GEORGE NEWS - If the process to appoint a contractor to raise the dam wall goes according to plan, construction should start in March next year.

Engineering Services director Reginald Wesso said tenders were received and evaluated by the supply chain management unit. March is the date envisaged if no delays in the required administrative and legal processes pop up.

"The public was informed of the challenges in the past to appoint a contractor for the dam project that have been beyond the control of the municipality. While the municipality receives frequent requests by interested parties regarding the current procurement process, an announcement on the appointment of a contractor can only be made once the full procurement process has been completed," said Wesso.

The bid evaluation committee will in due time submit a formal item with recommendations to the bid adjudication committee (BAC). Following sign-off by the municipal manager, all tenderers will be notified of the BAC outcome, and tenderers are then given 14 days to lodge an appeal. If no appeals are received, or once appeals have been addressed, the successful tenderer can be notified in writing of the acceptance of the bid. "The envisaged time frame to complete the appointment process is before 14 December, being the date of the annual compulsory builders' break."

More legal processes will follow when the contractors return on 14 January. The complete process (without unforeseen delays) takes about 150 calendar days from receiving the tender offers to the actual site handover to the appointed contractor, said Wesso.

Earlier this year, a contractor was appointed, but a week after it was publicly announced, the contractor informed the municipality that it was bankrupt. The bidding process had to be started all over.

Almost 10 years
It has now been almost 10 years of efforts to get the project off the ground. The municipality applied in 2009 for environmental authorisation to raise the spillway by up to three metres, with a fusegate system at the overflow point. Authorisation was granted in 2012. After a review of the catchment hydrology when the water affairs permit was issued in December 2014, it became clear that the fusegate system was no longer the most viable option.

A new design followed that would minimise future damage risks caused by higher order floods.

Response from the Municipality giving a complete description of the tender procurement process:
The public was informed of the challenges in the past to appoint a Contractor for the Dam project that have been beyond the control of the municipality. While the municipality receives frequent requests by interested parties regarding the current procurement process, an announcement on the appointment of a contractor can only be made once the full procurement process has been completed.

To provide the public with a better understanding of the procurement process for the appointment of a contractor, from advertisement to appointment, the following summary is provided:

Tenders were advertised and distributed as per the National Treasury Supply Chain Regulations, and have subsequently been received.

After the closing date for the submission of tender offers the tenders received were vetted by the municipality’s Supply Chain Management unit to ensure compliance with the requirements of the National Treasury Supply Chain Regulations. The Department Civil Engineering Services then assessed and scored each tender to determine whether each bidder meets the pre-qualification technical minimum requirements. 

Only after this pre-qualification bid prices can be compared and a full technical report compiled by the design consultant. The anticipated date for receipt of the technical report is by 9 November 2018, where after the municipality will call for a Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC).

A Bid Evaluation Committee – comprising the municipality’s Supply Chain Management unit, the relevant department (in this case Civil Engineering), possibly a legal adviser and a technical adviser will meet to consider the evaluation process and to determine which tender will be recommended for approval. The BEC will submit a formal item, containing a full summary of the bid evaluation process and recommendations, to the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC).

Following sign-off by the MM, all tenderers will be notified of the BAC outcome, and tenderers are then given 14 days to lodge an appeal should they have reason to believe the process was flawed. If no appeals are received, or once appeals have been addressed, the successful tenderer can be notified in writing of the approval and acceptance of the bid submitted. 

The envisaged timeframe is to complete the appointment process is before 14 December 2018, being the date of the annual compulsory builders break.

Contractors will return on 14 January 2019 to resume normal work after the builders break and the successful Contractor will be required submit a Health and Safety Plan (H&SP) for the execution of the works as well as supply the required construction guarantees within 21 days from signing the acceptance. Once the H&SP has been approved, the contractor must apply to the Western Cape Department of Labour for a construction permit and the provincial department has 30 days from the date of submission of the application to respond.

In the interim, the Western Cape Department Environmental Affairs and Development Planning must be notified of the impending works (at least 10 days before commencement with any works on a site), as well as any other affected departments or authorities.

Site handover only occurs once the construction permit has been issued by the Department of Labour and received by the appointed contractor.

The above process, if there are no unnecessary or unforeseen delays or hindrances, takes up to 150 calendar days from receiving the tender offers to the actual site handover to the appointed contractor.

The George Municipality confirms that, in regards to the Garden Route Dam project, the above-mentioned process is currently underway and - if there are no unnecessary or unforeseen delays or hindrances - it is anticipated that construction may commence during March 2019.

The municipality is as anxious as all its citizens to commence with the construction process, but is constrained by legislative requirements and must comply accordingly.

Read previous articles:

• Raising of spillway could be 'months' away
• High hopes for new tender specs
• Garden Route Dam contractor withdraws tender 
• Dam overflows, 'but please keep saving'
• Garden Route dam overflows
• Spotlight on Eden water challenges
• Raising of dam wall and spillway update
• Raising of Garden Route Dam spillway
• Update on Garden Route Dam capacity increase
• Have your say: Dam's spillway amendment
• Garden Route Dam spillway to be raised

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