Cayman Islands
Cayman’s government-owned airline is planning to replace its two small aeroplanes, estimated to be nearly 25 years old, with more modern alternatives.
The 30-seat Saab aircraft were bought in 2015 to allow Cayman Airways to make up to four round-trips a day to Cayman Brac, according to executive vice president Paul Tibbetts.
The planes were successfully implemented, he said, and helped to grow traffic on the route.
However, that number of passengers has increased now to such a volume that the Saabs are rapidly becoming too small for their intended use.
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Guyana
Over 15,000 jobs in the BPO sector are expected to be created in Region Five with the construction of two call-centres.
The Department of Public Information (DPI) in a release yesterday announced that the Ministry of Housing and Water through the Central Housing and Planning Authority, had issued invitations for bids for the construction of two brand-new call centres in Mahaicony and Hope Town in Region Five.
According to the release, these centres will be vital communication hubs, enhancing public access to essential services. Eligible bidders are requested to submit their bids (one hard copy and two electronic copies) by January 3, 2024, to the Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and must meet all requirements, including bid security.
It was further stated that bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) Procedures as specified in the Procurement Act 2003.
The DPI noted that the government considers this to be a booming sector and as such aims to create over 15,000 jobs across the country by 2025, driving economic growth and local opportunities. It posited that with its ideal location near the Americas, favourable time zone, and educated young workforce, Guyana is becoming a magnet for BPO companies seeking a competitive edge.
Studies in several regions including Regions Two, Three, Five, Six and Ten, conducted by the Guyana Office for Investment to assess the region’s potential for the expansion of BPO outlets have been rewarded with positive findings. As such the government is undertaking the construction of call centres nationwide
BPO stand for business process outsourcing, which is when companies outsource business processes to a third-party or external company. The primary goal is to cut costs, free up time, and focus on core aspects of the business.
The DPI added that the government’s focus on ICT development, education, and telecommunications reform is showing results with residents of Linden, Berbice, and Essequibo enjoying greater access to affordable internet.
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Cayman Island
Government’s plans to upgrade the general aviation facility at the Owen Roberts International airport has taken another step forward with the opening of tender bids for design consultancy services for the project.
The request for proposals, which was issued on the government procurement Bonfire portal, is seeking firms to design the general aviation parking apron, heliport and marine dock project.
The plans consist of the construction of an approximate 70,000 square-metre flexible and non-flexible aircraft parking apron, an approximate 10,500 square-metre heliport apron and a small marine dock with an associated seawall.
“The GA apron will consist of a connection to the existing taxiways G and H. The design scope will include all access roads, underground utilities and necessary external works required as outlined in the conceptual design included in the CIAA 2041 Master Plan. The site is located at the Owen Roberts International Airport in Grand Cayman and is adjacent to the existing easterly apron and the North Sound,” the RFP stated.
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Jamaica
TROY, Trelawny — With the danger of their commute increasing daily due to heavy and persistent rain, residents of Cowick Park in north-west Manchester and Troy in south Trelawny are questioning the Government’s prioritisation timeline to replace a collapsed bridge here.
Since the Troy Bridge collapsed in August 2021, schoolchildren and other residents have been using makeshift methods, including a fallen tree and a zip line comprising a rope and bucket to cross the river. The risky makeshift footbridge connects residents in the neighbouring communities of Cowick Park in north-west Manchester to Troy in south Trelawny. Since the bridge collapsed, residents have had to use a 15-mile alternative commute for safety.
The residents told the Jamaica Observer that they have been awaiting word as to when their lives will return to normality and expressed concern over recent comments at the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) over the onerous public procurement system.
“Anybody at all who wants to build the bridge, make dem do it, because we need it. It nuh matter if is Chinese or Japanese, is the bridge we want and the bridge is needed… As long as dem build a sensible and strong bridge,” Troy resident Raymond Powell told the Sunday Observer last week.
PAAC Chairman Mikael Phillips, who is also Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester North Western, said recently that the project “has really reached nowhere” despite money being set aside in the budget to carry out the construction.
“The Troy bridge [project] has now gone to the Ministry of Finance to my understanding, and…[there is] $3 billion in this year’s budget to deal with bridge construction. So we were told that money is in this current budget, but we have not even started the procurement side of it yet. If that takes 15 months, that’s more than a financial year,” he said on October 4.
Chief executive officer of the National Works Agency E G Hunter acknowledged the MP’s frustration but noted that the issues which affect efficient implementation of projects were not only in relation to government procedure but also takes into account the “inability of the marketplace to be able to respond to different requests that we have.
“We tendered a bridge on two occasions in the last six months. There were no responses. In fact, if you scrutinise the website of the Public Procurement Commission, there are no grade one bridge contractors. So we had to expand the category to include civil engineering…and we still did not get any response from the marketplace,” he said at the recent PAAC.
However, president of the Incorporated Master Builder Association of Jamaica Lenworth Kelly said contractors, for varying reasons, don’t bid on some projects.
“The bridge at Troy has not completed that process. I don’t think that has come to tender. We checked online and we didn’t see the Troy bridge,” he told the Sunday Observer last week.
“From time to time bids come out and nobody bids, it does happen — if the area is remote, it can be based on how they put the qualifying criteria… If you want it more competitive, then you open it up to civil engineering, and the procurement rules sometimes doesn’t give the agency the flexibility,” he added.
Kelly said contractors are at times left feeling that bidding for certain projects is a “waste of time”.
Sometimes it is not understanding that if the entity goes to bid that process takes time and money. You find where contractors, when they bid, it leaves a sour taste in their mouth. They will say they are not going to bid on anything for [certain] entities,” said Kelly.
“You can put out two things to tender and everybody goes after one and ignores the other, it is an open marketplace. What happens a lot of times when agencies put out [a project] to bid and they realise that they don’t get any response, sometimes they will contact us as the master builders and then we will put it out and say to the members and say there is this bid,” added Kelly.
Residents affected by the collapsed bridge said they feel no comfort amid the continued wait and uncertainty about when the bridge will be replaced.
“Every time the rain fall the river rise and the two piece a wood weh dem put cross that the teachers and the schoolchildren walk on, as you look, water wash weh dem deh. You haffi go back in a woodland go chop tree again. Every day a judgement. From the bridge pop down a whole heap of things gone down. Nothing can’t come across, nothing can’t go across. People ago Balaclava dem come yah suh [Troy] and haffi turn back,” said Powell.
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