Contractors hail eighth amendment to public procurement regulations

Published On: August 6, 2019 04:00 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, August 6: Construction entrepreneurs have welcomed the eighth amendment to Public Procurement Regulation, stating that new provisions in the regulation will help in the growth of infrastructure development in the country.

"The government has already amended the regulation three times within a year. Still it has failed to address most of the issues that are hindering the growth of the construction industry," Ravi Singh, president of Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN), told Republica. "There are some provisions which will support infrastructure development in the country."

The new amendment has implemented bid capacity for contractors. "This means contractors will not be able to bid for new project without completing project in their hand," Singh added.

The bidding capacity was in sixth amendment. Though it was removed in the seventh amendment, the government decided to included in the fresh amendment.

Similarly, construction entrepreneurs will get term extension of only one year if their project is not completed on time. While Singh supported the provision, he said it will be difficult to complete incomplete projects in just one year due to some technical limitations. "Altogether 2,200 projects are being implemented across the country. Of them, 400 cannot be completed on time," he said, adding that the government should have studied those projects before including new time limitation in the amendment.

Talking to Republica, Keshav Prasain, director of Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO), said that the latest amendment has been made by incorporating feedbacks received from stakeholders. "The government has also tightened rules for bidding companies to prepare financial and technical proposals. Firms that fail to meet the new requirements cannot participate in bidding," he added.He also said that there is no harm in amending regulations multiple times. "It is a never ending process. We will amend it again if needed," he added.