Prime Minister Philip Davis said amendments to the Public Procurement Act will be brought to the House of Assembly when parliament returns from recess.
The Free National Movement has continually criticised the administration for not following the law.
“It’s not workable,” Davis told reporters yesterday. “It’s clearly not workable. It’s causing challenges.
“If we were to follow the law as it is we would never be able to bring the relief to people, particularly you would have seen the challenges we have with the hospital. If we were to follow that we’d probably still be in the potholes trying to address the issues. They’re not workable.
“There are suggestions as to how we amend those laws. They are under consideration because we want to come up with a workable solution to the challenges we have. We are an archipelago and so whatever construct we have has to take into account our peculiar and particular circumstance. We have to be able to respond to the needs of our people almost immediately in some instances…see one of the questions y’all should be asking and should be asking of the other side, is why should you have passed the bill early in the year and not have it in effect until September? They understood what they were doing was not workable.”
Davis said the amendments may be published before parliament returns to attract input from the general public.
The Public Procurement Act, which was passed last year, requires that a notice of a contract award be published within 60 days of the award.
The notice must show the name of the procuring entity, the selection method used and the contract price, among other things.
The Progressive Liberal Party supported the passage of the bill in opposition.
FNM Leader Michael Pintard has called the government’s failure to adhere to the law unacceptable.
“The prime minister admitted on his feet in the House of Assembly that he is not in compliance with the law and that they have no intention to obey the law as it is presently written,” he said in May.
“It is a dangerous thing when the chief lawmaker acknowledges that they are in violation of law but refuses to set the appropriate example in insisting that the law be followed.”
Pintard continued: “He does not have the luxury of waiting until the law is changed, nor does he have the latitude under the law to do so.”
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