No rules broken in K71m tender

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday May 29th, 2014

 THE process involved in the issuing of the K71million contract to Borneo Pacific by the Health Department and Tenders Board  was done as a matter of convenience, the Public Accounts Committee hearing found yesterday 

Boneo Pacific, a pharmaceutical company which won the contract, will be responsible for delivering five rounds of medical supplies to all aid posts and health centres in the country over the next 12 months.

Committee chairman and MP for Bogia John Hickey said the inquiry did not find any evidence of foul play as claimed by media reports and critics. 

But he said the inquiry would direct the Central Supplies and Tenders Board and the Health Department to modify the tendering process for medical supplies and drugs in future.

He said in a few instances, things were done as a matter of expediency and corners were cut. Maybe the executive arm of the Government was not informed sufficiently in regards to the tenders, he said.

“The medial supplies will be arriving in PNG within the next two weeks. What concerns me now is the distribution, which is a different matter,” Hickey said.

It will cost the Health Department K31million for the distribution of the medical kits. 

The inquiry was told that a member of the technical evaluation committee of the Health Department had compromised the tendering process, resulting in the Australian government withdrawing its aid from the department.

The PAC adjourned the hearing on CSTB and the Health Department for three weeks.