The Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) has announced that two bids have been received by the extended bid submission deadline, January 17, 2025, for the highly anticipated West End Ferry Terminal Project. Photo: RDA/File

The official bid opening was led by the RDA’s Director of Procurement Mr John Primo at the Agency’s Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park office. Also in photo is CDB Contract Supervisor and Project Manager Sergio Dantas, right. Photo: RDA/Facebook

The submissions include one from a joint venture comprising two local firms and the other from a Canadian firm.

According to Government Information Service (GIS), representatives from both entities were present at the official bid opening, which was led by the RDA’s Director of Procurement Mr John Primo at the Agency’s Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park office. In attendance were CDB Contract Supervisor and Project Manager Sergio Dantas, officials from the RDA and representatives from the Design Consultant Inros Lackner S.E.

The bid opening process followed a two-part envelope system, where only the technical submissions were opened for review. The technical proposals will now undergo a thorough evaluation by the project’s design consultant, Inros Lackner SE with the review expected to be completed by early February 2025. Once the technical evaluation is finalised, the financial proposals will be opened.

Milestone

This milestone marks another step forward in the much-anticipated procurement process for the West End Ferry Terminal Project. The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the funding source for the project, provided its ‘No Objection’ in July 2024, enabling the tender process to proceed. The tender package, issued to four prequalified contractors, includes provisions for a temporary facility, as agreed with the BVI Ports Authority and the Ministry of Communications and Works.

The bid submission deadline, originally set for October 25, 2024, was extended to January 17, 2025, to allow the shortlisted bidders additional time to review the detailed project specifications and submit comprehensive proposals that meet the requirements of this critical infrastructure project.

The West End Ferry Terminal was the busiest seaport in the Virgin Islands prior to the 2017 hurricanes, clearing over 40-percent (40%) of all arrivals by sea into the Territory.

The destruction of the terminal has affected travel between Tortola, Jost van Dyke and the US Virgin Islands (USVI), impacting both residents and visitors, whether arriving by ferry, water taxi, private yacht or charter yacht.

The Construction of the New West End Ferry Terminal Project is being implemented within the “Resilient Infrastructure” Sector and as part of the CDB-funded Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan (RRL).