Ravi Ronny, Design Planning and Construction Manager, SANRAL Eastern Region writes:
The letter titled “Sanral’s continuous lies” (Courier, September 13) refers.
SANRAL notes the concerns raised by the Human Rights Association and has been transparent in all the correspondences exchanged with Mr PH Maharaj as indicated in the article. Thus, Mr Maharaj’s strong language is unwarranted.
Several events occurred on the project which were beyond the control of SANRAL.
Initially, poor performance was received from the contractor as well as poor quality of workmanship.
The preceding contractor was in the process of reconstructing the inferior quality pavement layers when he experienced financial strain which resulted in him attaining business rescue. The business rescue practitioner tried to save the contract which led to further delays.
ALSO READ: Letter: Sanral’s continuous lies
SANRAL then terminated the contract and approached the National Treasury for approval to appoint the second lowest tenderer. National Treasury was not in favour and required the project be re-tendered.
With SANRAL’s concerns, Treasury officials visited the site, understood the urgency and safety concerns and allowed SANRAL to rather invite all the previous tenderers.
SANRAL had to still, however, await approval from National Treasury for consent for a supervising engineering firm.
In that period SANRAL was also revising its proforma tender documents in line with the PPPFA regulations.
The above points which has been shared with the Human Rights Association indicate the cause of the delays in getting a contractor to complete the project work.
SANRAL issued a press release on August 26, 2019 titled “Work on completion of N2 roadworks to commence soon” which specified that it was engaging with the original contractors to provide their prices to complete the work.
The tender closed on Friday September 13 and will now be evaluated and recommended for award to SANRAL head office.
SANRAL will be fast-tracking the evaluation process to have a contractor as soon as possible on site.
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