Economist Miguel Ceara Hatton of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) says the Medina administration has paid exorbitant prices for medical supplies during the present coronavirus epidemic. He said the government chose supply offers that were up to 12 times more than the lowest bidders. Ceara Hatton is secretary of public policies for the PRM. He is a former coordinator of the United Nations Human Development Report.
He mentions a purchase order for disposable medical caps that was allotted to two companies with two very different prices. Group Z Healthcare Products Dominicana offered these for RD$2.95 each, while Support Solution Nuguer offered the same item for RD$35 per unit. He also mentioned the government sources latex gloves from companies selling them for RD$307 and for RD$1,239. In the case of disposable masks, he said the government purchased these from vendors that sold these for RD$454 to RD$3,000.
Ceara Hatton says that price differences over time are understandable, not so in the same tender. He requested an explanation on the purchase decisions, especially since the companies offering low prices said they had enough supplies to cover the entire order.
The government would have had major savings in the purchase if it had bought from the lowest bidders.
Ceara Hatton criticized the recently appointed coronavirus purchases oversight committee. He questioned whether people with vested interests should be on the monitoring committee. “You can’t be judge and jury,” he said. “What this country needs today is transparency and institutionality.”
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9 April 2020