Silence on $605M probes

Silence continues from both the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) and the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) Board, three months after their respective investigations began into the over-$605 million emergency purchase of drugs fasttracked by Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence. The purchase violated the procurement law of the country and is seen as posing a challenge in particular to the recently established PPC which is supposed to oversee the procurement process and to address breaches. The transaction was drawn to the public’s notice on March 8 this year. Stabroek News has tried to contact both GPHC Board Chairman Kesaundra Alves and Chairman of the PPC Carol Corbin over the past week to no avail. Calls to Alves’ mobile phone revealed that it had been turned off while those to Corbin have not been returned.