NEW GPC won contracts ‘legally and fairly’

– Nadir says Opposition hate crusade hurting good Guyanese businesses

By Michael Younge

PAC member Manzoor Nadir

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Manzoor Nadir said the opposition’s anti-development and corruption crusade is hurting good and honest Guyanese businesses, as he declared that the NEW GPC INC won its contracts to provide medical supplies “legally and fairly”.
Nadir’s comments came on the heels of a wave of attacks launched by the combined opposition and its media outfit, the Kaieteur News on the process used to award contracts to the long-established Guyanese company, which is considered a lead player in the health sector.
Nadir said as a ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic government representative on the committee, he had the opportunity to closely scrutinise the Public Accounts for the Health Ministry for the year 2010 at the committee’s January 14 meeting which received selective widespread publicity in the media.
He said that he was dissatisfied with the conduct of the committee’s chairman, APNU shadow finance minister Carl Greenidge and the objectionable manner in which he presided over the meeting which turned into an arena where the opposition aimed to score cheap political points.
He criticised Greenidge for allowing two members of the opposition to relentlessly and unnecessarily “go on and on with their questioning even when the line of the questioning was suppositions and bordering on the issue of libel”.
“And one of our members, Mrs Bibi Shadick had to interject and say to the chairman that you are allowing this charade to go on without giving the members of the government an opportunity to speak and she accused him of being a poor chairperson,” he recounted while speaking on Television Guyana’s Current Issues and Analysis (CIA) programme aired on Channel 28 daily.

Objectionable
“I had to interject and say Mr Chairman, it is very improper for a member in questioning the PS for the Ministry of Health to use ‘if’ three times, because our position on the PAC is to examine the accounts of the ministry and we are guided by the comments of the auditor general and the responses of the accounting officer of the agency.”
He said although the auditor general’s findings are respected, the opposition’s attempt to use them as the sole yardstick of measuring the work of the various state entities and ministries was contestable, especially in the case of the NEW GPC contracts.
“The auditor general’s report, while most of us will stand with confidence behind (it), is not cast in stone and is not gospel… it might be close to gospel and the reason why we have a Public Accounts Committee is because there might be differences between the observances of the auditor general and the recommendations he makes and what the accounting officer says,” Nadir noted.
The PPP/C MP said the role of the PAC was to be the adjudicator and to provide oversight of the work undertaken by the auditor general in conformity with the expectations of the National Assembly and the Constitution.

Ambiguity
The former labour and tourism minister also expressed concern over the manner in which the auditor general’s report was written, explaining that the ambiguity and vagueness in some cases proved challenging for thoughtful and comprehensive analysis with respect to the procurement of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, according to the rules and regulations. This was not a totally new concern, he advised during the interview.
“We had an issue with the auditor general writing as if reconciliation means non-delivery of drugs in the case of NEW GPC,” Nadir explained. He added that it was a fact that the process was ongoing and a commitment had been given by the permanent secretary that where instances of non-delivery was found for any supplier, that action would be taken with respect to compliance in accordance with the specifications of the contracts as awarded.
Nadir said he was forced to remind Greenidge and the opposition members that the Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (now NEW GPC) was one of the only pharmaceutical manufacturers in Guyana years ago, as he reflected on the decision to purchase the plant in 1983 from Argentina.
“I was the one who wrote the marketing plan for that entity aimed at the retooling of the plant to manufacture generic drugs,” Nadir disclosed, arguing that now “the NEW GPC is the foremost entity in Guyana and one of the few in the Caribbean that can manufacture generic drugs”.

Process is not flawed
He pointed out at the meeting that the health sector used to procure medical supplies from the International Dispensary Agency, but was soon able to procure the same locally from the NEW GPC at better prices.
“The process is not flawed… it confirms exactly to the procurement rules,” he stressed on the CIA, highlighting the rarely mentioned fact that millions of dollars was being lost as medical supplies spoilt and expired over time because of poor storage facilities and inadequate quality assurance mechanisms.
“We used to buy drugs in bulk and store them in two to three places… hundreds of millions of dollars in expired drugs was suffered,” he reiterated, as the overseas suppliers had no obligation to provide storage or make supplies available only when they were needed, despite the purchase of large quantities.
“NEW GPC won contracts legally and fairly…. What is wrong with having a local supplier that is competitive and complies with the tender procedures, while giving the flexibility… it provides better value for the taxpayer’s dollars?” he questioned. Nadir cautiously pointed out that the administration has retained the services of the relevant stakeholders and is constructing a National Drug Bond in Diamond after receiving assistance from USAID.

Corruption diet
“There is an audience out there that is fed this diet of corruption… but to say that there is a distinct plan to cheat the taxpayer and favour friends, I don’t see that,” he said. “And so people have zeroed in on the NEW GPC, because a particular newspaper has had it in for that company and the former President Jagdeo. But in the interest of national good, in such instances where accusations are levied against companies that could damage their reputation unfairly, is cause for concern”, the member of parliament noted.
He described the damage done as “irreparable” in the case of the NEW GPC, while expressing the view that “we have to be responsible, we are hurting good Guyanese companies when we behave this way”.