Senior officials of The Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI) on Wednesday wrapped up a two-day training on the Gambia Public Procurement Authority’s (GPPA) regulations.
More than fifteen senior staff, head of departments, the contract and senior management teams of the institute took part in the training.
The training was held to familiarise GTTI senior officials with GPPA‘s new regulations, and to also help them to know how to fill GPPA's different types of forms for procurement.
In his closing remarks at the end of the two-day training, the Acting director-general of GTTI, Abdoulie Loum, said that was the second training his institution had had with the GPPA.
The first training, limited to only the senior management team and the account department, was held in 2008, he recalled, saying: "But this time we decided to invite all the heads of departments, the contract and senior managements who have a stake in preparing requisitions for our purchases."
According to him, the purpose of the training was for the GTTI senior officials to be familiar with GPPA‘s new regulations.
Emphasizing the importance of making sure staff of GTTI familiarise themselves with the procurement procedures of the GPPA, Mr Loum said: "As a public institution we need to make sure that we follow the procedures, guidelines and the regulations of the GPPA for all our procurements in order for us to do our purchasing properly."
The chief account of GTTI, Salifu Camara, who was the training coordinator, said that in the past two years GTTI had faced so many problems with regard to compliance of GPPA regulations.
"As a result of this, the management of the institute thought it very fitting to arrange for in-house training," he said. "If our compliance rate is high, it would influence the joint session of the Public Accounts/Public Enterprises Committees of the National Assembly’s decision when it comes to funding for GTTI."
According to Mr Camara, the knowledge gained from the training would go a long way in improving GTTI's compliance rate with GPPA.
More training on GPPA's regulations will follow the just ended training before the end of the year, he said.
