Two business groups question OPR amendments

Busi­ness groups have backed ef­forts to over­haul Trinidad and To­ba­go’s pub­lic pro­cure­ment sys­tem, but are warn­ing that greater speed and flex­i­bil­i­ty can­not come at the ex­pense of trans­paren­cy, com­pe­ti­tion and ac­count­abil­i­ty.

The Gov­ern­ment has in­tro­duced the Pub­lic Pro­cure­ment and Dis­pos­al of Pub­lic Prop­er­ty (Amend­ment) Bill, 2026, with de­bate in the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives set to start to­day.

The pro­posed changes would sig­nif­i­cant­ly al­ter the pow­ers of the Of­fice of Pro­cure­ment Reg­u­la­tion (OPR) af­ter a com­plaint is made or an in­ves­ti­ga­tion be­gins.