TITLE OF TENDER

Supply Two Pull and push (PuPu) desludging Pumps and train Pit emptiers and Water For People Rwanda staff on operation and maintenance.

Source of funding: ISOKO Y'UBUZIMA Project-Rwanda

Procuring Entity: Water for People

Procurement Method: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL OPEN COMPETITIVE TENDERING

Date of Issue: 04 September 2024

SECTION I: INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS (ITB)

A. General information

B. Introduction

Water For People is an international non-profit organization that aims at improving access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene education in developing countries. Water For People works locally, nationally, and globally to influence governments’ water and sanitation policies to serve the interests of the needy. The water For People program in Rwanda began in 2008, with an overall objective to help all communities, schools, and healthcare facilities gain access to sustainable water, and sanitation services as well as hygiene behavior change in Rulindo, Kicukiro, Gicumbi, and Karongi Districts of Rwanda.

Water For People has secured funds from USAID to finance the Isoko y’Ubuzima Project which is a five-year Rwanda Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) activity. The activity is being executed by a consortium led by Water For People and includes IRC, CARE International, VEI, and a local partner African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE) in Rwanda. The project operates in 10 districts namely, Rwamagana, Kayonza, Ngoma, Kirehe, Nyagatare, Ruhango, Nyanza, Nyamagabe, Ngororero, and Nyabihu.

The overall goal of the Isoko y’Ubuzima project is to improve access to and utilization of safe, sustainable drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services. This will be achieved through three interrelated and mutually reinforcing strategic objectives (SO):

SO1.Improving Decentralized WASH Governance

SO2. Improving Rural Drinking Water Services

SO3. Improving Rural Sanitation and Handwashing Services and Products. 

C. Background and context

The 2030 agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, established a dedicated goal for water and sanitation (UN, 2015). SDG 6’s targets address sanitation beyond access to toilets, to include safe management of faecal sludge across the value chain (capture, containment, emptying, transportation, treatment, and disposal/re-use), and explicitly refer to the proportion of the population using safely managed sanitation services (SDG 6.2.1) (Jayathilake et al., 2019, Mallory et al., 2020). 

Rwanda has made remarkable progress in improving sanitation infrastructure and services in recent years. However, challenges persist, particularly in managing feacal sludge effectively, especially for emptying services in some slummy areas where the community members cannot access or afford the vacuum truck emptying services. Also, schools and health facilities. In many cases, these institutions lack proper, hygienically safe emptying technology and rely on traditional Manual emptying technology using buckets, or Pit Vac machines which cannot suck the fecal sludge in more than 4.5 meters deep with zero meter of pumping head or have inadequate desludging technology whereby fecal sludge is transported from the gallons to the trucks which in turn transport the sludge to the final disposal site. This current technology presents some weaknesses which may lead to environmental pollution and health hazards. Currently, there are four Evac machines being used for pit emptying in slum areas in Rwamagana, Nyarugenge and Gasabo districts. These machines provide essential pit emptying services to households, but their operations is limited due to their inability to suck and push waste efficiently, hence requires more intermediate manpower to transport sludge from the pit Vac to truck. The introduction of the PuPu Pump technology aims to address this limitation by offering a closed loop and minimize potential health risks for technicians and provide an effective solution for pit emptying operations, enhancing service delivery in these densely populated areas.

It is against the above background that Water For People under the Isoko y’Ubuzima is seeking the services of supply of two pumps that can safely pull the sludge from the pit and pump them at a reasonable height without intermediate transport of a manpower towards the truck. The successful bidder will supply the pumps to the Water For People Office.

1. General Scope of bid

The Procuring Entity, as defined, invites bidders for detailed proposals for the supply of two PuPu desludging Pumps with high-quality equipment and comprehensive operation and maintenance training to support our mission of improving sanitation services.

Throughout these bidding documents:

The term “in writing” means communicated in written form (e.g., by mail, e-mail,) with proof of receipt; “Day” means calendar day.

Scope of Supply:

• Supply of two (2) PuPu Pumps as per the specified technical details.
• Prices must be inclusive of all applicable taxes.
• Delivery to Water For People Rwanda office in Kigali, Gasabo, Kacyiru sector.

Training Requirements:

• Comprehensive training on the operation and maintenance of the PuPu Pumps for 6 staff (Four Pit emptiers and two Water For People staff).
• Training must be conducted by a certified training center approved by the PuPu Pump manufacturing industry.
• Training should cover safe handling, routine maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair procedures.

Proposal Submission:

The proposal must include the following:

• Administration documents as detailed in the section related to the qualification of bidder.
• A detailed pricing breakdown, inclusive of taxes.
• A timeline for the delivery of the equipment.
• Certification details of the training center.
• Warranty information and after-sales support details.
• Company profile highlighting relevant experience in supplying similar equipment.

Evaluation Criteria:

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Compliance with the technical specifications.
• Total cost, including taxes.
• Quality and comprehensiveness of the training program.
• Delivery timeline.
• Warranty and after-sales support provisions

2. Source of Funds

Water For People through the Isoko y’Ubuzima Project funded by the USAID.

3. Ethics and mandatory requirements

All bidders, suppliers, contractors, and consultants must comply with the requirements and reporting obligations of the following USAID Standard Provisions for non-US organizations (a copy of which is attached as Section IX:

• M1. Allowable Costs (November 2020) - Applicable if the contract will be cost-reimbursable.
• M2. Accounting, Audit, and Records (March 2021) - Applies to contracts above $10,000.
• M6. USAID Eligibility Rules for Procurement of Commodities and Services (May 2020)
• M7. Title To and Use of Property (December 2014)
• M12. Debarment and Suspension (June 2012)
• M14. Preventing Transactions With, or the Provision of Resources or Support To, Sanctioned Groups and Individuals (May 2020)
• M15. Trafficking in Persons (April 2016)
• M18. Non-Discrimination (June 2012)
• M20. “Limiting Supply Activities” (August 2013)
• M22. Enhancement of Grantee Employee Whistle-blower Protections (December 2022)
• M24. Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements (May 2017)
• M26. Mandatory Disclosures (December 2022)
• M27. Non-discrimination Against Beneficiaries (November 2016)
• M29. Prohibition on Certain Telecommunication and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (July 2022)
• RAA9. Travel and International Air Transportation (December 2014) - This applies if international air travel costs will be paid under the contract.
• RAA10. Ocean Shipment of Goods (June 2012) - Applies if ocean transportation for goods will be paid under the contract.
• RAA11. Reporting Host Government Taxes (June 2012)
• RAA18. Standards for Accessibility for the Disabled in USAID Assistance Awards Involving Supply (September 2004)
• RAA28. Contract Provision for DBA Insurance Under Recipient Procurements (December 2014)

4. Eligible bidders

4.1 A bidder, and all parties constituting the bidder, must satisfy all the requirements as set in BDS and with a valid trading license.

4.2 Any bidder who forges a document will be immediately disqualified.

5. Qualifications of the bidder

5.1 This document is intended to invite all qualified bidders in the supply of Pit desludging equipment and the supply and installation of hydraulic equipment.

5.2 Bidders are required to provide all the documents listed below:

1. Full address of company indicating Country, Province, District, street number, E-mail and telephone.
2. Bid submission Letter addressed to the country director of Water For People
3. Copy of Trade License.
4. Provide at least three completion, or delivery certificates, of supplying motorized pit emptying equipment (excluding the vacuum trucks) or motorized hydraulic equipment with the monetary value equal or greater than the proposed financial bid performed for the past three or five years
5. Proven technical experience of the personnel in the operation and maintenance of the Pull and push (PuPu) desludging Pumps, certified by the factory manufacturing Pull and push (PuPu) desludging Pumps, especially for toilet emptying services.
6. Note that this tender comprised the Supply of the two Pupu Pumps and the training of Pit emptying two emptying companies and Water For People staff in charge of Sanitation. Each bidder must submit his/her documents for both the supply and training sessions separately

Cost of bidding

The bidder shall bear all costs associated with preparing and submitting his/her bid, and the Procurement Entity shall not be liable for those costs.

D Bidding documents

1. Clarification of bidding documents

A prospective bidder requiring any clarification of the bidding documents may notify the PE in writing at the PE’s address mentioned in the BDS. The PE shall respond to any request for clarification received earlier than four (4) days before the deadline for submission of bids. Copies of PE’s response shall be forwarded to all firms that submitted their bids, including a description of the inquiry, but without identifying its source. Any request for clarification should be sent to rwprocurement@waterforpeople.org

2. Amendments of bidding documents

a) Before the deadline for submission of bids, the PE may modify the bidding documents by issuing addenda.

b) Any addendum thus issued shall be part of the bidding documents and shall be published. 

PE may extend the deadline for tenders to give bidders enough time to consider modifications when preparing them.

E Preparation of bids

Language of bids

All documents related to the bid shall be in the languages specified in English

2. Format and signing of the bid.

• All forms and documents must be signed and stamped by the bidders. All bids will be submitted online through email at rwprocurement@waterforpeople.org. No hard copies will be accepted. The Financial proposal should be protected.
• All forms and documents must be in PDF. The financial proposal must be submitted to Excel.

3. Deadline for Submission of Bids

The deadline to submit bids is the 17^th of September 2024. Late submission of bids will not be accepted by Water For People.

F. Bid Evaluation

Bids will be evaluated by PE and the financial proposals will be considered only for bidders with successful technical results and with all the administrative documents. The results will be communicated to bidders via emails from rwprocurement@waterforpeople.org 

G. Confidentiality

No information concerning checking, explanation, opinion and comparison of tenders and recommendations concerning the contract award, will be disclosed to bidders or any other person not officially involved in the process until the name of the successful bidders has been announced. Any attempt by a bidder to contact any member of the Evaluation committee directly or indirectly during the evaluation period will be automatically disqualified.

H. Clarification of bids

To help examine, evaluate, and compare bids, PE may ask any bidder for clarification of the bid through email.

I. Examination of bids and determination of responsiveness

Prior to the detailed evaluation of bids, the evaluation committee shall determine whether each bid meets the eligibility criteria defined in the evaluation criteria. If a bid is not substantially responsive, it shall be rejected by the evaluation committee and may not subsequently be made responsive by correction or withdrawal of the nonconforming deviation or reservation.

J. Procurement Entity’s Right to accept any bid and to reject any or all bids.

Water For People reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, and to cancel the bidding process and reject all bids, at any time before the award of the contract.

• Currency for Bid evaluation

Bids shall be quoted in Rwandan Francs.

• Notification of Award and Signing of Agreement

Before the expiry of the bid validity period and after the evaluation of bidders (both technical and financial), the PE shall simultaneously notify the successful and unsuccessful bidders of the provisional outcome of the bid’s evaluation.

• Advance Payment and Security

No advance payments will be made. The contractor shall submit invoices after each phase is completed.