{"id":5619,"date":"2018-05-18T09:38:08","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T14:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projectcalls.com\/?p=5619"},"modified":"2018-05-18T09:31:53","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T14:31:53","slug":"gibson-insists-water-contract-was-clean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/gibson-insists-water-contract-was-clean\/","title":{"rendered":"Gibson Insists Water Contract Was Clean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long Island\u2019s $5m water deal went to the only bidder that \u201csubstantially\u201d met the Water & Sewerage Corporation\u2019s terms, its chairman saying yesterday: \u201cI don\u2019t believe in hanky panky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian Gibson told Tribune Business there were sound reasons why the two-phase infrastructure contract was awarded to BHM Company (Bahamas Hot Mix), rather than a Long Island construction firm that submitted the lowest bid.<\/p>\n

Rejecting claims by former PLP chairman, Bradley Roberts, that the Corporation would receive poor \u201cvalue for money\u201d from an award allegedly influenced by \u201ccronyism\u201d, Mr Gibson said price was not the only factor that determined the outcome.<\/p>\n

Construction expertise, especially on similar water infrastructure, and the bidder\u2019s financial strength also weighed heavily in a process that had to comply with Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) requirements given that the multilateral institution is providing the financing.<\/p>\n

While confirming Mr Roberts\u2019 claim that Rowdy Boys, the Long Island-based construction firm, submitted the lowest bid of $2.66m, Mr Gibson said it would have been \u201ctoo risky\u201d to award it the contract.<\/p>\n

This, he explained, was because Rowdy Boys\u2019 bid was less than 50 per cent of the valuation placed on the project by the Corporation\u2019s external engineering consultants, who estimated it would cost $5.762 million.<\/p>\n

Information provided to Tribune Business showed that Rowdy Boys\u2019 bid was only 68 per cent compliant with the tender\u2019s requirements, containing eight so-called deficiencies, whereas BHM Company\u2019s offer was 96 per cent compliant.<\/p>\n

Mr Gibson also revealed that two of the 11 bids, those from Island Site Development (ISD) and Top Notch Builders, were immediately disqualified because of potential \u2018conflicts of interest\u2019.<\/p>\n

He and the Corporation, in a statement, said the two contractors\u2019 submissions were accompanied by \u201cprofessional references for individuals\u201d working for the external engineering firm overseeing the Long Island project.<\/p>\n

This resulted in the engineering firm\u2019s \u201ctermination without prejudice\u201d, with the Corporation planning to meet the two contractors involved to \u201cdiscuss the matter further\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe procurement and tendering process has to be transparent, 100 per cent transparent,\u201d Mr Gibson told Tribune Business. \u201cIt\u2019s keeping everything above board, and I\u2019m the type of person that doesn\u2019t believe in hanky panky.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t subscribe to any corrupt practices. If it existed before my appointment, I\u2019m certainly weeding it out and putting in measures to ensure everyone that submits a bid gets a fair shake.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that bidders on any Corporation, Government or private contract had to understand that they would both win and lose out on different tenders, and said the two contractors\u2019 disqualifications highlighted the need for \u2018code of conduct\u2019 requirements for Water & Sewerage vendors.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the potential for a conflict of interest, and this is in accordance with CDB rules, caused that result,\u201d Mr Gibson said. \u201cIt\u2019s simply the potential for that to happen triggered the engineering consultant\u2019s removal and two bids to be disqualified.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a vendor due diligence form, and a form that speaks to standards of conduct for vendors. Vendors must be compliant with the Corporation\u2019s standards for how we conduct business. These are all elements, facets of the new business model we\u2019re putting in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to create an environment of fairness, transparency and competitiveness. We\u2019re anti-corruption, anti-bribery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Gibson hit back after Mr Roberts, a former Water & Sewerage chairman, implied in a statement issued on Sunday that the contract award was influenced by \u201ccronyism\u201d because Brent Symonette and his family are shareholders in BHM Company.<\/p>\n

\u2026 more<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0\u00a0Hilary Halliwell (Pexels<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long Island\u2019s $5m water deal went to the only bidder that \u201csubstantially\u201d met the Water & Sewerage Corporation\u2019s terms, its chairman saying yesterday: \u201cI don\u2019t believe in hanky panky.\u201d Adrian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":4889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[112],"tags":[166,71,212],"class_list":["post-5619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-bahamas","tag-procurement","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Water-Splashes-and-Streams-Hilary-Halliwell-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-1sD","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6128,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/criminal-charges-expected-after-wsc-audit\/","url_meta":{"origin":5619,"position":0},"title":"Criminal Charges Expected After WSC Audit","author":"Michele Marius","date":"July 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Board of the Water and Sewerage Corporation has decided to bring criminal charges against certain individuals in the wake of a Forensic Audit \u00a0 that found what its Chairman termed tendering and procurement irregularities, suspected misappropriation of assets and questionable undertakings. 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