Chinese firm locks horns with Kenyan rival in Sh670m water plant tender
The World Bank is funding construction of the Athi water treatment plant. PHOTO | FILE
The High Court has ordered the re-evaluation of a Sh670 million water treatment plant contract in a tussle between Nairobi-based firm Machiri Limited and China’s Weihai International.
Justice George Odunga has ordered the Athi Water Services Board (AWSB) to re-evaluate Machiri’s bid and consider clarifications the local firm made regarding its proposed construction cost before declaring a winner.
The judge added that in the event that Machiri’s proposition meets the qualifying criteria set by the AWSB, then all 13 bidders in the tender will be re-evaluated.
Weihai and the AWSB had moved to court to quash a decision by the Public Procurement Board (PPARB) that declared Machiri the best bidder.
Machiri bid Sh755 million but said it was to offer an 11 per cent discount which would bring its net pitch to Sh677,371,441. Weihai had bid Sh677,140,472. AWSB and Weihai argued that Machiri’s bid documents were vague on the final cost which disqualified it as per the procurement guidelines.
The PPARB’s decision was based on the spirit of promoting local firms. Justice Odunga held that invoking the preference would however require the inclusion of all bidders that qualified for the evaluation stage.
If the re-evaluation of Machiri’s bid reveals that the local firm did not meet the set criteria, then AWSB’s decision to award the deal to Weihai will stand.
“I hereby direct AWSB to proceed and subject Machiri Limited’s tender to qualifying criteria taking into consideration the clarifications made by Machir. In the event that Machiri’s tender passes the said qualifying criteria, AWSB will then re-evaluate all the tenders that reached the stage of financial evaluation and proceed in accordance with the law.
“If however, Machiri’s bid does not pass the qualifying criteria stage, the decision of the procuring entity arrived at earlier will, subject to any challenges under the procurement laws, be upheld,” Justice Odunga ruled.
Machiri holds that its bid price after the discount will be Sh149,821 lower than its Chinese rival. Weihai however insisted that the local firm’s bid price was Sh677,371,441 after the discount which would still be higher than the Chinese firm’s.
Weihai insists that Machiri’s bid was dismissed before testing for qualifying criteria, hence it had no authority to file an appeal.
The Chinese firm added that allowing the re-evaluation of Machiri’s bid without taking it through a qualifying criteria test would indicate bias towards the local firm. Weihai held that Machiri was not clear on the calculated method of its discount.
The World Bank is funding construction of the water treatment plant under the Kenya Water and Sanitation Service Improvement Project.
Bidders were required to have carried out at least one other similar project costing a minimum of Sh1 billion.
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