Questions over how pharmaceutical suppliers were selected for payment dominated Wednesday’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee hearing, as conflicting correspondence intensified scrutiny of the Ministry of Health’s procurement process.
The hearing saw PAAC Chairman Jagdeo Singh struggle to decipher what he described as a “curious confluence of circumstances.”
“What would conceivably explain the smaller companies being denied payment of their monies while the bigger companies were paid?”
Principal Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards, who also formerly served as Chairman of NIPDEC, was unable to provide a clear explanation of the criteria used to prioritise payments to pharmaceutical suppliers.
“I’m unable to say because I was not part of that prioritisation process.”
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Asif Ali, went back to 2023, recalling outstanding bills amidst limited funding.
“It’s not that we said to NIPDEC do not pay the small suppliers, leave them out. We said use the loan funds to pay those suppliers and the Ministry of Health will use our funds to pay the smaller suppliers.”
However, Chairman Singh challenged that account, citing email correspondence.
“You said ‘I find the payment to AP Scott low’, and then you instructed Mr Cozier to leave out two small suppliers who NIPDEC, through the independent and fair and transparent process alluded to by Dr Richards, had decided were deserving of payment.”
Mr Ali attempted to explain the decision-making process, including the involvement of former Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.
Committee Member Saddam Hosein asked whether Ministry officials had met with pharmaceutical suppliers, with Dr Abdool-Richards confirming that such meetings had taken place.
Meanwhile, Labour Minister Leroy Baptiste sought clarification on a letter signed by former Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parsaram, which stated that he acted on advice from the Director of the Chemistry, Food and Drugs Division and/or the principal pharmacist.