SXMElections.com

AIRPORT--According to a trusted source, Taliesin Construction was chosen over the competition – Windward Roads and Designer’s Choice – for Princess Juliana International Airport’s fixed-base operations (FBO) project because the company charged less and scored more points according to evaluation reports by both an airport operating company team and Studio Acht, the project’s designing company.

This question was answered in response to enquiries by Prime Minister (PM) Marcel Gumbs as he sent a notice of delay in early May in regard to building permits for the temporary office for the Meteorological Office, the Fire and Rescue Building and the FBO building.

The leaked letter by PM Gumbs disclosed that building permit applications were being held up because they were not signed by the landowner, Princess Juliana International Airport Holding Company PJIAH. However The Daily Herald now understands that the relevant documentation was available to PJIAH’s “caretaker” Joseph Peterson for signing from early to mid-April.

In the same letter, Gumbs requested additional information and a number of documents “to ensure a comprehensive assessment of the matter in question.”

This pertained to the process followed for the permit requests, the bidding process for the design and complete construction of the buildings, signed contracts pertaining to design and construction, an independent assessment of estimated cost included in the permit requests and any additional estimated cost expected.

The letter from Gumbs was sent on May 6 to the attention of PJIAH’s Peterson and copied to the Council of Ministers and the PJIAH Supervisory Board. The information was requested to be submitted within three weeks, with the deadline running out last week.

This newspaper was unable to ascertain on Tuesday whether the answers from PJIAH were supplied on time and whether they were sufficient to allay the concerns raised by the Prime Minister in his letter.

Taliesin quoted the airport just under US $6.2 million, compared to Windward Roads at just over $6.9 million and Designer’s Choice at more than $6.8 million.

When additional expense such as electrical work and demolition is taken into consideration (more than $1.2 million), choosing Taliesin would cost around $100,000 less than had been budgeted for in the airport’s Capital Improvement Programme.

Taliesin also came the closest to matching the cost estimation by designer Studio Acht, and a separate cost estimation had been carried out by the company Lievense, which was somewhat higher.

As for the architectural drawings, Studio Acht was chosen based on style and a somewhat lower price than the other option, IXI Design. Only two companies were considered because the companies needed to be highly specialised.

The source also disclosed that plans for the FBO building and the temporary Meteorological Office had been revised in close collaboration with stakeholders such as the Meteorological Department, Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI, and the governmental Fire Department.

Also, the building permit request for the Fire and Rescue Building still had to be signed by the airport operating company PJIAE when Gumbs received the letter, and related documents also still needed to be sent. Consultation with VROMI and the Fire Department also was sought for this project.

Updating the facilities, part of the airport’s Capital Improvement Programme, has been described as integral in maintaining the airport’s competitive advantage.