The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA ) has revealed that the company contracted to construct Vungu Dam Grindale Engineering recorded the highest score out of six companies that submitted bids for the construction tender.
Speaking during the Justice Mayor Wadyajena led parliamentary portfolio committee on lands and agriculture hearing today, ZINWA Procurement Officer Charles Govo said Grindale had done jobs of similar nature though they haven’t done an actual dam.
“Grindale Engineering was awarded the contract on the basis that they scored 95.1 percent.
“In accordance with the methods of evaluation, with regards to mandatory technical requirements, for the company’s experience, as evidenced by submitted traceable reference letters, the mandatory requirement said that the bidder was supposed to submit at least two reference letters to show that he has done similar works, that is the construction of dams, irrigation works, and pipelines to convey the water from the dams to the irrigation schemes and water treatment plants and Grindale qualified,” he said.
ZINWA Chief Executive Officer Eng. Taurayi Maurikira said Grindale scored the highest combined score in terms of technical and financial evaluation.
“The tender for the construction of this dam was advertised in a government gazette on the 11th of June 2021 and in the national newspaper Sunday Mail on the 13th of June 2021 in line with the shareholder’s directive on commercialization of tenders for the construction of dams and similar effort.
“ZINWA used the tender document for complex work. It uses a combination of mandatory administrative requirements and allocation of scores to technical requirements as well as the financial prices.
“Being the CEO, I appointed eight evaluation members in line with section 18 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act to evaluate the tender with the set criteria on evaluation in the tender document and make recommendations of the compliant bidder in line with Section 55 of the same Act.
“The evaluation committee evaluated the tender in line with section 50 of the PPDPA act as read with part 5 of the PPDPA regulations. Arithmetic errors were corrected and bidders were advised of such corrections and concurred to the correction of their errors in line with section 31 of the PPDPA regulations.
“Committee then recommended Greendale Engineering Pvt Ltd in the sum of US 87 472 717 dollars, the bidder which had scored the highest combined score in terms of technical and financial evaluation.
“The evaluation report was then reviewed by the procurement management unit in line with section 17 of the PPDPA Act and also ZINWA’s executive committee.
“The report was then submitted to PRAZ for review in line with section 54 of the PPDPA act on 8 October 2021. Resolution 0742 of 1 November 2021 raised an objection to the award of the tender and directed the procuring entity to address gaps in the evaluation which was done,” he said.
The Zimbabwe government has fulfilled some promises on the construction of dams while others have gone unfinished for decades.
In 2021, the government announced that it had set aside ZWL$10 billion for the development of 10 major dam projects as part of long term plans to support small-holder agricultural irrigation, boost food and agricultural production and to harness water for industrial and domestic use in major towns, cities and growth points.
Amongst the ten contracted companies, only two of them were Zimbabwean which are Grindale Engineering and Fossil Contracting.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently said Government is committed to the promotion of inclusive public procurement to help Zimbabweans start, build and grow viable businesses.
“In the spirit of leaving no one and no place behind, my Government is committed to the promotion of inclusive public procurement to help Zimbabweans start, build and grow viable businesses,” he said.
According to ZINWA, the government intends to have 350 000 hectares of land under irrigation by 2025 and the dams, on completion, will go a long way in helping Zimbabwe achieve this target.
As part of its expanded mandate, Zinwa is now expected to develop irrigation infrastructure,
including infield works, hence the agricultural components that form the scope of these
projects are in line with Zinwa’s mandate.
