Check why delivery systems fail

THIS relates to the recent spot light in the governments lax in overall procurement and the effective delivery of drugs in the eve of the Public Accounts Committees enquiry into the Department of Health’s pharmaceutical supply and distribution chain.
While the contracts as revealed were inappropriately awarded, the delivery mechanism also failed in this respect, it seems!
The delivery systems is not the same as the tender process which awards contracts but the actual supervision and administration of the process in ensuring these drugs are delivered.
PAC should further enquire into the breakdown in the supervision in the distribution, which apparently seemed a very essential missing link that had gone undetected by the Health Department.
This is a very essential management function.
How could the secretary be unable to play oversight in the systems through its regional and provincial offices?
He has been appointed to manage the health affairs of the country in the interest of its 8 million people.
And for a lawyer-cum-secretary failing big time in not ensuring systems compliance in the delivery chain, amounts to professional negligence and mismanagement, that should also be under the radar of other bodies such as the Ombudsman Commission and the Police Fraud Squad if evidence surfaces for breach of laws.
These constitutional bodies should not be silent too, and pretend it’s a matter only for the Public Accounts Committees.
Such a failure by the public service bureaucratic system in the administration, supervision and management of distribution by the pharmaceutical companies has to be properly explained by the Health secretary.
The explanations given so far under open telecast is not convincing and lacks substances.
Like for the Department of Health, this message goes to all the public service department heads.
Ensure systems compliance is strictly observed through use of project inspectors, managers and regional managers in compliance with institutional processes and the Public Finance Management Act, and other laws is paramount to improving service delivery to support the Prime Minister James Marape’s slogen to ‘Take Back PNG’.

Koreken Levi,
Lawyer/Bureaucrat