With General Elections set for Monday, concerns have been raised at the expedited release to the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (New GPC) of over $2B for the supply of drugs to the health sector, none of which has yet been delivered.
Sources say the release of the entire amount upfront is never done and is a sign that government is trying to ensure that none of these big-ticket contracts would be snagged were the elections to see the removal of the PPP/C.
Contracts awarded to New GPC for the supply of drugs and other items to the public health system have been the source of fierce controversy for the last decade because many were single-sourced and now because the company is the only pre-qualified bidder in a new system that has been challenged by analysts as unfair. New GPC had been favoured with many of these controversial contracts under the tenure of former President Bharrat Jagdeo and this has continued under the Donald Ramotar administration. New GPC is owned by Jagdeo’s friend, Bobby Ramroop.
A source at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) told Stabroek News that