Minister Lawrence is wrong about her Ministry not having a Procurement Dept. prior to 2015

Dec 08, 2018 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

On Dec. 5, Kaieteur News quoted Minister Lawrence as saying there was no procurement department at the Ministry of Public Health prior to 2015. I can categorically say that Min. Lawrence is not being truthful and it lends itself to a recent trend of reckless and irresponsible statements by this Minister.
According to former Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, the procurement department began to take shape since 1997 and evolved from there to a fully functional Materials Management Unit (MMU) consisting of planning & procurement, warehousing & distribution, quality control and a transportation mechanism that partnered with regional authorities and other stakeholders, including the military.
Minister Lawrence stated that her goal now, is to achieve 70% to 75% availability of medicines in the future, but from 2008 to 2012 we were making 85% of non-essential medicines and 100% of life saving medicines available to all 10 regions of the country. This is a metric that was corroborated by our external partners at that time. Therefore, it is only fair to conclude that Min. Lawrence is slinging political propaganda and slander to make her Government appear competent.
Prior to 2015 the procurement department was fully functional with a Procurement Manager and five supervisors with direct support from our planning department, finance and the National Procurement and Tender Board (NPTB) guided fully by the Procurement Act and other policies.
In 2010 we successfully rolled out the first national and regional public pre-qualification system to select qualified suppliers of medicines and supplies, a feat that could not been achieved without a procurement department. The late Hon. Winston Murray praised the procurement department for that achievement in his capacity as member of the Public Accounts Committee.
It is important to note Minister Lawrence was the head of the PAC during most of this time and she was briefed on all our accomplishments as a procurement department, therefore it is very surprising to see her making such reckless statements.
It is time this Government understands that they are public servants and not overlords that serve only a part of the country. They have a legal and moral obligation to be transparent to the people.

Malcolm Watkins, MS OL.
Former Procurement Manager – Ministry of Public Health & Supply Chain Professional

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