IDA: Probe $17m TRHA payment for 12 ambulances

INNOVATIVE Democratic Alliance (IDA) political leader Dr Denise Tsoiafatt Angus is calling on the Integrity Commission to investigate the procurement of 12 ambulances by the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) allegedly costing over $17 million.

Saying the Fraud Squad should also investigate any possible breaches of the Procurement Act relating to the purchase, Tsoiafatt Angus also called for an audit of all TRHA contracts from 2021, when the Farley Augustine-led THA administration assumed office.

The party’s call came days after social activist Pearce Robinson posted on his Facebook page that he had written to TRHA CEO Dr Delmon Baker seeking answers about the procurement of the 12 ambulances.

Robinson, in his post, recalled Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith Brebnor saying at a recent plenary sitting of the assembly, that the TRHA had moved ahead with the purchase without approval from the executive council.

He said he also asked Baker to confirm if the contracts were split to avoid the $1 million oversight threshold, whether any competitive tender took place and who approved the supplier.

In the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, the procurement of goods and services valued at or below $1 million can be exempt from the usual procurement regulations under the Act.

During a news conference on June 3 at the IDA’s headquarters, Wilson Road, Scarborough, Tsoiafatt Angus said the matter “is not about a political opinion but about a legal process and our lives.”

She claimed millions of dollars were being spent, “not on medication, not on oxygen, not on life-saving equipment, but on vehicles that stall through mid-transfer while pharmacies run dry.”

Tsoiaffat Angus asked, “Did the Secretary of Health take this $17 million ambulance procurement to the executive council as required by law? That is the crux of the matter right now. So what does that mean for Tobago, for the process and the law?”

She said the Integrity Commission and the police must investigate the matter.

“And there has to be a full audit of the TRHA contracts from 2021 to present because the law is clear – and where life and tax-payers money are involved there must be accountability.”

She said those found to be in breach of the Office of Procurement Regulator (OPR) guidelines can be fined up to $1 million of face five years in jail.

“It is a very serious matter.”

Tsoiaffat Angus said there is a process for procuring goods and services.

“I was the chairman of the Tobago Regional Health Authority at the time when all of those systems were being put in place and so we were able to upgrade and approve as a board, the procurement process and we didn’t even have an OPR yet.

“I think it was still in the stage of Green Paper, but we were still looking at the guidelines and putting the systems in place and we had one of the best procurement systems back then.”

She recalled they had also put in place the relationship between a secretary and the board and the secretary and the chairman and the CEO.

“So all those were put in place, including the communication and hard copy that must occur on a monthly basis to the secretary because we understood that heavy is the head that wears the crown and the secretary has to know what is going on at every turn.”

Tsoiaffat Angus said she also served as adviser to two former health secretaries Albert Pilgrim and Claudia Groome-Duke.

“So I was able to see the weekly meetings that would have occurred between secretary and chairman and CEO in terms of being up to date regularly on everything that was going on, questions from the public in terms of queries and additionally, quarterly meetings with the board itself and the minutes that would come regularly, monthly, ensuring that the secretary was up to date and it was actually in writing.”

She said if the procurement for the ambulances was above $1 million, the secretary should have taken it to the executive council for approval “before anything proceeds.

“This is not optional. It is mandated by the public procurement and disposal of public property act, which is backed by law.”

Brebnor could not be reached for comment as calls and WhatsApp messages to her cellphone went unanswered.