“We have already started,” Ramsammy told Stabroek News on Thursday. He said bids were recently advertised via the government procurement website and at least five companies collected bid documents. The government’s procurement website www.eprocure.gov.gy is currently down so this newspaper was unable to verify when the bids had been opened. Ramsammy said the Health Ministry is currently awaiting the decision by the NPTAB.
The Auditor General’s report for 2004 had made a recommendation that the ministry advertise internationally every three years for the supply of drugs and medical supplies and pre-qualify suppliers.
In recent years the Auditor General’s report has repeatedly highlighted government’s single-sourcing from the NGPC. Back in July of 2008 when the matter was raised by some parliamentarians, Ramsammy had strongly defended direct drug purchases from the NGPC as compliant with a Cabinet decision but also announced that his ministry would request a renewal of a decision which would also allow procurement from several international suppliers. However, the practice of sole-sourcing from the NGPC continued last year. Ramsammy did not say why the government took so long to discontinue this practice. When the matter was raised in the 2008 Auditor General’s report in connection with the Georgetown Public Hospital, the Head of the Budget Agency said Cabinet had renewed its approval by the issuance of Cabinet Decision CP (2003) in July of 2008.
Over $1.4 billion was paid by the government to the NGPC last year for the procurement of drugs and medical supplies based on sole sourcing approved by the NPTAB, the latest Auditor General Report had stated. The report also noted the continued failure of the administration to appoint a Public Procurement Commission, in accordance with Article 212(W) of the Constitution, to oversee such transactions.
According to the recent report, “during 2009, the ministry expended amounts totalling $1.884 billion for drugs and medical supplies.” Of this amount, the report said, $1.404 billion was paid to the New GPC Ltd, after approvals were obtained from the NPTAB for contract awards. Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament have repeatedly spoken about the single-sourcing from the NGPC. Chairperson of the PAC PNCR-1G MP Volda Lawrence told Stabroek News that the government is basically financing the company’s operations since it gives the company a full advance to purchase the drugs. AFC MP David Patterson echoed similar sentiments saying that there was no evidence to suggest that they were getting a deal from the NGPC.
When this newspaper attempted recently to get a response from the Director of the NGPC Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop, he declined to comment. He said that this newspaper has been targeting his business. “Stabroek News is targeting my group of companies through various means,” he said, while accusing the Kaieteur News of doing the same.
