Capacity Building and Training Workshop 'Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority'
It was well attended by procurement officials of government departments. The main purpose of the workshop was to build up the capacity of government officials regarding amendments in 2004 Procurement Manual.
1st Session
The program started with recitation of verses from Holy Quran by Dr. Ghazi Kamal Ahmed. It was chaired by Chief Justice ® Hazik-ul-Khairi, Trustee TI-P. Syed Adil Gilani, Chairman, Transparency International Pakistan was the first speaker who gave an introduction of Transparency International Pakistan, its inception, objectives and activities. He stressed upon the need to have a public private partnership for an effective collaboration to eliminate the menace of corruption.
Mr. Rizwan Ahmed, M.D. SPPRA was the next to speak on the subject. He appreciated the efforts of TI-P for organizing the workshop in collaboration with SPPRA. Mr. Ahmed spoke on the history of SPPRA. He informed the participants that Sindh was the first province to promulgate and follow these transparent rules. He stressed upon the need to know about these rules and to have a better understanding so that transparent procurement could take place.
The next speaker was Mr. Hazik-ul-Khairi, Chief Justice (R), Trustee Transparency International Pakistan, who expressed his satisfaction for the improvement in the SPPRA rules. He stressed upon the need for the masses to have knowledge of these rules so that the menace of corruption can be curbed. According to him the key problem in procurement is the weak capacity of counterparts. At the end of the session Plaques were presented by Ms. Yasmeen Lari, Trustee TI-P.
2nd Session
Syed Adil Gilani chaired the second session. The first speaker was Mr. Rizwan Ahmed, M.D. SPPRA who discussed the new amendments made in the manual. He gave an account of the core values of SPPRA and the importance of following them. He explained to the audience the importance of whistle blowers and also invited people to suggest and help in making this effort worth while. Mr. Ahmed made a presentation on the amended rules in the Procurement Manual where by certain shortfalls have been detected and corrected besides had some suggestions that were appreciated by the audience. He also stated that the clauses relating to emergency procurement were being misused as it was not clearly stated as to what is meant by “emergency” and thus necessary corrections have been made in this regard. He closed his speech by saying that SPPRA will help to make procurement process free of malpractices and he hoped that the participants will benefit from the workshop.
The next speaker was Mr. Khaqan Murtaza Director, SPPRA. He said that capacity building is essential to understand and follow procurement rules. He elaborated upon the functions of SPPRA and stated that the Procurement Manual is intended to provide guidance on procurement procedures to all involved. In view of the rapidly changing procurement practices and technology the Procurement Manual should be regarded as a "living" document that is a guide line for all. Furthermore, he informed the audience about the purpose of SPPRA’s establishment and also how it managed to promulgate the laws and building up of the capacity in the public sector. He shared a presentation with the audience regarding the ordinance 2004 and the amended rules 2010. He discussed and explained the bidding processes and award of contracts and about the misuse of the various clauses.
A Question/Answer session commenced after his address in which active participation took place. This helped to remove misconceptions that people have regarding the procurement processes. At the end of this session plaques were distributed amongst the speakers by the Chairperson.
3rd session
This session started after the lunch break and was chaired by Mr. Nazar Hussain Mahar, Federal Secretary Youth Affairs. The session started with a short speech by Mr. Syed Adil Gilani. He talked about the latest Transparency International Pakistan Corruption Perception Index and violation of Public Procurement Rules. He also enlightened the audience of the fact that Mr. Mahar was the pioneer in establishing the Procurement Rules for the province of Sindh, which are now under implementation by other provinces. After this the Question/Answer session commenced again.
Mr. Mahar was the last to shed light on the issue. He said that a lot of public money was wasted due to corruption and implementation of these rules would go a long way in curbing corruption in Public Procurement. He advised officials to follow the rules and if necessary take up the offer of TI-P for guidance. He also called on SPPRA to keep a watch on public procurement processes and if they find any violations they should have it rectified.