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The drugs bond contract; conflict of interest

Aug 13, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
I make reference to an article carried in your August 11 edition captioned “President orders into drugs bond contract”, and wish to point out that the President having appointed two senior Cabinet Ministers and the Prime Minister “to review, examine and report on a contract for the storage of drugs and other medical supplies” is seemingly a clear case of conflict of interest.
With what unbiased disposition and independence could these Cabinet Members “review, examine and report” on a highly controversial issue surrounding another Cabinet colleague, the Minister of Health? Reading newspapers’ reports it was clear that Cabinet Members relentlessly defended the Minister of Health when the matter was debated in Parliament earlier this week.
One would have thought, given the publicity and public perception that borders on an obvious opaque contract for the storage of state pharmaceuticals that involved millions of taxpayers’ money, that an independent committee comprising of some of the same ‘forensic auditors’ that were used for recent state audits could have been appointed to “review, examine and report” on the said contract. This would have removed all elements of distrust, bias and gained the confidence of the nation.
Editor, my attention was also drawn to the invited comment by the Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, who stated that he was concerned (most rightfully, I think) about the matter, but when he stressed that “something like that should never be repeated”, it was a most disappointing statement from the Minister responsible for national security. Had he said that something like that should never have happened, it would have been most appropriate in the line of his national responsibility. His statement that ‘it should never be repeated” points to a high degree of condoning, which implies that it is OK now, but don’t do it again. This is the statement from a Cabinet Member.
Altaf Mohamed Sayad

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