Approximately 30 public sector employees who are involved in implementation of projects undertaken by the Government of the Cayman Islands are expected to participate in a workshop to be hosted by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) later this month.

Responsibility for procurement management under projects financed by CDB rests with the Recipient of CDB financing and not the Bank.  The Recipient is the entity which establishes and signs all contracts with consultants, contractors and suppliers and, as the client, is legally and operationally in charge in all such purchasing relationships.  The role of the Bank in these procurement undertakings is one of oversight to ensure that procurement is carried out in accordance with the Bank’s procurement guidelines and the terms of the relevant financing agreement between the Recipient and CDB.

The workshop has been organised to launch the Bank’s revised procurement guidelines for Consultants. This will be the fifth such workshop to be held in the Bank’s borrowing member countries to launch the “Guidelines for the Selection and Engagement of Consultants by Recipients of CDB Financing” (October 2011).  Similar workshops have already taken place in St. Lucia, Belize, Jamaica and Grenada.

In the Cayman Islands, among the capital projects which CDB has financed are the Owen Roberts International Airport improvement, the Pedro St. James Heritage Project, the Gerrard Smith International Airport, the Cayman Brac Port and a sanitary sewerage system

The opening ceremony for the Cayman Islands workshop is scheduled to begin at 9.00 a.m. on May 17.

The workshop will be held May 17-18, 2012, at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.    Mr. Nick Freeland, Chairman of the Central Tenders Committee, which is the key body in the oversight of government spending and value for money in the Cayman Islands, will give the opening remarks on behalf of the country’s Ministry of Finance.

The Cayman Islands is a founder member of CDB, and will host the Bank’s Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors on May 23 and 24, 2012, also at The Ritz-Carlton.