Bids for the construction of the much-debated Hope Canal are expected to be opened next Tuesday, in the boardroom of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NP&TAB).
Invitation for bids for the three-part project opened on March 1 when the notice was placed on the government’s procurement website: http://www.eprocure.gov.gy. The project includes the “construction of East Demerara Water Conservancy Head Regulator at Hope/Dochfour”. The engineer’s estimate is $447,019,810. Also included in the project is the construction of a public bridge at Hope/Dochfour which is estimated to be $381,407,473 and that of a high level sluice outfall structure. The engineer’s estimate for this particular construction is $638,361,885.
The deadline for the submission of bids is 9 am on Tuesday, April 5. Electronic bidding is not permitted. According to the notice, “bid documents can be uplifted in electronic form (CD) from the office of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Ministry of Agriculture, Regent and Vlissengen Road upon payment of a non refundable fee of $1,000 in favour of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture.
All bids, the notice says, must be accompanied by valid certificates of compliance from the Manager of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department.
The NDIA is currently doing excavation work on the site for the proposed canal.
This was seen as a way to cut down on the project which is estimated to cost approximately $3.6 billion in total.
The canal, when completed, is expected to help drain the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) into the Atlantic Ocean. Currently when the water reaches a high level in the EDWC, water is drained through the Maduni and Lama sluices into the Mahaica and Mahaicony creeks resulting in overtopping and flooding in these areas.
Meanwhile, the tenders for the supply of laptops/netbooks for the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative will be opened on April 12, this newspaper was told. The bids were originally expected to be opened on March 29. A reliable source told this newspaper that the deadline was extended following a few changes to the evaluation criteria. However, these changes are not reflected on the government’s procurement website.
The company that wins this contract will have to facilitate technical support, after sales service for the instruments and warranty enforcement when needed, according to the bid notice.
Under the OLPF, the government hopes to distribute approximately 90,000 computers to poor families in the country.
