Samdrupjongkhar thromde residents might have to struggle without drinking water for some more time, as the water treatment plant (WTP) construction missed its second deadline.

The joint venture construction company, Tundi-Tacho, which is executing the work, was supposed to complete the work last month.

According to the company’s letter to the Ministry of Work and Human Settlement (MoWHS), they have noticed a huge mismatch between the technical parameter and bill of quantity (BoQ), missing around 17 components in the BoQ, which was not expected as the tender was prepared by the experts.

The 17 missing components were chemical building, flash water, clarified water storage tank, chlorine contact tank backwash water collection chamber, sludge sump, a pump chamber for the sump, cable trenching work, transformer fencing and flooring for clear water reservoir among others.

A BoQ is a document prepared by the cost consultant that provides project-specific measured quantities on the items required and contractors tender against the bill stating their price for each item.

“We have learned the root cause of the problem was that a team who prepared the civil BoQ did not follow the standard procedure or taken references of Bhutan schedule of rate, “ the letter stated.

As per the letter, they have also noticed in the tender document that they were given galvanized ladder type or perforated type tray of required sizes and supporting structures for power and control cable, whereas in the field, they were asked to provide underground trenching system to convey the cable which was also an extra work, costing almost Nu 0.45M.

According to a source, of the 17 missing components, the company has executed nine components and the remaining seven components will also be carried out except the chemical building as it has a huge bearing on the financial viability.

The source said they are looking forward to negotiating with the ministry and complete the works since it’s a public beneficiary project. He said the company has requested an additional five months from May 1 to September end to complete the remaining works and as a compensation of nine components to the ministry.

According to a letter from the ministry, the company’s claim for the missing items cannot be considered because the issue of missing and mismatch in the bid documents, the construction modality of WTP has not been raised during the pre-bid meeting and before submission of the bid.

The letter stated that a clarification was sought from the company during the bid evaluation to confirm that the quoted price was in conjunction and compliance with all the technical parameters and requirement of the bid to which a confirmation letter was provided to the ministry.

The project includes the construction of intake wire, raw water transmission, WTP, clear water reservoir and clear water transmission among others.

The project was scheduled to complete in 18 months with a budget of Nu 89M.

Kelzang Wangchuk

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