Latest update January 18th, 2025 7:00 AM
Permanent Secretary of Health Ministry sent on leave
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Leslie Cadogan, has been sent on leave as a major shakeup continues there.
According to senior Government officials, the letter was delivered Thursday to Cadogan instructing him to proceed
Sent on leave: Leslie Cadogan
on more than 25 weeks of accumulated leave, starting yesterday.
The Health Ministry has been a sore point for the current and previous Governments with questions over billions of dollars in contracts that had been handed to one company with close ties to the previous administration.
Yesterday, Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, confirmed that Cadogan has been asked to proceed on leave.
As Permanent Secretary, Cadogan played a critical role in overseeing payments for the Ministry of Health.
The former Opposition, now in Government, had vowed during the lead up to the May 11 to overhaul the Ministry and abolish what is known as sole sourcing which literally give New GPC the rights to supply drugs.
New GPC is controlled by Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, a close friend of embattled former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who recently came out of retirement to become the Opposition Leader, three years after he ended his constitutional two terms in office.
With scores of health centres and hospitals around the country, the Ministry is charged with managing the drugs distribution, amounting to billions annually.
Last year alone, the drugs purchases by the Ministry and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) amounted to more than $5B.
New GPC benefitted from more than 70 percent of the contracts, suppliers who have been sidelined claimed.
The Auditor General has been questioning the procurement of pharmaceuticals in his annual reports, noting the high incidences of expired drugs and sometimes non-deliveries.
However, the previous PPP administrations have stoutly defended the purchases from New GPC, insisting that nothing is wrong.
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