The National Insurance Board (NIB) said in a statement yesterday that the procedure followed in granting a $20 million contract to Holiday Industrial Builders International Ltd. for the construction of a building to the west of the Paul L. Adderley Building on John F. Kennedy Drive is consistent with the framework in place at NIB for the award of building contracts.
NIB released the statement amid lingering criticisms over the controversial award of that contract.
The Ingraham administration fired Holiday Industrial Builders, which was originally contracted to build the now Paul L. Adderley Building, which is the home of the Office of the Attorney General.
Minister of Labour and National Insurance Shane Gibson previously told The Nassau Guardian that the company won in arbitration.
In its statement yesterday, NIB said the consultant project managers recommended the following contractors to be invited for pre-qualification: Pyramid Construction Company Limited, Ranmar Precision Development Company Limited, Buildex Construction Company Limited and Holiday Industrial Builders International Ltd.
All candidates were required to pre-qualify, the statement said.
Contractor pre-qualification documents were received on September 27, 2013 and submitted to the quantity surveyor on September 30, 2013.
The quantity surveyor performed a pre-qualification analysis and submitted a report in October 2013.
The invitation to tender was issued to pre-qualified contractors.
Sealed tender documents were submitted to the NIB director's office.
The statement said four sealed tender documents were opened by the chairman of the Contract and Tenders Committee of the Board in the presence of the Contract and Tenders Committee members, NIB's financial controller, manager in charge of purchasing, senior deputy director/buildings, project manager, the quantity surveyor, contractors and/or their representatives plus other NIB staff members.
It said tender documents were submitted to the quantity surveyor for evaluation and the quantity surveyor subsequently recommended Holiday Industrial Builders International Ltd.
NIB wrote to the Ministry of Works and Urban Development for confirmation that the figures presented by the quantity surveyor as to the value of the replica building were consistent with current industry rates for similar construction, the statement said.
It added that NIB obtained confirmation in this regard.
The statement said that at the meeting of the National Insurance Board held on November 28, 2013,
the Board of Directors ratified the decision of the Contract and Tenders Committee, subject to ministerial approval.
"Subsequently, approvals for the Board of Directors' decision were sought, and obtained from the minister (as statutorily required) and the Cabinet," the statement added.
"It should be noted that the records of the NIB reflect that the first construction contract
awarded to a company in which Mr. Lloyd Smith was principal was Holiday Development
Construction Limited.
"The contract was awarded in November 1994 for the construction of a local office in New Providence on the original Central Highway Inn property on Wulff Road."

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