Procurement education necessary
Kudos to those responsible for the Summer 2012 Guam Procurement Conference at the Hyatt Regency Guam held July 23 and 24. We are encouraged by reports that the conference was well attended and that participants demonstrated both their own knowledge and an eagerness to learn and improve their performance.
As well, it appears that Guam Community College is planning to boost its procurement education program from its current two-week course to, potentially, a procurement institute.
Danielle Conway, professor at the University of Hawaii's School of Law, the main conference presenter, is quite right when she says that government procurement regulations are for the protection of the taxpayers' dollar and the protection of those involved in the process. Unfortunately, though for whatever reason, the failure to comply with those regulations, or allegations of failure to comply get in the way of getting the government's business done.
The myriad of procurement problems that affect services at our schools, our hospital, our port and elsewhere reinforce our perceptions about the inefficiencies inherent in government. Government services are too often held up because seeming obvious solutions cannot be implemented while contracting irregularities are rectified.
Of course, we understand the consequences of inadequate regulation. Money that is not properly overseen is money that will be wasted - stolen outright at worst, inefficiently spent at best. The money that came from everybody is too easily treated as though it belongs to nobody.
So we're happy to see an effort to develop competent procurement professionals, capable of administering the government's procurement regulations fairly, efficiently - and correctly. We are also of the belief that simplified regulations would assist the process.
We don't doubt that she is correct, but we're not encouraged by Conway's reassurance that Guam's procurement problems are no different than anyone else's. One conclusion to be drawn is that the process cannot be improved - surely the problems would not be ubiquitous otherwise.
A more hopeful conclusion, advanced by Conway and by local procurement-education advocate John Thos. Brown, is that no one has yet launched a procurement institute such as is envisioned - potentially making Guam an example for the rest of the procurement world.
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