{"id":36391,"date":"2024-09-26T23:28:26","date_gmt":"2024-09-27T04:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=36391"},"modified":"2024-09-26T19:53:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T00:53:22","slug":"patterson-and-afc-displaying-inconsistency-over-procurement-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/patterson-and-afc-displaying-inconsistency-over-procurement-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Bidders to visit site of planned West End port today"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Virgin Islands<\/p>\n

Thanks to a recent green light from the Caribbean Development Bank, the procurement process for the construction of a new West End ferry terminal is moving ahead following years of delays, officials announced.<\/p>\n

After a July 30 approval from the CDB, four shortlisted firms were issued bid documents the same day, according to the Recovery and Development Agency, which is overseeing the project.<\/p>\n

The firms are set to take part in a site visit and bidders\u2019 conference today ahead of their deadline to submit bids by 10 a.m. on Oct. 25.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RDA is pleased to have arrived at this point in the process and appreciates the CDB\u2019s support,\u201d RDA Director of Procurement John Primo said in an Aug. 23 press release.<\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage the shortlisted firms to thoroughly review all documentation to ensure that their bids meet all the required specifications and offer a competitive price.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project \u2014 which also includes a temporary facility to process passengers during construction of the terminal \u2014 is being funded through part of the\u00a0$65 million Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan<\/a>\u00a0that the government obtained from the CDB after hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.<\/p>\n

The preliminary stages of the procurement process have faced various hurdles.<\/p>\n

In May 2023, the RDA launched an initial prequalification process, and nine firms responded. But the RDA and CDB reviewed the submissions and determined that none of them met the requirements.<\/p>\n

As a result, all nine firms were disqualified.<\/p>\n

Last August, the RDA\u00a0relaunched the process<\/a>\u00a0under relaxed criteria approved by the CDB.\u2008This time,\u00a0four of nine bidders prequalified.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI am particularly pleased to highlight that three local firms (one standalone applicant and two firms within a joint-venture application) were successful in the second round of the prequalification process,\u201d Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer said last October in the House of Assembly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis underscores the ability of our local contractors to succeed in the competitive bidding processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Rymer also said at the time that the full tender process would begin early this year. That didn\u2019t happen as planned, but the CDB\u2019s July 30 approval of the bidding documents will now allow the process to proceed, according to the RDA.<\/p>\n

The West End terminal previously cleared about 40 percent of all arrivals into the Virgin Islands before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017, officials have said.<\/p>\n

But successive governments had been promising a new terminal for more than a decade by that time.<\/p>\n

The largest plan to date was proposed in 2010 under a Virgin Islands Party-led government in which Andrew Fahie, who represented West End at the time, served as minister of education and culture. That plan called for a three-storey, 75,000-square-foot facility estimated to cost more than $40 million.<\/p>\n

But after the National Democratic Party came to power in 2011, then-Communications and Works Minister Mark Vanterpool said the project would be scaled back dramatically.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Mr. Vanterpool proposed a facility costing just under $5 million, but those plans never got off the ground either.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the BVI Ports Authority issued a tender notice seeking a $3 million terminal in West End, but no updates followed before Irma.<\/p>\n

About four months after Irma destroyed the existing terminal in September 2017,\u00a0then-Premier Dr. Orlando Smith said<\/a>\u00a0the VI branch of international architecture firm OBMI had offered to donate its time towards drawing up architecture and engineering designs for a new facility.<\/p>\n

27,000-square-foot plan<\/h5>\n

But a new VIP administration took office in February 2019 with Mr. Fahie at the helm, and OBMI was not mentioned two months later when RDA officials announced a plan to partner with a private donor who would cover at least half the cost of\u00a0a 27,000-square-foot building<\/a>\u00a0with the capacity to process at least 200 passengers per hour and two ferries at once<\/p>\n

That collaboration, however, also fell through without explanation.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0a temporary facility officially opened<\/a>\u00a0in August 2019, and in July 2020\u00a0government announced new plans<\/a>\u00a0to use a portion of the $65 million CDB recovery loan to build the terminal.<\/p>\n

After that, scant information was released until August 2021, when\u00a0Mr. Fahie announced that a $1 million contract<\/a>\u00a0was awarded to the German firm INROS for the design and construction management of the project.<\/p>\n

At the time, he also promised a new ferry terminal within three years.<\/p>\n

12,000-square-foot plan<\/h5>\n

Community meetings followed, and in February 2022\u00a0government revealed a \u201cfuturistic and organic\u201d design<\/a>\u00a0for a two-storey building spanning 12,000 square feet.<\/p>\n

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Mr. Fahie also promised then that an international tender process would follow soon with the aim of starting construction in July 2022.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Fahie was arrested in April 2022 in Florida on drug-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracy charges, and Seventh District Representative Dr. Natalio \u201cSowande\u201d Wheatley took over as premier.<\/p>\n

The RDA subsequently walked back the \u201cfuturistic and organic\u201d design after receiving negative feedback.<\/p>\n

Instead, it invited the public to vote on one of three designs in an online poll launched in July 2022. The winning design \u2014 themed \u201cclassic modern\u201d \u2014 was\u00a0unveiled in December 2022<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0finalised last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

42,000-square-foot plan<\/h5>\n

Last October, Mr. Rymer\u00a0disclosed in the HOA<\/a>\u00a0that the new design is 42,000 square feet \u2014 more than three times the size of the 12,000-square-foot \u201cfuturistic\u201d design it replaced.<\/p>\n

He added that the facility will be designed to process up to 200 passengers per hour, or 200,000 passengers per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will provide a fast and efficient facility for immigration and customs processing, with separate handling for private and charter yachts, private boats and water taxis from ferry passengers,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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