PAB rejects Sierra appeal, Access wins award
Sports Minister inspects the Sugathadasa Stadium track - File pic
Sports Ministry will award the tender to relay the synthetic tracks at the Sugathadasa Stadium this week after the Procurement Appeal Board (PAB) rejected an appeal by Sierra Constructions Ltd, a joint venture with Polythan Asia challenging the Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee’s (CAPC) decision to award the tender to Access International (Pvt) Ltd and Conica-Veritas.
“We have got the PAB verdict rejecting the appeal,” said Minister of Sports Dayasiri Jayasekera. “I will put it to the Cabinet this week and once the approval is obtained we will award the tender. We hope to have the track before the end of this year.
The tender was awarded by the CAPC to Access International at a cost of Rs. 269,339,325 (without VAT) but Sierra in their appeal argued that the entire evaluation process was manipulated by the TEC (Technical Evaluation Committee) and the CAPC.
The letter states that Sierra was disqualified on technical grounds as its partner had not submitted a power of attorney. It also says the Sierra-Polythan Asia joint venture agreement was not signed by an attorney-at-law as required by the bidding document.
The unsuccessful bidder has been disqualified on technical grounds as their partner had not submitted a Power of Attorney. It also says their joint venture agreement was not signed by an Attorney at Law as required by the clause 3.5 ‘C’ of the bidding document
After stringent bid conditions were laid, only three bidders, Access International, CML-MTD and Sierra Construction submitted bids for the project. CML MTD has been rejected as they did not fulfill clause 3.5 ‘a’ tender requirement which needs the manufacturer to have experience in installing at least five Pull FUR Class I tracks.
The bid document required fulfillment of stringent conditions to qualify, including prior experience in laying at least five Class I Pull FUR tracks and five Class II tracks in South Asia for the relaying of 400m class 1 synthetic track and relaying of 200m synthetic track at the Sugathadasa Sports Complex. The works include repairs and improvement to other features related to the synthetic tracks.
Last year, the same tender was awarded to Access for a sum of Rs. 334,291, 610.00 plus VAT at least Rs. 65 million more than their current price. However, the tender was cancelled subsequently when PAB upheld an appeal by Sierra.
Sugathadasa Stadium was abandoned a few months after the tracks were relaid in 2012 at a cost of Rs 113 million to host the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Colombo. But the track showed signs of physical damage less than 12 months into completion as low quality raw materials had been used.