By John Seeram
Background
Recently the news media has been highlighting the issue of an emergency procurement by the Georgetown Hospital Cor-poration (GHPC) of drugs valued at $605 million from ANSA McAL Trad-ing Limited. Apparently there was no approval by the National Procurement and Tender Administra-tion Board (NPTAB).
There was also mention that four out the last five public tenders were cancelled due to procurement irregularities, through inside trading.
In addition to the issues at GPHC, there was also a report of a shortage of essential drugs and other medical supplies at the New Amsterdam Hospital in Region Six. The system of transferring drugs from the Materials Management Unit of the Public Health Ministry to this facility was criticized on the grounds that there are loopholes in the system for
