Dominican Rep aqueduct tender moves forward despite controversy

A tender process to rebuild an aqueduct and refurbish the sewage system of Jarabacoa municipality in the Dominican Republic is moving forward despite strong criticism. 

Coraavega, La Vega province’s aqueduct and sewage corporation, is in charge of the 7.8bn-peso (US$142mn) tender. 

The deadline to present economic and technical bids is June 6, when the technical offers will be unveiled. The economic offers will be opened on July 7. 

The awarding decision is scheduled for July 19 and the winner will be presented on July 25. 

Controversy

The tender process has come under fire due to some of its financial requirements, which critics say will impede most firms from participating. 

The bidding rules demand that bidders have an approved 400mn-peso credit line as well as equipment and construction materials worth 1bn pesos, according to a report by local news outlet Proceso.

A group of engineers from La Vega province will present a complaint before the local authorities, while representatives from the country’s association of architects, engineers, and surveyors (Codia) are calling for a change to the bidding rules and for the national authorities to intervene, according to the report.

“There must be more opportunities to participate for local engineers and companies,” the outlet reported Codia president Cristian Rojas as saying.

Rojas suggested that the contract be divided into several parts to make the bidding process more inclusive. 

“This is an excluding, abusive and opaque tender. They should have put the name of the company they want to award the contract to because in La Vega there’s not even two companies with that economic capability,” Proceso quoted former Codia president Teodoro Tejada as saying.

The tender is published as CORAAVEGA-CCC-LPN-2023-0007 on the country’s procurement website Comprasdominicana