In 2009, the Government of Mauritius decided that the Road Decongestion Programme, a critical component in Government strategy to address the problem of road congestion, would be implemented via PPP.

The 'Plan Consortium' formed by Bouygues / Colas was appointed as Preferred bidder by the Central Procurement Board (CPB) on 21 December 2012. STRABAG was appointed as Reserve bidder in case that negotiations with the Preferred Bidder were not successful.

PLAN Consortium had scored the higher mark (78) and STRABAG were second scoring 65.8 marks. The two bidders had both satisfied the essential minimum requirements of the bids and had competed in a Best and final Offer (BAFO) stage.

However, STRABAG submitted a formal complaint to an Independent Review Panel on the following two issues:

• 'PLAN Consortium' has been allowed to amend its BAFO, and
• CPB had proposed solutions to be brought to the alleged flawed offers after submission thereof.

The Central Procurement Board (CPB) said that the scoring of the PLAN Consortium's BAFO Response was not amended in any way. According to the CPB, the consortium only submitted clarification response to CPB's concerns regarding a design solution.

After examining the representations made, the Independent Review Panel (IRP) ruled that these representations were not entertainable on the ground that no award of contract has yet been made. In the face of the IRP ruling, STRABAG has applied to the Supreme Court for a review of the ruling of the IRP and the case has yet to be determined.

Source: Government of Mauritius