The Speaker was heard telling the Clerk, “if it is not true then it must be ended, if it is true then it must be exposed.”

Boxes upon boxes of lubricants were seen, Latex Condoms along with a few boxes of umbilical cord clamps. All boxes had delivery dates of August this year. That was in the upper flat. The lower flat stored several pieces of equipment along with several empty refrigerators.
Ali asked to see at least one tablet, but none could be seen.  

Bullyism PNC style.  AFC supporters are watching these events closely. 

Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton examining the contents of one box stored at the bond

Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence and opposition Member of Parliament Ifraan Ali examining the controversial bond.

http://gina.gov.gy/house-divid...sex-st-storage-bond/

Not one tablet seen at controversial drug bond-after impromptu visit sparked by parliament showdown.

December 9, 2016 Source

The APNU+AFC Govern-ment yesterday faced more embarrassing questions about a controversial bond deal when a parliamentary showdown resulted in an impromptu visit to the Sussex Street site and not a single tablet was seen by the MPs on the mission.

PPP/C MP Anil Nandlall initiated the drama in the National Assembly when he claimed during his budget presentation that the government was paying $14M per month for the Sussex Street bond where “not a tablet is being stored”.  Minister of Public Health, Dr George Norton, who had acknowledged lying to Parliament several months ago on the bond deal, then challenged him to withdraw his statement since he said it was not true. An uproar in the House followed and government members chanted “withdraw.”

After the noise died down the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland asked Norton if he was saying that medication is stored at the bond to which Norton replied and said : “Yes, Mr. Speaker.”

Norton’s response sent the members of the opposition into a frenzy and they all started to call on him to prove that medication was being stored in the bond.

The Speaker then asked Nandlall if he had any proof that the bond was not being used to store medication. “My Information is that the bond is not yet in use… The people of this country want to know what is being stored there,” Nandlall said, to which a member exclaimed that they should visit the bond. Nandlall, the immediate past attorney general, quickly agreed.

After several minutes of deliberation and argument from both sides of the House, the Speaker decided that the Opposition would select one member from its side, the Government would select one member from their side and along with the Deputy Clerk of Parlia-ment, Hermina Gilgeous and other parliamentary staff would visit the bond to ascertain whether the claims were true.

Both sides agreed and the Opposition side selected Member of Parliament Irfaan Ali while the Government selected Minister of Social Protec-tion, Volda Lawrence.  Nandlall then continued his budget presentation.

The two MPs departed from the National Assembly along with most of the press corps. In addition to Ali, PPP/C Member of Parliament Juan Edghill tagged along and the party arrived at the bond at 8PM. When Edghill approached the gates of the bond no one was present, however, after calling, someone emerged from inside. Edghill related that he was there along with Ali to check on the contents of the bond. However the worker declined to open the gates and said he had to “check with his boss.”

Lawrence arrived some 15 minutes after and related that the team had to wait on the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, Trevor Thomas. Around 8:25PM Norton arrived along with Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings. Thomas arrived shortly after and the gates were opened and the Parliamentary Staff, Ministers, Opposition Members and members of the media flowed through and entered the bond.

The delegation was taken upstairs first where there were a number of steel shelves that contained boxes of equipment on the bottom sections  only. Thomas explained that the top floor stored items such as boxes of umbilical cord clamps, latex condoms, lubricant, and IDU kit insertions. One of the boxes was subsequently opened and revealed a set of umbilical cord clamps.

The group then went downstairs where it was related by Thomas that it was used to store items such as heavy machinery including incubators, a pharmaceutical forklift, and a number of refrigeration units including one sub-zero unit. However, upon exploring the refrigeration and sub-zero unit, no medicines were seen in them.

After carefully observing every nook  and cranny of the bond, Ali then stated that so far he had only seen equipment being stored and not tablets. Ali then subsequently requested that since it was related by Norton that medication was stored at the bond that a tablet be shown to confirm such a claim. However, this request was denied and it was subsequently acknowledged by Norton that drugs are not stored at the  bond.

The members then departed the bond and returned to parliament where confusion ensued again. While giving his report to the Speaker, Ali related that his colleague Nandlall had stated in his budget address that “not a tablet is being stored” in the bond. However, the government argued that the aim of the exercise was to ascertain whether the bond was being used to store anything at all.

The House went back and forth for over 30 minutes on the issue and the Speaker subsequently asked that the recording be played to ascertain exactly what Nandlall had said and Norton’s reply. However, even after listening to the recording the members continued to dispute whether the visit to the bond was to check for drugs or if anything was stored and as such the House could not come to an agreement.

Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan then rose and suggested that the matter be suspended until today when a transcript of the conversation between Nandlall and Norton and the other members could be properly finished for analysis. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo then moved the motion for the matter to be suspended until today.

The deal for the bond with businessman Larry Singh was said to have been initiated by the APNU+AFC government because extra storage capacity for drugs was needed. This was despite that fact that a government bond existed at Diamond on the East Bank where more pharmaceuticals could be stored.

Singh had never run a bond storage operation before and critics said the deal appeared to be a sweetheart arrangement to give business to a PNCR supporter. To this day, no explanation has been given by the APNU+AFC government as to how Singh came to know that the government needed a bond. Questions have also been asked about why there was no public tendering for the bond for which it was disclosed that the government is paying a monthly rent of $12.5m.

Amid unrelenting pressure and condemnation of the deal, a Cabinet subcommittee was convened in September this year and it agreed that the bond deal was “undoubtedly undesirable” and a variety of options should be considered including shortening of the lease. Since September, nothing has been heard about the deal and whether Singh is still collecting the standard monthly fee. There also been no world from the Public Health Ministry on progress in finding an alternative to Singh’s bond.

CT SCANNER STORED AT BOTTOM FLOOR

Django posted:

House divided on visit to Sussex St.  storage bond

Dec 09, 2016 Source

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GINA, GUYANA, Thursday, December 8, 2016

The debate of the 2017 national budget got side-tracked as both sides of the National Assembly challenged each other over the health storage bond being rented by the Ministry of Public Health in Sussex Street.

Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Anil Nandlall during his presentation accused the government of neglecting production to “spend, as money is going out of style”, in the 2017 budget. He highlighted several examples one of which included the storage bond being rented by the Ministry of Public Health.

 

“Fourteen million dollars ($14M) we’re spending to rent a bond that not a tablet is being stored right at the back here sir, to store pharmaceuticals,” Nandlall told the National Assembly.   Rising on a point of Order, Minister of Public Health, Dr George Norton objected to the statement made by the opposition MP.

Norton asked for the withdrawal of the statement since it was misleading. The Speaker of the House, Dr Barton Scotland asked for a clarification from Minister Norton on his objection. “Mr Speaker, the honourable member is misleading the House by saying no medication is being stored at that bond. I ask that that statement be withdrawn,” Minister Norton told the Speaker.

Speaker Scotland queried from the Minister if medication was stored at the bond to which Minister Norton replied, “Yes, Mr Speaker.” When Nandlall countered telling the House that he had reliable information that “no medication is stored there, no tablet” the Speaker suggested that the matter be brought to the House on Friday. “You have no proof that anything is stored there, you have no proof or you have proof that nothing is stored there?” the Speaker asked.

Nandlall then repeated that the bond was not yet used. Speaker Scotland pointed out that the Minister’s assertions countered Nandlall’s statement and offered to produce photographs to show there was recent construction work on the bond. “Well let us go and see what is in it,” Nandlall told the Speaker.

After utterances throughout the chamber  of “let us go now” the Speaker in an effort to bring resolution to the matter proposed a visit to the bond. “This is a matter that has exercised the House for some time, and so we will ascertain at the end of this sitting, to the satisfaction of the House what is the true position,”

Opposition Member of Parliament Anil Nandlall

Scotland approved sending one representative from both sides of the House along with the Deputy Clerk to visit the bond. The government nominated Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence and the opposition nominated MP, Ifraan Ali. Hours after, the team returned and provided a verbal report to the Speaker.

Each side told of visiting the bond, waiting for the Permanent Secretary to arrive with the key before entering and inspecting one of the boxes stored in the bond. Condoms, umblicord cuts and medical machinery were stored at the bond. However, Ali told the Speaker that when asked to observe one tablet that was stored in the bond he was presented with none.

Confusion ensued. The opposition contended that the visit was to verify whether there was medication stored at the bond while the government side of the House argued it was to verify that the bond was in use.

Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton

Even the Speaker admitted that he was under the assumption that the visit was to verify that the bond was in use. The recordings were replayed twice to determine what was said but no conclusion could be reached.

It was Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan who rose to propose having an accurate transcript of the proceedings done and examined tomorrow before the Speaker makes his decision. “And you decide this issue because we’re not going to have any final resolution and we want finality here,” the Minister said.

The Speaker in acceptance of the proposal moved for the examination of the transcript to be done on Friday.

By Tiffny Rhodius

Django,, are you a silent partner with Singh...

Nah Bhai,i condemned that crooked deal,the rental is highly over priced.

I was pissed with the gov't for negotiating such contract,they don't know value for money.

When I tell Al Yuh DONKEYS running dat Country now, I mean DONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!