GRTU, Malta Chamber of SMEs, is Malta’s registered national employers’ organisation with the largest number and array of micro and small business employers of members. GRTU strongly objects to the new imposition on Public Procurement as evidence in all public tenders issued by the Contract Committee over the last several weeks.

GRTU’s objections are based on two cardinal issues:

Public Procurement of goods and services should aim at the procurement of most optimal quality of goods and services at the best available, competitive price. This is the role of the National Public Procurement Agency (The Contract Committee). It is not the role of the Public Procurement to be Czar for Social Justice Enforcement, whether this refers to employment conditions, environmental issues, health and safety and any other enforcement whatsoever.

There are other appropriately established public institutions directly responsible for the enforcement of laws enforcing labour, health, safety, environment, standard, and any other condition. The National Public Procurement Agency should not be subjected to the inspectorate of other public sector institution because of any clauses imposed on Public Procurement documents.

The director of Employment Relations, for example, has enough legislation and resources to ensure that all employers, and not just government contractors, abide by Malta’s high quality labour protection laws.

There is nothing that precludes the director for Labour to act against any employer who has been found to be in abuse of labour laws. But the director for Labour should not expect the National Public Procurement Agency to do his work for him. The director for labour and his labour inspectorate should never be given power over the execution of contracts worth millions if not tens or hundreds of million euros.

When the National Public Procurement Agency “subcontracts” its own enforcement powers to other institutions it allows public procurement to become wide open for abuse, corruption and incompetence.

Public Procurement should be accessible to all who can compete. This is how the Private Sector Procurement is done and Public Procurement should follow the efficiency of the Private Sector. There are firms who are competent administratively and financially to bid for public contracts. These are specialist contractors who are not necessarily big. There are other firms, however, who prefer to specialise in supply of services and to operate as sub-contractors to the former. It is fallacious for anyone to state that contractors are more efficient and that they can provide a more cost-effective higher quality service if all specialists and workers are directly employed by the Tendering Contractors.

On the contrary there is ample evidence to prove that most suppliers of specialised services, most times offer higher quality at lesser cost and that they can attract and incentivise better quality specialist and service providers than contractors with directly employed individual. It is inconceivable that a national public procurement agency is denied the services of miscellaneous specialists who prefer to work as sub-contractors.

Malta cannot and should not have Public Procurement that denies sub-contractors. It is bad for Public Procurement. It is inefficient and opens wide the opportunity for abuse. It loads the National Public Procurement Agency with unnecessary bureaucracy. But most of all it is bad for small businesses. It represents the greatest blow suffered by small business ever.