GOVERNMENT OF SAINT LUCIA

BASIC NEEDS TRUST FUND TENTH PROJECT (BNTF 10)

CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR TECHNICAL SERVICES

(Design and supervision of infrastructure work)

For

Saint Lucia Social Development Fund

(SSDF)

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

1. The Government of Saint Lucia (GOSL) has received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) towards the cost of  BASIC NEEDS TRUST FUND TENTH (10^th) PROJECT and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this financing to eligible payments under a contract for which this invitation is issued.  Payments by GOSL/SSDF will be made only at the request of GOSL/SSDF and upon approval by CDB, and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement.  The Financing Agreement prohibits withdrawal from the financing account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of CDB, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.  No party other than GOSL shall derive any rights from the Financing Agreement or have any claim to the proceeds of the Financing.

2. The Basic Needs Trust Fund Tenth Project (BNTF 10) was approved on December 2020 by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and provides grant funding to nine participating Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) viz. Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname.  Governments of the nine participating BMCs provide counterpart funding.  The Terminal Disbursement Date for BNTF 10 is December 31, 2024.

3. The infrastructure component of BNTF 10 provides, inter alia, for the implementation of an unspecified number of sub-projects consisting primarily of minor civil works including buildings for education, water supply and sanitation, footpaths, bridges, drains and minor road developments.  The maximum cost of each sub-project cannot exceed the equivalent of US$1.0 million and construction works will be done either by private contract, force account, self help or a combination of the afore mentioned modes of execution.

4. Additional information on BNTF 10 can be obtained at CDB’s corporate web site, viz. http://www.caribank.org/programmes/basic-needs-trust-fund

5. The overall objective of BNTF 10 is to reduce poverty and vulnerability in targeted communities through enhanced access to basic social and economic infrastructure, livelihood enhancement and human resource development services.  Sub-Projects are developed through a participatory approach to direct targeting, led by communities, which is articulated in the country’s BNTF Country Policy Framework (CPF). The CPF will be an evidence-based framework intended to relate closely to wider national policies aimed at reducing poverty.   It will articulate how the BNTF national project contributes to achieving the programme’s poverty reduction goals and lists and describes the priority sectors and the indicative sub-projects which will comprise the BNTF portfolio.  The second stage of the project appraisal process, the preparation of Sector Portfolios with fully designed and appraised sub-projects.

6. Saint Lucia Development Fund (SSDF) hereinafter referred and Implementing Agency (IA) now invites submission of Expressions of Interest (EoI) from consulting firms who are interested in providing architectural and/or engineering service for individual sub-projects (each costing in excess of the equivalent of US$50,000) or groups of sub-projects.  Services contracts will be awarded either for a single sub-project or groups of sub-projects, as funding for these are approved by CDB, for each BMC.  Under previous BNTF programmes, save for BNTF 9 consultants in the participating BMC where sub-projects are located were engaged by CDB, and provided the majority of similar services.

7. The brief description of services required under the proposed services assignments includes:

a)consultation with and advice to the BNTF Project Manager (PM) of the Implementing Agency (IA), at all stages of the execution of the services;

b)review from existing designs or project proposals or preparation from project proposal and on site conditions of designs, estimates/bill of quantities and tender documents, including consultation with beneficiary communities;

c)The work of Consultants must consider thematic areas such as gender, environmental/ natural disaster assessment and seek to integrate disaster mitigation measures, climate change resilience, renewal energy and energy efficiency;

d)assistance to the IA with the pre-qualification of contractors; and preparation of bid documents;

e)assistance  to the IA with the evaluation of bids and the negotiation of the construction contracts as necessary;

f)provision of technical inspection of construction works for the government, under the terms of the construction contract including issuing of payment certificates, preparation of monthly reports, final handover and training of key beneficiaries in minor preventative maintenance practices for the completed works.

The duration of the assignment is expected to be for a period of 6 to 30 months including defects liability period.

8.In relation to consulting services, a consultant, each  member of a joint venture or consortium and any sub-contractor shall be eligible for procurement if:

a.in the case of the body corporate, it is legally incorporated or otherwise organized in an eligible country, has its principal place of business in an eligible country and is more than 50% beneficially owned by a citizen or citizens and/or bona fide resident or residents of an eligible country or countries or by a body corporate or bodies corporate meeting these requirements;

b.in the case of natural persons and unincorporated firms, the person or persons is or are a citizen or citizens or bona fide resident or residents of an eligible country; and

c.in all cases, the tenderer has no arrangement and undertakes not to make any arrangement whereby any substantial part of the net profits or other tangible benefits of the contract will accrue or be paid to a person not a citizen or bona fide resident of an eligible country.

The duration of the assignment is expected to be

9.Consultants, whether acting singly or in joint ventures, are required to submit full details of his/her individual practice or firm, inclusive of general experience in the field of the assignment, including specialist knowledge and qualification of each of the proposed personnel who will undertake assignments.  In the case of firms, the documents must include articles of incorporation and audited financial statements for the last three years. Electronic submissions are to be sent to the Project Manager, at the address below by 8^th March, 2021 no later than 4:30 p.m. Eastern Caribbean Time, and one electronic copy must be sent simultaneously to the CDB at the second and third addresses below. All information must be submitted in the English Language.

10. Consultants should indicate the type of work in which they are interested and the             total value of work they have the capacity to perform concurrently. The IA will request an update of this information as and when needed.

11.  After evaluation of the information submitted, a shortlist of consultants and/or joint ventures of consultants drawn from the response to this notice, as well as from similar notices circulated regionally and locally, will be created and those consultants will be requested to submit proposals for the provision of services.  The Terms of Reference for specific services will be made available to short-listed consultants.

12.  The IA reserves the right to accept or reject late applications or to cancel the present notice partially or in its entirety. The IA will not be bound to assign any reason for not short-listing any applicant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant in preparing applications.

13.  Applicants will be advised in due course, of the results of their applications. 

14.  Additional general notices for expressions of interest will not be issued, during the life of BNTF 10. The IA expects to issue Request for Proposals to short-listed individuals, firms and/or joint ventures for an individual sub-project or group of sub-projects, approved at the finalization of the list of sub-projects for implementation and such other times, during the implementation period of the current programme.

Issued: 10^th February, 2021