Consultants on behalf of my Department carried out a limited structural assessment of the existing pier at Dinish Island, namely, where the ice plant and so forth are located. The consultants reported on this on 24 September 2004. This report is being examined currently by my Department.
Invitations to tender for the development works comprising dredging, quay construction and the building of an auction hall have been prepared as a single contract. However, invitations in respect of the dredging and disposal works were prepared as a nominated sub-contract to allow earlier mobilisation of the dredging contractor.
The invitations to tender for the dredging and disposal works were issued in early June 2004. During the tender stage a number of contractors requested an extension of time for return of tenders. The dredging tenders were returned on 10 September 2004. Tender assessment is ongoing. It is expected that a letter of intent will be awarded to the successful dredging contractor later this month. This will allow the contractor to commence work on preliminaries, put in place the statutory permits appropriate to its proposed methodology and arrange mobilisation in advance of award of the main contract.
Pre-qualification of contractors for the main contract is completed and invitations to tender were issued on 24 September 2004. The tender period is six weeks and tenders are due for return on 5 November 2004. The dredging tender will be incorporated in the main tender but will effectively already be in progress. The other elements of the main contract will follow the dredging phase.
