The Government is signalling a stronger focus on transparency and accountability in public spending, as it has increased funding for the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) by 25 per cent in fiscal 2027 as the agency continues to raise concerns about weaknesses in the country’s procurement system.
The Draft Estimates of Expenditure 2027 show that the OPR has been allocated $50 million for the 2027 fiscal year, up from the revised estimate of $40 million in the 2026 fiscal year. The OPR is charged with overseeing public procurement and ensuring compliance with the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act.
The increase comes against the backdrop of a sharp rise in procurement activity across the public sector.
According to the OPR’s 2026 final annual report, Volume One which was laid in Parliament in September, public bodies reported $16 billion in procurement awards during fiscal year 2024/2025, up from $13.7 billion in the previous year.
The report revealed that procurement activity expanded from 105,299 awards valued at $13.7 billion in fiscal 2023/2024 to 141,479 awards valued at $16 billion in fiscal 2024/2025, equal to 9.2 per cent of gross domestic product.
However, despite the increase in procurement spending and activity, the regulator warned that significant structural weaknesses continue to undermine the effectiveness of the system.
Three years after the full proclamation of the procurement legislation, the OPR said the country’s procurement framework has reached a critical inflection point, with persistent shortcomings in compliance, transparency, competition and accountability threatening to weaken the benefits the legislation was designed to deliver.
Business umbrella group the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) has welcomed the increase in the OPR’s budget allocation, describing it as a potentially important signal of the Government’s commitment to procurement reform.
JCC chairman Fazir Khan told Guardian Media that the council welcomed the proposed increase from $40 million to $50 million and hoped it reflected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s continued commitment to the long-term benefits of procurement reform embodied in legislation enacted under her administration in 2015.
While welcoming the additional funding, Khan noted that the JCC remains concerned about recent amendments to the procurement legislation and said the findings of the OPR’s annual report reinforced the need for stronger implementation rather than weaker oversight.
“The OPR’s Annual Report to Parliament for fiscal 2024/2025 identifies substantial compliance and data-quality gaps across public bodies. These reinforce the need for targeted training, stronger procurement units and better information systems,” Khan said.
He argued that while additional resources for the regulator are important, public bodies themselves must also be adequately staffed and equipped to improve procurement outcomes.
Khan also called for the creation of structured graduate traineeships and internship programmes in procurement, contract management, data analysis and information technology, saying such initiatives could help address capacity constraints within the public sector.
Under the proposal, public bodies would work with the OPR and tertiary institutions to create supervised pathways through which graduates could develop specialist skills required to strengthen public procurement administration.
The JCC further urged policymakers to use improved procurement data and performance metrics to conduct an evidence-based review of procurement exemptions, approval thresholds and streamlined procedures introduced over the years.
“The objective must be timely delivery without sacrificing accountability, integrity, transparency or value for money,” Khan said.
He also pointed to progress already made by the regulator, noting that the OPR has developed procurement support systems and advanced digital reform initiatives, including the launch of ProcureTT and work on a national electronic government procurement strategy.
According to Khan, these initiatives provide an important foundation for modernising public procurement and improving efficiency across government agencies.
