Opposition party AFC yesterday called for a wide-ranging probe into the award of multi-million dollar contracts to the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (New GPC) for the supply of drugs to the health sector.
“Given the non-commercial terms with New GPC, the special relationship between the company and government officials past and present and failure of the government to open this purchase to competitive bidding, it is necessary that (an) … investigation be carried out by an independent commission,” AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan said yesterday as he read from a party statement.
The AFC, which holds seven seats in the National Assembly, believes that “at the very least, such an investigation would remove speculation and put at rest any perceived malfeasance.”
Ramjattan stated that the issue of sole sourcing needed to be addressed since some deals could not be explained. “For the past 12 years, billions of dollars in drugs were being sourced through the New GPC without competitive bidding …Many reports in the media pointed to prices paid by the government many times the retail price for similar items and under … arrangements which conflict with normal commercial terms. In particular, the entire annual purchase is paid for at the beginning of the year rather than on delivery,” he said.
“The Auditor General’s report repeatedly raises
