The National Assembly yesterday approved $1.9 billion which had been charged to the Contingencies Fund between April 1, 2021 to June 8, 2021.
The sum included $1,283,250,000 for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines under the Ministry of Health’s Family and Primary Health Care Services.
According to Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony the sum represents $957 million spent for 200,000 doses of Sputnik V and $326 million for 100k doses of Sinopharm.
Anthony, who for more than an hour was questioned on the allocation, assured the members of the House that the government had secured the vaccines in a timely manner and at the best possible price. He stressed that it was impossible to budget for this allocation as no vaccines had been placed on the open market ahead of the passage of Budget 2021.
“How could you put it in the budget when you don’t know the price you are going to pay for it? How could you put it in a budget when we don’t know the source where we are going to get it from?” the Health Minister declared in response to questions from Opposition member Tabitha Sarabo-Halley.
The Minister explained that Guyana has sourced the Sputnik V vaccine through an agreement with the United Arab Emirates while Sinopharm is being purchased from the supplier.
He stressed that because of government’s efforts Guyana currently has the highest vaccination rate within the Caribbean with more than 44.3 % of the adult population having received at least one dose.
He stressed that while Sputnik V has not received the same international emergency use approval as Sinopharm and others, it is in the process of acquiring same.
Also approved as part of the same financial paper was $5.4b in Capital Expenditure by the Ministry of Home Affairs to purchase motorcycles for anti-crime patrols. The Guyana Defence Force’s Defence and Security Support programme $618 million advance payment for the procurement of an offshore patrol vessel was also approved.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira told the House that the GDF expenditure represented the first payment on a US$11.5 million purpose-built offshore patrol vessel from the United States company, Metal Shark.
While the minister declined to reveal the use of the vehicle for “security reasons” she explained that it will be part of the Coast Guard’s fleet patrolling Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
“We have a border issue. We have our waters where there were incursions. We have one old vessel and, therefore, a decision was taken to acquire a new one,” she told the Committee of Supply.
