While seeking to dispel suspicions raised by the opposition Alliance For Change (AFC) over the decision to terminate negotiations with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) for the construction of the new Demerara River bridge, the government on Saturday disclosed that the talks lasted almost a month but no agreement could be reached.
It also maintained that while the firm was the “most responsive” bidder for the project, its engagement was always subject to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement on terms.
In a statement, the Government of Guyana (GoG) said after several meetings between its negotiation team and CSCEC, “the two sides were unable to successfully negotiate mutually acceptable financial terms and conditions.”
It added, “It is noteworthy that the team focused on the construction cost and securing the financial terms and conditions that would serve the country’s best interest.”
The team, comprising Sukrishnalall Pasha (Finance Secretary), Ronald Burch-Smith (Attorney), Marcel Gaskin (Consultant/Engineer), and Intakab Indarjeet (Engineer), was appointed on November 16, 2021 by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) to negotiate optimal financial terms and conditions for the construction of the new bridge.
The GoG statement noted that the mandate also provided for the negotiation team to engage the second-ranked bidder, should negotiations with the first bidder prove unsuccessful. “Therefore, while CSCEC was adjudged the most responsive bidder, the finalisation and signing of a contract with the said bidder were subject to the successful negotiation of mutually acceptable financial terms and conditions,” it pointed out.
According to the statement, the team commenced negotiations with the CSCEC on December 24, 2021, and having failed to reach an agreement it wrote NPTAB on January 20, 2022, seeking permission to terminate negotiations with CSCEC and commence negotiation with the second-ranked bidder, China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Limited, China Railway Construction (Caribbean) Co. Ltd & China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group Co. Ltd Joint Venture, in keeping with its mandate.
It added that the NPTAB approved the request, paving the way for the team to engage the second-ranked bidder. “Negotiations with this company, which commenced on January 28, 2022, are ongoing. Notably, the Negotiation Team is of the view that any further disclosures about the specifics of these engagements at this time would undermine ongoing deliberations and is, therefore, unprepared to pursue such a course of action,” the statement added.
On Friday, APNU+AFC Member of Parliament David Patterson, who is former Minister of Public Infrastructure, charged that government’s decision to terminate negotiations with the CSCEC raised serious issues of due process, contract evaluation and probity by the administration, and called for “a proper, detailed and coherent” explanation.
Patterson also said the initial reason for the termination of the agreement given by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo — that the financing costs were too high — was rubbished by the project evaluation process, which the Cabinet received and granted in a “no-objection” approval to the Ministry of Public Works to engage CSCECL from November 2021 based on a Design-Build-Finance (DBF) model.
“For the country to believe the Vice President now raises questions as to why in November he clearly stated that the financial terms and conditions would be no less favourable than those submitted in the preferred bidder’s price proposal and that the construction cost of US$256.6 million was the lowest among all bidders,” Patterson said.
CSCEC, in its tender document, pegged the cost for the construction of the bridge at US$256,638,289.
The bidding document had specified the criteria for making a bid on the project. It stipulated that bidders must present proposals for a Design, Build and Finance (DBF) option, or alternatively, Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (DBFOM).
The Scope of Works in the design/build contract included the complete design and construction of a two-lane dual (four-lane) carriageway, hybrid cable-stayed centre-span bridge with concrete box/T-beam girder approach bridge structures, and must include bridge collision protection, a navigation span to accommodate Handymax vessel navigation aids, lighting, signage, and all other ancillary works, an access road with a minimum of 50 meters up to abutments, toll-collection buildings, and ancillary buildings on the West Bank of the Demerara River.
When completed, government wants 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.
