Trinidad Procurement Bill Curbing Contracts Watchdog Passes by One Vote
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The country Trinidad and Tobago, a twin-island Caribbean nation off Venezuela, has an appointed 31-seat Senate that includes nine independents.
- —Why it matters A 2015 law on public purchasing, fully in force since April 2023, lets a regulator pause procurements or cancel awards.
- —What happened On Monday 28 September Senate President Wade Mark’s casting vote broke a 15–15 tie, passing the bill 16–15.
- —What changes Energy and security purchases can be exempted, and the regulator’s findings after investigations become advisory, not binding.
- —What it means for you Once signed, bidders for state contracts get five to ten working days to challenge an award, not ten to fifteen.
- —Still open President Christine Kangaloo has yet to sign it, and whether anyone will challenge the vote in court is not known.
The Trinidad procurement bill, which trims the powers of a state contracts watchdog, passed the Senate on Monday 28 September. Senate President Wade Mark cast the deciding vote shortly before 9 p.m. local time, the Parliament’s official record shows.
All 15 government senators voted for it, while all six opposition and all nine independent senators voted against. Before it becomes law, it needs the signature, called assent, of President Christine Kangaloo, the head of state.
How a 15–15 tie became a law
Mark told the chamber that the constitution required him to use a casting vote when the Senate is equally divided. “I exercise the casting vote in favour of the Ayes,” he said, declaring the bill passed 16–15.
When opposition senator Faris Al-Rawi asked for his reasons, Mark said they remained “as constant as the Northern Star”. He said the rules did not oblige him to explain and cited “the status quo” as his reason.
It was the second time within a week that Mark had used his vote to pass a government bill. Early on Thursday 24 September he broke a tie on the Special Operations Bill, a crime-fighting measure, the Trinidad Express reported.
What the bill changes
The bill exempts energy purchases, such as natural gas and oil, and national security from the normal rules. Public housing built with private partners and some emergency buying for water and electricity are exempted too.
It also lets the finance minister exempt “such other procurement” as he may decide by order. The Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute, a civil-society group, noted that the new exemptions carry no spending caps.
Permanent secretaries, the top civil servants in each ministry, could spend up to TT$2 million (US$296,000) outside the law’s procurement rules. That doubles the TT$1 million (US$148,000) limit, at 6.75 Trinidad and Tobago dollars to the US dollar on 29 September.
Below the old limit, purchases followed simplified rules, which the bill scraps. Chief executives of state companies get the same TT$2 million (US$296,000) ceiling.
Chief executives of municipal corporations, the local councils, get a ceiling of TT$500,000 (US$74,000). All contracts under these limits must still be reported to the regulator.
What changes for the regulator and for bidders
The Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) oversees how the state buys goods, works and services. Under the bill, its recommendations after an investigation become advisory and not binding on the public body, the Express reported.
After an investigation it could no longer suspend a contract, overturn an award or name another supplier as the winner. Suppliers who challenge an award may also be ordered to pay the public body’s legal costs.
The standstill period, the pause between naming a winner and signing, would shrink from 10–15 working days to 5–10. Planning Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh told the Senate this leaves “enough time to permit meaningful review”, state broadcaster TTT reported.
Speed or oversight: the two sides
Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo told the House the bill aims “to mitigate delays and accelerate public service delivery”, TTT reported. “This isn’t abandonment of accountability,” he said, adding that it would “benefit the small man”, CNC3 reported.
Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal said the regulator was “the biggest issue” slowing plans to restart the country’s idle oil refinery, TTT reported. “We could have restarted the refinery already,” he told the House.
Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles asked why the government was removing powers “used to protect billions of dollars in public procurement”. In April 2026 the regulator halted a TT$3.4 billion (US$503 million) state housing programme, the Express reported.
Dominic Romain, a member of parliament for Beckles’s People’s National Movement (PNM), said the bill would leave the regulator “a toothless bulldog”. Colm Imbert, finance minister in the previous PNM government, warned of “massive multi-million-dollar contracts” awarded “without oversight”, CNC3 reported.
The Transparency Institute said the changes move the system “away from preventative oversight towards reporting and remedies”. Independent senator Anthony Vieira said he would not sacrifice “the guardrails of good governance” for speed, CNC3 reported.
The prime minister’s attack on the independents
The Senate has 16 members named on the prime minister’s advice, six on the opposition leader’s and nine chosen by the President. Mark, a nominee of the governing United National Congress (UNC), presides, which leaves the government 15 votes on the floor.
After the crime bill vote, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar called the independents “Satan’s helpers”, the Trinidad Express reported on 25 September. She said the government would “not take a single amendment from that bench on any bill”.
In remarks reported on 26 September she called them “Luciferian monsters” who would be “relegated to uselessness”, CNC3 reported. She told Guardian Media that legislation “would not be weakened at all” because the Senate President has a casting vote.
Housing Minister David Lee said the prime minister was “correct in her words” and accused the independents of delaying legislation. Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath defended Mark’s casting vote on the crime bill, CNC3 reported.
Former prime minister Keith Rowley called it a “vulgar attack” meant to “neuter, frighten, and render ineffective” the independents, the Express reported. Beckles accused the government of planning to replace the President in 2028 and “appoint a UNC ‘independent’ bench”, CNC3 reported.
Why a casting vote on a bill is unusual
Timothy Hamel-Smith, Senate President from 2010 to 2015, pointed before the vote to a British convention known as Denison’s rule. Under it, he said, a casting vote “should not bring about a change without a majority”, the Trinidad Guardian reported.
Hamel-Smith also said the constitution requires a casting vote but does not say which way it must go. He said there was no settled principle, a point Mark himself made on Monday.
In June 2025 Mark broke three tied votes on amendments to a children’s medical fund bill, keeping the original text, Newsday reported. At the time he said he voted “in favour of the intention of the status quo”.
Opposition MP Camille Robinson-Regis argued that presiding officers should preserve the status quo rather than create majorities, CNC3 reported. St Lucia’s Speaker, Claudius Francis, took the other side and said Mark “was entitled to intervene when the chamber was deadlocked”.
The long view
The procurement law received assent on 14 January 2015, during Persad-Bissessar’s first term as prime minister, from 2010 to 2015. It came fully into force only on 26 April 2023, under Rowley’s PNM government, the attorney general announced at the time.
In July 2023 the PNM government amended the law with four independent votes, after accepting changes they sought, the Express reported. This time all nine independents voted no, and the Trinidad procurement bill passed only through the chair’s vote.
Moonilal cited written submissions from the state energy firms Paria Fuel and the National Gas Company (NGC) backing the changes, TTT reported. Once the law takes effect, foreign firms selling to the state would work under the new exemptions and shorter challenge periods.
What comes next
The Senate made no amendments to the Trinidad procurement bill, the Parliament’s record shows, so it does not return to the House. The last step is assent by President Kangaloo, whose signature turns a bill into law.
Fitzgerald Hinds, a former national security minister, has urged her to withhold assent from the separate crime bill, the Trinidad Guardian reported. Francis argued that a president acts on cabinet advice and cannot refuse assent simply out of disagreement.
The vote does not abolish the regulator, and contracts under the new limits must still be reported to it. Land and Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hosein said it can still pause a contested procurement and refer wrongdoing to prosecutors, TTT reported.
Whether opponents will challenge either casting vote in court is not known, nor how widely ministers will use the new exemptions. Senators are due back on Friday 2 October, and the balance of 15 votes against 15 is unchanged.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Trinidad and Tobago’s Office of Procurement Regulation?
It is the body set up under the 2015 procurement law to oversee how the state buys goods, works and services. Until now it could pause procurements and cancel awards; once the new bill is signed, its findings after investigations become advisory.
Who are Trinidad and Tobago’s independent senators?
They are nine of the 31 senators, chosen by the President rather than named by the government or the opposition. All nine sitting in those seats on 28 September, one of them a temporary substitute, voted against the procurement bill.
Can the President refuse to sign the bill?
Bills passed by Parliament go to the President for assent. St Lucia’s Speaker, Claudius Francis, argued that she acts on cabinet advice and cannot refuse simply because she disagrees.
Does the Trinidad procurement bill affect foreign companies?
Yes, if they bid for state contracts. Energy and national security purchases can be exempted from the normal rules, and bidders would get five to ten working days, instead of ten to fifteen, to challenge an award.
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