St Helena : Tenderers Pull Out of St. Helena Airport Project
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 08.08.2006 (Article Archived on 22.08.2006)
The Air Access Office confirms that all three tenderers that were to put in bids for the proposed new airport have withdrawn their bids.
BUSINESS NEWS FROM ST. HELENA
TENDERERS PULL OUT OF ST. HELENA AIRPORT PROJECT
Yesterday we received news that one of the three tenderers for the airport project, Grinaker-LTA, had decided to withdraw from the bidding process for construction of the airport. I am sorry to have to inform you that today we have received notice from both the other two tenderers, Basil Read and Group 5, that they too have concerns over the Invitation to Tender, and have told us that they would have great difficulty in meeting the requirements of the tender as it is presently set out. While the reasons for this vary between the contractors, there is a common thread in what they see as too high a risk in providing a fixed price before they have been able to complete their detailed designs. All three contractors have expressed their interest in continuing their involvement in the project if we were to agree on a different sharing of risk.
As a result, we have decided to postpone the contractor’s site visit which was to have taken place later this month until we have had time to review the way the tender is structured in order to address the concerns that they raise. This is obviously a disappointment. We have recognised throughout that this is a unique and challenging project, and had carried out an independent review of the procurement strategy. We had every reason to think that this approach would achieve a successful contract. Martin Dinham, the DFID Director responsible for the Overseas Territories, who many of you may remember from his visit here last year confirmed today that “While this may be disappointing, it is not a major setback, and certainly does not call into question in any way DFID’s commitment to developing air access for St Helena. This commitment remains as solid as ever.” It does mean that we need to review the procurement process for the airport and agree how best to get it moving again.
This will inevitably affect timing, but any delays should not be significant. It is much better that we deal with these issues now than in six months time when the tenders were due in. We will do everything we can to minimise any such delays, and have already started work. It is important to note that whatever the outcome of the procurement review, we will not be starting again from scratch.
The specifications for the airport and the supporting infrastructure are unlikely to change. We will continue with the topographic survey of Rupert’s Valley and of Prosperous Bay Plain planned for mid- August. Likewise we will continue with the survey of the seabed in Rupert’s Bay, and with the additional environmental studies, all planned for that same week.
It is important that we do not allow this to affect the work that is already in progress on the investment policy and the tourism policy. Also we must press on with developing a register of Saints and Saint businesses interested in working on the airport. We, with DFID, will continue to support this in any way that we can.
A team from DFID, lead by Nigel Kirby, will come to St Helena in August to talk with SHG and with interested parties, and to agree how we can get the construction of the airport started as soon as possible.”
St Helena Access Office
3rd August 2006
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