Minister addresses tender calls and completion of road projects under provincial roads program

Tom Rideout, Minister of Transportation and Works, today addressed calls for tenders for planned road projects and the department�s anticipated completion of these projects in the coming months.

�My department released the major details of our Provincial Roads Improvement Program on May 11 of this year, and very few tenders are left to be called,� said the minister. While we anticipate completing the majority of this work during the 2005 construction season, is it not uncommon for some of the projects to be carried over into the following year.

�When our government developed the 2004 roads program, approximately $2.6 million in carryovers existed from the 2003 program, as left uncompleted by the previous administration. This was based on a $23 million program.�

�We must allow for sufficient time for design work, contract preparation and the complete tendering process,� said Minister Rideout. �The time required for a contract to be completed depends on its size, and therefore larger contracts will require more time than smaller contracts. My department has already called upwards of 50 tenders so far this summer, and there is still well over two months remaining in this construction season. Road work often takes place up until the end of October, as was the case under the previous administration in 2003, when road projects were ongoing through to the end of October.

�My department is in a good position to complete a significant portion of our road work before the end of this year.�

Minister Rideout says that with the recent increase in the roads program from $33.7 million to $48.7 million, some carryovers are to be expected.

�The roads program has been significantly larger this year than any program ever constructed by the previous administration. Our department carried over $3.7 million from last year�s $30 million program. We were able to successfully complete almost 90 per cent of our program in 2004. With a $48.7 million venture this year, we cannot be disappointed if a small portion of our anticipated work is left to be completed in the spring.�

Minister Rideout noted that a small number of tenders did have to be cancelled this year, due to the bids being up to 68 per cent over anticipated costs.

�After my department�s assessment of the infrastructure in Twillingate-Fogo District, $550,000 was allocated to complete necessary road work,� said the minister. �The lowest bid that we received for this project was $928,004. This marks approximately a 68 per cent increase over the anticipated cost. We received strong recommendations from our engineering staff that this was an extremely high price and would not represent a smart investment of taxpayers dollars.

�This work will be re-tendered later this fall and we are optimistic that a contract can be awarded for work to be completed early next year, as will be the case for any tenders that have to be cancelled this year.�

Minister Rideout said, �Decisions to cancel tenders are based on being strategic with our scarce resources.�

The minister maintains that it is not uncommon for tenders to come in slightly over budget, but how much over budget is the deciding factor in whether or not the tender will be cancelled, in the interest of wisely spending taxpayers� dollars.

�Our department will consider awarding a contract when the lowest bid is only slightly above the anticipated cost,� said the minister. �But when the only option that we have is to award a contract at almost twice the cost that we initially anticipated, we simply cannot proceed to award. This was the case with the tender for road work in Twillingate-Fogo District.�

�With nearly 50 tenders called, we have only had to cancel three,� said the minister. �This gives sufficient evidence that we are being very effective with the handling of our roads program.�

Any cancelled tenders remaining to be called later in the fall, should see the road work being completed early next year.

Media contact: Lori Lee Oates, ABC, Communications, (709) 729-3015, 690-8403

2005 08 25                    8:55 a.m.