Controversial T&T Company gets $365M health contract

Mar 22, 2021 News

Kaieteur News- A company that was blacklisted by the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) for alleged financial malpractices in Guyana has once again been awarded a US$1.6M contract.
It was awarded this past week when the National Procurement and Tender Administration Office indicated to management at the Guyana Hospital Corporation that approval had been given for the procurement of laboratory and pathology supplies.
The award of contract, indicating the tender board approval for the contract, was signed by the Tender Board Administration Chairman, Tarachand Balgobin.
Documents seen by this publication illustrate that the contact includes the supply of hematology supplies to the tune of US$60,635, Pathology supplies valued US$70,832, along with Urology equipment valued US$10,506.

NPTAB Chairman, Tarachand Balgobin

The company was also approved for the supply of microbiology apparatus valued US$7,929.
The contract also included the supply of general accessories to the tune of US$59,436 along with biochemistry supplies totalling US$1,349,804. This brings the total sum for the medical supplies to US$1,625,144 or G$365,657,400.
Western Scientific, which did business with Guyana in the past, including supplying items to the Forensic Laboratory on the East Coast of Demerara, was handed a four-year ban by the IDB from March 31, 2016 to October 15, 2020.
One related company and two individuals – SCIMED, Mario Ricard Dell and Edwin Mackoon – were also sanctioned for fraudulent practices and cannot bid for another four years.
According to the ID

B website, the firms and individuals sanctioned by its Group’s Sanctions Committee were found to have engaged in fraud, corruption, collusion, coercion, or obstruction in violation of the IDB Group’s anti-corruption policies.
These findings were made through an administrative process that permitted the accused firms and/or individuals to respond to the allegations pursuant to the Sanctions Procedures.
Debarred firms are declared ineligible to be awarded and participate in any IDB-financed contract for the periods indicated.
“Ineligibility may extend to any firm or individual who directly or indirectly controls the debarred firm or any firm which the debarred firm directly or indirectly controls. In the case of a debarred individual, ineligibility may extend to any firm which the debarred individual directly or indirectly controls,” IDB said.
Western Scientific’s troubles were linked to contracts of the Citizen’s Security Programme. A contractor had blown the whistle to IDB of the scheme.
Part of the Citizen Security Programme involved the rehabilitation of community centres.
Drug contracts for the country’s hospitals and its related services amounted to billions of dollars annually.

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