Latest update February 16th, 2025 7:49 PM
Latest News
- Oil in Liza 1, 2 and Payara to be drained in less than five years
- ExxonM does not deny paying taxes in Bahamas but tells K/News to focus on how the oil deal is delivering money to Guyana
- Thousands take part in London rally against Donald Trump’s Gaza plan
- Govt. aggressively pursuing digitizing of health sector – Pres. Ali
- 275 cases of child abuse recorded in 2025 – Min. Persaud
Dr. Ramsammy flouts the law for years
– spends billions of dollars on drugs in violation of Procurement Act
Last year, the Ministry of Health purchased more than $1.404B in drugs from one company. That company was identified as the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (GPC) Ltd. in the Auditor General’s Report for 2009.
In his examination of the Ministry of Health, the Auditor General highlights this expenditure and points out that approvals were obtained from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board for the contract awards. 
He goes on to note, however, that awards were “… made on the basis of sole sourcing and not competitive bidding occasioned by public advertisement.” He concludes that such expenditure “… could not justifiably consider being in fulfillment of the tenets of the Procurement Act (2003).”(sic)
In the previous year’s report, the AG found that although the Ministry was not in direct violation of the Procurement Act by virtue of a Cabinet Approval that had been extended to December 2009, there were still other discrepancies in the procurement of drugs that stood out.
According to the report, under that extended Cabinet Approval, some $1.008B was spent in 2008 on the procurement of drugs, locally. However, a lack of documentation hindered the AG’s office in authenticating all of the purchases made under this heading; as such, $137.111M could not be verified in that reporting year.
The 2008 report came under the scrutiny of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly earlier this year. The committee questioned the transfer of $102M from a Ministry’s account defunct since July 1996 to another account after which the paper trail disappeared as well as the $137.111M that the Ministry was unable to account for in its procurement of drugs during 2008.
On June 28, last, Volda Lawrence, Chairperson of the Committee recommended to the Auditor General that a forensic audit of the Ministry of Health be undertaken.
The tale continues with hundreds of millions of dollars being spent locally on the Procurement of drugs by the Ministry, transactions which the Auditor General has also determined to be in violation of the Procurement Act every year.
In the last five years that the Auditor General has been examining the Ministry, he has found these discrepancies being repeated year after year and the Ministry’s response simply states that the relevant authorities will make an effort to bring the procedures into alignment with the regulations.
In 2007, there was a sum of $9.380M which could not be verified after the expenditure was crosschecked with the goods received.
In 2006, $603.091M was expended on procuring drugs locally. Of that sum, $376.5M could not be verified. According to the Auditor General, the relevant tender board procedures were not followed for 54 purchases amounting to $590.478M of the total amount spent procuring drugs locally.
And in 2005, $543.119M was spent on drugs locally; of that figure, purchases amounting to $527.980M did not satisfy the Procurement Act.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
I don’t remember!
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- I have an uncle, Morty Finkelstein, who has the peculiar habit of remembering things with... more
CARICOM Nations Should Respond Together To new U.S. Policies
By Sir Ronald Sanders Ambassador to the US and the OAS, Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News-Two Executive Orders issued by U.S.... more
Weekend Cartoon
