When Minister Lawrence was in the opposition, she was aggressive

Mar 20, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
It is clear to everyone that this Government has officially conducted more questionable purchases of drugs than they had accused the PPP of. For nearly two years now the MOPH has failed to build on the improvements made by the previous Government in strengthening the Supply Chain System of medicines and supplies nationwide.
What makes it more glaring, is the fact that they have established a Procurement Commission while the corrupt behavior of drug purchases has gotten worst.
The recent so-called emergency purchase of drugs for GPHC at a whopping 605 million, plus an additional 900 million for other hospitals are only recent events of gross misconduct in the Procurement System.
We had the infamous bottom house bond being paid over 12 Million per month to store condoms and a few other items. It is still unclear whether the items stored in that bond are even valued more than the rent itself. I remember clearly when Minister Lawrence took the Opposition members to that Sussex street bond late in the evening for inspection.
This means that the Minister is acutely aware of the circumstances surrounding the corrupt behavior but she still went ahead and approved 1.5 Billion of purchases without following the Procurement Act.
Some say that Minister Lawrence is new to the role and she should be given some slack on this matter, but I say that’s a very expensive price for the tax payers to pay for her slack.
I would like to remind you that Minister Lawrence was the Chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee for several years while the PPP was in power and she led an overly aggressive fight against the PPP led Ministry of Health for what they called gross violations in the health procurement system.
Now the violations she chastised the PPP for is nothing compared to what’s happening now.
But more interestingly, is the fact that this Minister has chosen to take lower level procurement staff and throw them to the fire that APNU started.
As I write this letter, there are people acting on behalf of the Minister, targeting lower level staff in order to clear herself of any involvement. But I must remind you that it is not those staff that approved the 1.5 Billion purchases of drugs. It is Minister Lawrence that did so.
We must also take note of the large sums of taxpayers’ money that is now being paid to foreign companies like Ansa Mcal, while Guyana is drained of foreign currencies. The people must realize sooner than later, that APNU is not a Government for the people but more a Government for foreign companies.
Malcolm Watkins

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