Independent committee should review pharma contract

Dear Editor,
I make reference to the President’s appointment of two senior Cabinet Ministers and the Prime Minister “to review, examine and report on a contract for the storage of drugs and other medical supplies”, which it would appear is a clear case of conflict of interest on the part of the appointees.
With what unbiased disposition and independence could these Cabinet members “review, examine and report” a highly controversial issue surrounding another Cabinet colleague, the Minister of Health? Reading newspapers’ reports it was clear that some Cabinet members relentlessly defended the Minister of Health when the matter was debated in Parliament earlier this week.
One would have thought, given the publicity and public perception that borders on an obvious opaque contract for the storage of state pharmaceuticals that involved millions of taxpayers’ dollars, that an independent committee comprising of some of the same ‘forensic auditors’ that were used for recent state audits could have been appointed to “review, examine and report” on the said contract. This would have removed all elements of distrust, biasness and gained the confidence of the nation.
Editor, my attention was also drawn to the invited comment by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan in another section of the media, who stated that he was concerned (most rightfully, I think) about the matter, but when he stressed that “something like that should never be repeated”, it was a most disappointing statement from the minister responsible for national security. Had he said that something like that should never have happened, it would have been most appropriate in the line of his national responsibility. His statement that ‘it should never be repeated” points to a high degree of condonation, which implies that it is OK now, but don’t do it again.
This is the statement from a Cabinet Minister.

Yours faithfully,
Altaf Mohamed Sayad