Bidding period for new govt
complex ends November 28
PHILIPSBURG--The contractors bidding period for the new Government Administration Building ends November 28. The date of tender has been set for January 23, with contracts of the first package to be awarded in March next year, announced Commissioner Louie Laveist on Wednesday.
The pre-qualification period for contractors and suppliers interested in taking on parts of the work for the new US $12.2 million office complex ends November 14, while the pre-qualification selection takes place November 25, Laveist explained at a press conference.
The bids for the initial tenders end November 28. The tender commission in which project developer and financier RGM Ltd. and the Island Government are represented has until January 23, 2004, to review the bids.
The date of tender is January 23, 2004, on which day a public session will be held where the names and amounts will be announced, said building team member Sipke de Haan. The contracts of the first package, representing roughly 70 per cent of the work, will be awarded on March 8.
RGM's CEO Laurence Bouillet explained that work in the first package would include general construction, piling, roofing, doors and windows, air conditioning and wiring. The next package, to follow a "few months later," will include painting and decorating.
The dates set are "ambitious, but achievable," said Laveist. The time-line should give local contractors "ample and reasonable" time to be involved, he added.
Bouillet said he was positive the target date of late 2005 would be met. "We are moving forward in a positive way," he said, adding that more than 70 contractors had picked up the pre-qualification packages at RBTT Bank.
Bouillet suggested that the smallest contractors get together for this project and form a joint venture to overcome the possible problem of lacking a reference letter from the bank proving financial viability to handle the job.
Asked who would be in charge, he explained that RGM would be writing the contracts and the cheques. "We will deal with the contractors. We pay well and on time," he assured. Government, however, will be involved in the decision-making, as it is a project for the government, he added.
Laveist said this was "a very real project" involving firm commitments from both developer and financier RGM and the island territory. "The people will stand the ultimate beneficiaries of this project," he said.
Give us your opinion on this story ![[new]](/images/new.gif)
Post a message on our message board! Click Here!
