge of the Board that a public procurement contract has been awarded or is about to be awarded in breach of this Act, the Board shall immediately report the matter to the Director, recommending such action as it considers appropriate.
(4) The Director may, where he or she considers appropriate, refer any matter reported to him or her under subsection (3) to the Public Service Commission or the police, as the case may be, for enquiry.
(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the Board shall consist of —
(a) a Chairperson who is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance or a person nominated by the Permanent Secretary; (Substituted by Act
13 of 2020)
(b) two Vice-Chairpersons; and
(c) three public officers. (Substituted by Act 13 of 2020)
(2) The Board shall be appointed by the Minister on such terms and conditions as the Minister determines.
(3) A person appointed under subsection (1) must have wide experience in one or more of the following fields —
(a) legal;
(b) administration;
(c) business;
(d) public procurement;
(e) economics;
(f) finance;
(g) engineering;
(h) science or technology.
(4) The Board may co-opt other persons capable of assisting it with expert advice but no such person has the right to vote on any matter considered by the Board.
(5) The Minister shall cause to be published in the Gazette the names of all members of the Board as first appointed and every change in the membership of the Board and the revocation of any such appointment.
Subject to section 16, a member holds office for a period of 3 years and is eligible for re-appointment.
The Minister may revoke the appointment of a member who has been guilty of —
(a) any misconduct, default or breach of trust in the discharge of his or her
duties;
(b) an offence of such nature as renders it desirable that his or her appointment should be revoked.
(1) The Public Service Commission shall appoint a Secretary to the Board.
(2) The Secretary shall —
(a) be responsible for the execution of the policy of the Board and for the control and management of the day-to-day business of the Board;
(b) attend every meeting of the Board and may take part in its deliberations but does not have the right to vote.
The Board shall, in the conduct of its business, be assisted by such public officers as may be designated by the Public Service Commission or by such persons as may be appointed by the Board under contract terms and conditions.
(1) The Board shall meet as often as is necessary and at such time and place as
the Chairperson considers necessary.
(2) Everything authorised or required to be done by the Board shall be decided by simple majority of the members present and voting.
(3) In the absence of the Chairperson at any meeting, the other members shall designate one of the 2 Vice-Chairpersons to preside over the meeting.
(4) At any meeting of the Board —
(a) except where the Board meets for the purpose of opening bids, no person other than a member or a person referred to in section 14(4) shall be present;
(b) the Chairperson or one of the 2 Vice-Chairpersons and 2 other members constitute a quorum; and
(c) each member shall have one vote on the matter in question and, in the event of an equality of votes, the person chairing the meeting has a casting vote.
(5) Where a member does not, for good cause, attend a meeting of the Board, the Secretary shall immediately communicate to the member the decision taken at the meeting, and the member may, within 24 hours, request the Chairperson to reconvene the Board so as to reconsider the decision.
(6) Subject to this section, the Board shall conduct its proceedings in such manner as it thinks fit.
A member shall, on assumption of duty, take the oath or affirmation specified in Schedule 2.
(1) A member shall, as soon as practicable, disclose to the Chairperson any matter in which he or she has, directly or indirectly, personally or by his or her close relative, business associate or company, any pecuniary or business interest.
(2) Where a member discloses an interest under subsection (1), the Board shall determine whether or not the member’s interest in a matter is material and where the Board determines that the member’s interest is material, the member shall not take part in and shall be absent from any decision relating to the matter.
(3) A disclosure and the absence of a member from the decision relating to the matter in accordance with subsection (2) shall be noted in the minutes of the meeting by the Secretary.
(4) A member shall not —
(a) fail to comply with subsection (1);
(b) vote in respect of a matter before the Board in which he or she is materially interested, whether directly or indirectly; or
(c) seek to influence the vote of any other member in relation to a matter before the Board in which he or she is materially interested, whether directly or indirectly.
(5) A member who contravenes subsection (4) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
The Board shall derive its funds from the Consolidated Fund
The Departmental Tenders Boards are now referred to as the Public Procurement Committees and this is covered by the provisions Section 23 – 25 of the Procurement Act
Public Procurement Committee
Subject to section 24, the Director shall, on the recommendation of the accounting officer, appoint a Public Procurement Committee.
(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the Public Procurement Committee comprises —
(a) a chairperson;
(b) a representative appointed by the Permanent Secretary in the Department of Finance;
(c) three other persons.
(Substituted by Act 13 of 2020)
(2) A person appointed under this section must have —
(a) technical and professional competence;
(b) public procurement skills and knowledge required for the performance of the functions of the Public Procurement Committee; and
(c) proven integrity and sound decision-making abilities.
(3) The Director shall, in appointing the members of a Public Procurement Committee, seek to establish a balance of skills and experience to ensure that the Public Procurement Committee —
(a) has an appropriate level of seniority and experience in decision-making;
(b) includes persons with knowledge and experience in public procurement and other relevant professional disciplines; and
(c) includes persons with knowledge and experience of the operations of a procuring entity.
(1) The Public Procurement Committee shall ensure that all public procurement by a procuring entity is conducted in accordance with this Act.
(2) The functions of the Public Procurement Committee, in respect of public procurement of an intermediate value, are —
(a) to approve public procurement procedures, tendering documents, public
procurement contracts and conditions and addenda to tendering
documents;
(b) (Deleted by Act 13 of 2020)
(c) to deliberate on the findings of Tender Evaluation Committees and advise on award of public procurement contracts or otherwise; and
(d) to review and approve variations, addenda or amendments to on-going public procurement contracts in accordance with best public procurement practices and in compliance with this Act.
(3) All matters handled at each meeting of the Public Procurement Committee shall be recorded and minutes of meetings circulated prior to the next meeting.
(4) The accounting officer shall maintain a record of the minutes under subsection (3).
(5) In the course of examination of tenders, the Public Procurement Committee may invite a member of the Tender Evaluation Committee to provide clarifications on the contents of the Tender Evaluation Report and the Public Procurement Committee may request the Tender Evaluation Committee to review its recommendations on specific grounds backed by the contents of the tendering documents, guidelines issued by the Director and in accordance with the provisions under this Act.
(6) Where the Public Procurement Committee is in receipt of a Tender Evaluation Report with dissenting views that has a significant effect on the result arrived at by the Public Procurement Committee, the Public Procurement Committee shall examine the grounds for the dissenting views.
(7) The Public Procurement Committee may in the case mentioned in subsection
(6) request for a review on specific grounds and where the dissenting views persist, it may decide on the issue and approve the award of the procurement contract, cancel the tendering process or as a last resort appoint another Tender Evaluation Committee to look into the evaluation exercise afresh.
(8) The decision made and the reasons for it shall be recorded and signed by the Chairperson.