Nine companies have been shortlisted and will be invited within the coming weeks to submit proposals for the building of the New Demerara River Crossing, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill yesterday confirmed.
“I can confirm that nine companies have been shortlisted. We met with the reps [representatives] who had been invited to a meeting held Monday; an information-sharing meeting,” Edghill told Stabroek News yesterday when contacted.
“Within a number of weeks the bid document will be launched and they would be required to put in their proposals. And in three months, we expect to have a bidder for contract signing scheduled for the third quarter of this year, with the bridge to be built within two years after signing of that contract,” he added.
Edghill was quick to point out that he could not give the names of the companies, as this country’s Procurement Act stipulates that all bidders must be informed regardless of whether or not they were selected for a contract, and that this process was not yet completed by his ministry.
However, Stabroek News understands that the nine companies selected are: Ballast Nedam Infrastructure Suriname BV, Odebrecht Engenharia e Construcao SA, Boskalis Guyana & Effiage Genie Civil Company Ltd (Netherlands), and Rizzani de Eccher Construction (Italy).
The other five are Chinese-owned China State Construction Engineering Corp, China Gezhouba Group Company Limited, JV China Railway International Group, China Road and Bridge Company (joint venture with Spanish Company), and China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd.
In late September the government had advertised for Expressions of Interest (EoIs) for the prequalification process to design-build the new Demerara Harbour Bridge with available financing options. The notice for the EoI explained that the Ministry of Public Works wished to embark on the construction of a new four-lane, high-span fixed bridge in the vicinity of the current location and which terminates at Nandy Park on the East Bank of Demerara. “The new design of the Demerara Harbour Bridge will not require opening or retraction to allow for maritime traffic and will be built with a life span of at least 50 years,” it specified.
Previously, President Irfaan Ali had said that the new bridge would be a very high one standing at minimum 50 meters high or as high as or higher than the Marriott Hotel to facilitate the clearance for vessels.
The choice of Nandy Park to the east and Meer Zorgen/La Grange to the west for the new proposed Demerara River Bridge was done based on long-term infrastructural and economic development plans for residents on both sides of the Demerara River, Edghill had explained.
It was also one of the locations recommended by a feasibility study done by the previous APNU+AFC government.
Some 20 companies were found to have submitted EoIs when tenders were opened last month at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
Minister Ashni Singh, who has responsibility for the Finance Ministry, which in turn has oversight of NPTAB, had told those present at the tender opening that the day was a historic one as they had witnessed an unprecedented level of interest in the major infrastructural project.
