Dear Editor,
I observed in a recent press release that the Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health indicated that government received three bids for the construction of the new hospital after having vetted twelve bids. But government fell short of informing the public who the bidders were, how the vetting was conducted, and how the financing is appropriated. In addition to this, not everyone can take a trip to the notary’s office, or the office of the Ministry to review the pre-selection criteria and terms of reference.
While speed, transparency and effectiveness have been lauded by the Prime Minister, there seems to be a haste and rush to quickly award the contract before the end of August 2016 in a bid to get political mileage ahead of the September election. The insistence on the need for haste by the Prime Minister in this season of waste is worrisome, especially considering the huge amounts of money involved, and the additional investments purported to be injected by SZV.
I recommend that in addition to the review of their awarding team, that government put increased or heightened mechanisms in place to ensure greater transparency, scrutiny and oversight in the bidding process and awarding of contracts for the construction of the hospital.
Having gone through the fiasco with the new administration building with cost overruns and the recent scandal surrounding the awarding of the garbage contract, one would think that government would be more measured, deliberate and meticulous in the selection process, and take an abundance of caution. No one wants to see another expensive pigeon coop! Therefore, we should be very apprehensive when we see politicians rushing photo –ops of ground breakings, and the people are given such a short window within which to entrust enormous amounts of public funds to people we do not know fully.
If we truly believe in the promise of a new hospital that would provide high-quality and affordable health care for all, I believe that information should not be shrouded in a veil of secrecy, the project should be thoroughly vetted by all stakeholders, and the public should be engaged in a public review and be able to participate or dialogue more in the decision- making process surrounding the construction of their hospital.
Terry Peterson
