Rampant corruption uncovered at Berbice Health facility

Jun 07, 2015 News

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… CEO sent on leave, police called in
The operations of the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA) situated at Garrison Road, Fort Canje, East Berbice has been suspended with immediate effect. The suspension took effect on Friday two days after newly appointed Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton visited the facility on Wednesday.
During that visit he declared that it was an illegal entity which had been operating for the past decade without the relevant legislation in place.
The Minister held a meeting with the Board of Directors of the de facto entity and informed the members of its non existence. Chief Executive Officer of the body former PPP/C Member of Parliament, Dr. Vishwarnauth Mahadeo, has reportedly been sent on leave. It is not certain what will become of the remaining members of the body.
There was a showdown at the BRHA on Thursday when auditors turned up at the facility to begin auditing the facility. Melissa Ramdeen made attempts to remove a number of items that were in the storage. She also objected to some of the items being audited.
The staff had contacted the prison service for labourers while she had instructed that a truck belonging to the health department and the labourers that work with the BRHA proceed to the bond to pack some of the items inside the vehicle and take them away.
Quick intervention by some public spirited citizens’ thwarted the move. The woman then locked herself in the bond. The security was called and after she initially refused to leave, she some time later left and returned to the BRHA, but refused to hand over the keys.
The police were called in. Immediately the woman locked herself again in the BRHA and did not respond. The locks were subsequently ordered changed.
Most of the storage bonds were in a mess with items being damaged and smelly.
In the meanwhile investigations are on going into the report that the BRHA in collusion with the Region Six Administration last year paid a private contractor several million dollars for refrigeration services.
It was disclosed that Greenidge Refrigeration Services, during 2014, was awarded contracts totaling $40 million with over 90 per cent of those jobs being awarded for the health sector.  It was also revealed that at the end of the year approximately $9 million was left floating in the free balance. This was immediately awarded to the same company to do work in the Health Sector without tendering.
The said company vehicles were used extensively by the former PPP government during the last election campaign.
The entity came into being some 10 years ago at the behest of former Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.  During the visit Minister George Norton stated that the entity is nonexistent and had no authority to hire or fire any one. It has no power to make decisions regarding health services delivered in the Region. A number of persons were hired and fired at will by Dr. Mahadeo and his staff.
Minister Norton, who was accompanied by a high level team from his Ministry, was appalled by what he saw. He expressed his disgust at the way the place was being managed.
He said that the Board can function effectively once given the authority; however, there has to be changes to the body and how it operates.
Some of the personnel have to be changed because “you can have the best system in place, but if you don’t have the right personnel, it will continue to fail.”
Despite its illegality the BRHA has been functioning with an independent budget. Millions of dollars have been spent by this body for all kinds of services.
The BRHA had its own staff that was picked by Mahadeo. There was an assistant CEO who, like many, was paid a super salary. The Assistant, a young woman, was said to be functioning in numerous capacities including being the Procurement Officer, Project Coordinator and Assistant Hospital Administrator.
Confusion reigned at the time about the Authority and function of this body.  With the Regional Administration in place and all the hospitals having their own administration many theories were being bandied about as to the existence and function of the body
There are the New Amsterdam Hospital, The Skeldon Hospital, the Port Mourant Hospital, the Mibicuri Hospital in the Black Bush Polder and the National Psychiatric Hospital, all of which have their own management systems in place, all of which are answerable to the Regional Administration.
The two hospitals on the West Berbice – the Fort Wellington and Mahaicony Hospitals will be run by the Regional Administration in that Region.
During the last election campaign employees of the BRHA were openly campaigning for the PPP during working hours.  The vehicles used by this body were also openly being used to put up posters. The employees were also on nightly television programmes campaigning for the former government.
Dr. Mahadeo was a candidate on the PPP National list of candidates whilst Melissa Ramdeen was a candidate on the Regional list.

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