We are into Day three of this breaking story and the media houses in Barbados maintain a cloak of deafening silence!
Here is a comment posted to BU by Digger on 06 September 2007:
De Gap considers this a non-story…
A company that came into existence for this project with no previous track record of managing a road project of this magnitude, constructing or installing steel flyovers, presents a flashy but technically inadequate presentation to cabinet, is AWARDED a contract without a fair bidding process; prepares the budget and terms of reference themselves with no independent oversight.
The contract signed is an “interesting” variation on a BOLT contract where the Barbados Government guarantees a loan from BNB to cover the published contract sum of US$60 to widen the highway from Sobers to Warrens and install 5 flyovers. The project manager then tells the nation more than a year after starting that the cost has tripled due to additional widening and “unforeseen” issues with utilities…
This is the biggest scandal to hit these shores in recent times yet you consider it a non-story???
BTW, from researching Mabey’s role in the Panama project, their system is a patented system. A senior project manager who left the company and opens a company of five employees does not have the capability to claim that system as their own let alone manufacture the system efficiently. This company will disapear as quickly as it appeared. They will pay themselves (an others) handsomely during construction with the Govt guaranteed money and leave us holding the bag to maintain the project…that is the true meaning of BOLT!!!!
Any way Barbadians want to look at the process which resulted in the award of the contract to widen the ABC Highway, and the late decision to add flyovers to the company 3s Barbados Limited, IT STINKS! A basic understanding of the tendering process requires that key steps must be followed to ensure the best vendor is selected. One of the first steps when the evaluation process starts is to create a shortlist based on some key selection criteria, for example:
- The past performance of the vendor
- References
- Price, etc
We think that there is sufficient information in the public domain to seriously question the government’s decision to award the contract to 3s Structural Steel Solutions. Let us use the selection criteria listed above to apply a simple acid test to two companies which we know responded to the Barbados government proposal. Obviously 3s is one of the companies.
What we know about 3s
- 3s Structural Steel Solutions was incorporated in the State of Delaware in 2005 and listed number of employees as five
- 3s Barbados SRL was incorporated 04-Nov-2005 (obviously the company in the USA was set-up to facilitate the tender for the Barbados project
- The short life span of the company suggest that there is no past performance of 3s the vendor to consider-flyovers and bridges are not constructed overnight!
- The government of Barbados signed a memorandum of understanding in 2005 to widen the ABC Highway and build 8 flyovers at a cost of BDS120 million
- Jonathan Danos is the former Director of Sales for Mabey & Johnson
What we know about Mabey and Johnson
- Building modular bridges for over 35 years
- Employs over one thousand people in around forty locations throughout the world
- Annual turnover of £100 million
- Over one hundred and fifty years experience in steel bridge building
- One of the leading bridge suppliers in the world
- Serves Africa, Asia, and Latin America for Bridging systems
- Designs and manufactures a range of pre-fabricated modular steel bridges
- In excess of 90% of the company’s production is exported to over 115 countries
- Is the largest supplier of panel bridging systems in the world
It is clear when we compare what we know of the two companies, and we understand that they were others, 3s should have been disqualified at an early stag of the evaluation process. Any government has a responsibility to ensure significant projects are undertaken by companies with proven track records and good financial standing in order to safe guard the taxpayers.
The other point which Barbadians should request clarification from the government of Barbados is the decision to expand the scope of the original tender. Our source told BU that the original tender which was responded to by several international companies was to widen the ABC Highway. It seems that at some point the government amended the scope of the original tender but forgot to recirculate to all the companies which submitted proposals.
It is instructive that back in May 2006 the Barbados Association of Professional Engineer made the following comment:
While the flyover proposal is but one of several components of the Road Improvement Infrastructure Project which Government intends to award to the firm 3S Structural Steel Solutions LLC, it is likely to represent a substantial proportion of the project’s overall costs. Given the scale and scope of the project, BAPE is of the view that a competitive tendering process should have been followed for:
(i) an initial traffic study to investigate the situation and identify the economic viability of alternative options, and
(ii) any resulting road improvement projects
Potential conflicts of interest arise where a firm hired to assess a situation and make recommendations is also awarded a contract to implement those recommendations. BAPE therefore believes that for projects such as this, successor contracts should not be awarded to entities offering consulting services.
Source: BAPE
3s appear to be the beneficiary when the dust settled!
Other Related Stories
Gline Clarke And Rihanna Tell Their Supporters To “Shut Up And Drive”
OPERATION Free Flow, Barbados Road Network Infrastructure Improvement Project (Flyover Project) To Triple In Cost From USD60 Million To USD180 Million~Gline Clarke And The Government Of Barbados Owe Barbadians A Big Explanation
ABC Highway Cost Triples Or More
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