Contractors lose money as HDC cancels Santa Rosa project

PRESIDENT of the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association Glenn Mahabirsingh said the decision of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to cancel the procurement process for the $475 million Santa Rosa housing project cost bidding contractors money and valuable time.

Speaking with Newsday on August 17 by phone, Mahabirsingh said while the HDC’s request for proposals (RFP) allows for the cancellation of the process at any time as per the tender rules, contractors' financial investment and resources should also be considered.

Mahabirsingh explained that responding to a design-build tender requires significant resources, including professional input in structural, architectural, mechanical and planning aspects.

He refrained from speculating on how much that may have cost contractors, but said resources are expensive and cancelling the process puts contractors at a financial disadvantage.

A letter from HDC’s managing director Jayselle McFarlane on August 16 said the process, which began in January, had been cancelled.

Mahabirsingh assumed bidding companies would have had a high level of confidence in their proposals and would have wanted them reviewed and considered.

He acknowledged the inquiry of two contractors earlier this year, asking the procurement regulator to investigate China Harbour Engineering Company (T&T) Ltd, which was the intended awardee of the nearly half-billion-dollar contract.

Mahabirsingh said when a tender is advertised, there are established prerequisites for moving a project from the tender stage to the award stage, and contractors should not have to expend resources on a tender only for the process to become null and void.

He declined to comment on any potential changes to the RFP, as he had not reviewed it.

Mahabirsingh concluded by saying clients should acknowledge the resources contractors invest in tendering, even though contractors are aware they may not be the winning tenderers.

"The costs incurred in the process should be considered."

One of the objectors, NH International (Caribbean) chairman Emile Elias, described the HDC's decision to cancel the procurement process as a wise choice, saying he hopes the corporation will “quickly” reissue tenders and give the local construction sector a level playing field.

In a phone interview with Newsday on August 17, Elias said the HDC's requirements and the basis on which the evaluators judged the proposals, according to the corporation’s own RFP and the planning permission granted by Town and Country Planning, did not align.

Elias described the RFP as a “very good and excellent document, with excellent planning permission.”

He said there is a process required by procurement legislation that mandates the HDC to engage in a pre-qualification process in which pre-qualified contractors are then listed and invited to tender, but questioned whether that was done with the Chinese company which had been shortlisted.

He stressed that evaluators must create a level playing field.

“What the RFP called for in its design is the construction of a community, not a concrete jungle.”

He urged the HDC to tell the public if the company was planning to build high-rise buildings to house 644 units and asked what the sizes of the units would have been if built by the company.

“The RFP defines the family home unit sizes and townhouse if the company has decided to build high-rise buildings, which was prohibited in the RFP, and if they’ve ignored the minimum sizes, then how could they possibly be evaluated as being responsive to the RFP?”

Elias said now that the process has been cancelled, the public may never learn what the winning proposal entailed. He said in the best interest of the process, public and “honesty and transparency,” the HDC should disclose what the company was going to build.

Earlier in August, the HDC defended its procurement process for the housing project, saying it followed “strict procurement rules.”

After the HDC issued the invitation to tender for design-build services at the Santa Rosa Housing Development, 11 companies submitted bids: Carl Morris General Contracting Ltd, Cretelife Project Management Ltd, Shasac Engineering and Construction Services Ltd, KAT Construction and Equipment Co Ltd, Junior Sammy Contractors Ltd, Paraton Engineering Ltd, McClatchie Construction Company Ltd, Mootilal Ramhit and Sons Contracting Ltd, NH International (Caribbean) Ltd, China Harbour Engineering Company (T&T) Ltd and Woodgreen Construction Services Ltd.