Western Scientific, a Trinidadian company debarred by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for fraudulent practices, and the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (NGPC) received the lion’s share of contracts for over $5 billion in pharmaceuticals and medical supplies sales over the past four months, documents have revealed.
The documents from the Ministry of Health (see table), seen by Sunday Stabroek, show that the two companies dominated awards for COVID-19 emergency supplies and pharmaceuticals, even as other bidders have complained that they are yet to be notified as is required under the Procurement Act. Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony told this newspaper that Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Health Malcolm Watkins would explain the details of the awards.
However, continuous attempts to contact Watkins proved futile. However, this newspaper was asked to email questions to the PS. Up to press time, no response had been received.