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Water task force gets to sole-source projects
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Posted on Feb 24 2005
The government’s procurement rules have been amended to allow the CNMI Water Task Force to purchase goods and obtain services without soliciting bids or proposals.
Adopted by the Department of Finance on an emergency basis, the expedited procurement regulations took effect last Feb. 7 and will remain effective for 120 days unless sooner adopted as a permanent policy.
“[Existing] procurement regulations do not provide the framework necessary for the [CNMI] to procure equipment and services necessary to implement a 24-hour safe water supply in an expeditious fashion,” Finance Secretary Fermin Atalig said in a public notice. “The adoption of these amendments will provide a modified competitive procurement process in certain circumstances.”
The expedited procurement process requires an agency to simply solicit at least three quotations from qualified vendors, rather than going through the normal bid or proposal process.
Besides goods or services related to the Water Task Force’s goal, vehicles or equipment specifically designed for chemical, biological, nuclear exposure and bomb detection, and critically needed medical supplies may also qualify for expedited procurement.
The procurement director, upon determining that a request for expedited procurement is justified, should process the necessary documents and assist in procuring the required goods and services.
He or she is also required to promptly notify the requesting agency of his disapproval, immediately after determining that the application did not meet the set criteria.
