Jakarta to test e-procurement
Jakarta to test e-procurement
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In a bid to minimize irregularities in city procurements, the
Jakarta administration plans to test an online system for the
procurement of goods and services in a number of city agencies
starting next February.
"We will try to use the online system for small procurements
in city agencies, including the procurement of office supplies,
car batteries, tires and other disposable goods that have values
of only up to a couple of billion rupiah," Jakarta Deputy
Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Wednesday.
Fauzi said that the tryout of the e-procurement system was
part of the effort to improve the monitoring city spending as the
system promised a "quicker, more accurate, transparent,
efficient, and fairer process".
He acknowledged that the current procurement system was wide
open to corruption and collusion as bidders and procurement
officers and committees were able to engage in direct contact,
which could lead to price-fixing through backroom negotiations.
"Hopefully, this (online) system will minimize the opportunity
for such loopholes," he said.
The Jakarta administration will not be the public institution
to apply the online system. It is already being used by several
government institutions, including the Surabaya administration,
state ship building firm PT PAL Indonesia, state port operator PT
Angkasa Pura I and PT Angkasa Pura II, airline PT Merpati
Nusantara, yellow pages firm PT Elnusa and survey firm PT
Sucofindo.
"We have conducted a feasibility study on various aspects,
learning from the failures and successes of the institutions
applying the system," the administration said in a press
statement.
It held an initial trial run on Dec. 23.
Boasting that the system is user-friendly and would provide
better services, the administration said that it would provide
training to the public servants involved in the project, to
bidders representatives, and members of the public in order to
ensure the success of the program.
For the first stage of the program's implementation, the
administration will limit the use of the online system to the
submission of bids up to the negotiating stage.
The whole process will become fully operational in mid-2006
with all of the relevant stages being gone through online.
The administration also plans to gradually integrate the
online system with other systems in the administration and other
governmental institutions.