Great Mountain road to undergo repairs

A section of the Great Mountain road on Tortola that was severely impacted by the 2017 hurricanes is set to finally undergo repairs.

This is according to a government-commissioned release, inviting tenders to bid on the project.

The project is being funded through the $65 million Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan – Hurricane Irma Project from the Caribbean Development Bank.

According to the public tender document for the upcoming project, the works on the road include but are not limited to “general site clearance, demolition of existing sections of reinforced concrete pavement, construction of 30 meters of reinforced concrete pavement with asphalt overlay, construction of 22 meter-long by 4.5 meter-high reinforced concrete retaining wall, construction of 10 meter-long swale drain, construction of 125 meters of reinforced concrete kerb walls [and] installation of 30m of guard rails”. 

The document further said that consideration will be “limited to firms or joint ventures of firms, which are legally incorporated or otherwise organised in, and have their principal place of business in an eligible (member countries of the CDB) country and are either: (a) more than 50 percent beneficially owned by a citizen or citizens and/or a bona fide resident or residents of an eligible country, or by a body corporate or bodies corporate meeting these requirements; or (b) owned or controlled by the Government of an eligible country provided that it is legally and financially autonomous and operated under the commercial law of an eligible country and otherwise meets the eligibility.” 

Qualifications to bid

The public tender notice said firms wishing to bid must have “experience under construction contracts in the role of contractor, joint venture member, subcontractor, or management contractor for at least the last five years prior to the applications submission deadline, and with activity in at least nine months in each year.”

Bidders must also have an “average annual turnover (defined as certified payments received for works in progress or completed) within the last three years of at least $220,000, [has] a demonstrable cash flow (including access to credit) of 110,000 and experience as prime contractor in the construction of at least two assignments of a nature, scope and complexity comparable to the proposed project activity within the last five years (to comply with this requirement, works quoted should be at least 80 percent complete).”

Deadline for submission of bids will be on Tuesday, March 17. Notably, a ‘pre-bid/site visit’ meeting will take place at 10 am on Thursday, February 27 at the Ministry of Finance of Finance’s Procurement Unit Conference Room on the second floor of the Qwomar Building #2.

The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Transportation, Works and Utilities.