| Despite being asked, yesterday, to reveal the identity of the person or company awarded a billion-dollar drugCabinet Secretary,Dr. Roger Luncheoncontract for a local hospital; the lips of Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon remained sealed.During his weekly press conference held at the Office of the President, the politician cited the contracts for which Cabinet gave its “no objection”. Among those awarded for the Guyana Elections Commission, (GECOM), the Head of the Presidential Secretariat said, that Cabinet also gave its blessings for the procurement of medical supplies for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, to the tune of US$1.05M which is equivalent to $219.8M.There was another award for which Cabinet granted its ‘no objection’. That was that for drugs for the said hospital at a cost of $1.16B.However, when asked to disclose the name of the preferred bidder for the health contracts,Trevor Story Rockies Jersey, Dr. Luncheon said, “I generally have not used this occasion to either confirm or deny the identity of bidders.”In relation to when the bid was opened for the drugs and if it was in keeping with the purchasing trends of the Ministry of Health,Joe Carter Indians Jersey, the Cabinet Secretary could not at the time, give a definitive answer.He did state, however, that given his awareness of the enormity in providing free health care for the entire nation,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, he can say without hesitation, that the annual purchases for drugs and supplies exceed the sum of the two said awards for which Cabinet granted its no objection.“But again, like I will be saying the fourth time, you guys have to give me some heads up before the press conference, in the interest of clarity and enlightenment…and so that answers can be provided to the questions asked of the poor Head of the Presidential Secretariat who is not the Accountant General for the Ministry of Health,” he concluded.Under the revised criteria for the pre-qualification of suppliers of drugs and medical supplies, bidders must demonstrate a gross turnover of $1B (US$5M) and net assets of $500M (US$2.5M).One of the Ministry’s criteria is that a maximum score will be awarded to applicants who have paid $50M in corporate taxes annually. The company with 50 or more employees, and warehousing capacity of 30,000 square feet in the city, will also gain an edge.The New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited (NGPC) is the only supplier, locally, with a bond of that size. New GPC is owned by former President Bharrat Jagdeo’s best friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop. That company has been supplying the bulk of the drugs to Government for the past 15 years, ever since it was acquired by Ramroop in 1999. It continues to do so and was the supplier Luncheon refused to name yesterday. The political opposition has even linked this “sole sourcing practice” to the cause of the extreme shortage of pharmaceuticals existing in the local market. The opposition had also spoken to the pre qualification requirements for the supply of drugs which it said were changed to such an “unreasonable” extent that it leaves only New GPHC as a qualified applicant for the supply of pharmaceuticals.According to the revised prequalification criteria, maximum points will also be awarded in the evaluation process to the applicants who have been supplying Government for more than seven years without any negative reports.But even as that point is taken into consideration,Bob Feller Indians Jersey, New GPC has been a feature in the Auditor General’s report over the years with several instances focused on multi-million-dollar deficiencies in the procurement and supply of drugs to Government.Nevertheless,Satchel Paige Indians Jersey, the Opposition during the past years made clear its position on the matter. It has been iterating that there must be some supervisory role over this process through the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission which will be the body to ensure that all the rules are adhered to in order to secure value for money.It had emphasized that sole sourcing at this point,Jose Altuve Astros Jersey, is being used as a “corrupt instrument” and the establishment of the Procurement Commission under an A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government, will ensure that the playing field is evened out and the advantage being taken on the nation will come to an end. |
