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Red flags raised over Govt engineers’ estimates

Apr 27, 2017 News

Concerns have been raised over the competence of engineers within the various Government agencies and ministries.
A number of letters over the past few weeks from contractors and others, called on Kaieteur News to ‘investigate red flags’ as they relate to bids being submitted by contractors to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
It was contended that all was not right with the Engineer’s Estimates which in many occasions, were way above what contractors were bidding.
This was never more evident than last Tuesday, during the opening of tenders for several Government-funded projects, where contractors submitted bids – in some cases, millions of dollars below the Engineer’s Estimate.
This was pointed out by a contractor yesterday, who explained that if contractors consistently bid way below the engineer’s estimate, it signals that works can be done at a cheaper cost. It can further be deduced that the engineers’ estimates are not a true reflection of the cost to carry out a project.
There have been known cases in the past where the engineers’ estimates were being deliberately ‘inflated’.
Another contractor believed that the engineers must be catering for “superior” materials.
“Unless they making the engineer’s estimate to cater for superior quality materials, this is obviously utter rubbish because obviously, those materials are not available locally.
“The engineers are supposed to be looking out for the state’s interest to ensure that we don’t pay contractors way above (what) we can afford. It creates an impression that these engineers are incompetent or worse yet, corrupt,” the contractor alleged.
He added that the “exorbitant” engineer’s estimate makes it difficult for contractors to compete.
“The method being used is of course unknown but if the estimate is not close to the real cost then how do we as contractors bid? How can we be the closest responsive bidder when our estimation of a job is so different from what is being announced?” the contractor queried.
These concerns the contractor said, would be brought before the authorities.
“We intend to deal with this matter accordingly. It has been going on for years and we thought things would change but it’s the same thing,”
The table below illustrates the bid prices submitted for a Ministry of Infrastructure project for geometric improvements of the Railway Line, East Coast Demerara.
Several contractors bid in some instances, $10M below the engineer’s estimate.
Bidder Amount
Gaico Construction and General Services Incorporated $57.2M
Eron Lall Civil Engineering Works $57.3M
Compustruct Engineering $69.9M
BK International Incorporated $56.5M
GuyAmerica Construction Incorporated $60.7M
Y. Bhola Construction Services $67.6M
KP Thomas and Sons Contracting $60.4M
B&J Civil Works $68.7M
Engineer’s Estimate $70.5M

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