With questions mounting over the legality of recent drug purchases for the Georgetown hospital and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) calling for a full investigation, Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence is expected to issue a second explanation to clarify the matter as the government faces a major controversy over the violation of procurement rules.
And while government spokesman Joseph Harmon would not say yesterday if Cabinet was aware of the purchases before it was publicised last week, he said it hopes that the minister’s second statement will clear up any concerns that the public may have.
While attention has been focused on the $605M deal with Trinidad conglomerate ANSA McAL for the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), three other purchases were made from New GPC, Health 2000 and Chirosyn Discovery that would take the final figure to around $1.5B.
“The minister, I am advised, is prepared to make an additional statement either today or tomorrow that will point out several issues in relation to this matter,” Minister of State Harmon said yesterday at a post-Cabinet press briefing.
