A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) wants an independent probe into the procurement procedures of the Government and the New GPC and the party signalled its intention to bring a motion to the National Assembly to this end.
Further, the party said it will not accept the findings of an investigation into the New GPC procurement by Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran and called that investigation a dubious one.
Ramsaran at the weekly Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday defended the NGPC transaction and denied claims in the Kaieteur News about inflated drug prices by New GPC. New GPC has also rejected these reports.
Speaking yesterday at the press conference held at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Volda Lawrence said that the Minister did not state the criteria used to come up with his findings.
At the press conference, former Member of Parliament E. Lance Carberry said that the party is going to pursue an independent commission of inquiry “since the issue has serious implications for the health of the nation.”
Lawrence, the former Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament , said that the Auditor General has repeatedly commented in his yearly report on the public accounts on the drug contracts for New GPC.
She pointed out that in the past, the Government has extended facilities to New GPC not afforded to other companies, such as the payment for pharmaceuticals not yet supplied. She noted however that the practice of operating on the basis of a Cabinet Paper has ceased and now NGPC and other suppliers have to prequalify before they can bid for contracts.
Lawrence said that the party is also considering taking steps to amend the Procurement Act in order to rectify the process.
Speaking at the press conference, Shadow Minister of Health, Dr. George Norton said that one of the conditions of prequalification is that bidders must adhere to the conditions of the World Health Organisation certification scheme. “This will ensure that bogus drugs do not get into the system,” he said. He added that Guyana does not have the capacity to ensure 100 percent that the drugs that come into the country are not fake.
“Over the last two decades the nation watched in dismay as the PPP/C Government increasingly enabled and allowed corrupt practices by unscrupulous businessmen and cuddled criminal elements. As a consequence, corruption in Guyana has become endemic. The level of corruption has now surpassed the usual greed and graft and now directly threatens the health and well-being of the people of Guyana,” said Dr. Norton reading from a prepared statement.
He said that as far back as 2005, the late former PNCR Shadow Minister of Finance Winston Murray was making repeated calls for the purchase of drugs by the Government to be done in accordance with the procedures established by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, through open tendering and for Government to stop using the Cabinet Order for the purchase of pharmaceuticals. “The Jagdeo/PPP Government ignored those calls and continued its abuse of this process by moving to the short-listing of companies in a manner which did not follow the [Procurement] Act,” Norton said.
He said that during the Ninth Parliament, the PAC questioned the Government’s procurement Officer about the mechanisms in place to cross-check the prices proffered by suppliers and was told that there were websites which were available for cross referencing. “The PAC advised the procurement officer and the Permanent Secretary to do so, given the increasing number of complaints that Government was purchasing drugs far above the primary costs,” Norton said.
“The Auditor General has indicated to the PAC that on his agenda for Value for Money audits is the purchase and distribution of drugs. Given the gravity of the situation, APNU will take a motion to the National Assembly to have President Donald Ramotar urgently put in place an independent commission of inquiry with full investigatory power,” he said.
