With an Engineer’s Estimate now standing at two times the original price — coming in at sixty-one million, four hundred and fifty thousand, seven hundred and ninety-four United States dollars (US$61,450,794), local companies have all been locked out of the lion’s share of the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue road upgrade project.
According to the notices issued by the Public Infrastructure Ministry (MPI), the project entails rehabilitative works, but observers are questioning how exactly Government proposes to finance the project, since US$30 million of the US$66 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan would have been diverted towards a housing project.
At the opening of bids on Tuesday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), it was discovered that the project has been divided into six lots. Lot Six attracted a bid security of US$200,000 for the slot of the project estimated to cost US$30.7million.
There were only three bidders for this component of the project—all foreign-owned firms—when bids were opened on Tuesday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). Those bidders were Surrey Paving and Aggregate Construction Limited of Jamaica, with a bid of US$33.8 million; Namalco Construction Limited of Trinidad and Tobago, with a bid of US$43.6 million; and the Chinese-owned Sino Hydro Corporation, with a bid of US$31.1 million.
Four local companies submitted bids for the project, but none submitted bids for the most lucrative portion — Lot Six. R. Basso and Sons Construction Company submitted a bid for Lot Four of the project at US$5.1million; while S. Jagmohan Hardware Supplies and Construction Services submitted a bid for Lot Three at US$6.6 million.
BK International submitted bids for each of the five smaller components of the road upgrade project.
The other companies bidding for various lots of the project included Hookman Ally Limited of Trinidad of Tobago, in association with Samaroo Investments Limited, H. Nauth and Sons Civil Engineering, Amalgamated Engineering Services Limited of Trinidad and Tobago, and Kee Chanona Limited, also of Trinidad and Tobago.
The six lots into which this road network upgrade and expansion programme has been divided are as follows: Lot 1: From Rupert Craig Highway to Lamaha Canal (NB: KINDLY VERIFY THIS LOT). The Engineer’s Estimate for this lot is seven million and sixty-three thousand, three hundred and forty-four United States dollars (US$7,063,344).
Lot 2: From Lamaha Street to David Street. The Engineer’s Estimate for this lot is seven million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, five hundred and sixty-four United States dollars (US$7,459, 564).
Lot 3: From Lamaha Street to the DSL Intersection. The Engineer’s Estimate for this lot is seven million, four hundred and eighty-nine thousand, three hundred and forty-three United States dollars (US$7,489,343).
Lot 4 deals with structures, and the Engineer’s Estimate for this lot is seven million, nine hundred and sixty-three thousand, nine hundred and forty-four United States dollars (US$7,963,944).
Lot 5 deals with traffic signals and street lighting, and the Engineer’s Estimate stands at one million and thirty-nine thousand, nine hundred and sixty-eight United States dollars (US$1,039,968).
Lot 6 deals with road works, drainage structures, street lighting and traffic lights from Rupert Craig Highway to where the project ends on Mandela Avenue. The Engineer’s Estimate for this lot stands at thirty million, seven hundred and thirty-four thousand, five hundred and forty-two United States dollars. (US$30,734,542).
The project, a Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) undertaking, had initially raised eyebrows over allegations that the bidding pool has been restricted.
The MPI, in its notice inviting bidders, had requested bidders to lodge up to Gy$41 million (US$200,000) in bid security before their proposals could even be considered for evaluation.
The rate set for Lot Six is US$200,000 (G$41.6 million). Lots One through Three are set at a rate of US$50,000 (G$10.4 million). Lot Four has been set at a rate of US$30,000 (G$6.2 million) while Lot Five has been earmarked at US$20,000 (G$4.1 million).
The IDB had initially approved some US$66 million for the road upgrade project, but the coalition Administration opted to divert US$30 million of that amount towards the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) for works to be undertaken in Sophia.
Piloted by the previous Administration, the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue Road Upgrade project has been on the cards for a number of years, but its scope has been revised under the current Administration.
Critics have also raised eyebrows at the level of the bid security being asked, and pointed to recent lamentations by Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, who had alleged tampering with the procurement process in order to award contracts to favoured supporters.
The original Engineer’s Estimate for the entire project had been set at thirty-six million, three hundred and seventy-seven thousand, five hundred and sixty-four United States dollars (US$36,377,564), but the procurement process was annulled on previous occasions.
