Wednesday,
6 February 2013, the debate on the General Budget Of The State for 2013
became heated. During this Finance Minister Emilia Pires angrily
condemned the Timor-Leste media.
"Many
times, our media is still lacking in ability to properly undertake
investigative journalism. The media likes to manipulate things. Just to
bring people down. Carelessly. Writing falsehoods. Writing other things.
I tell them sorry," the finance minister yelled angrily.
At
that time a number of journalists were at the national parliament
covering the debate could only stare at each other in amazement. Others
put on an innocent face. "Why did the finance minister scream at the
media? Who in the media? She should not make generalizations about the
media," protested Francisco Simoes, a journalist from the Diario
Nacional.
The
day before, on Tuesday, 5 February 2013, during the plenary session
deputy Aurelio Freitas from the FRETILIN opposition bench condemned the
Finance Minister having given a government contract to Mr. Warren McLeod
(the finance minister's husband). "Because it's easy money, everybody
is madly running to become a supplier. Including (sorry to say) the
ministers husband involving in procurement," Aurelio said.
During
the same session deputy Osorio Florindo also strongly condemned the
conduct of the Finance Minister. "I ask the members of government,
especially the Finance Minister, what sort of ethics do you have to
write an opinion to the Prime Minister to use the contingency fund money
to award a government contract which went to your husband?" asked
Florindo.
IRONY
This
problem began when the Ministry of Health indicated the company Mac'
Metalcraft as the supplier for a bunch of bids to the Guido Valadares
National Hospital. Documents obtained by Tempo Semanal showed that it
was a single source government contract paid from the contingency fund
of the government in the amount of US$895,140. It also showed the
director of the company in question being the husband of the Finance
Minister.
The
irony was in the fact that the supply of the hospital beds was done
without the knowledge of the director general of the Guido Valadares
national Hospital. "We had no knowledge of the process to buy these
beds. I had no knowledge of it," said Odette in her office.
On 21
March 2012, according to Odette, as the director general of the HNGV she
had merely written a requisition letter number ref.
130/Adm/HNGV/III/2012 to the former deputy minister of health Madalena
Hanjan. This letter asked for the procurement of equipment needed by the
hemodialysis unit of the HNGV. No request was made for the equipment
that was supplied by Mac's Metalcraft.
Another
irony emerged when the list attached to the letter (see list below), of
urgent equipment requested by the director-general of HNGV, were listed
together with a list of other items that were supplied by the company
Mac's Metalcraft. "The equipment we requested as urgent has arrived and
has already been used by us. They were 2 hemodialysis units with their
beds," said Dr. Odette.
What
about the electric beds supplied by the company Mac's Metalcraft? "To
this day many of those items of equipment we are yet to use or
distribute to other national hospitals or referral hospitals. They are
stored in the HNGV store room, awaiting the dispatch from the Minister
of health," the head of the Medical Equipment Management Department,
Abilio Afonso Brites told Tempo Semanal.
SUSPICION.
There are some aspects that are not right about the process for the
supply of the beds to the HNGV, because some servants of the state used
the letter of requisition from the director general of the HNGV to
justify additional budget funds, which had already been prepared in
February 2012.
NOT AN EMERGENCY
The
controversy of the suspected single source of a government project by
the Finance Minister to her husband has aroused a great deal of public
debate and statements from civil society and the media.
"If
this information is true, CAC and the Office Of the Public Prosecutor
must investigate. If this is really the truth, then it is an extremely
grave issue. The Finance Minister approving funds to benefit her own
husband, that would be big corruption, if it is true," said the former
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.
The
executive director of FONGTIL, Arsenio Pereira da Silva has said that
civil society and the media have an important role to play in exercising
civic oversight over state matters and public assets. Especially
regarding the national budget, because this is the people's money.
José
Neves from the Anti-Corruption Commission (CAC) acknowledged that this
single source government contract could not be classified as an
emergency. He suspects there has been a conspiracy or conflict of
interest involving this supply mechanism of the HNGV equipment.
"The
equipment that was supplied by the company Mac's Metalcraft does not
fall within the category of emergency. They just simply made up this
criteria," indicated the deputy commissioner of the Anticorruption
Commission.
The
quotation documents presented by Warren McLeod, director of the company
Mac's Metalcraft, listed some items of equipment such as electric beds
in the value of US$895,140, for the contract defined as an emergency.
He
also suspected that, the supplied by of this great equipment was not
properly in accordance with tender procedures as set out in the
Procurement Law. "You can single source. However, before you enter that
phase, you must undertake normal procedures. That is so as to avoid
conflicts of interest. Acquiring these beds does not fall into the
emergency category," said Neves.
Some
documents show that the Finance Minister was personally aware of the
proposal being from her husband's company to be the supplier of the beds
that were determined to be in the emergency category.
These
documents also show, that regarding this single source contract, the
former deputy minister of health Madalena Hanjan wrote to Prime Minister
Xanana, and also copied it to the Finance Minister. However, Emilia did
not intervene, simply ignoring it enabling her husband to win the
contract in question. "Whenever there is a failure to distinguish this
conflict-of-interest, the law is breached, José Neves said.
Warren
McLeod the director of the company Mac's Metalcraft told Tempo Seminal
that he acknowledged his involvement in the procurement process for the
HNGV equipment. "That's right. I supplied some material to the hospital.
The contract fell within the category of an emergency," he said.
Warren
McLeod submitted a written quotation to the Ministry of Health on 24
February 2012. It was submitted immediately after the Finance Minister
approved the budget requested by the Deputy Minister of Health. "I have
already been given contracts previously (before the emergency project),"
Warren said.
The
public condemnation of the Timor-Leste media by the Finance Minister
aroused a strong reaction from the Timor-Leste Press Club (TL PC), as
well as the Timor-Leste Journalists Association (A JTL). A press
conference recently the Timor-Leste Media Association publicly declared
their lament with the Finance Minister's conduct, which denigrated the
Timor-Leste media in the National Parliament.
"The
Finance Minister does have a right to respond to media reports that she
feels adversely affected by. She should not just say no comment or sorry
when confronted with the media. Specially not denigrate the credibility
of the Timor-Leste media as the Finance Minister has done in front of
the National Parliament," said the Tempo Semanal director José Belo.
Belo
also asked the Finance Minister, "Does Madam Minister know? Who is the
owner of the company Mac's Metalcraft? Perhaps Madam Minister knows who
Warren MacLeod is? These are questions for you," said Belo.
.
