Transparency International PNG (TIPNG) has called on the Government to ensure lessons learnt from multiple Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Public Hearings on the poor performance by contractors of medical supplies are not ignored.
TIPNG issued this statement following media reports of a cabinet decision to award the Certificate of Inexpediency for the Contract for Provision for the supply of 100 percent health centre and aid post kits throughout PNG to Borneo Pacific Pharmaceuticals (BPP) Limited for K65 million one year only.
In 2019, under the Chairmanship of Finance Minister Sir John Pundari, the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee heard testimonies from invited experts and witnesses.
They explained that there was no due diligence performed to guarantee the quality of contractors, nor the quality of the drugs supplied under the contract, with specific references made to a controversial decision by the government in 2013 to award Borneo Pacific Pharmaceuticals K71 million.
Minister for Health, Jelta Wong told media during the hearings in 2019, that he had written to the Police Commissioner to take action on the Committee's findings.
TIPNG Board Chairman, Peter Aitsi in a statement said: “There had been a similar inquiry in 2014 by the then Parliamentary PAC on the same issue, on the procurement of medical supplies from Borneo Pacific Pharmaceuticals.
“Papua New Guineans are now asking what steps the government has taken to learn from these costly public hearings to avoid further risking the health and well-being of citizens.”
He said our national health service is already in a critical state that poor decision making on medical procurement will lead to the occurrence of deaths that could have been prevented.
Mr Aitsi said the decision made by the Cabinet to issue a certificate of inexpediency, upon the advice of the National Procurement Commission (NPC) to a company with documented historical concerns, undermines the lessons learnt from the hearings by the PAC.
“The role of the NPC is not to award public contracts but importantly, to monitor performance of contractors to ensure public funds are spent on reputable firms with a proven ability to deliver for PNG.
“Following through with such a decision would indicate to development partners that recent public finance reforms introduced by the government to promote transparency and accountability of public expenditure have been ineffective and not met the public expectation,” Mr Aitsi said.
In December 2013, the company was in the spotlight when the Australian government withdrew from a drug supplies program, after the government’s Central Supply and Tenders Board (CSTB) awarded a contract to supply medical kits to BPP.
The PNG National Doctors Association expressed concern at the CSTB decision in January 2014, after revealing that the ISO 9001 accreditation requirements were removed. The Community Coalition Against Corruption, led by TIPNG and the Media Council of PNG condemned the contract in April 2014.