President of the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli to relieve those involved in irregularities in procurement of medical supplies from responsibilities.
Issuing a press statement on Friday, he has pointed that irregularities in procurement of essential items has affected the country's prestige. "The objectionable and shameful actions like delay in procurement of essential supplies, lack of transparency in tender process, corruption in the government coffers by accepting higher price, and procurement of substandard materials against the World Health Organization (WHO) standards cannot be pardoned in any way," Deuba has stated. "I urge the PM to relieve those involved in this dallying and irregularities to help the process of investigation and action."
He has also called on the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to thoroughly investigate the procurement process. "The constitutional body concerned should be specially careful considering that corruption case can become easy when the society has been closed due to the lockdown," he has stated. "It is imperative for the CIAA to thoroughly investigate the procurement process and initiate process for action considering the widespread reporting about lack of transparency in the work."
The government on Thursday handed over the responsibility of bringing medical equipment from China to the Nepal Army (NA).
The government opted for the NA following irregularities in the earlier procurement process. The government on Wednesday unilaterally revoked the contract with Omni Group, that had brought the first lot of medical materials from China on Sunday, citing the latter's inability to bring additional materials.
The government will now bring the materials through government to government agreement and the NA will be given responsibility to bring that.
