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Slow spending prompts city to give agencies bid power
After having brought the procurement process for all city projects under the newly formed Goods and Services Procurement Unit (ULP), the city administration is returning the power to conduct procurements for small-scale projects to the relevant city agencies in an effort to accelerate budget spending, Acting city secretary Wiriyatmoko said on Friday that the new unit seemed to be overwhelmed with the number of procurement orders, so it was better to share the load with the agencies related to each project
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fter having brought the procurement process for all city projects under the newly formed Goods and Services Procurement Unit (ULP), the city administration is returning the power to conduct procurements for small-scale projects to the relevant city agencies in an effort to accelerate budget spending,
Acting city secretary Wiriyatmoko said on Friday that the new unit seemed to be overwhelmed with the number of procurement orders, so it was better to share the load with the agencies related to each project.
'It is a transitional period and we have 7,000 procurement projects to go this year,' he said, adding that the unit had only received 342 project requests from agencies so far in 2014.
'I think the agencies can handle procurement for small-scale projects themselves,' he said.
He went on to say that he was concerned that if the administration did not speed up the bidding process, not all of the city's budget would get spent.
The Jakarta Finance Management Body (BPKD) head, Endang Widjajanti, previously reported that as of April, only 8 percent of the 2014 city budget of Rp 72 trillion (US$6.33 billion) had been spent.
While procurements were previously made by agencies and working units, the city administration formed the ULP to centralize the process and thus increase oversight to minimize rampant corruption. Now, agencies send their procurement requests to the ULP.
ULP head I Dewa Gede Sony said he did not know for sure how many procurement projects his unit needed to complete in 2014, as requests from agencies had yet to come in.
ULP recorded that it had only received 342 procurement requests this year. 'The bidding process has begun on only 146 requests,' he said.
Sony said to make a procurement request, each agency had to upload the goods and services it needed procured for a project to a ULP website. The unit would then procure the items requested via the website.
'The agencies hopefully propose each plan thoroughly, so there will be no technical glitches,' he said.
Sony said not all procurement activities were carried out by his unit as many goods could also be procured directly through the Government Procurement Regulatory Body's (LKPP) electronic catalog (e-catalog).
Meanwhile, deputy chairman of the Jakarta office of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Sarman Simanjorang, said in his view slow budget spending was caused by agencies and the ULP not being completely adjusted to the new system.
'It is better to return the authority to conduct bids to the related agencies this year while the city administration prepares for the procurement units to be ready next year,' he said.
Sarman said the city administration had yet to familiarize agencies with the new system.
