A joint venture between a Namibia and Chinese firm suffered a double blow as its review application in a tender relating to construction works on the Naute-Keetmanshoop water pipeline, a tender worth N$184 million was dismissed.

The application has now been dismissed by both the Review Panel and the High Court.

The venture is between Adaptive Building Land Construction CC and China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC).

In the matter, Adaptive Building Land Construction CC initially approached the Review Panel to set aside the Central Procurement Board of Namibia’s (CPBN) decision in awarding the tender to JDN Civil Engineering in joint Venture with New Era Investment (PTY) LTD on 23 October 2023. This attempt fell flat in December.  

Not satisfied with the ruling of the Review Panel, the bidder in question turned to the High Court for recourse.

Their prayer was again to interdict the CPBN not to award the bid.

However, in her ruling on 16 January 2024, Acting High Court Judge Beatrix de Jager struck the application from the roll.

“The court finds that the applicant failed to make a case for the court to dispense with the prescribed service. The court exercises its discretion against the applicant, refuses condonation for non-compliance with the prescribed service, and refuses to grant prayer one of the notices of motion… Part A of the application dated 16 January 2024 is struck from the roll,” reads part of De Jager’s ruling.

Adaptive Building Land Construction CC and CSCEC participated in the bid facilitated by CPBN on behalf of Namibia Water Corporation (Namwater) for the construction of the Naute-Keetmanshoop water pipeline replacement and ancillary works. 

However, they were deemed non-responsive and disqualified from the process for two reasons, CPBN’s spokesperson Johanna Kambala explained in a media statement issued yesterday. “The bidder provided a reference letter for a project in similar works completed. However, the reference letter does not indicate the project value or give a brief description of scope of work done as required in the instruction to bidders,” Kambala asserted. Secondly, “the bidder provided a reference letter and take over certificate for the Schwartzkuppe project, however, the reference letter does not specify the diameter of the pipe as required in the instruction to bidders.”

The ruling premised on the grounds that the applicant failed to effect physical service on the fourth to the seventh respondents, including the selected bidder JDN Civil Engineering CC JV New Era Investment (Pty) Ltd. 

The court also deemed this as a flagrant disregard to the rules of service and refused condonation and struck the interim relief sought under Part A of the application from the roll.

With the High Court ruling, CPBN will now forge ahead to award the contract to JDN Civil Engineering in a joint venture with New Era Investment (PTY) LTD.  “This contract is valued at a cost of N$184.97 million. This procurement project is critical to the livelihood of the Namibian population in the south, as the Naute Dam supplies water to the town of Keetmanshoop and its surrounding areas,” Kambala further stated.

-  emumbuu@nepc.com.na