Lawrence to try again to explain drug purchases

And while government spokesman Joseph Harmon would not say yesterday if Cabinet was aware of the purchases before it was publicised last week, he said it hopes that the minister’s second statement will clear up any concerns that the public may have.

While attention has been focused on the $605M deal with Trinidad conglomerate ANSA McAL for the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), three other purchases were made from New GPC, Health 2000 and Chirosyn Discovery that would take the final figure to around $1.5B.

“The minister, I am advised, is prepared to make an additional statement either today or tomorrow that will point out several issues in relation to this matter,” Minister of State Harmon said yesterday at a post-Cabinet press briefing.

Lawrence, a former long-serving Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly, has defended fast-tracking the procurement of the drugs, which was done without the knowledge of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).

The procedure did not conform to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act. To date, Lawrence has not explained under what provisions of the Act the purchase was made, although she has claimed that the law was not violated.

Lawrence has said that she fast-tracked the purchases due to a crisis-level drug shortage. Her predecessor, Dr George Norton, who served up until Lawrence’s appointment at the start of the year, has now stated that there was indeed a drug shortage.

Among the supplies covered by the contract are $35M in eye drops and ointments, $20M plus in creams, ointments and lotions and $6M in suppositories and pessaries. The list also includes the purchase of 1.8M paracetamol tablets and 270,000 Ibuprofen tablets, pegged at a total of $8.2M

‘Avail yourself’

Harmon was yesterday asked by Stabroek News if Cabinet was aware of the purchases and if it provided a no-objection. The Minister of State did not answer the question but instead went into an explanation of the country’s procurement process and referenced the 2015 Auditor General’s Report.

“I will explain the process in relation to contracts. Contracts are basically made at the level of the government ministries where something is identified by that entity. There is an evaluation committee to evaluate,” he stated.

It was then pointed out to Harmon that the process he was explaining was already understood and moreover the transaction involving ANSA McAL and the three others were not publicly tendered.

Harmon again did not answer the question and instead continued with his original explanation. “I am addressing your question… that it is dealt with at the level of an evaluation committee and the evaluation committee makes a recommendation to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. After NPTAB deliberates on the contract, they finalise their positions on it and it is sent to Cabinet for its no objection. That is the process. Now, until such time something comes from the NPTAB to Cabinet, Cabinet will not be able to make a determination on any contract whatsoever. So I can say to you that is the process and this is where we are,” he said.

It appears, however, that ANSA has already supplied the drugs and that even Cabinet was bypassed in the process.

“Insofar as single-sourcing is concerned, single-sourcing is a process whereby companies have been identified before. They have been pre-qualified and based on that list of awardees… a contract is allowed on a single-source basis. What I would like you to do is also to go back to the Audit General’s Report of 2015 for that ministry. You will see that going as far back as 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, what was the process. So that in fact what you are seeing now in 2017 is part of a process that was well established, insofar as pre-qualification of companies were concerned,” he added.

It appears that the minister was confusing single-sourcing, which has specific conditions and prequalification. Moreover, the APNU+AFC government had abandoned prequalification of drug suppliers as only New GPC had previously been prequalified. It had then decided to move to open tendering for drugs.

Harmon also pointed out that Lawrence will made an additional statement to make clear the contract and that the second statement should be juxtaposed with the 2015 Auditor General’s report and an analysis formed to show justification.

“I will advise that you avail yourself of that opportunity and I also advise also that you avail yourself of looking at the Auditor General Report of 2015, where all of these issues have been dealt with,” he asserted.

‘Nipped in the bud ’

But the GTUC yesterday said that government should launch a probe into the matter, which has raised questions about Lawrence’s role in what the trade union body says is a breach of the public procurement law.

“The Guyana Trades Union Congress …is calling on the Government to uphold the Rule of Law in every aspect of governance. There should be an immediate investigation surrounding action taken by Minister of Health Volda Lawrence in the $605m authorisation of spending for the purchase of drugs, which is in breach of the Tender Board process and Public Procurement Law,” a statement from the GTUC read.

“The behaviours of some members within the government suggest disregard for the embrace of the rule of law and restoring financial accountability and prudence to government.  That these acts cast aspersions …is evident in the recent act of the Minister of [Public] Health knowing fully well that such authorisation is not within her remit,” the statement added.

Reminding government that it was its constituent parties that insisted on the establishment of the Public Procurement Commis-sion and had fought long and hard for transparency, especially in the area of public procurement, the GTUC stressed that Lawrence’s actions needed to be addressed. This is because if left unattended, it has the propensity to become pervasive and threaten the welfare of the society.

“Now a senior minister of government has arbitrarily determined that she alone, having the best interest of Guyanese at heart, will operate in breach of the law and good practices, on the pretext that there was no other way to meet the immediate demand. That said minister failed to recognise that such concern could have been channelled to the relevant Tender Board authority for expediting ‘a national need’,” the GTUC asserted.

Such actions, the GTUC added, “if not nipped in the bud become pervasive and threaten the welfare” of the society. “This is how the PPP started and the few that came out to condemn were told to give them a chance, which resulted in full-fledged rape of the economy and the country being ranked the most corrupt in the English-speaking Caribbean by Transparency International. Avoiding continuing along this path requires nipping every errant conduct in the bud and holding those responsible to account… The government if serious about its image of stamping out corruption must not appear to condone or ignore the violations in financial accountability. It is therefore called upon to launch an investigation into this violation committed by the minister and to ensure a strong signal is sent to others by meting out the appropriate sanctions,” it said, while adding that government’s silence could serve as its own indictment in the matter.

“It is noted that Minister Lawrence is also Chairman of the PNCR Georgetown District and therefore her position may be seen as significant to the party and government. However such consideration should not be allowed to override any act in violation of the laws. Acts like those regardless of who committed it should not be allowed to jeopardise the common good. It is also unreasonable to expect silence from sections of society amidst glaring cases of irregularity and impropriety. Failure to act indicts this government,” the GTUC statement said.

‘Ultra vires’

Meanwhile, former PPP/C attorney general Anil Nandlall has questioned the size of ANSA McAL’s contract, while saying that a smaller amount could have been used to make an emergency purchase, while a public tender was pursued for the remainder of the drugs.

He reminded that government had also denied over the months that there was a drug shortage at the GPHC.

“It is uncontroverted that this humongous procurement was done ultra vires and in contravention of the Procurement Act and is therefore illegal and unlawful. Indeed, NPTAB was informed after the fact. A week after the matter was made public, the Minister offered her explanations in a Statement. The Statement raised more questions than it provided answers. To begin with, on what basis did the Minister form the sudden opinion that there was an emergency shortage of drugs, when for months she, her predecessor and the Government in and out of the National Assembly vehemently denied that there was any such shortage. As recent as a month ago, the issue was raised in the National Assembly and Minister Lawrence stoutly denied any shortages. She accused the opposition of misinformation,” Nandlall said in a statement yesterday, while calling for an explanation of her sudden about-face on the issue.

“The Minister contends that she acted pursuant to the Procurement Act. She must state upon what Section she relies. I know of no Section under which she can shelter. The Minister ordered the drugs for GPHC. However, GPHC, by law, is governed by a Board of Directors, whose functions it is to make such decisions. The Board appears not to have played any part in this saga. The available evidence clearly suggests that the Minister usurped the role and functions of the Board. The Minister identifies (four) companies from which this $1.5B of drugs are to be procured. On what basis did the Minister handpick these …suppliers? The Minister compounds her dilemma by writing to NPTAB informing that she chose ANSA McAL to supply $605M worth of drugs. Again, no basis is provided for this unilateral act of the Minister. How did the Minister arrive at ANSA McAL? How did the Minister arrive at $605M? Was there an emergency need for such an extraordinary quantity of drugs?” he further questioned.