Ministry defends single sourcing of Vikab for Kato School project
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure says that Vikab Engineering was selected as the supervisory consultant to oversee remedial works at the Kato, Region 9 Secondary School because it was the only company that responded from a list of six that were invited and time was of the essence.
At the same time, the ministry sought to also explain the reasons behind the keeping of the contractor of the problem-riddled school – Kares Engineering – in the fixing of the major defects.
Both decisions have raised questions.
“At the time of closing of bids at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board on May 9, 2017 at 09:00 hrs, there was no response from any of the listed consultants, except Vikab Guyana Ltd,” a statement MPI yesterday said following a report in Thursday’s Stabroek News on the selection.
The Kato School, which was never occupied, was found to be riddled with major defects after construction by Kares Engineering ended in 2015.
At least $144 million would be required to fix the defective school which was built at a cost of $728.1 million, according to auditing firm Rodrigues Architects Limited who in 2016 said that the building was unsafe for children.
A tour by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure of the school complex in 2016, had showed evidence of poor construction with cracked and crumbling concrete floors and walls, steel protruding from the walls, unstable safety bars, termiteinfested wood, poor installation of equipment in the science lab, and cheap bathroom fixtures, among a number of other defects.
Two weeks ago, a bid of $29.2M was placed by Vikab Engineering for supervisory services for the remedial works to be done at the school.
When contacted, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure’s Public Affairs Officer, Desilon Daniels, had informed that Vikab was “sole sourced to supervise the works at Kato” by her ministry for the Ministry of Education.
Asked if the ministry had checked Vikab’s background for works it has done here, she explained that although the firm was sole sourced and had put in a bid it did not mean that they would be awarded the contract since it has to be evaluated.
A Ministry of Education official echoed this position saying that their evaluators and “others” would have to look at Vikab’s proposal before a decision is made.
The Trinidad and Tobagobased Vikab left Guyana in 2012 in the middle of mounting criticisms over supervisory works it did on the Supenaam Stelling in 2010. It recently returned.
The engineers who probed the failure of the docking system at the Supenaam Stelling in 2010 flayed both the supervisor Vikab Engineering and BK International. They raised concerns about the integrity of the design and unauthorized changes that led to wasteful expenditure.
According to the MPI statement yesterday, representatives from the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs; the Ministry of Communities; the Ministry of Education; and the Ministry of Social Cohesion met in February of this year to decide on the way forward.
It said that from that meeting several points were agreed to. Namely that the school should be completed, the Contractor, Kares Engineering Inc., should complete all corrective works on the school, at no cost to the Government and that the contractor would be subject to strict supervision.
Observers have questioned the wisdom of having Kares undertake the remedial work considering the extent of the defects that had been discovered. It has been argued that the performance bond which should have been attached to the project should have been tapped and a new contractor assigned to the task.
‘No response’
Also, agreed at the February meeting this year was that MPI would recruit the independent Supervisory Consultant which would oversee the corrective works.
The ministries also felt that an Independent four-person committee, comprised of one member from the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE), two from the community, and one from the region, should be established to provide periodic oversight, in addition to the independent supervisory Consultant.
“In its effort to recruit the Supervisory Consultant for the remedial works, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure approached the President of GAPE for assistance in the shortlisting of the consultants, as well as to review the proposed terms of reference. Unfortunately, no response was received from that organization and, as a consequence, six consultants were identified in a Restrictive Tendering Method for the selection of the Supervisory Consultant,” the statement yesterday said.
Because of the short timeframe to the September 2017 school opening, the restrictive tendering process was chosen, the statement said. While the Ministry has cited the urgency of the planned September opening of the school, observers have pointed out that the government has wasted nearly a year getting to this stage as the report on what had gone wrong with the Kato school had been issued since May, 2016.
The Ministry yesterday said that restrictive tendering for the supervisory consultant was pursued “To avoid any likely exposure to time loss risk in the normal open-bidding procurement process. This process is protracted and presents a challenge to meet the urgent growing intervention needs and disbursement targets for this project. The Ministry, through peer review and consultations with the Ministry of Education, is acquainted with the performance of the consultants who demonstrate the capacity, reserve resources, and availability to tender for these services. The consultants proposed were selected on the basis of having access to financial resources that will allow swift mobilization response to the project site, if awarded”.
The statement added “The Consultants proposed were not currently overburdened by existing projects, so their capacity to mobilize with immediate effect and execute efficiently was available. Moreover, the list of consultants proposed possessed the adequate experience of similar services in the remote regions of Guyana,” it added.
‘Prejudice’
While the company that conducted the technical audit of the school last year, Rodrigues Architects Ltd. (RAL), was among the six supervising companies chosen it declined to bid. RAL’s representatives believed that the best interest of the project would be served by engaging another consultancy company. “RAL stated that: In the interest of avoiding any objections/ claims by Kares Engineering Inc. that RAL’s assessment was biased, thereby challenging the company’s integrity which may lead to frustration in completing the corrective works”, it was not interested in the job.
It added, “Further, such claims may prejudice any future proceedings between the Government of Guyana and Kares Engineering Inc. for a satisfactory conclusion to the dispute. Further, in the event that Kares Engineering Inc. is allowed to rectify the works, RAL did not have the necessary confidence or trust for a harmonious contractor/consultant relationship”.
MPI also said that utilization of the Single Source Selection process is the most efficient method of procurement regarding this consultancy. It explained, “Pursuing a process that allows for bidding, evaluation, etc. before award will, of course, delay agreement with the Consultant and, with a scheduled opening date for the school set for September 2017 – the beginning of the new School Year – expediency is important, hence the need for single source selection. Furthermore, the Financial Proposal provided by the Consultant is below the Ministry’s estimation for these services; the daily rates are below that estimated to be “Fair Market Rates” for local consultancy services in such remote Regions of Guyana; as such the offer is deemed acceptable.”
It added: “After careful examination by the Evaluation Team of the aspects of efficiency, economy, and the fair market price by the Consultant, it was recommended by the committee for the consultant to be awarded the contract for the Supervision of Service for Completion of Remedial Works at the New Kato Secondary School, Region 8 in the sum of $29, 229,410 to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board and this recommendation was approved.
Discrepancies
MPI noted yesterday that RAL submitted an Inception Report dated March 7, 2016 and the Final Report in May 2016 where several discrepancies were highlighted. Among these were: The standard of construction and the quality of material and workmanship on the buildings of the complex were below average standard and require major corrective work to give a useful life in excess of ten years.
The foundations and frames (columns and beams) were 20 to 25 percent below the specified strength of 3,500 psi at 28 days. All the other key elements such as corridors, floors, ceilings, stairs and walkways have major defects that would require fixing before safe usage and continuous inspection and maintenance thereafter.
There was evidence of lack of supervision, poor construction and quality of materials used and deviation from specifications, design/construction drawings by the contractor.
The Clerk of Works Daily Reports seen were vague, incomplete and did not provide a reliable record of the daily works, their quality and quantity. Most of the reinforced concrete should not have been allowed, as was previously by the first Clerk of Works, Mr. Whittaker, where he required that a portion of the foundation be redone.