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$300M Hydroclave (waste disposal) system…Huge discrepancy in price of GPHC’s Hydroclave system
A quotation from the Canadian supplier has put the cost of the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Hydroclave Sterilization System and its waste collection truck at millions of dollars below the cost cited by hospital officials.
Keith Burrowes, Executive Director of the Government’s Health Sector Development Unit, said that the two pieces of equipment were bought with World Bank funding at a cost of US$1.2M.
However, a quotation from Hydroclave Systems Corp, Canada, revealed that the total cost for the exact model Hydroclave H-150 System is US$762,865. The quotation was supplied to this newspaper upon request.
This would leave a price difference of approximately US$400,000 unaccounted for. Hospital officials could not immediately state the cost of the truck.
According to the quotation provided by Hydroclave Canada, the cost for the equipment includes charges for training.
Burrowes, who has overall responsibility for the project, maintained that the cost to acquire the Hydroclave system was approved by the World Bank.
According to Burrowes, initially the World Bank had provided US$1M to purchase the Hydroclave Sterilization System, but another US$200,000 was added to that amount by the time tenders began coming in for the project.
The project was not advertised locally. He said advertising for the project locally would have been unwise since the equipment is not available locally.
He further noted that since the equipment’s purchase was funded by the World Bank, the tender was advertised internationally, including in highly-rated UK magazine, the Economist.
Burrowes said that the tenders for the project were sent directly to Guyana’s National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). They were evaluated and, in this particular case, the award of the project was approved by Cabinet and the World Bank.
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