The Ingraham administration "orchestrated" an $8.3 million contract for Telco Enterprises to construct an adolescent facility at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, despite a quantity surveyor's report which indicated that decision was an "unconventional recommendation", Minister of Labour and National Insurance Shane Gibson said.
Under the previous Christie administration, Telco Enterprises was awarded a contract to construct "a couple of houses" and the contract was terminated because of problems with those homes, according to Gibson.
"You hear them talking about public tendering. There was no public tendering," he said during debate on the Medical Bill on Wednesday night.
"[There was a] public pre-qualification, where they asked companies to pre-qualify to show that they had the financial and technical capabilities to carry out these projects.
"In the case of the Sandilands Rehabilitation [Robert Smith Child and Adolescent Centre] they had public pre-qualifications where you had the following companies that responded: Bro-Kell Construction, Inline Project Company Ltd., Lucayan Construction & Dev. Co. and Watson Construction Company."
Gibson said despite the pre-qualification process the then Minister of Works Neko Grant ultimately decided which companies would be allowed to bid.
He tabled documents which indicated that Telco Enterprises, Inline Projects and Bro-Kell Construction were invited to bid.
Their respective bids were $8.3 million, $6.5 million and $7.4 million.
Gibson said he was unable to find the pre-qualification documents for Telco Enterprises.
Gibson said the quantity surveyor analysis of those bids found that Inline Project "had its strength in contract administration and contract management, whereas Telco Enterprises had its strength in mobilization and attracts a larger labor force".
"You hear that, [Telco Enterprises'] strength was mobilization -- this was before the by-election in Elizabeth now -- and attracts a larger labor force," Gibson said.
In accordance with the quantity surveyor analysis, Inline Project would be a favored recommendation in the interest of cost and time, Gibson said.
The analysis noted that Telco Enterprises would be a favored recommendation where it could mobilize the workforce for the project, but it would be an "unconventional recommendation" to select the company as the general contractor.
Gibson said that in a letter to the Ministry of Finance, then National Insurance Board (NIB) Director Algernon Cargill said the bid analysis concluded Telco Enterprises won the bid.
He said the explanation provided was "because their bid was more realistic, the construction period provided by Telco conformed to the estimates provided with the quantity surveyor, and, listen to this carefully now, Inline Project Company Ltd. is a relatively new company with no previous construction experience."
Gibson said this contradicted what the quantity surveyor reported about the companies.
"Now who should we believe, the quantity surveyor or the report going to the ministry?" he asked.
He said Telco Enterprises' contract, which began at $8.3 million, increased to over $12 million, and the project has yet to be completed.
"We didn't do what they tried to do," said Gibson in defense of the government's decision to award a $20 million contract to Holiday Industrial Builders to construct a building on John F. Kennedy Drive that will house the Ministry of National Security.
"If something is wrong we terminate you for cause, and we are now calling in the bond to complete the (Sandilands) project.
"...That is what you do when you fire someone for cause.
"I just love the nerve and the gall that members opposite have when they deal with these situations."
In 2008, the Ingraham administration terminated Holiday Industrial Builder's contract to build the now Office of the Attorney General after the original $5.8 million ballooned to $14.1 million.
However, Holiday Industrial Builders won in arbitration and was awarded a $700,000 payout as a result, according to Gibson.
He recently reported that the cost of the new Office of the Attorney General exceeds $32 million.
Gibson did not table the $20 million contract for the new home of the Ministry of National Security.

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