KPMG (BVI) Ltd. will carry out the business case slated to guide the way forward for the long-delayed expansion of the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, the BVI Airports Authority announced Feb. 12.
The firm — which is the Virgin Islands branch of the global KMPG professional-services network — beat out seven other companies in a tender process after submitting the lowest bid of $209,089.
The next lowest bid, of $242,000, came from DHB Netherlands B.V., operating as NACO Netherlands Airport Consultants, and the highest was $540,000 from the London-headquartered PA Consulting.
A contract-signing ceremony will be held soon to formalise the arrangement, the BVIAA stated.
Longstanding questions
The business case — which the BVIAA said should be complete in three months — will be the first study to review the planned expansion in such detail, and it should help answer longstanding questions about the project’s viability.
Successive governments have pushed the airport expansion for more than a decade, but none has published a full business case as required by a 2012 agreement the VI signed with the United Kingdom to promote fiscal stability and transparency.
That agreement — the Protocols for Effective Financial Management — requires government to complete and publish a business case and “robust” cost-benefit analysis before the procurement stage of any major capital project.
Now, for the first time, the government appears to be on track to follow that rule with the proposed airport expansion.
In a request for proposals issued on Nov. 9, the BVIAA sought a business case created under the “Green Book Five Case Model” used by His Majesty’s Treasury in the UK.
That model requires a five-pronged approach that includes separate “strategic,” “economic,” “commercial,” “financial” and “management” cases.
Those components will examine wide-ranging aspects of the plan, including its economic viability, its costs and benefits, its potential revenue, its value for money, its compatibility with the territory’s economic and tourism strategies, and others. It will also help determine the best financial model to be used for the expansion, according to a Nov. 10 press release from government.
Pre-tender meeting
After the request for proposals was launched, nearly 50 people from 15 companies around the world attended a virtual pre-tender meeting on Nov. 28 to discuss the request for proposals.
Bids were due by Dec. 29, and they were opened and read during a Jan. 4 ceremony held via Zoom.
In addition to the three bidders mentioned above, ICF SH&E Limited bid $311,190; PWC bid $298,970; ALG Global Infrastructure Advisors S.L.U. bid $334,000; EY Cayman Limited bid $288,000; and Frasca & Associates, LLC bid $222,225, plus $49,535 in “reimbursable expenses,” officials said during the ceremony.
BVIAA officials said at the time that they planned to evaluate the tenders and select a bidder within a week of Jan. 4, but they did not announce KPMG as the winner until Monday of this week.
Protocols
In the Monday announcement, Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer said the policy principles of the Protocols for Effective Financial Management were upheld throughout the tender process.
“This ensures that we are putting value-for-money considerations at the heart of the decision-making process and ensuring improved accountability in public-sector operations,” he added.
BVIAA Managing Director Kurt Menal said his agency already has a “wealth of information” gleaned from previous studies about the proposed project.
“This source of knowledge serves as a robust foundation for informed decision-making throughout the development process,” he said. “The availability of this information not only streamlines the current project but also positions us strategically for long-term success.”