Dear Editor,
The Guyana Chronicle is spinning away for Minister of Public Health (MOPH), Volda Lawrence. Yesterday, in its lead story under the blazing caption, ‘Fed a bunch of lies -Min Lawrence says she never approved purchase of emergency drugs,’ the Chronicle publishes: “Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence has denied approving the purchase of some $605M worth of emergency drugs by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) when she appeared before the Public Procurement Commission, according to a reliable source. Minister Lawrence appeared before the commission on Friday as an investigation continues into the controversial procurement of over $605M in critical drugs in short supply in March 2017 for GPHC.”
In the said article, the Minister is reported to have informed the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) that it was Chief Executive Officer Alan Johnson who, apparently, acting without the ministry’s authorization, engineered the controversial purchase. In short, Minister Lawrence threw Johnson under the proverbial bus.
If what the Chronicle published is the truth, then the Minister misled the PPC last Friday. At a minimum, the statements attributed to her starkly contradict an earlier public statement issued by her own ministry.
In a public statement issued by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) on the 11th Day of March 2017, the ministry detailed the situation of drug shortage at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and said of Minister Lawrence: “To this end, she sought to fast track the procurement of these pharmaceuticals to minimise the negative effects on patients due to the shortage of some critical drugs. This influenced the decision to seek the greenlight from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for ANSA McAL to supply drugs and pharmaceuticals to the tune of some G$605M.”
This statement was prominently carried and extensively quoted in an article published by the Stabroek News of March 12, 2017, under the caption, ‘Lawrence admits to ‘fast-tracking’ $605M drug buy due to crisis-level shortage -says procurement process not breached despite bypassing tender board.’ The first two paragraphs of that article reads:
“Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence yesterday admitted to ‘fast-tracking’ the purchase of $605 million from ANSA McAL for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and maintained that the public procurement process was not breached although the national tender board was not aware of the decision until its approval was sought after the transaction. In a statement issued by the ministry yesterday, Lawrence for the first time publicly acknowledged that there is a crisis-level drug shortage, which she blamed on a conspiracy between contractors and ministry staff.”
Significantly, the aforementioned MOPH’s statement has disappeared from the ministry’s website; neither can it be found on the Department of Public Information’s website. I refuse to believe that this is accidental or coincidental.
In the circumstances, I call on the Commissioner of Police and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to immediately launch an investigation into this matter. After all, this transaction involves the misuse or unlawful use of $605M of public monies. There are multiple breaches of, inter alia, the Procurement Act, the Public Corporation Act and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act.
Yours faithfully,
Mohabir Anil Nandlall, MP
