Good Afternoon – it was December 17th, 2020 when the Executive Director of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, Mrs. Erica Smith and I launched the Short Term Stimulus Programme to a maximum value of BMD $13,385,000 and invited small to medium-sized contractors to participate.
There is an urgent need to provide stimulus to the local economy in order to retain and boost employment numbers in the wake of the economic downturn sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Public Works has compiled a list of “shovel ready” projects that are executable within 3 months. These projects are mostly infrastructure improvements and will not add further burden to government operational expenses. The project’s selection principles are to maximize the employment of the private sector while providing much-needed refreshing of neglected infrastructure.
The Ministry released a Request for Suppliers Qualifications [RFSQ] across multiple disciplines to generate a prequalification list of approved contractors/companies that can participate in the programme. This approach is in line with Pre-Qualification Procedure and Approved Contractor lists of the Code of Practice for Project Management and Procurement. The prequalification criteria will include a scoring of technical competence, local employment benefit, and a schedule of unit rates. Suitable companies will then be added to an approved contractor list.
With the development of the list, the Ministry would then use the restricted procedure (section 16 of Code) to quickly obtain three or more quotations from the various suppliers, grouped by suitability and vocation, to select a contractor for each project. Where works are specialized, or contractors’ availability is limited, either 2 through companies already obtaining a project from the programme or natural scarcity, a Single Source contract will be negotiated based upon the unit rates. The work to be done under this contract and in accordance with these specifications consists of furnishing of equipment, material, supervision, labour, technical knowledge, and skills necessary to satisfactorily and safely complete the job as outlined in the agreement.
To ensure allocation of the stimulus funding across all the participating businesses, the Ministry will maintain a register of approved contractor lists and awarded contracts to ensure that no one company monopolizes the project list. Once a company obtains a project, they will be rotated to the bottom of the list to allow other companies an opportunity for work. The guiding principle would be to prioritize all companies that provide the most employment benefit per dollar spent and spread the work among Bermudian owned and operated businesses.
The plan is to utilise medium to small contractors for the work that will be done at the dock and building refurbishments, new construction, Canal clearance, roadside fencing and health & safety improvements.
A consultant Project Manager, Mr. Robert Richardson has been assigned by the Ministry to this project to coordinate the efforts of all those involved as well as liaise with the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation.
The Ministry is working in consultation with the Office of Project Management and Procurement [OPMP] as well as the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation [BEDC]. The intention is for BEDC to provide assistance to small and medium-sized Contractors to complete the required submission documents for the RFSQ.
We recognize that some small to medium-sized companies may not have the administrative support to respond to government solicitations and the associated procurement requirements and so assistance is being provided by BEDC.
As of January 20th -
- 175 companies have been emailed to raise awareness about the program.
- Email to the professional organizations
BEDC –
- 81 Virtual Session Registrations
- 35 Virtual sessions actual attendance 3
- BEDC has advertised via numerous platforms ( social media, radio interviews, FB, Website, Email Blast)
- Planned sessions totalled 20 but have been reduced to 13 as no one registered for 7 slots
- One more Virtual session planned for Feb 2nd
Up to this morning, we have received 36 official individual submissions with 8 being fully completed to stimulus@gov.bm:
During early discussions, some small contractors have highlighted impediments to participating such as mobilisation costs & the delayed payment schedule. As this programme is operating under specific financial instructions that allow for flexibility – I have asked the team to explore ways that we can address both of these impediments.
Let me encourage those who would not normally apply to do so.
We are determined to involve as many small and medium-sized contractors as possible and are providing every opportunity for them to become involved. I invite all those who view this announcement and know a small or medium-sized contractor to inform them of this initiative. They can gain more information by signing on to the government website at https://www.gov.bm/procurement/rfsq-stimulus-program.
We can pay people to sit at home or we can pay them to repair our infrastructure – we choose the latter.
Thank you.