{"id":4878,"date":"2013-12-06T10:30:07","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T15:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/?p=4878"},"modified":"2013-12-06T10:31:20","modified_gmt":"2013-12-06T15:31:20","slug":"money-spent-on-overpriced-drugs-could-pay-20-increase-to-nurses-teachers-afc-tells-ramotar-knews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/?p=4878","title":{"rendered":"Money spent on overpriced drugs could pay 20% increase to nurses, teachers \u2013 AFC tells Ramotar (KNews)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe AFC deems the refusal to establish the PPC as a sad commentary on the presidency\u2019s will to stamp out cronyism, favouritism and discrimination and the perception thereof, in the procurement process.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/em>By Abena Rockcliffe<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>
\nThe Alliance For Change (AFC) has identified that Guyana has suffered many financial disasters in the absence of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) \u2013 one being the excessive spending on overpriced drugs. Nevertheless, the party is saying that it is not too late to curb the rampant corruption in the awarding of contracts. However, the government is seemingly not willing to give up the stronghold it has on the procurement process.<\/p>\n

\"AFC<\/a><\/p>\n

AFC leader, Khemraj Ramjattan<\/p>\n

The AFC has long held the position that it is extremely keen on securing a level playing field for local contractors, and that one of the main measures in doing so is to ensure that Guyana gets a PPC.
\nAs the party continuously seeks the reality of a functioning PPC, AFC leader, Khemraj Ramjattan initiated consultations with President Donald Ramotar. On November 29, last, Ramjattan wrote Ramotar saying that Guyana is in urgent need of both the Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) Bill and an operational PPC.
\nRamjattan stated in the letter that a PPC will have vast effects on the financial architecture of Guyana.
\nThe politician said it would have put to rest the concern that government would have had saved $1.8B over the last two years, enough to pay all the nurses and teachers a 20 percent increase in salaries this year, if there was no cabinet involvement in the procurement in pharmaceuticals.
\n\u201cIt would have also removed any perception of collusion on the part of your government in the award of the Amaila Hydro Road project,\u201d noted Ramjattan.
\nRamjattan, in the letter, registered his party\u2019s belief that the setting up and operationalization of the PPC will be a massive asset in partnering the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism and sees their existence as \u201c\u2026wholly symbiotic. Therefore the necessity in having both must be appreciated and worked for by the lawmakers of Guyana.\u201d
\nRamjattan told the President that if all parliamentary parties work together towards having the Bill and the Commission set up and operational, both can be done before the next plenary meeting of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), set for February.<\/p>\n

Ramjattan put forward that \u201cA road map can see the nominations from the PPC being sent into the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) within a week, with the PAC then recommending its five names for parliamentary approval in time for the sitting on the 12th December. At this sitting the AML-CFT (Amendment) Bill can be also brought back and sent to the Special Select Committee after its first reading\u2026Thereafter, the next sitting should see an item for the approval of the five members as recommended by the PAC and the laying of the financial paper for approximately $50M, to support this Commission and the passing of the AML-CFT Bill, which by then would have finished its work in the select Committee.\u201d
\nIt was noted that the AFC consulted with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and no objection was forthcoming. But the government stands alone.
\nRamotar responded that his executive does not view the Bill and the Commission as \u201cwholly symbiotic. In fact there is hardly a nexus between the two.\u201d
\nRamotar said that obligations with the passing of the amendment Bill are time bound and if not discharged can attract sanctions which can have a crippling effect on the country\u2019s economy. He said that the challenge will affect Guyana both regionally and internationally, as a nation stigmatized as engaged in money laundering and terrorism activities.
\nHe then reiterated that the government will not call a deal unless cabinet can maintain its no-objection power.
\nRamotar said \u201cIf the Cabinet\u2019s role is removed from the procurement process, we will be left with the abnormal situation of having a constitutionally established oversight body reviewing a process which essentially has no executive input, role and participation\u2026Another significant factor which must be addressed is who will be held legally responsible and liable for any act, omission, negligence or the infraction of any legal principle in the procurement process. Clearly if cabinet\u2018s role is removed, it cannot be the executive. Will the PPC accept and be in the legal position to discharge this responsibility?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Ranjisinghi \u2018Bobby\u2019 Ramroop<\/p>\n

Ramotar highlighted that in many countries the cabinet still awards contracts, and he added that the cabinet in Guyana plays the most minimal role in the PPC than in any other country in the Caribbean.\u201d
\nBut it didn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 Yesterday the AFC wrote back, sticking to its position, still suggesting the use of the road map.
\nRamjattan told the president clearly that the AFC sees the Bill and the Commission as a shield and sword to protect Guyana and eliminate dirty money.
\n\u201cCorruption eats at the sinews of our society and unless we fix our systems to deal with dirty money and procurement deals in a complementary way, Guyana may very well become a pariah state with which no one would want do business or invest.
\nThe AFC deems the refusal to establish the PPC as a sad commentary on the presidency\u2019s will to stamp out cronyism, favourism and discrimination and the perception thereof, in the procurement process.\u201d
\nRamjattan dismissed the comparison to other states, saying that that comparison pales into insignificance when these states have functioning integrity commissions, ombudsmen and other watchdog bodies. He said too that those states don\u2019t have some constitutional mandates like Guyana does.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe AFC deems the refusal to establish the PPC as a sad commentary on the presidency\u2019s will to stamp out cronyism, favouritism and discrimination and the perception thereof, in the procurement process.\u201d By Abena Rockcliffe The Alliance For Change (AFC) has identified that Guyana has suffered many financial disasters in the absence of the Public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-4878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latestnews","tag-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/image001-2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4F7T1-1gG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4879,"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4878\/revisions\/4879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afcguyana.com\/afcnew\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}