B -- PANAMA -- LINEA PARALELA PROJECT

Notice Date

November 2, 2000

Contracting Office

USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131

ZIP Code

22209-2131

Response Due

December 11, 2000

Point of Contact

POC -- Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009

Description

The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study for the Linea Paralela Project which collectively describes and refers to IDAAN's major infrastructure program for the expansion of the Lago Ahajuela reservoir potable water treatment and construction of a new potable water conduction system for Panama City. The Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales or IDAAN is the government utilitiy in Panama responsible for providing potable water and sewearge collection services to all cities and towns in Panama with populations of 1,500 inhabitants or greater. The Linea Paralela project addresses a need for expansion and increased potable water conduction in the Panama City area. Essentially, IDAAN, as the potable water provider, must serve a growing population and industrial center that is being developed to replace the former U.S. military bases and natural, yet rapid, growth of the limits of Panama City. IDAAN has recognized that their network and the current potable water system is outdated and does not provide the capacity currently needed in central Panama City. Moreover, the current system is being maintained by spot repairs and could very easily suffer major problems in the near term. The existing aqueduct has not received significant repairs in over 30 years, due largely to the fact that it is the principal water supply line serving Panama City and cannot be easily taken out of service. A new parallel conduction system (Parallel Line, the name for the collective project) will allow for subsequent rehabilitation of the old system and increase capacity in the system. Therefore, implementation of the Linea Paralela is a need based upon increased demand and insufficient capacity for Panama City at this time. The objective of the Linea Paralela feasibility study is to address these deficiencies with the existing water treatment and transport system. The study shall address the expansion of the Lago Alhajuela reservoir water treatment plant from 135 MGD to 250-270 MGD; the rehabilitation of the existing Chilibre to Tinajitas aqueduct to improve its hydraulic capacity and to improve the security/protection of the water supply in transit and storage; the construction of a second aqueduct (Linea Paralela) to provide for the additional water demand requirements predicted by growth in Panama City and contiguous areas served/to be served by the Lago Ahajuela reservoir system and to serve as a backup/contingency water supply transit route in the event of a catastrophic failure of the existing Chilibre-Tinajitas aqueduct; and, the possibility of contract operation of the Lago Ahajuela reservoir water treatment plant, the existing Chilibre-Tinajitas aqueduct/Tinajitas water storage tank and the proposed Linea Paralela aqueduct/water storage tank. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $375,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). The total cost of the feasibility study is estimated at U.S. $425,000. The Contractor and/or its subcontractors must cover the remaining costs, or U.S. $50,000, to complete the full Terms of Reference (TOR) for the feasibility study. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in Spanish and English directly to the Grantee by 5:00 p.m., December 11, 2000 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001106/BSOL002.HTM (W-307 SN5057Q6)