STATEMENT BY MINISTER

Heritage City Project

Madam Speaker,
With regard to the Heritage City Project, I wish to inform the House of the
procurement of the professional services of STREE, the designated entity of a
foreign State, as master planner and designer for the Heritage City Project, in
accordance with Section 3 of the Public Procurement Act; and also the total
amount of money which has been spent by Heritage City Co. Ltd since its
incorporation to date.
Madam Speaker,
On Monday 22 February and Tuesday 23 February 2016, the High Powered
Committee set up under section 3(1C) of the Act, consisting of the Secretary to
Cabinet, the Solicitor-General and the Financial Secretary met to consider the
procurement of professional services of STREE for the Heritage City project.
The High Powered Committee stated that:
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STREE has unparalleled expertise in creating unique landmark and iconic

projects;

Mauritius stands to benefit from such expertise for (i) the detailed Master Plan
and Engineering Design and (ii) the Government Offices Schematic Design,
of the Heritage City Project;

the figures and data submitted by STREE are well within the international
benchmarks for such a project; and

it was satisfied that the services of STREE represent value for money for an
amount not exceeding USD 4.34 Million, which is 1.1% of the total project
cost of USD 375 million with regard to the two abovementioned components
of the Heritage City Project.

The HPC recommended as per the provisions of Section 3(1B)(b)(ii)(A) of the

Public Procurement Act, that Cabinet approves the procurement of the professional
services of STREE.
At a Special Cabinet meeting held on 2 March 2016, Cabinet considered the
recommendations of the High Powered Committee, and agreed to the procurement
of the professional services of STREE for the detailed Masterplan, Engineering
Design for infrastructure works, and the Government Offices Schematic Designs of
the Heritage City Project on a G to G basis with the Government of Dubai.

On 8 March 2016, Heritage City Co Ltd implemented Governments decision by

issuing a Letter of Award to STREE for the 2 components and on 17 April 2016,
the contract to procure services for a total lump sum of USD 4.34 Million for the
two abovementioned components was signed by both designated entities.
Madam Speaker,
Since its incorporation to date, Heritage City Company Ltd has been allocated an
amount of Rs 55 M and has spent the sum of Rs 47.1 M, as follows:
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STREE has been paid USD 1.1M, i.e. Rs 39.7 M and has substantially
completed its services under the first two components;

LUX Consult has been paid an amount of Rs 3.4 M as part-payment as

Consultant for the design and construction supervision of offsite road and
infrastructure works to serve the Heritage City including preparation of the
Strategic Environment Impact Assessment report, the Traffic Impact
Assessment report and the Urban Transportation and Connectivity proposals
amongst others;

Water Research Co. Ltd has been paid Rs 2.5 M for Geo-Technical
Investigations;

Land surveying costs of Rs 570,000 has been refunded to SLDC;

Board member's fees of Rs 803,250 was paid from January to June 2016;

Payment to MRA and bank charges amounted to Rs 136,505; and

Payment for Publications of adverts in newspapers amounted to Rs 106,421.

In June 2016, STREE submitted its deliverables for infrastructure detailed design
and infrastructure engineering design and on Monday 1 August 2016, STREE
submitted its deliverables as regards the draft detailed master plan and architectural
concept design report for Government offices. On the same day, a two-hour
presentation was made to Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
On Tuesday 2 August 2016, the Consultants of STREE made their presentation to
Cabinet Ministers at the Prime Ministers Office of their deliverables and the
choice of Parliamentary and Government offices buildings designs was
unanimously agreed.

On Thursday 4 August 2016, the HPC met to consider the proposal of STREE to
proceed with the last two components of their work, i.e components 3 and 4 for the
Schematic Design and Design Development of the Parliament Building; Prime
Ministers Office and the Detailed Landscape and Streetscape Design.
The HPC was chaired by the Acting Secretary to Cabinet and Head of Civil
Service and consisted of the Financial Secretary and the Acting Solicitor General.
During its deliberations, the HPC was assisted by three experts, namely the
Director (Architecture), the Director (Civil Engineering) and the Deputy Director
(Quantity Surveying) of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport.
The HPC considered that the total cost payable to STREE for ALL Components,
i.e. 1, 2, 3 and 4 would amount to USD 9.55 million, which was 2.55% of the total
project cost of USD 375 million. The HPC report also states that the international
benchmark for such design is in the range of 6% to 8% of the project cost and
recommended under Section 3(1B)(b)(ii)(A) of the Public Procurement Act for
Cabinet to approve the procurement for the final components 3 and 4.
Madam Speaker,
On Friday 5 August 2016, Cabinet decided to stall the project. All outstanding
payments to STREE with regard to the contract signed for and other creditors of
Heritage City Co. Ltd will now be subject to discussions between the relevant
parties.
I thank you for your attention.