Four companies run front to supply elevators worth half a billion Birr to be installed in the middle-income public houses under construction by the Addis Abeba Saving & Houses Development Enterprise (AASHDE).
Announced five months ago in five lots, the tender, initially, attracted the attention of 12 companies, although two of them did not participate in the technical evaluation.
After evaluating the products and documents provided by the companies, the Enterprise announced the technical evaluation results last week, deeming four suppliers technically fit to proceed to the financial evaluation, while eliminating the remaining four.
China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), Orchid Travis, Jiangsu Xide Elevator Co. Ltd, Tsemex Global Plc, Sintec and DAN Lift Technology Plc had submitted their proposals to participate in all the lots, whereas Dabe Engineering and ILGENLER bid for only one.
Amongst the bidders, Sintec Ethiopia Plc, CCCC, Tsemex and Dabe passed the technical stage. Upon selection, the winner will supply 338 elevators for buildings having seven and 12 storeys.
The first tender for the procurement of 302 elevators was floated two years ago where Xizi Unite Elevator Co. Ltd was awarded the contract. Albeit, it was terminated as the offer given by Xizi was found to be lower than the production cost of the elevators. The latest results were announced four months after this cancellation.
That was not the only time when a controversy over the procurement emerged. During the initial opening of the tender, even though Dan Lift Technologies Plc, Sintec Ethiopia Plc and Yobek Electrical Enterprises had made it to the financial stage of evaluation, the Enterprise cancelled the tender without proper notification.
“We were told to grab our documents,” said a source working in one of the companies.
Again, the latest results were not taken well by the companies that failed in the technical evaluation.
“Four of the companies that did not make it to the financial stage filed a complaint,” said Fantaw Kebede, chairman of the bidding committee formed to hire suppliers.
The elevators will be installed in 17 buildings, of which 12 are located at Senga Tera, and the remaining are at Crown site.
Over the past four years, the Enterprise has been constructing middle-income houses in three phases at 13 sites, which comprises of 371 buildings with 39,229 units.
Besides elevators, the Enterprise, through the Addis Abeba Public Procurement & Disposal Service has already opened a tender to procure rebars worth over a billion Birr.