Business Opportunities

The emergency assistance loan will rehabilitate public infrastructure that was damaged by torrential rains and flooding that occurred over the Fiji Islands in January 2009. The rehabilitation includes main and rural roads-it involves stabilization of landslides, resurfacing, reconstruction of culverts, and repairs and improvements to wet crossings. The Project will also rehabilitate agricultural drainage schemes and water supplies. Design and construction will incorporate climate proofing to the extent economically feasible. The Project will be implemented under a sector approach.

The Project will comprise the following components:

Component A: Repairs in the Emergency Response Phase. The Project will finance eligible expenditures incurred during the immediate post-disaster period to restore basic, safe access. Activities included clearing of landslides and debris, reinstatement of washed-out approaches to bridges and wet crossings, and temporary road pavement repairs.

Component B: Civil Works. The Project will finance the following civil works:

rehabilitation of about 8 kilometers (km) of main sealed highway, restoring the bituminous sealed surface and including upgrading of the pavement structure as required for a design life of 20 years;
repairs to landslips on major roads, incorporating appropriate geotechnical investigation and design recommendations;
rehabilitation of secondary roads, including re-gravelling of about 50 km of unsealed roads, reconstruction of 30 culverts, and reconstruction or lengthening of washed-out wet crossings.
miscellaneous repairs to water supplies; and
repairs to agricultural drainage schemes: The Ministry of Agriculture and Primary Industries' Land and Water Resource Management Division has prepared a detailed plan for rehabilitation of flood-damaged drainage schemes in all three divisions (Western, Central, and Northern); and works will be undertaken to (a) clear waterways, (b) repair damaged seawalls and dykes, (c) repair and protect scoured drains and culverts, and (d) repair floodgates (Supplementary Appendix A).

Component C: Consulting Services. The Project will finance consulting services for Project coordination, design and supervision of implementation, and for strengthening the Environmental Management Unit (EMU) of the MWTPU.

Designs will enhance resilience against extreme weather by incorporating appropriate climate proofing measures, including large critical drainage structures and providing scour protection for bridges and wet crossings. A "build back better" approach will be adopted that will ensure appropriate engineering design standards are met as a minimum requirement, and the opportunity will be taken provide significantly more robust replacement structures.

ADB has approved the Government's request for advance contracting to expedite project implementation. ADB has approved advance action for the procurement of goods and services, and for recruitment of consultants. Advance action covers invitation of bids, bidding, bid evaluation, and contract award.

International and domestic consulting services will be required for (i) engineering design and preparation of bidding documents, (ii) construction supervision, and (iii) project management. The Project will fund 42.5 person-months of international consulting services and 82 person-months of national consulting services. Consultants will be engaged through a firm using the (i) the Consultant's Quality Selection method (design phase), Quality and Cost based Selection (supervision phase) and Individual Consultant (Environment and Social Specialist- both phases), in accordance with ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2007, as amended from time to time).

Date of Advance Contracting Approval: 9 June 2009

Advance Action on Procurement, Recruitment of Consultants