PAC questions Floritec Healthcare Solutions' windfall

Local company, Floritec Healthcare Solutions, has come under scrutiny after revelations that it bagged a series of lucrative tenders from the Ministry of Health, raising eyebrows at the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC).During a tense PAC session, Member of Parliament, Boniface Mabeo, revealed that the company had been awarded around 10 tenders, each worth approximately P800 000, to maintain hospital equipment across the country.Mabeo questioned the integrity of these deals, particularly referencing a 2018 arrangement in which Floritec was granted a waiver to maintain 18 radiology machines supplied by Techmed LTD for a period of 24 months. The total estimated cost of the contract? A staggering P10.2 million.According to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Professor Oatlhokwa Nkomazana, the request for the waiver was based on the critical need to maintain the radiology equipment in various government health facilities.But Mabeo was not convinced.He dropped a bombshell, telling the committee that Floritec had reportedly claimed the machines were each maintained at a cost of P800 000, and that a single X-ray tube, which normally costs around P75 000 on the open market, was quoted at P400 000 by the contractor. He highlighted a specific case where the same tube was originally listed for P42,000, yet Floritec billed the government nearly 10 times more.“Imagine paying P400,000 for a component that costs P75,000 anywhere else! That is unacceptable,” Mabeo said.He added that in Bobonong, Floritec maintained a machine for P900,000 - an amount 90 percent of the original cost of the machine itself. “At that point, why not just buy a new machine?” he asked.Mabeo continued that there have been reports of Floritec removing parts from government-owned machines they were contracted to maintain and failing to replace them. These missing parts, he said,are still unaccounted for.Despite the serious allegations, Nkomazana remained calm, assuring the committee that the Ministry is currently compiling a comprehensive report on the matter, which will be submitted to the PAC. She did acknowledge that the money is too much for a direct appointment.

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PAC questions Floritec Healthcare Solutions' windfall