Have board members manipulated the process in awarding the new SINPF multi-million-dollar project?
SOLOMON Islands National Provident Fund’s new multi-million-dollar project is back in the news. Two events have emerged since Solomon Star first reported the project earlier this year.
First, the Board’s alleged departure from established procedure in selecting the winner has been reported to the Ombudsman Commission and secondly the Deputy Chair of the Board, David Rupoket (second from left) has departed.
Mr Rupoket told Solomon Star recently he had left the Board because his term was up, refusing to discuss anything to do with the project.
“I am no longer there,” was all he could manage.
The matter before the Ombudsman Commission, among others, is the allegation Board members “manipulated the process in awarding the contract for the construction of the multi-storey building (pictured) to AJ Enterprises Ltd.”
There are also serious allegations of large payments being made to five of the seven-member Board. Neither the Board nor the SINPF Management has responded to these allegations.
The high-rise building, shown below, was formally put on tender as SOLCHO-COMMERCIAL BUILDING PROJECT, according to tender documents.
Seven companies, including two local firms competed for the project, a commercial building being built in the City’s Central Business District (CBD) next to the Ombudsman Commission’s Office complex.
The Parliament Resthouse once stood on the site.
The bidders are China Railway Construction Engineering (CRCEG) Company Ltd, TGB, AJ Enterprises Ltd, ZYG Trading Ltd, JQY Construction Ltd, China Harbour and Hatanga [by Group]
Their bids in terms of value are:
• China Railway Construction Engineering (CRCEG) Company Ltd
SBD70, 977, 014.00 (about USD 8, 417, 873.86);
• AJ Enterprises Ltd’s bid is SBD81,311,724.24 (USD9,643,570.49);
• ZYG Trading Ltd put in at SBD88,102,652.61 (USD10,448,974.72;
• JQY Construction Ltd’s price was SBD89,200,885.83;
• China Harbour quoted at SBD89,806,222.29 (USD10, 651, 017.96)
In the end AJ Enterprise was awarded the contract for $81 million or USD9.6 million
Business houses familiar with the deal said the Technical Committee which evaluated the bids settled on China Railway.
China Harbour – another international company – initially complained about the handling of the tender process and was granted an additional interview, but nothing concrete had come out of the interview.
The committee however short-changed the decision and, in the end, awarded AJ Enterprises Ltd the contract.
There are serious allegations that five of the NPF Board members were each paid $200, 000 for their support of the AJ Enterprises Ltd’s bid – an allegation which has never been denied.
It was alleged that some in the technical committee changed their position in small meetings.
Both the Board and Management of the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund have maintained their silence since Solomon Star broke the story earlier this year.
Solomon Islands National Provident Fund Chief Executive Officer, Mike Wate, said earlier this year the Board had responded to the matter.
Meanwhile the 33-page Tender dossier has revealed that SINPF engaged “key consultants” from overseas largely from Fiji and Australia for various aspects of the Project. The consultants provided strict guidelines for bidders.
Amongst the key consultants are two local ones – Project Manager and Quantity Surveyor. Both are from the same company – FMC Pacific (SI) – the tender dossier shows.
For example, the Project Manager is a company called PMC Pacific [SI] just as the Quantity Surveyor is. The rest, as shown below, are from Australia and Fiji.
- Architect is from ETS Architects, Brisbane Australia;
- Structural Engineer is from a company in Fiji called NRW Macallan;
- Civil Engineer is also from the NRW Macallan, based in Suva, Fiji;
- Electrical Engineer is from Premise, a company based in Townsville, north Queensland;
- Hydraulic Engineer is from Temo Consulting (Fiji);
- Mechanical Engineer is McCutcheon MacDonald, Hervey Bay, Queensland Australia
By Alfred Sasako
