Govt criticised for approving contract for blacklisted company
– TIGI says Cabinet, Public Health Ministry lapses ‘unacceptable’
It was only last year that Trinidad company Western Scientific Company Limited was blacklisted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for what the bank referred to as fraudulent practices.
That blacklist was to last from March 2016 to October 2020, but somehow, on August 18, the coalition Government announced its no objection to a $30 million contract for this very company to supply Sysmex reagents for the Ministry of Public Health.
In an interview with this publication, President of Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI), Dr. Troy Thomas, pointed out that the company being blacklisted by the IDB was reported on by local media. Thomas stated that the public expects better when the high level at which cabinet operates is considered.
He stressed that the violations the company had been sanctioned for are the exact thing the Government should be opposing. According to Thomas, officials in the health sector ought to know the contractors in the field, if they indeed intend to look out for Guyana’s interest.
“They’re looking after the country, and if they don’t take that seriously then they are not fit for the job. So I don’t accept the excuse that they did not know. It should be known especially by people in the field,” he declared.
“It could be that they knew and decided to ignore (the blacklist). And it might be that they felt that they were blacklisted by the IDB but not by Guyana, and maybe they see that as different.”
Regardless of these possibilities, however, the anti-corruption advocate stressed that the situation raises questions of how seriously the Government is taking the business of running such a critical sector as public health.
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Image: Oliver Tacke (flickr)