MONGOLIA WATER COMPACT

 

PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE

 

The United States of America, acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (“MCC”), and the Government of Mongolia (the “Government”) have entered into a Millennium Challenge Compact Agreement for Millennium Challenge Account assistance in the amount of 350 million USD to help facilitate poverty reduction through economic growth in Mongolia (the “Compact”). The Compact will assist the Government in alleviating an imminent water shortage and meeting the projected demand for water in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar for residential consumers and commercial and industrial users through three closely related investment activities:

• A Downstream Wells Activity, to construct new groundwater wells with attendant transmission lines, reservoirs, and an advanced water purification plant;
• A Wastewater Recycling Activity, to construct a new wastewater recycling plant and pipelines to provide high-quality treated wastewater that can substitute groundwater used by water-intensive industries, thereby releasing the amount of freshwater available for household consumption; and
• A Water Sector Sustainability Activity, to support policy reforms, capacity building, and provide technical assistance to improve the long-term sustainability of Ulaanbaatar city’s water supply.

Millennium Challenge Account-Mongolia (“MCA-Mongolia”), an Accountable Entity established to oversee the implementation of the Compact, intends to conduct pre-qualifications which will be followed by competitive biddings for the below contracts for works under the Compact’s Downstream Wells Activity:

• Construction of an Advanced Water Purification Plant (AWPP) and SCADA;
• Construction of Pipelines, Well houses, Pumping Station.

These works will require highly qualified contractors, and the procurements will begin with a rigorous pre-qualification for each of these two contract packages. The pre-qualification phase will incorporate elements from MCC’s Quality and Price Based Selection (QPBS) process. Each pre-qualification process will result in a shortlist of entities qualified to competitively bid on the corresponding works package. For the bidding phase for these two works packages, MCA-Mongolia intends to use invitations for bid based on the MCC Standard Bidding Documents (SBD) for the procurement of large works. The form of contract used for each of these works packages will be the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) Redbook Construction Contract (1999). The pre-qualification process will be open to all bidders from eligible source countries, as defined in the MCC Program Procurement Guidelines (“PPG”).

Contracts for works financed under the Compact will be implemented according to the principles, rules, and procedures set out in the MCC PPG, which can be found on MCC’s website at https://www.mcc.gov/resources/doc/program-procurement-guidelines.

A Specific Procurement Notice (“SPN”) for each contract will be announced on MCA-Mongolia’s website at https://www.mca-mongolia.gov.mn/, the United Nations Development Business (UNDB Online) website at http://www.devbusiness.com/, the Development Gateway Market (dgMarket) website at http://mcc.dgmarket.com/, in Mongolian daily newspapers, and in other media outlets, as appropriate.

The purpose of this pre-solicitation notice is to:

A) Inform potential bidders that the complete set of Pre-Qualification Bidding Documents with the “Works Requirements” are expected to be posted on MCA-Mongolia’s web site (mca-mongolia.gov.mn)by mid-2020, and will be available for downloading free of charge. The documents that will be provided are from the current draft (typically 60%) designs for the AWPP and the wellfields and pipelines. As the design progresses towards 100% completion in parallel with the pre-qualification process, the “Works Requirements” are and will be subject to change until the final issue of the invitations for bids to shortlisted entities, which is expected in late-2020.

“Works Requirements” of the invitations to apply for pre-qualificationь which will be issued in mid-2020 are expected to include, but not be limited to:

For the Construction of AWPP and SCADA:

• A written summary of works for the construction package;
• An overall site layout plan from the draft design set for the AWPP, showing the overall layout and major components of the AWPP;
• Grading plans for the AWPP from the draft design set showing the scale of civil works currently anticipated;
• Process flow diagrams from the draft design set showing the treatment process that is currently anticipated;
• A draft 3D rendering of the design of the AWPP, showing the vertical scale of the buildings currently envisaged for the AWPP;
• A summary of geotechnical conditions at the AWPP site; and
• A draft of the Contract Operation and Maintenance of the AWPP Specification Section 01950, outlining the requirements for an anticipated two year operation period for the AWPP by the Contractor.

For the Construction of Pipelines, Well houses, Pumping Station, and Fiber Optic Cable installation for SCADA:

• Wellfield layout plans from the draft design set for the wells and conveyance, showing a schematic overview of wellfield piping;
• A written summary of works for the construction package;
• An overview layout drawing from the draft design set for the wells and conveyance, showing planned construction at a typical well site;
• Typical pipeline cross section drawings from current design, showing typical pipeline cross sections which are currently envisaged;
• A summary of geotechnical conditions in the wellfields and along the pipeline alignment; and
• A summary of the draft Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) which the Contractor will be required to implement.

For Both Packages (in addition to specific items for each Package noted above):

• A proposed timeline for the procurement process with definition of expected dates for Award of Contract and Notice to Proceed, upon which proposals may be based;
• The vicinity and location map, showing the general location and relative locations of the components and the alignment of the pipelines;
• A summary of climate information for the Project area;
• A summary list of international codes and standards specified by the Government of Mongolia;
• A summary of key permitting and regulatory approvals required for the construction activites identifying generally which aspects will be the responsibility of the Contractor;
• A summary of the draft Employer’s Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) for each contract; and
• A summary of the Employer’s schedule constraints for the works and key parts of Specificaion 01310 Project Schedule from the draft design.

B) Provide potential bidders with Preliminary Information Package for Applicants, including the description of works. To download the information package, please register with the following link: https://bit.ly/2AMjIvh.

The Preliminary Information Package for Applicants includes the following documents:

1. Brief description of Compact activities and project;
2. A summary of the main technical elements of the work for the Bulk Water Supply Project including a summary of the status of Environmental and Resettlement Plans for the work, health, safety, and environment-related rules and procedures;
3. A general responsibilities matrix that shows the scope envisaged for different stakeholders of the works packages;
4. The information available to support potential bidders, including information regarding construction licenses and regulations related to business establishment in Mongolia;
5. Information on taxation and payment; and
6. List of local construction firms that have expressed interest in teaming up for these works packages.

C) Invite potential bidders to start making preliminary arrangements for the pre-qualification applications preparation.

D) Invite potential bidders to monitor the MCA-Mongolia’s website for additional announcements and information regarding this procurement.

Interested eligible contractors who wish to be included in the mailing list to receive a copy of advertisements, or those requiring additional information, should contact the Procurement Agent for MCA-Mongolia at PA-Mongolia@charleskendall.com with copy to procurement@mca-mongolia.gov.mn.

Millennium Challenge Account-Mongolia

F5, MPM Complex, UNESCO Street, Khoroo #1,

Sukhbaatar District, Ulaanbaatar – 14220, Mongolia

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