Officials of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and the technical team which granted Synergy Holdings the award for the construction of access roads for the Amaila Falls hydropower plant are tight-lipped concerning the granting of the controversial contract.

Chairman of the NPTAB Donald De Clou, when approached by this newspaper on Friday, said he would not comment on the matter. “I respectfully decline to comment on or off the record on the matter,” he said, adding that he was very busy. Asked if he would speak at a later time, De Clou said he liked to prioritize his tasks and given the particular subject matter he would be hard pressed to consider it a priority.

Senior engineer Walter Willis, who President Bharrat Jagdeo identified as having a key role to play in the project, when contacted initially by this newspaper had indicated his willingness to be interviewed but said he needed to first get the go ahead from his superiors. When contacted subsequently, Willis apologized and said he was not in a position to do the interview. He told this newspaper that whatever information was needed on the project ought to be sought from the Government Information Agency (GINA).

President Bharrat Jagdeo during an interview with this newspaper last week while in Oslo, Norway, defended the process by which Fip Motilall’s company received the contract for the project. “The thing is that we went through a public tender. We got the engineers led by Walter Willis and the others to evaluate the bids… You have a technical team assess capability and price and then they make a recommendation to the national tender board which then comes to the cabinet for a no-objection. This is the process that we have to follow. That’s the only transparent process,” he said.

Ever since the announcement of the award to the US-based company, questions have been raised about the company’s experience in road-building and whether it has the capacity to undertake such a major assignment. No evidence has been provided by either Synergy Holdings or the government of the company’s road building capacity. Head of NICIL Winston Brassington has said though that the company had road building experience in Florida and Georgia.

Concerns have also been raised as to whether Synergy Holdings met the criteria outlined in the project’s Request for Proposals (RFP). According to this document the construction is based on “a time of the essence” basis and must be completed by the end of the eight months following the effective day of the agreement.

The document also outlined various other criteria which the contractor was expected to meet.  The contractor was required to identify similar large scale project experience over the previous five years citing “examples of scope of work, project location and costs,” as well as “references and credentials… including contact information for project managers and/or owners with whom [he] has worked.” Additionally, the potential contractor was required to submit details on the equipment and machinery that he owned and which would be needed. Where the contractor intended to sub-contract the use of equipment and machinery, a copy of the agreement between the contractor and the sub-contracted party had to be submitted.

Further requirements were for the submission of the contractor’s financial and human resource capability to undertake the project and the provision of resumés of the proposed individuals who were likely to be permanently or partially attached to the project. Further “details of the contractor’s past experience and capacity to effectively manage environmental, social and worker health and safety impacts and risk on similar projects consistent with World Bank Standards,” were requested.

The contract awarded to Synergy Holding Inc  is for the “the upgrading of approximately 85 km of existing roadway, the design and construction of approximately 110 km of virgin roadway, the design and construction of two new pontoon crossings at the Essequibo and Kuribrong rivers.” The fourth part of the project is for the clearing of a pathway alongside the roadways to allow for the installation of approximately 65 km of transmission lines.