| Amaila Falls US$15M contract…“Never heard of it…but I will check,” this was the common response that this newspaper was met with yesterday when calls were made to the Florida and Georgia Departments of Transportation Procurements and Contracts divisions during an attempt to verify whether Synergy Holdings Inc., owned by Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall, has undertaken any road projects in those States.The search by this newspaper was spawned by the fact that during a recent press briefing at which Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Executive Dircetor of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited Winston Brassington were asked about Motilall’s road building experience, it was said that he had done so in the US States of Florida and Georgia.Checks were made at the Georgia Dept. of Transportation,http://www.footlockershop.us.com/Mid/, Contractors division at contact number (404) 631-1990, and this newspaper was also directed to the state’s website (www.dot.ga.gov) which had a list of all prequalified contractors. Motilall of Synergy Holdings was not included.The official that this newspaper spoke with first said that the name was not familiar, but undertook to search the database.After several searches using different source data, all related to either Motilall or Synergy Holding Inc., the official stated that neither name was among the list of prequalified persons, further, there was no record that any road projects were undertaken by the company.Checks at their Florida counterparts at telephone number, (912) 576-3028 also revealed that Synergy Holdings Inc., was not prequalified to undertake road projects in that State.Officials were not familiar with the Company’s name and undertook searches of the state’s database only to turn up empty, with respect to both prequalification or projects already undertaken.As it relates to the road project under contention,wholesale jerseys, there were several bidders including a consortium comprising,wholeslae cheap nfl jerseys china, B&J Civil Works, Ivor Allen & Dynamic Engineering Co. Ltd with a bid of US$16.65M; BK International Inc with a bid of US$21.1M and Roopan Ramotar with a bid of US$26M.Synergy Holdings Inc’s bid of US$15.4M was the successful one and it was pointed out that before an evaluation of the proposals was undertaken, the persons submitting proposals were first examined to determine whether they satisfied the pre-qualification criteria/process which was set out in the advertisement and the tender documentation.The pre-qualification process was an assessment of the applicable experience of the potential contractor; availability of equipment, access to materials, adequacy of personnel of the potential contractor to perform the job and capacity of the potential contractor to undertake the scope of the works within the allotted timeframe among others.When asked if they would be willing to provide the proposal by Motilall for an independent scrutiny apart from the evaluation team,Jorge De La Rosa Jersey, Brassington responded in the negative, adding that it was for the Auditor General to conduct such an exercise.Brassington had explained further that it would set a bad precedent in that this would have to be facilitated for all of the bidders.Among the safeguard measures in place as security on the part of the government,cheap nfl jerseys online, which is financing the project, is a US$3M backing in the form of two bonds posted by Hand-in-Hand.This newspaper has subsequently learnt that the Hand-in-Hand’s support was heavily influenced by the government backing of the project.Synergy Holdings contract is for the upgrade of approximately 85 kilometres of existing roadway and the design and construction of approximately 110 kilometres of new roads.The works also include building bridges across the Essequibo and Kuribrong Rivers, President Bharrat Jagdeo said during a recent press conference.In addition, the contract takes into account clearing the way for the installation of a 65-kilometre transmission line.Following the announcement of the contract to Synergy Holdings Inc., there has been a spate of letters questioning whether the company was even in a position to execute the works.The Amaila storage dam site would be located near the top of Amaila Falls and would impound the waters of both the Kuribrong and Amaila Rivers. The Amaila site is located on the Kuribrong River,jerseys nfl wholesale, a tributary of the Potaro River in west central Guyana.The nearest point of access is the airstrip at Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River, approximately 15 miles to the south.An overland trail exists from Kaieteur to Amalia. Access is also provided over land by an all-weather road through Tumatumari on the Potaro River and on to Mahdia and Kangaruma.River access along the Potaro-Kuribrong Rivers to the foot of Amaila Falls involves several portages around rapids and waterfalls. The road from Tumatumari was recently extended to Mahdia/Kangaruma that brings individuals closer to the site but approximately 30 miles of additional roads will need to be built to the top of Amaila Falls. |
