Old habits die hard, Health Ministry officials commission deal disappoint public during COVID-19 crisis By Our Reporter   Purchase of COVID-19 kits, medical gears and masks from China through a fast-track process has been dragged into controversy amid media reports that the government paid much more than the authorised price for nearly all items in the hope of getting a hefty commission. Of course, the health ministry that had earned bad name for corrupt practices for years, continued the evil practice while purchasing goods and kits to prevent and control the coronavirus. Moreover, doctors have argued that the kits purchased from China are of poor standards. It was alleged that there has been policy-level corruption in the procurement process, claiming that the Ministry of Health and Population had sanctioned up to five times the actual price for some medical gears through the Kathmandu-based firms Hospitech Enterprises and Biomed International. Health Minister Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal was accused of rejecting offers of several other companies ready to deliver the goods at a much lower price. The government has refuted allegations, accusing some media outlets of trying to stir up controversy by spreading lies. In a statement issued spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population Bikash Devkota said that the two firms had been awarded the contract after the ministry did not receive bids from any other firm. Nepal Airlines airplane carrying some of the purchased gear, including PPE and some kits donated by Chinese authorities, landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Sunday.  But it was corrupt practices that made news headlines than the medicines that arrived. Many people smell rats in the deal for other various reasons as well. The first case of COVID-19 was noticed on December 31, 2019 in Wuhan, China, and the local administration tried to identify and control it by itself. When the Hubei Province failed to control the spread of the disease in its  three weeks’ attempts, China announced the outbreak of the epidemic, which they called coronavirus on January 20.  The government imposed a complete lockdown in Wuhan on the third day on January 23 to control the spread of the virus, which drew the world attention towards Wuhan. The infection was noticed in Thailand on January 13, in South Korea on January 20 and In Vietnam on January 23. Nepal was the fifth nation to have coronavirus infection. The infection was seen on a student, who had returned to Nepal from China, on January 24.  As he recovered, the infection was not an issue of talk. The deadly virus spread fear not only in China but around the world and many nations started making preparations to tackle it. In Nepal, the media, political parties and civil society started exerting pressure on the government to make preparation to prevent the entry and spread of the disease. However, only a fortnight after the government initiated a process to procure medicines and tools to prevent and control the coronavirus in Nepal on February 8. Altogether 19 companies have applied to supply the goods to the government. But the government surprisingly took no initiative to push forward the quotation.  In two months, the virus spread around the globe killing thousands of people. The public was raising the voice for the prepartion against the COVID-19, but the government was in deep slumber. The government kept on holding one meeting after another and one decison after another. But did nothing concrete except for bringing 175 Nepalis fromWuhan and keeping them in quarantine. The government did not push forward the process to purchase goods required to prevent and control the deadly disease. The government was waiting for the emergnecy in which it could purchase the goods by violating the procurment act and processes. Finally, the day came as the number of virus infected individual reached 4 and the government imposed a lockdown and gave a tender directly to a company to buy mediicnes and goods worth Rs. 1.25 (10.9 million US dollars). The procurement process initaited two months ago got terminated and the governmnet succceded to give the contract to a particular company. Of course,it was a pre-plan of the government to have a hefty commission from the goods purchased to save lives from COVID-19. It was an extreme form of corruption committed by the officials at the Health Ministry and those close to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.  The people panicked by the COVID-19 will never give an execuse to those who resorted to the unethical practice no matter who have involved in it at this time of crisis. The government was saying that it would select a competitive company from those 19 which had applied to procure the goods untila week ago. But the government scrapped the tender overnight and asked for a quotation to supply goods in 24 hours. Finally, Omni Business Corporate which had alreday purchased and packed the goods in China became ready and was granted the contract in a dramatic way because the powerful men in government wanted to grant the contract to the particular company,and they had prepared for that since long.  After granting contract to Omni,the government said it gave it contract to bring the goods quickly. The government that remained silent for two months after seeking quotation from 19 companies asked the companies to express their commitment in three hours to supply the required goods, according to  Director General of Health Service Department Mahendra Shrestha. And in three hours, the supplier companies applied for the task. The government not only granted contract to OBC but also chartered a plane of Nepal Airlines to the company to transport the goods. But the prices of the purchased goods were unusually higher than their market price. The organisation of the suppliers of medical goods had also said that the goods were bought paying more than the market prices.  The organisation raised question about the government’s intetion for granting the contract to particular company. It also said that the quality of the purchased goods were not certified. But Health Minister Dhakal said that he did not think it necessary to clarify the questions raised about the procurement of the medicines. He claimed nothing unwanted had happened in the purchase of the goods. He said that those who were disappointing people by saying that the government did not bring the essential goods had raised the issue of corruption after the goods were brought. “We want to give answers to these tendencies through our works,” Dhakal said. But the reality looked otherwise if one compares the prices paid by the OBC and the market price as well as the prices of the goods provided by the Chinese Embassy and Sichuwan province to Nepal government. OBC paid Rs. 833 for N-95 mask while the Embassy paid only Rs.280 for the same. Likewise, the Chinese government bought protective goggles at Rs. 505 and gave it to Nepal government but the OBC paid Rs. 2152 for the same goggles. Similarly, OBC paid Rs. 7,771 for thermometer which the Chinese Embassy bought at Rs. 718. How did the price vary?  Should not be the Health Ministry responsible for this? Of course, Nepal’s health ministry is where the most corrupt practices prevail. The officials show the bills of new medicines showing the medicines of stocks and received billions of rupees from the government. Any honest employee transfered to the health ministry cannot work there for a long time as he tends to oppose the corruption. As such, the latest corruption allegation could not be baseless.