Local contractors urged to attend RDA’s capacity-building workshops

Local contractors are being urged to attend the Recovery & Development Agency’s (RDA) capacity-building workshops.

Speaking at a recent contract-signing, the RDA’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Anthony McMaster said the workshops are designed to better equip contractors with the required knowledge needed to become a highly competitive bidder when pursing a tendered project.

“I would implore all the contractors in the BVI to take advantage of the training sessions. You can even go as far as registering with the RDA, because if you register with the RDA, once we put tenders out we also send notifications to you as a contractor to let you know a tender is there, you may have an interest in it,” he stated.

“So it is not just dependent on whether or not you actually see the newspaper or you were able to visit the website, you will actually get an email telling you that it is there. So you have effectively no excuse to not be a part of the process,” the RDA boss added.

Next workshop on Virgin Gorda

McMaster also said the RDA will be hosting their next workshop on Thursday, May 14 and encouraged interested contractors to make an effort to attend.

“We are going to be hosting a workshop on Virgin Gorda, and of course, because of social distancing we are limited to 15 participants.”

“If we have more than 15 persons registered we will conduct a second training exercise on Virgin Gorda, but we will make sure that every single contractor on the island that has an interest to learn, have the opportunity to learn, and we will provide that training,” McMaster added.

Seminars part of government’s plan to develop contractors

Meanwhile, Premier Andrew Fahie said that the RDA’s workshops are part of his government’s plan to ensure that local contractors receive the necessary guidance to elevate them to the next stage.

In addition to the workshops, Premier Fahie also said that his government has put other measures in place to ensure that local contractors are prioritized for tendered projects over international contractors.

He said: “We have made special provisions for bids to be set aside for competitive bidding by locally registered companies.”

“Despite this provision international procurement rules must be followed. The onus is on the local contractors to engage quantity surveyors, engineers, architects and project managers and disciplines necessary, to give them a competitive edge,” he added.

In the past few weeks, the RDA has awarded at least four contracts valued millions.

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