The tender process for the Labasa Airport terminal project has been awarded to Pacific Building Solutions (PBS) by Fiji Airports Limited (FAL), following all necessary protocols. This statement comes in response to claims made by the Fiji Labour Party, which alleged that the $8.6 million contract given to PBS was approximately $3 million higher than bids from other qualified bidders.
Fiji Airports CEO Mesake Nawari has denied the assertions made by the Fiji Labour Party. He emphasized that the evaluation report was presented to the board’s infrastructure subcommittee for review before being recommended for approval to the board of directors. Nawari stated, “The tendering process ensures transparency, fairness, equity, and competition among potential bidders, ultimately leading to the selection of the most suitable provider.”
He explained that tender evaluations are conducted based on factors like quality, price, experience, and adherence to the requirements stated in the tender documents. The contract is awarded to the bidder with the highest score determined by technical merit and price, with clear weighting laid out in the tender documents.
For the new terminal construction, 15 companies submitted bids, while nine companies bid for the temporary terminal. Preference was given to those companies that provided quotes for both projects, as long as their bids were compliant.
The Fiji Labour Party asserted that the quotes from other bidders were all under $6 million, with the lowest bid of $5.2 million proposing a project completion time of 54 weeks compared to the 21 months projected by PBS. The party questioned the rationale behind FAL awarding the contract to PBS at a significantly higher price when the other bidders had based their proposals on the same plans.
At least one unsuccessful bidder reached out to FAL for clarification regarding the selection of PBS but did not receive any written response to their inquiries.