Procurement Commission clears Volda Lawrence in $632m drug purchases

Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence

-GPHC, NPTAB officials rapped

The Public Procurement Commission (PPC) has cleared Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence of any wrongdoing in connection with the purchase of $632m worth of  drugs  by GPHC that breached the procurement law however questions will linger as one commissioner did not sign the report.

Tabled in parliament yesterday, the first report of its type done by the PPC said that while Lawrence  gave the go ahead for the fast tracking of the purchase, she never suggested or condoned a bypass of lawful systems.

“The Minister of Public Health, by all accounts, was made aware of the emergency tender and concluding the timeframe for delivery was too long, instructed the GPHC (Georgetown Public Hospital) to ‘fast track’ the procurement of emergency drugs as a means of assuaging the acknowledged, continuing shortage of these items at the hospital,” the report stated.