Police, Procurement Commission should be called in to investigate Ministry’s purchase of ventilators

Apr 05, 2020 News

Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin is of the firm conviction that the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) and even the Guyana Police Force, should be called in to examine the sole sourcing of 14 ventilators by the Ministry of Public Health from Caribbean Medical Supplies.

Chartered Accountant, Chris Ram

Attorney-at-Law and PPP Candidate, Sanjeev Datadin

Over the past few days, the Ministry had come in for scathing criticism for sole sourcing the ventilators that are needed to support the respiratory systems of COVID-19 patients. Observers questioned whether there was an advertisement for the said medical equipment and whether the supplier benefitted from insider information on what the Ministry needed.
Public Health officials had vehemently denied claims of improper dealings while noting that it had contacted several suppliers to provide the ventilators but Caribbean Medical was the only one that responded. It should be noted that up to press time, the names of the other companies along with the dates of when they were contacted for the supply of the ventilators were not provided by the Ministry but a commitment was nonetheless given to do just this.
Taking the foregoing into consideration, Datadin said, “It is important that medical equipment and other pharmaceuticals be sourced from credible people because it is a matter of life and death. But it appears that a company with little to no track record is being awarded these contracts because they have some improper contact or contract with persons who are responsible for securing these deals on behalf of the government.”
The lawyer added, “Now you have to understand why procurement is so important. It is important because the government needs to get the best bang for its buck, meaning, they have to get the best deal but when you sole sourced, the way they did, with a company that is not the authorized distributor in Guyana and who would have no ability to repair anything at least not as an authorized dealer in Guyana then that is dangerous.”
Further to this, Datadin said that the matter is one which needs the urgent attention of the authorities since there are very strict requirements that must be satisfied before one can sole source in this way. From all appearances, Datadin said that those requirements have been bypassed while adding that other reliable companies were not contacted.

TIGI Head, Dr. Troy Thomas

The PPP Candidate stressed that the situation is one which warrants an immediate investigation by the Public Procurement Commission while adding that the details of how the company came to be contacted needs to be placed in the spotlight.
As for head of Transparency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI), Dr. Troy Thomas, he was keen to note that the situation Caribbean Medical supplies Inc has found itself in does raise suspicion
Dr. Thomas said, “Looking at previous reports, I observed that the company had ventilators for a while and information about what has happened regarding the procurement needs to be made public.”
The Head of TIGI agreed that the Commission needs to look at the matter and based on its findings, decide on whether the police need to be called in.
Chartered Accountant Chris Ram was also supportive of this call while categorically stating that every effort must be made to remove the cloud of suspicion that cloaks this deal.
COMPLAINT FILED
On Monday, last, Trinidadian firm Trans-Continental Medical Products Limited had filed a complaint to the Public Procurement Commission asking for a probe into the purchase of the 14 portable ventilators.
The company in its complaint said, “As a supplier, capable of providing a range of ventilators, portable and otherwise, who have been working with the Ministry for many years, we were not made aware that the Ministry had sent out notices asking for the supply of ventilators. We must now question if these 14 ventilators were procured following proper procurement procedures.”
It added, “…specifically, we are asking for details of advertisements, and other public documents/notices which would help establish the validity of this transaction.”
It should be noted that a principal of Caribbean Medical, Davendra Rampersaud, is before the courts, after a quantity of expired HIV test kits ended up on the local market. Those kits were sold to the Ministry in January.
The World Health Organization has asked local authorities to ensure that the kits are pulled out of use.
An investigation has also been launched in Kenya where the kits were supplied from. It is believed that the kits were part of a batch donated to Kenya by the US, using donor funding.
The Ministry has said it is continuing to investigate the matter. So did the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD).