“It is inconceivable to believe that the opposition would be looking to formalise any abuses of power” – GreenidgeBy Gary EleazarPAC Chairman, Carl GreenidgeGovernment is looking to not submit to the Public Accounts Committee, any names as nominees to sit on the Public Procurement Commission, and has now taken a stance where it is seeking to justify why it should not.This is according to Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee,Francisco Rodriguez Mexico Jersey, Carl Greenidge,Javier Hernandez Jersey, who yesterday in a brief telephone interview with this publication,Sergio Aguero Manchester City Jersey, confirmed that Presidential Advisor and PPP/C Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira,Joshua Kimmich Germany Jersey, is seeking to justify this position of the government at the Parliamentary level.The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) met on Monday last and Greenidge told this publication that Teixeira appeared before the committee and sought to argue for the right of the Executive and its role in the issuance and procurement of public contracts.He said that Teixeira told the PAC that government does not believe that the Committee has any rights over fiscal matters.Teixeira this past week informed the PAC that government was looking to preserve the role of Cabinet in relation to public procurement and contracts.Greenidge opined that any changes in the framework would have to be undertaken through an amendment of the Public Procurement Act of 2003.According to the PAC Chairman, however, “It is inconceivable to believe that the opposition would be looking to formalise any abuses by Government. He said that the Government already exercises excessive power and abuses the procurement system.He explained that the Opposition will not be formalising any such abuses by removing the necessary section of the legislation that would remove the role of Cabinet in the issuance of public contracts.A week ago, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, during a media engagement at Freedom House, sought to justify publicly, why the role of Cabinet should be preserved in the process. He had at the time indicated that Cabinet is currently preparing a detailed response to calls for the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission in the current legal framework.The Executive, he stressed,Loris Karius Jersey, bears responsibility to the electorate, and 99 per cent of infrastructural works undertaken in Guyana is linked directly to the public procurement process.“If Cabinet is to be held responsible for the expenditure of funds, then it inevitably must have a role,” the Attorney General argued.The Procurement Act 2003 states,Replica Zlatan Ibrahimovic Manchester United Jersey, “…upon its establishment, the Public Procurement Commission, shall review annually the Cabinet’s threshold for review of procurements, with the objective of increasing that threshold over time so as to promote the goal of progressively phasing out Cabinet involvement and decentralising the procurement process.”The Procurement Act further states definitively, that Cabinet’s involvement “shall cease upon the constitution of the Public Procurement Commission” except in relation to pending matters at the time.In recent weeks, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) have ramped up calls for the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission under the existing legislation.