Gibson Insists Water Contract Was Clean
Long Island’s $5m water deal went to the only bidder that “substantially” met the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s terms, its chairman saying yesterday: “I don’t believe in hanky panky.”
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.
Rejecting claims by former PLP chairman, Bradley Roberts, that the Corporation would receive poor “value for money” from an award allegedly influenced by “cronyism”, Mr Gibson said price was not the only factor that determined the outcome.
Construction expertise, especially on similar water infrastructure, and the bidder’s 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.
While confirming Mr Roberts’ claim that Rowdy Boys, the Long Island-based construction firm, submitted the lowest bid of $2.66m, Mr Gibson said it would have been “too risky” to award it the contract.
This, he explained, was because Rowdy Boys’ bid was less than 50 per cent of the valuation placed on the project by the Corporation’s external engineering consultants, who estimated it would cost $5.762 million.
Information provided to Tribune Business showed that Rowdy Boys’ bid was only 68 per cent compliant with the tender’s requirements, containing eight so-called deficiencies, whereas BHM Company’s offer was 96 per cent compliant.
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 ‘conflicts of interest’.
He and the Corporation, in a statement, said the two contractors’ submissions were accompanied by “professional references for individuals” working for the external engineering firm overseeing the Long Island project.
This resulted in the engineering firm’s “termination without prejudice”, with the Corporation planning to meet the two contractors involved to “discuss the matter further”.
“The procurement and tendering process has to be transparent, 100 per cent transparent,” Mr Gibson told Tribune Business. “It’s keeping everything above board, and I’m the type of person that doesn’t believe in hanky panky.
“I don’t subscribe to any corrupt practices. If it existed before my appointment, I’m certainly weeding it out and putting in measures to ensure everyone that submits a bid gets a fair shake.”
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’ disqualifications highlighted the need for ‘code of conduct’ requirements for Water & Sewerage vendors.
“Just the potential for a conflict of interest, and this is in accordance with CDB rules, caused that result,” Mr Gibson said. “It’s simply the potential for that to happen triggered the engineering consultant’s removal and two bids to be disqualified.
“We have a vendor due diligence form, and a form that speaks to standards of conduct for vendors. Vendors must be compliant with the Corporation’s standards for how we conduct business. These are all elements, facets of the new business model we’re putting in place.
“The idea is to create an environment of fairness, transparency and competitiveness. We’re anti-corruption, anti-bribery.”
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 “cronyism” because Brent Symonette and his family are shareholders in BHM Company.
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