فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
A high-ranking official at the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in the northern region has found himself in trouble over allegations that he excluded certain companies from tenders while showing favouritism towards others.
During the trial session held at the Casablanca Court of Appeal on Thursday evening, the committee headed by Counselor Ali El-Tarchi questioned an official at the Regional Directorate of Health in Tangier Tetouan Al Hoceima about the exclusion of certain companies from deals to supply the region’s hospitals with medical equipment.
The accused, who is currently in police custody, denied the accusations of interfering in the deals and favouring one company over another, pointing out that the exclusion was due to failure to respect the conditions set out in the tender documents.
The accused explained that it was the local committee of the Abou Gasim Zouani Hospital, on which he was not present, that signed the acceptance report and proved that the equipment provided by the winning company conformed to the required specifications.
The spokesperson also denied the exclusion of a company in favour of Madomar, which won the tender to provide a medical device, pointing out that both the winning company and the company accused of exclusion provided the same device from the same manufacturer, but the difference is that Madomar provided a newer model while the other company provided an older model.
Regarding the allegations of receiving financial benefits in exchange for excluding one of the companies, the detained defendant said: ‘We did not receive any money, and the other company was not disqualified. The winning company offered better technical specifications at a lower price.’
The case involved officials from different directorates of the Ministry of Health, a regional delegate from Oujda, the head of the ministry’s equipment and maintenance department, the equipment manager, the director of a study office, an engineer, pharmacists, as well as a number of company owners and employees who were involved in the deals.
The prosecutor at the Casablanca Court of Appeal announced that the investigations revealed the suspected involvement of some officials, employees and engineers working in the central and regional health departments and some company owners, contractors and employees in illegal activities related to public contracts for the supply of medical devices and equipment to public hospitals, in exchange for commissions and financial benefits.
From the website: Fez News
