New York case…Ramroop gifted Sanata complex despite failing employment requirement

Court papers trace linkages between New GPC, TVG, Guyana Times

The veil of secrecy over New GPC Inc. is slowly lifting with the company admitting in a New York court this month

Dr. Ranjisinghi “Bobby” Ramroop

that it was employing just 138 workers, at the end of 2012. The company also admitted that it shared a common principal with the Guyana Times newspaper and TVG 28… Dr. Ranjisinghi “Bobby” Ramroop. And owning New GPC would be Atlantic Investments Incorporated and the National Industrial Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). Atlantic Investments also has Ramroop as a principal while NICIL is a Government-owned company charged with overseeing investments for the state. NICIL has a 10 per cent stake in New GPC. The number of staffers employed by New GPC would be significant as its parent company, Queens Atlantic Incorporated Inc. (QAII), had promised to provide up to 1200 jobs with the acquisition of the Sanata complex. It has been several years now since that that acquisition New GPC, the largest supplier of pharmaceuticals to the Government has been in news in recent years after revelations that all was not right with those drug purchases. With questions over the procurement procedures used in granting New GPC the contracts to supply drugs, the spotlight was thrown on its close relationship with the Ministry of Health and Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and former President Bharrat Jagdeo. Questions over the cost of certain drugs being paid for by Government led to a court action in August 2012 by New GPC against Kaieteur News both in Guyana and in the US suing for US$1M.  The company said it suffered because of the publications and even lost overseas business and customers. Initially, New GPC had objected to several questions being asked by lawyers for Kaieteur News, eventually asking Judge Joan Kenney, in the New York court, to have the answers remain confidential. However, the Judge denied the request and last month ordered that the answers be provided within 20 days. New GPC was unable to provide evidence that it lost market overseas. It was also unable to explain what it understood by “Sole Sourcing”, a method used Government to award the billions in drugs supply contracts to New GPC, almost exclusively. According to the court documents provided, the names of the officers and directors of New GPC supplying the answers were Ramroop, Paul Fredericks, C.C.H, and Rudolph Collins, C.C.H. New GPC denied it owned, operated, or sponsored any public events in 2012. The Opposition has been incensed over the arrangements between Government and New GPC and its other sister companies.

Bharrat Jagdeo

For this year alone, Government is set to spend upwards of $5B for drug purchases. Last year, Guyana spent $4.69B.  The drugs bills would represent half of the total Ministry’s budget of $10B. Drug purchases have accounted for a large chunk of the Ministry of Health’s expenses with New GPC in 2011 being awarded almost 80 per cent of the $13B expended. The Opposition parties in the National Assembly have expressed alarm over the developments with members of its Public Accounts Committee arm, clashing during examinations of the 2010 Auditor General’s report. Hotly debated also was how the Ministry did not follow competitive bidding processes and as such allowed $1.252B in contracts to be granted to New GPC to deliver drugs in 2010. Last December, the pre-qualification period expired and Government immediately moved to invite companies to apply. However, local suppliers and the Opposition again criticized the “unfair” conditions which included among other things, large spaces for storage and evidence that it supplied hundreds of millions of dollars in drugs. The conditions, in effect, tipped the scales in favour of New GPC. Ramroop is said to be close friends to Jagdeo.