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Special monitoring to oversee construction of houses in NE: Ministry
Special monitoring, evaluation and supervisory arrangements will be established to oversee the construction of 65,000 houses in the North and East by steel company ArcelorMittal, a press release from the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlement said this week.
The communiqué was compiled in response to concerns raised earlier this month by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a note from Minister of Rehabilitation and Resettlement D.M. Swaminathan’s press secretary said.
The press release said ArcelorMittal’s local agent is “yet to be informed”, presumably of the award of the contract. It maintained, nevertheless, that the housing project will be implemented in four stages through the respective district and divisional secretaries. In the first year, 11,000 houses will be built, while 18,000 houses will be constructed in each of the second, third and fourth years.
Each house is expected to last more than 60 years with a guarantee/warrantee of 30 years. The press release said the Ministry would like to shed light on how the particular construction company was selected through a tender process, and how the project will be implemented.
Following a Cabinet decision, proposals were called from international and national house builders to undertake the construction of the houses. Concessionary financing arrangements were required. A Cabinet-Appointed Negotiating Committee (CANC) and a Project Committee (Technical Evaluation Committee) were appointed. Requests for Proposals (RFP) were invited from the pre-qualified bidders for a unit of 550 square feet floor area, two bedrooms, one living room, kitchen and detached toilet. The requirement also provided for brick and mortar type houses and other innovative models, including pre-fabricated houses, the press release said.
Thirty-five companies submitted expressions of interest. They were evaluated based on approved criteria and 15 bidders pre-qualified. However, only two companies—ArcelorMittal and EPI-OCPL Consortium—submitted the bid security of Rs 650 million and acceptable technical proposals, the press release said.
It states that the price quoted by ArcelorMittal for a single unit of prefabricated house was Rs 2.81 million without taxes. But the press release justifies the sum saying it includes amenities such as kitchen with pantry cupboards, gas cooker and cylinder, sink, cooking utensils and dining room with table and four chairs. It also comprises a living room with sofa, coffee table, TV with stand, freepedestal fan; a master bedroom with a double bed, two bedside tables and freestanding fan; and a second bedroom with two single beds, a writing table, chair, laptop computer with WiFi facility and another freestanding fan. The house would come with solar panels with light fittings, electrical connections, tube well, pump, toilet, 500-litre water tank and ceramic tiles in every room.
“The price of the EPI-OCPL Consortium for single unit of conventional house with a toilet only is Rs. 1,307,306 (without other facilities),” the press release says. Only the financial proposals of the two companies were opened for financial evaluation “in terms of the RFP requirements and following the two envelops tender evaluation systems”.
Commenting on the comparative cost of construction of a separate ongoing government scheme to construct 10,000 houses, the press release asserts, “One cannot compare apples with oranges”. Different ministries have implemented different housing programmes, it says. Some are contributory ones; others are owner-driven. There are also contractor-driven housing programmes, such as the one for the plantation sector. This costs Rs 1.2 million for basic houses excluding other facilities. The Meeriyabedda housing programme conducted by the Sri Lanka Army cost Rs 1.3 million per house. Owner-driven housing programmes undertaken by the Ministry cost Rs 800,000. A basic house under a contractor-driven process costs Rs 1.3 million.
“The proposed housing model is environmental-friendly and the heat inside the house will be lower at least by 3 degrees Celsius to 5 degrees Celsius, as compared with the outside temperature because of the insulation technology,” the press release says. “Anyhow, given the innovative model of the technology the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to construct two model houses for demonstration purposes and to test the cultural, social and environmental suitability.”