GPHC CEO calls for stricter enforcement of procurement regulations
-In light of Auditor General’s report highlighting $100M undelivered equipment
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, October 25, 2018
Chief Executive Officer of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, (rtd.) Brigadier, George Lewis says it is time for suppliers to procure and deliver items in a timely manner.
Retired Brigadier, George Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
“Here I wish to say that we welcome the efforts of the Public Procurement Commission which only a few weeks ago initiated action to create regulations for the debarment of certain suppliers and contractors,” he told the Department of Public Information. “I think those regulations are needed and are necessary because in many cases and on many occasions contractors and suppliers fail to deliver on time, fail to deliver quality work.”
The CEO made these remarks after findings in the Auditor General’s 2017 report regarding GPHC were made public including that the National Procurement and Tender Administrative Board (NPTAB) gave approval for three contracts to procure a truck, transformer and other critical medical equipment totalling $100Million. The report found that at the time of the audit the procured items were unaccounted for. This information was published by several media outlets. CEO Lewis said that while the Auditor General’s findings might be accurate, the headlines for stories published were misleading and “sought to give the impression that $100Million worth in essential equipment was not delivered to the hospital.”
Lewis said, “At the time of inspection of the Auditor General we would have been receiving equipment ordered and I think it was just about little over $50M that was not received. I wish to say that since that time, all the equipment except the transformer has been received by the hospital they have been taken in and issued to the various departments. These include medical equipment, patient monitors and the truck.”
The CEO said among other outstanding items to be delivered by the identified contractor is the 1000 KVA transformer worth $9M.
“In terms of the transformer, we are working with the supplier to see if we can get that in as early as possible…. While there are regulations in place to deal with contractors who always fail to deliver, we wish for these to be strengthened so that procuring agencies like the GPHC wouldn’t find itself in this current position of being criticized for failure to acquire equipment in a timely manner.”
Delicia Haynes.
Image: Anil Seelall.