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$366M drug contract to HDM Labs… Dissatisfied Opposition threatens police action
– demands Minister detail company’s track record to National Assembly
Opposition MP, Juan Edghill
The Parliamentary Opposition says it is considering complaining to the police about a multimillion-dollar drug contract awarded last year to US-based HDM Labs Inc.
The $366M contract has raised eyebrows, because the company seems to have little experience in supplying pharmaceuticals to Guyana.
However, on Tuesday, Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Public Health, Collette Adams, and Minister Volda Lawrence defended the award, saying that it was all done transparently and in keeping with procurement regulations.
However, yesterday, former Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Juan Edghill, now in the Opposition chairs, said that he is awaiting Minister Lawrence’s promised statement on the details today in the National Assembly.
“I await the Minister’s promised statement in the National Assembly and wish to advise her that under active consideration at this time is a report to the Guyana Police Force, the Audit Office of Guyana and the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) for investigations.”
He said that the minister must tell the House where HDM Labs, owned by New York-based Guyanese, Hardat Singh, supplied drugs to.
The PS had disclosed that she is aware that HDM supplied drugs to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation last year.
“Please provide information that will bring comfort to the public that HDM Labs Inc. is a recognized and efficient supplier nationwide. Specifically, we would like to be informed about which companies/institutions, apart from the Ministry of Public Health, HDM Labs Inc. supplied pharmaceuticals to and the quantities, within the last two years,” Edghill said in a statement yesterday on the matter.
“Further, please state why companies that manufacture and distributes these pharmaceuticals, locally, were not offered an opportunity to provide these services. Notably, New GPC Inc. was not invited to tender in the restrictive bidding process.”
Recently, leaked ministry’s documents disclosed that HDM came out winner above Ansa McAl Limited, Caribbean Medical Supplies, Global Healthcare Supplies, International Pharmaceutical Agency and Meditron Inc.
All had submitted to deliver drugs to fulfill a shortage of drugs last year but they all, including HDM Labs, failed to meet the criteria.
On Tuesday, the ministry explained the documents in the hands of the media were drafts, wickedly lifted from its computers. It denied that any contracts were issued in June as the “draft” documents claimed.
Rather, the award was not made until the end of August last year, after approval by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board and “noted” by the Cabinet of Ministers. The approval would have been made after a retender and with HDM Labs the only company that submitted a bid.
Yesterday, Edghill questioned how come if only HDM Labs Inc. submitted bids, why the preliminary checklist of three other companies, who failed, were attached to the evaluation report.
The MP also wanted to know why Ansa McAl Trading Limited failed on the ground of “Experience and Technical Capacity (Evidence that demonstrates bidder has carried out similar transactions)” for such a small contract, when they were early in 2017 awarded a $605M contract for the supply of pharmaceuticals.
“What is also amusing to me, is the fact that International Pharmaceutical Agency, owned by a well-known AFC financier, failed on the ground of “Financial Capacity (Evidence of Liquid Assets or credit not less than 25% of the bid price)”.”
HDM Labs’ offices were traced to two Long Island, New York homes, one of them the home of Hardat Singh.
The issue of drug supplies to Government-owned hospitals has been a bitter one in recent years with accusations that under the previous PPP/C administration the contract awards were fixed that only certain companies could have been approved.
The contracts at one time were worth up to $5B annually.
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