SPARK lit for construction firms bidding to rehab country’s roads
Published:Thursday | June 13, 2024 | 12:10 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
Five international construction companies will be making bids to rehabilitate the country’s roads under the Government’s $40-billion Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) Programme, Minister with responsibility for Works Robert Morgan has disclosed.
Speaking during yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, Morgan said that the National Works Agency (NWA), the agency that will be implementing the programme, has completed the pre-qualification stage in the international bidding process.
He noted that eight companies, including two Jamaican companies, participated in the pre-qualification process, but only five met the criteria to engage in the project.
The pre-qualified companies are Sinohydro Corporation Limited, China; Municipal Enterprises Limited, Canada; Lagan Aviation and Infrastructure Limited, United Kingdom; China Harbour Engineering Company Limited, China; and VINCI Construction Grands Projects, France.
He said the NWA would be sending eight proposals to these five pre-qualified construction companies this week for them to bid on the project. The Government intends to implement the works islandwide through four packages. The packages will include both main and community roads.
“We expect these proposals to be returned by mid August and then we will seek approval from the public procurement commission as well to award contracts by the end of September,” he said.
Stating that there were concerns from some local contractors about their inclusion in the process, Morgan said their input would be sought.
“A part of the procurement process will ensure that local contractors are an essential part of the SPARKprogramme execution,” he said.
The SPARK programme aims to rehabilitate more than 2,000 roads across Jamaica. The project is expected to be completed within two years “with an additional year for defects liability as well as where the contractors will be carrying out corrective measures if there are challenges with completed works”, Morgan said.
There is also the possibility of adding $5 billion for associated water works in conjunction with the roadworks.
A “very demanding prescription”
Noting that the country’s ability to spend $45 billion in two years in every constituency at the same time amounts to a “very demanding prescription”, Chief Executive Officer of the NWA, E. G. Hunter outlined the scop of the programme.
“It is not a patching programme, it is not a pothole repair programme. It is actually a rehabilitation programme that seeks to improve the quality of a certain number of roads. What that means is that the cost per kilometre for this undertaking is going to be very different from what we normally do,” he said.
In addition to the “very high budget” and “aggressive time”, Hunter noted that there was no special legislative mechanism under which the programme was being implemented. He stated that it is being executed under the public-investment programme and the Public Procurement Act.
“So if you consider that the average contract of $60 million and over takes an average of about 12-15 months to be let, the question is, how are we going to spend $45 billion in two years in every parish, in every constituency, and stick within the rules?” he said.
Hunter nonetheless expressed confidence in the capacity of the agency to deliver.
“We are optimistic that the programme that we have crafted will deliver the results,” he said.
In the meantime, Morgan shared that consultations, led by the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), have been ongoing. To date, he said that 24 meetings, covering 21 constituencies, had been held across the island.
“We have developed a priority list of roads in several constituencies based on these consultations, and these roads are being subjected to inspection and rapid assessment to determine the preliminary costs to rehabilitate these roads,” he said.
He indicated that the National Water Commission has also been engaged to determine the needs and status of water lines on these roads, with preliminary costs to be shared with the CDF.