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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Kenyan suppliers of alleged fake HIV testing kits to Guyana charged

…prosecutors disclose kits shipped to Guyana were stolen

The Kenyan suppliers of the alleged fake HIV kits to Guyana, who reprotely used Caribbean Medical Supplies Incorporated as their conduit in a scandal that rocked the local health sector last year, are now facing charges for their crimes in their home country.

According to news reports out of Kenya news agency k24tv, three businessmen - Erick Mwangi, Jones Olouch and Robert Njoya - were recently charged in the Milimani Law Court with selling expired and fake HIV kits to consumers in Kenya and abroad.

The news report also indicated that prosecutors revealed that the trio allegedly stole HIV test kits and exported them to Guyana. According to the report, Mwangi was charged separately with exporting 400 packets of counterfeit UniGold HIV test kits to Guyana on December 30, 2019, using the Jomo Kenyatta Airport. These alleged test kits which found their way to Guyana when Caribbean Medical Supplies Inc reportedly sold them to what was then named the Ministry of Public Health in 2019. The presence of the fake kits was uncovered when their Irish manufacturer, Trinity Biotech, wrote to then Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence in January of 2020.

In its correspondence, the company had revealed that counterfeit boxes of the Uni-Gold HIV test kit were created, complete with fake expiry dates and the expired kits were then repackaged in said boxes.

Additionally, Trinity had pointed out that only Trinidad-based Transcontinental Medical Products Limited was the authorised distributors of the testing kits, further raising questions as to why the Ministry bought the kits from Caribbean Medical Supplies in the first place.

In the aftermath of the scandal, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued an alert naming Guyana and Caribbean Medical Supplies and reporting confirmed cases of fake HIV testing kits.

The three businessmen - Erick Mwangi, Jones Olouch and Robert Njoya - during their court appearance. Photo taken from k24tv

In fact, WHO had revealed that through its Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (GSMS), it had been informed of the distribution of at least 8240 fake HIV rapid diagnostic tests, fake kits that were also circulating in Kenya.

When it comes to Caribbean Medical Supplies, the company has since been hauled before the local courts by the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD), which seized a quantity of the fake testing kits from the Public Health Ministry storage at Diamond, East Bank of Demerara (EBD), as well as various other locations last year.

Caribbean Medical Supplies’ Area Manager Davendra Rampersaud made a court appearance at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court in November of 2020, where he denied the charge that on January 16, 2020, his company supplied 400 units of the fake Uni-Gold test kits with misleading representation, in violation of the Food and Drugs Act of 1971. The matter was adjourned to March 2021.

Caribbean Medical Supplies has previously denied knowingly supplying expired goods to the Government and had claimed to have thoroughly vetted their Kenyan supplier.

Back in 2017, the company was flagged by Auditor General Deodat Sharma in his 2016 report for having $7.6 million worth of outstanding deliveries in September 2017.

It was pointed out in the report that the Ministry kept $167 million worth of cheques (including the $7.6 million for Caribbean Medical Supplies) on hand rather than refunding them to the Consolidated Fund.

Caribbean Medical Supplies Area Manager Davendra Rampersaud makes another court appearance next month

(G3)

COVID-19 test for baby that died suddenly returns negative

The COVID-19 swab that was performed post-humously on a four-month-old baby that suddenly died in her sleep has returned with a negative result.

The child, who hailed from Siparuta Village, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), died suddenly after she went to sleep last Wednesday.

Her 33-year-old father had told Police that his child was having difficulty breathing moments before she fell asleep. About 15 minutes after, he discovered that she was not breathing.

The child was taken to the Skeldon Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Guyana Times was informed that the results returned on Friday, indicating that the baby was not positive with the coronavirus.

This is the second child to succumb suddenly within the past few days. In recent reports, a two-year-old of Barima Kariabo, North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini), began suffering from high fever on February 9. On February 13, the child’s condition worsened and the toddler became “motionless” hours after.

He was rushed to the Barima Kariabo Health Centre and then to the Mabaruma Hospital. The child was seen by a doctor who pronounced him dead on arrival. A post-mortem examination later ruled the cause of death as pneumo-

nia. (G12)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Major works underway to prepare Rose Hall Estate for 2022 opening

As the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) gears up to have the Rosehall Sugar Estate grinding for the second crop in 2022, $900 million has been set aside in the national budget for the rehabilitation of the factory.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sasenarine Singh is adamant that the corporation will achieve the timeline for reopening, stating that management has no reason not to while pointing out that Government has already set aside $9 billion for the industry.

The corporation is expected to spend $900 million on the Rosehall Estate. This money, the CEO noted, will go towards ensuring that Rosehall Estate is in a position to produce sugar.

The Estate was closed in December 2017 by the then APNU/AFC, leaving hundreds of workers on the breadline. At the time, the David Granger-led Government had claimed that GuySuCo was a liability to Guyana since it had been producing sugar at costs higher than it was receiving for the finished product on the world market.

However, Singh, late last week, said that land preparation is currently being done, as cane lands are being cleared and equipment for the project is currently being procured. The CEO said a new fertiliser bond at Rosehall is to be constructed and one of the chemical bonds is to be rehabilitated.

The money for this is part of the $2 billion earmarked in the 2021 National Budget for capital works to be undertaken by GuySuCo to help in the turnaround of the sugar industry. That money, he added, will also be used for the purchase of critical agro-chemicals at Rosehall.

“When we went to Rosehall for the first time in September (2020) what we found was a scrapyard. Have you ever seen Sanford and Sons? It was worse than

Body of man fished out of canal on Corentyne

The body of a 60-yearold man was on Friday fished out of a canal at Fyrish, Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

Dead is Janki Goberdhan of Lot 3 Fyrish Village.

The discovery was made at about 19:30h on Friday by a 53-year-old villager. Following the discovery, the Police were summoned and the body taken to the Port Mourant Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Goberdhan lived alone, neighbours said. According to Police, the man lived in a one flat wooden and concrete building. His body was found lying in a drain with his face downwards. There are reports suggesting that Goberdhan was an epileptic. Police are investigating. (G4) that. That is what we found at Rosehall,” Singh disclosed to reporters.

Meanwhile, back in 2017, there were 17 functional tractors but according to the CEO, when he took over in September last year, there were three tractor frames.

“Batteries were gone, alternators disappeared, starters were gone, and radiators gone; all sorts of destruction happened. We had to rebuild from scratch and that is what is making this process so difficult.”

According to the CEO, the workers were able to rebuild three tractors with the parts that were left and the three frames. Additionally, over 500 punts at Rosehall are to be fixed but with more than 50 per cent currently being unserviceable, about 200 new punts will have to be built. Moreover, some of the roads in the cultivation area will also have to be rebuilt.

“Which were left to deteriorate beyond belief,” the CEO said while noting that the rehabilitation of those roads will be undertaken by staff of the sugar corporation.

“So, we are spending about $900 million from the sugar bill at Rosehall in areas like the sugar bulk wharf which is a health and safety risk today. Yet we still have to operate it because we need it. These are emergency operations that have to be done this year.” He said the evaporators at the Estate have to be changed.

The entire factory, he added, is in a state of disrepair.

“We have to repair some and we have to change some. If we don’t do these things then we cannot do the process of crystallisation, which means there is no sugar. We met an industry that was destroyed and I want to thank the sugar workers who have kept three of these Estates ticking over and against all odds,” Singh said.

Currently, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government is in the process of restructuring the industry. (G4)

Rose Hall Sugar Estate