Contractors picked for mental health facility

(CNS): Government has said three different contractors have now been selected to begin work on the long-awaited, but derailed, Long-term Residential Mental Health Facility (LTRMHF) in East End. The health ministry said Ron Wilson’s Equipment has secured the contract for the enabling works package, worth around CI$1.3M; the CI$5.8M main building work contract has been given to Phoenix and the largest contract of $7.9M for the cottages has gone to AAA Construction.

Health Minister Dwayne Seymour had previously revealed that there were problems finding a contractor to do the whole project during the tendering process. It is understood that contractors were reluctant to bid and the tenders were all quite costly as a result of the amount of work currently going on across Grand Cayman, which is pushing up prices.

Given the lack of suitable bids, the ministry broke up the project into three separate jobs. Officials said that this was a cost-effective measure, which created fair competition among smaller firms, and had been met with success.

But although those contracts are all still worth a considerable amount, this second request for proposal does not appear to have gone through the new mandated process, via the Public Procurement Committee (PPC), for large government contracts. The bids were considered by a committee set up by the ministry with members from the PWD project team and consultants, with their evaluation signed off by the chief officer at the health ministry.

Acting CO Nancy Barnard told CNS, “The award recommendation made by the evaluation committee was issued to the PPC for review and consideration.”

Public Accounts Committee Chair Ezzard Miller said he had some concerns about the lack of transparency around a project worth more than $15 million, since the original tender process failed to attract a suitable bid.

Speaking to CNS on Friday, he said he intended to call civil servants from the ministry before the PAC in upcoming meetings to find out why the re-tendering process does not appear to have followed the mandated process in the second round.

Miller acknowledged the decision to divide up the work, but given that each bid was a significant amount, he said the process should have been handled directly by the PPC, not just rubber stamped by it.

The project has broad support on both sides of the Legislative Assembly and in the wider community, but it has been plagued with problems. But despite the delays, Barnard said the ministry had now found a way “to see this crucial project back on track”.

The awards are still subject to the companies successfully entering into a contract with the ministry. The Public Works Department (PWD) and the ministry will begin work on the first two draft contracts immediately, while the contract for the cottages is expected to be dealt with later. Work packages Site Finishing (Exterior Works) and Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FF&E) are scheduled to be tendered in the first quarter of 2020.

The facility’s blueprint allows for a variety of therapeutic amenities and fosters a trusting and dignified environment, officials stated in a release, and estimated that the facility will open its doors in the second quarter of 2021.

Minister Seymour said that the venture was close to his heart. “Though the delays have been frustrating for us all, it has allowed the Ministry of Health to ensure that we get a project of this magnitude right in the best economical way,” he stated in the release.

“This project is about so much more than brick and mortar. It is our mission to ensure access to quality, affordable healthcare as well as to build stronger communities and support the most vulnerable in our society – two of governments strategic outcome aims. I look forward to breaking ground on this historic initiative,” he added.