The Ministry of Health (MoH) remains silent on who has supplied it with drugs since July and why bidders who submitted tenders earlier last year to prequalify to procure supplies for the sector have not to date been notified.

Following the expiration of the 2012-2014 contract on June 30th last year, new arrangements would have had to be in place for July to December 2015. Stabroek News was told by Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran that the point person at the ministry was Permanent Secretary Leslie Cadogan but despite numerous efforts to contact him, he has not made himself available to this newspaper.

Since Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon’s announcement in July this year that only the New GPC had been selected to supply drugs to the health sector for the 2014 to 2016 period, there have been formal protests by Trinidad-based conglomerate ANSA McAL and a court challenge of the decision by the International Pharmaceutical Agency (IPA). IPA, in its court challenge, said that the decision was unconstitutional and is seeking to have it set aside.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ANSA McAL Beverly Harper recently related that her company is yet to receive official documentation from the MoH on the status of their bid.

Luncheon in October, acknowledged that official documentation was not sent to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) informing it of Cabinet’s no-objection.

The MoH went on record during the same month, saying that they were in the dark as to who won the contract as they had not received correspondence from the NPTAB.

An official of the NPTAB told Stabroek News that the letter was prepared around October 13 and was dispatched and is logged in the NPTAB records. The official explained that it is now the ministry’s role to notify all bidders on the status of their bid. “NPTAB’s role is complete for now; only if there are protests and that sort of thing. The ball is now in the hands of Ministry of Health to notify all the bidders…” the official had explained.

However, to date this has not been done nor has an explanation been forthcoming on why.

When Luncheon was asked if government was aware of the developments, he said that he would be checking with the ministry to ascertain the status.

He told Stabroek News that he too has had difficulty getting information from the ministry but that this newspaper should not stop in its pursuit of Cadogan.

Observers are questioning if there have been any supplies to the health sector since July as they believe those would be illegal. They are also urging the MoH, which is the procuring agency, to stop dragging its feet on announcing the winner of the contract.

One observer has questioned what process the MoH has been using to supply drugs since July 1 as the contract for this new supply period is not yet legitimate.

“What has been happening with drug supplies since June 30 is a question for anyone. Does it mean no drug has been supplied since then? If it has, does it mean it’s being sole-sourced? Does the current situation meet the requirement for a sole-sourcing? I just don’t know what is,” the observer stated.

An NPTAB source pointed out that the legalities in drugs being supplied before the announcement will have to be determined by legal minds following the Procurement Act. He, however, stated that the contract would be void if a contract was awarded before the necessary notification steps are taken.

“This thing is tricky and I can’t talk for any ministry on their views but law is law. If a contract is awarded before the requisite steps, it’s void and will have to be retendered… If this one falls into that bracket is another story,” the source said.