In fulfilment of the task set at the Cabinet of Ministers meeting of 6 February 2018, the procurement commission has evaluated the proposals of bidders for the design, author’s supervision and construction of the new Liepāja Prison complex, and by decision of the commission the proposal with the lowest price, submitted by the construction company SIA “Abora”, has been declared the winner. Meanwhile, the procurement commission declared the group of persons “P.M.G, L4” the winner for construction supervision of the new Liepāja Prison complex. Based on the procurement commission’s decision, the Ministry of Justice will prepare an informative report for the Cabinet of Ministers, which will in turn have to decide on allocating funding for the implementation of the project for the 2021-2023 period. If funding is allocated, a contract will be concluded with the winners of the competition providing for the new Liepāja Prison to be commissioned by 31 March 2023. Liepāja Prison will thus be the first detention facility to be newly built in Latvia since the restoration of independence.
The implementation of a construction project of this scale, creating infrastructure that meets modern requirements, will make it possible to radically change sentence-enforcement policy – it is an opportunity to ensure the effective resocialization of inmates in order to promote the reintegration of convicted persons into society after serving their sentence, thereby reducing reoffending.
In the repeated open competition held by VAS “Tiesu namu aģentūra” for the design, author’s supervision and construction of the new Liepāja Prison complex, proposals were submitted by a total of three construction companies – SIA “Abora” and AS “UPB” from Latvia, as well as one of Estonia’s leading construction companies, AS “Merko Ehitus Eesti”. Having evaluated the proposals, the procurement commission found that SIA “Abora” should be declared the winner of the competition, as it both met all the evaluation criteria and conditions and submitted the lowest-priced proposal, offering to carry out the design, author’s supervision and construction of the Liepāja Prison complex for a total of 113 597 002 euro (excluding VAT). The group of persons “P.M.G, L4”, made up of SIA “P.M.G.” and SIA “Firma L4”, was declared the winner for construction supervision of the new Liepāja Prison complex, having offered to provide supervision of the facility for a total of 2 156 970 euro (excluding VAT).
The prices offered by the other bidders for the design, author’s supervision and construction of the Liepāja Prison complex were as follows: AS “UPB” – 127 197 373 euro (excluding VAT) (125 385 647 euro after the procurement commission recalculated the financial proposal to correct an arithmetic error), and “Merko Ehitus Eesti” – 137 374 775 euro (excluding VAT). Under the law, bidders may appeal the procurement commission’s decision within 10 days.
The open procurement competition used the design&build method, combining changes to the construction project, author’s supervision and construction in a single procurement in order to avoid possible additional costs during construction and to ensure quality execution of the works, requiring the winner to take full responsibility for implementing the construction project.
Under legal enactments, Liepāja Prison is classified as a construction project containing state secrets, so in addition to experience and financial indicators, one of the requirements for bidders was an industrial security certificate confirming the transparency of the company’s business practices and the security of confidential information storage.
Bidders’ proposals were evaluated by a procurement commission made up of representatives of VAS “Tiesu namu aģentūra”, the Ministry of Justice and the Latvian Prison Administration, together with invited experts from the sworn advocates’ office “Sorainen” and the Latvian Association of Civil Engineers.
The new Liepāja Prison construction project provides for a number of innovative technical solutions that have not previously been available in Latvia’s prison infrastructure, but which are already objectively justified requirements when planning investments in new prison construction elsewhere in Europe. Various technical solutions promote both staff safety and the safety of inmates among themselves. For example, the cells will be fitted with vandal-resistant, especially impact-resistant fixtures. Creating infrastructure that meets modern requirements will help not only to plan the efficient use of staff resources but also the layout of guard posts and residential units.
Liepāja Prison is designed for 1200 inmates. The whole complex comprises eight buildings of different purposes. The total area of the territory is 305 116 m², the total built-up area – 64 053.7 m², and the total floor area – 51 092 m². The complex will be located 5.6 km from the centre of Liepāja. Both inmate and staff safety were set as one of the main factors in designing the prison. The new prison will ensure the resocialization and employment opportunities of inmates; a large employment centre with work opportunities for inmates is planned, as well as a place for training inmates.
The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia has delegated the implementation of the construction process to VAS “Tiesu namu aģentūra”, which also organized the procurements. The technical requirements needed for building the prison were formulated at working-group meetings attended by representatives of the Latvian Prison Administration, the Ministry of Justice and VAS “Tiesu namu aģentūra”. The Cabinet of Ministers will make the final decision on implementation of the project.
For further information:
Agris Balodis, Project Manager
VAS “Tiesu namu aģentūra”
Tel.: 67804754
E-mail: agris.balodis@tna.lv