Treasury Drags its feet

TREASURY has again
failed to meet deadlines
regarding its new
measures for managing and
securing government business.
Government departments
have yet to receive Treasury’s
guidelines on bid specifications
in order to publish their own
tenders individually.
 As a result, most government
departments have not gone
out to tender for 2017.
Despite this, Treasury says
the process is on track, with
government departments to
publish tenders “soon”.
“The Guide to Accounting
Officers/Accounting Authorities
on the Minimum Bid
Specification Requirements for
Travel Management Services
will be issued before year-end.
Departments will start issuing
tenders soon after,” Treasury
told TNW. In October, TNW
reported that Treasury was
expected to send the revised
tender template to government
departments by October 31
in order for the new contracts
to be implemented by, latest,
April 1, 2017.
Treasury could not confirm
that departments would go
out to tender soon enough
for contracts to be initiated
by this deadline. But it did
say that TMCs currently
serving government accounts
on a month-to-month basis
(because new tenders have
not been awarded) will
continue to do so until
March 31, 2017.
According to Treasury, the
revised National Travel Policy
Framework will be issued
before the end of 2016 as
“department comments are
currently being considered
and included” in the new
framework.
Meanwhile, many agents’
government accounts remain
unpaid.
When asked if Treasury was
doing anything to assist agents
with outstanding accounts,
Treasury only said: “Most
TMCs were not forthcoming
with the information on monies
owed by departments for
fear of compromising future
business – they preferred
dealing with the owing
departments directly.”