Senior Reporter
geisha.kowlessar@guardian.co.tt
Public bodies reported $16 billion in procurement awards during fiscal year 2024/2025, up from $13.7 billion the year before. But the procurement system continued to be marked by poor reporting quality, limited competition and significant project execution challenges, including approximately $3 billion in unfulfilled contracts, as outlined in the executive summary of the Office of Procurement Regulation’s (OPR) 2026 final annual report, Volume One.
The report was laid in Parliament on Friday.
The report noted that procurement activity expanded significantly over the review period.
“Reported procurement activity expanded from 105,299 awards valued at $13.7Bn in fiscal year 2023/2024 to 141,479 awards valued at $16.0Bn in fiscal year 2024/2025, a conservative 9.2 per cent of GDP,” it stated.
However, despite the increase in procurement spending and activity, the regulator cautioned that deeper structural issues continue to affect the effectiveness of the system.
Three years after the full proclamation of T&T’s procurement legislation, the OPR is warning that the country’s procurement system has reached a critical inflection point, with significant weaknesses in compliance, transparency, competition and accountability continuing to undermine the objectives of procurement reform.
Against this backdrop, chairman and procurement regulator Beverly Khan, in her foreword, said many public bodies have yet to fully embrace the governance and reporting standards required under the law.
“During fiscal year 2024/2025, the evidence confirms that the strategic integration of procurement remains insufficiently implemented across the public sector. Public bodies continued to rely on pre-proclamation practices; procurement reporting remained deficient; data quality continued to constrain effective oversight; and recurring procedural non-compliance limited transparency and reduced visibility into procurement activities and outcomes.
“These findings indicate that the policies, procedures, and governance arrangements mandated under the Act are not yet consistently embedded within organisational planning, procurement decision-making, and performance management structures,” she explained.
The OPR found that quarterly reporting compliance never exceeded 63.8 per cent during the year, adding that the assessed quality of reported data remained “poor,” marked by missing dates, misclassification and suspected duplicate reporting.
Khan said the evidence gathered by the OPR showed that public procurement reform has reached a critical stage where compliance alone is no longer enough.
“As this report was being finalised, Trinidad and Tobago’s public procurement, retention and disposal reform marked its third year since the full proclamation of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act,” Khan said, noting, “While the Act, the attendant Regulations and the Handbooks and Guidelines provide the mandatory compliance framework, the intended institutional transformation across the ecosystem has not yet been realised at the pace, depth, and consistency required.”
Among the report’s key findings was that 33 per cent of reported awards were submitted without Annual Schedule of Planned Procurement Activities (ASPPA) reference numbers, weakening the link between procurement activity and approved planning.
Additionally, two per cent of awards were reported without award or issue dates, while data quality problems continued to limit effective oversight and analysis.
Khan argued that the challenges facing procurement reform could no longer be explained simply by a lack of training or familiarity with the legislation.
“Three years into implementation, the issue is no longer whether public bodies understand the framework. The issue is whether public bodies have embraced and embedded procurement reform as a binding governance and institutional priority,” she said.
The report found that procurement continues to be treated largely as an administrative function rather than a strategic tool for achieving public value.
Practices by RHAs a concern
Micro procurement transactions accounted for 124,909 awards or 88.3 per cent of total procurement volume, while purchase orders represented 78.4 per cent of procurement activity over $75,000 and accounted for 55.8 per cent of total reported spend.
The OPR warned that excessive reliance on purchase orders exposes public bodies to greater procurement and contract-management risks. Competition also remains a significant concern.
Although open bidding is the default method under the legislation, the report found that it accounted for just 7.6 per cent of reported awards.
By comparison, single-source procurement represented 46.2 per cent of total award value, a sharp increase from the previous reporting period.
Further, 1,644 procurement exercises that used competitive methods received only a single bid, raising concerns about market participation and value for money.
The ORP also highlighted growing concerns surrounding unfulfilled contracts and project delays.
During the fiscal year, public bodies reported $3 billion in unfulfilled contracts, with 97.7 per cent classified as either incomplete or delayed.
Contract variations also increased from 823 to 1,157, with time-related extensions accounting for the majority of changes.
While the report identified improvements in administrative compliance, including increased reporting of accounting officers and named procurement officers, progress remained uneven.
Only 45 per cent of public bodies published their procurement schedules by the statutory deadline, while less than 40 per cent had fully operational procurement and disposal advisory committees and disposal committees.
The regulator was particularly critical of procurement practices within the regional health authorities.
Despite a collective allocation of approximately $5 billion, RHAs reported procurement spending of only $875 million, just 17.5 per cent of the allocation.
The report found heavy reliance on purchase orders and micro procurements, with little evidence that procurement systems had evolved significantly since the legislation came into force.
At the same time, Khan warned that findings emerging from audits, investigations and other regulatory activities suggest some public bodies may be focusing on avoiding compliance requirements rather than embracing reform.
“In some instances, the circumstances of the issues suggest that certain public bodies have directed effort towards circumventing or avoiding regulatory requirements rather than progressing the underlying objectives of the Act. This is unacceptable. Public bodies cannot treat compliance obligations as optional, negotiable, or secondary to other priorities,” she said.
Looking ahead, the OPR plans to intensify its focus on performance measurement, risk-based oversight and enforcement.
Planned initiatives include the rollout of electronic government procurement, stronger compliance monitoring systems, expanded investigations and audits, enhanced performance indicators and proposed legislative amendments to introduce administrative fines for non-compliance.
Khan said the success of reform cannot depend on the regulator alone.
“Public bodies, boards, accounting officers, executives, and procurement practitioners must assume ownership of their statutory responsibilities and governance obligations. They must move beyond minimum compliance and embed the Act’s principles and objects within organisational governance, planning, and decision-making,” she said.
Despite the shortcomings identified across the public sector, she expressed confidence that the objectives of the procurement reform programme remain achievable.
“The observations in this report do not suggest that reform has not taken hold. They do, however, demonstrate that implementation remains inadequate and that the burden of improvement rests squarely with those responsible for institutional compliance and performance,” Khan said, adding, “The system must deliver clearly, consistently, and measurably if Trinidad and Tobago’s public procurement is to fulfil its potential as a strategic contributor to stronger institutions, sound fiscal management, and the country’s development priorities.”
James urges systemic reform
following OPR warnings
Economist Dr Vanus James pointed to the latest OPR report as clear evidence that T&T must act urgently to prevent statutory red flags from becoming a routine list of lamentations.
He cited that the OPR stated plainly: “During fiscal year 2024/2025, the evidence confirms that the strategic integration of procurement remains insufficiently implemented across the public sector,” adding that later on page 46, “In some instances, the circumstances of the issues suggest that certain public bodies have directed effort towards circumventing or avoiding regulatory requirements rather than progressing the underlying objectives of the Act. This is unacceptable.”
James stressed that while the OPR holds significant legal enforcement capabilities, real success cannot depend on the regulator alone.
He added that the report “reminded of decades of reporting by the Auditor General, and those point to a change of the system of government itself to allow for better legislative oversight of the entire process.”
