| Work Detail |
(CNS): The Central Procurement Office has finally launched its new website after a year of working on it. The site provides a central portal for stakeholders inside and outside government who are involved in the supply and provision or acquisition of public services, and offers a platform where the public as well as public servants can learn all about government contracts, officials said. The Central Procurement Office is the new centralised department within the finance ministry which sets the guidance, standards, tools and templates to regulate public procurement.
CPO Director Craig Milley said that much thought had gone into creating a website that could comprehensively accommodate searches for information by internal and external stakeholders. All the information that a procurement officer within government might require and how businesses can bid for tenders is available on the site.
“We wanted to ensure that the site is attractive, very easy to navigate and supremely user-friendly, in short, that it offers a world-class design,” Milley said about the site which has taken some twelve months to complete. Officials said that this was partly due to the director and Deputy Director Elizabeth Gerrie aiming for a design that readily provided information with minimal search attempts and they spent a good bit of time fine-tuning the website design and contents.
“We wanted to under-promise and over-deliver, and accordingly used the time to get the website, its contents and design up to exacting specs,” the director explained.
However, officials said the website remains a work in progress, at least for a few weeks, to ensure that fine-tuning, if required, continues.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson said he was “delighted” it was now live as it was “another important milestone in our journey to creating a ‘world-class’ civil service in the Cayman Islands”.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Roy McTaggart said he was “elated” that his ministry had “another tool that will enhance and streamline the Cayman Islands’ procurement process”. He added, “This is another important step in improving governance while at the same time making it easier to do business in the Cayman Islands.”
The website was designed and created by NetClues and government has now confirmed that the site cost $12,000 and was “procured in full accordance with the Procurement regulations and Ministry of Finance & Economic Development policies.” |
