Hassan Al-Sitri
Al-Salloum: Raising financial limits is justified on the condition of smart oversight and clear controls
Al Nuaimi: The existing law is effective and has achieved significant financial savings without the need to amend it
Ibrahim: Some projects require speed in implementation, which justifies introducing some flexibility
Verdun: Maintaining transparency requires that supervision remain in the hands of the Tender Board
During its session yesterday, the House of Representatives postponed the vote on amending the tender law after controversy over raising the procurement ceiling, while the Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs, Yasser Humaidan, confirmed that the practical application of the tender law issued in 2002 revealed a number of challenges facing some government agencies.
He stated during his intervention in the House of Representatives session yesterday that these challenges were discussed with 14 government agencies, which resulted in reaching 3 main points, which are that the current law is no longer in line with modern economic requirements and necessities, and lacks the flexibility required to confront the current circumstances; It is also not compatible with the principles followed in electronic transformation.
The Minister discussed the details of the new draft law, which seeks to address these challenges by introducing six major amendments. The first amendment includes raising the ceiling on purchases, doubling it from 25 thousand dinars to 50 thousand dinars for government agencies, and from 50 thousand dinars to 100 thousand dinars for state-owned companies. As for the second amendment, it allows bids to be issued using all contracting methods, after it was limited to the closed envelope method only.
He added that the third amendment will introduce the method of public bidding for the government and the non-governmental sector into the approved contracting methods, while the fourth amendment allows for in-person and non-in-person bidding for the private sector.
The Fifth Amendment grants the Council of Ministers the power to exempt some entities from the provisions of the law related to contracts concluded and executed outside Bahrain, provided that the entity has a list of procedures approved by the Council of Ministers to ensure the achievement of the objectives of the article. The Council also requires that these contracts be reviewed regularly and at a minimum every three months.
As for the sixth amendment, it allows the disposing parties to negotiate with suppliers or contractors in specific cases, including the presence of a single bid or the highest bid exceeding the estimated value. This measure aims to improve the quality of offers, ensure the lowest possible prices, and enhance the efficiency of government services while preserving public money and sustaining resources.
The minister added that there are two conditions that must be adhered to when negotiating: the first is that the bidder be the same as the alternative bidder, and the second is that the difference between the best bids does not exceed 5% of the total evaluation.
Regarding statistics, it was stated that 40% of the transactions of ministries and government agencies, which include transactions with a value not exceeding 50 thousand dinars (231 out of 585 transactions), will be included within the scope of the new powers according to the proposed amendments. As for companies wholly state-owned, this category represents about 56% of the total transactions (147 out of 262 transactions).
Yesterday, the parliamentary session witnessed an extensive discussion on a draft law amending some provisions of Decree Law No. 36 of 2002 regarding the regulation of government tenders, auctions, purchases and sales, attached to Decree No. (94) of 2024, which ended with the postponement of voting on the draft.
Representative Al-Salloum said: “I believe that raising purchase limits is justified in light of price inflation and market change, but it should not be understood as a cancellation of the supervisory role, but rather a partial transfer of responsibility from central control to internal control within the entities themselves.”
He added that we appreciate the reservations of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry regarding the issue of negotiation after the opening of bids, stressing that negotiation must remain an exception subject to clear and written conditions, and must not affect the principle of confidentiality and equality of competition.
Al-Salloum added, “From this standpoint, I believe it is necessary to issue a complementary regulatory decision that includes smart and effective internal control mechanisms regarding government agencies’ purchases, including activating unified electronic systems for procurement that allow tracking of every process from request to award, and obligating agencies to document the reasons for direct purchases and submit periodic reports to the Tenders Board and the Financial and Administrative Control Bureau.
“We need to periodically review the borders, at least every two years, to ensure their feasibility and not being misused,” he said.
For his part, Representative Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi said that the legislator has the full right to regulate legislation in a way that ensures a balance between rights and duties, but the justifications received from the Tender Board regarding the rise in prices at the local, regional and international levels are not considered sufficient to amend the law.
He pointed out that the Tender Board’s report issued in 2024 showed that the average speed of completing tenders does not exceed only two weeks, which reflects the efficiency and high flexibility of the procedures, pointing out that the same report showed that the work of the Board contributed to achieving financial savings amounting to about 218 million dinars, which enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the current law in achieving the desired financial and administrative goals.
He stressed that the existing law already includes flexible provisions that allow government agencies, in cases of necessity, to initiate tenders in coordination with the Tender Board without the need for a comprehensive legislative amendment, considering that keeping the law in its current form is the most appropriate option in the absence of realistic justifications or fundamental challenges that require change.
The First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abdulnabi Salman, said: “We support regulation in a way that meets economic development, but the reports of the Financial Supervision Bureau indicate that there are violations of the tender law, so to what extent does this project serve the process? In the current situation, there is a violation, so what if we raise the ceiling for them?”
For his part, Representative Jalal Kazem said: “How do we monitor public funds if we raise the ceiling for purchases that pass without the approval of the Tender Board? In addition, this project serves large companies and harms small companies, as the project has a conflict of interest.”
Representative Hassan Ibrahim said: “There are justifications for the project, because there are matters that require acceleration, especially electricity and sanitation maintenance projects.”
Representative Mahmoud Fardan pointed out that there are some caveats in the law. The original law was based on strengthening the principle of transparency and protecting public money, and if we want to maintain transparency, these matters must remain in the hands of the Council.
At the end of the interventions, the Chairman of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, Ahmed Al-Saloum, requested that the report be withdrawn to include responses to the problems raised in the session.
