Seven weeks after the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) announced that New GPC was the only company pre-qualified for the supply of drugs to the health sector, the Ministry of Health yesterday said it had not been officially notified—a claim denied by a National Procure-ment and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) official.
The Ministry’s statement was contained in a letter in yesterday’s edition of the Guyana Times written by Leslie Cadogan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health (MOH). He was responding to a report that appeared in Tuesday’s edition of Stabroek News, headlined `Bidders: Health Ministry did not notify of drug supply decision as required by law.’
Cadogan’s letter was only received by Stabroek News around midday yesterday.
“To date, the Health Ministry has not been officially notified of any awards as it relates to the procurement of drug and medical supplies. As soon as the Health Ministry is officially notified, both successful and unsuccessful bidders(s) will be informed,” he wrote.
However, an NPTAB official said that he did not wish for that agency to be dragged into the ongoing “debacle” pertaining to the prequalification of drug suppliers but pointed out that when the contract is approved by Cabinet, “the rest is up to the procuring agency.”
“Really? That is what the letter said? I have not seen it but let me say this NPTAB will not take responsibility for any procuring entity…. Read the Act. It is the procuring entity’s decision to notify bidders of the awards… our hands are washed,” the official said.
The statement by the Ministry will be seen as extremely surprising considering that the HPS Dr Roger Luncheon made the announcement on July 23rd and it has been the subject of much public debate and questioning. Moreover, the Ministry would want rapid notification so that it could expedite the drug procurement process for this year. The Ministry’s statement will call into question the process of official notification by Cabinet of its no-objection to the NPTAB and the latter’s communication with the procuring entity, the Ministry of Health.
Observers say, however, that Cadogan’s letter may be an attempt to cover the breach of the Procurement Act in not notifying the tenderers of the outcome of the bidding process. One of the aggrieved tenderers, Inter-national Pharmaceutical Agency (IPA) has since moved to the courts to nullify the declaration of New GPC as the lone drug supplier for the country and in the court documents it cites the MOH’s apparent violation in not notifying the company of its failure. Such a clear breach of the law could result in a nullification of the process and be a further complication for the government, which has been accused of favouring the New GPC in contracts for the supply of drugs.
Last Saturday, another of the aggrieved bidders had complained about the lack of communication from the Health Ministry.
“Although with all of this they still have not yet notified that we were not qualified. None of the companies have received communication to this end,” ANSA McAl’s Beverly Harper told Stabroek News on Saturday.
Section 6 of the Procurement Act provides for the procuring entity to communicate the results of the prequalification proceedings to all those who have submitted applications to prequalify. This is to enable them to ascertain the basis under which they were not prequalified and to request a review if they were not satisfied. The procuring entity is also obliged to communicate, upon request from a supplier who has not been prequalified, the grounds therefor.
Stabroek News spoke last week with a NPTAB official, who said that the agency should not be blamed for companies not being notified as the Procure-ment Act specifies that it is the obligation of the respective procuring entity.
“You can’t blame us… you were at the procurement symposium, where we spoke and warned (procuring entities) about not notifying. It is in the Act and they should follow it,” the official said.
Former Auditor General and commentator Anand Goolsarran says that the Cabinet Secretary’s announcement on July 23 of an award does not count as official notification and that it should have been done as required by law.
“There was, however, no evidence that the six unsuccessful companies were informed of the results of the prequalification exercise. Needless to mention, the 23 July 2014 announcement by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat does not satisfy the requirements of Section 6 of the Procurement Act,” Goolsarran said.
