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The Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) and Sape Farms General Manager, Honourable Minister Dr Paul Popora Bosawai, recently suspended his own contract for the supply and delivery of food rations (root crops) to the National Referral Hospital (NRH) kitchen to avoid any conflict of interest.
The Central Tender Board (CTB) awarded Sape Farm a contract for the supply and delivery of root crops to the NRH kitchen for a period of 12 months from January 1 to December 31, 2024.
However, after being elected as a member of the National Assembly for North Guadalcanal constituency and subsequently appointed as the Minister of Health and Medical Services, Dr. Bosawayi terminated his company’s own contract without authorization to avoid conflict of interest issues.
With the cancellation of the Sape contract, the MHMS Ministerial Tender Board (MTB) recommended GFA to CTB as the new supplier of root crops to the National Referral Hospital. Another local supplier, GFA, has started supplying root crops to the NRH kitchen from June 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
Meanwhile, a statement from the NRH kitchen noted: “Sape has made a significant contribution to the supply of root crops such as sweet potatoes, cassava, panama and taro in the past month since 2023. Their supply has been consistent and met the needs of patients and caregivers in all wards.”
“Since the kitchen was unable to supply rice due to delayed payments, Sape stepped up to ensure that the meals of patients and caregivers were not affected by providing extra sweet potatoes and cassava. Overall, SAPE has worked to ensure that the NRH kitchen ration stocks are not depleted but are continuously maintained and sustained.
Meanwhile, NRH has an annual budget of S$4.1 million for its kitchens. While this may seem like a huge sum, it is still not enough. Since 2018, costs have increased by 40% from S$2.9 million to S$4.1 million.
The cost of root crops accounts for $400,000 of the total food cost, which is about 13% of the total food purchased by the hospital in the past five years.
Vegetables and food purchased from stores account for the bulk of the merchandise costs, with each accounting for around 15% of the total food budget.
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MHMS Media Statement
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