Cabinet asks Norton to probe alleged leak of info to drug bidders
Cabinet has asked Public Health Minister Dr George Norton to investigate reports that staff of his ministry passed insider information to bidders seeking lucrative drug procurement contracts.
“There has been a report about the purchases of drugs in the Ministry of Health. Cabinet has asked for a further investigation to be done prior to any further action being taken,” Minister of State Joseph Harmon said yesterday, when asked by Stabroek News about the matter.
Stabroek News was told that complaints were made to the Minister of Public Health and other officials at the ministry about staff’s “improper behaviour” as it relates to procurement of drugs for the ministry.
Sources told Stabroek News that there are records of cellphone discussions between staff at the Ministry of Health and bidders as it pertains to specific drug tenders.
“The allegations are damning to say the least… I don’t know how the persons will try to justify their actions when there are cell phone chats and all of that as evidence,” one source said.
The persons making the allegations had issued an ultimatum to the health ministry, which they asked to do an in- depth probe of the officials involved or they would go to the media with the information and evidence they had, sources say.
Harmon noted that government cannot make a decision until all the facts are before it. “At this point in time, we still have allegations and we are basically asking the Minister of Public Health to provide sufficient information on which any future action by the state would take place,” he asserted.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Trevor Thomas, is currently on vacation and is expected to return to work on Monday. This newspaper understands that when he returns to work he will be briefed about the investigations and as he is the person responsible for the financial transactions of the ministry, he will also have to speak to the allegations made by the persons.
Stabroek News was told yesterday by a source inside that the ministry “is currently in an uproar with instructions given to have the deputy Permanent Secretary not act for the PS in his absence.”
The Ministry of Health, under the previous PPP/C administration, had been highly criticised over its procurement practices, particularly the awards of drug contracts to New GPC.
The former government had introduced new prequalification guidelines for those wishing to supply drugs to the public sector and critics had charged that these had been heavily skewed in favour of New GPC to ensure that it was the only company to prequalify. “How can we go from criticising an action to now seeing it being alleged that we are doing the same thing?” the source questioned.
In September last year, then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Leslie Cadogan, was dismissed for alleged gross negligence and misconduct in the performance of his duties.
A letter, dated August 31, 2015, from Harmon to Cadogan, said that he was being dismissed in accordance with Clause 7 (a) of his contract. The letter went on to blame him for various problems related to drug procurement.