Construction company sues US Virgin Islands government over contract delivery

A construction staging area and dry dock on St Thomas of the US Virgin Islands. (Image: Adobe Stock)

Local news reported that the PFA awarded the contract to CH2M – a US-based engineering consulting, design and construction firm – in August as part of a programme worth about US$15 billion to rebuild and improve infrastructure after two major hurricanes hit the islands in 2017: Irma and Maria.

The US Virgin Islands are unincorporated US territories of the Virgin Islands archipelago in the Caribbean Sea of North America.

Hill’s complaint called the award to CH2M “arbitrary and capricious” and noted that Hill’s bid was $107 million less than CH2M’s for the same scope of work. Hill also believed – citing VI’s request for proposals – that the government failed to honour its commitment to select two firms for the work, instead of just one.

Added to the complaint, Hill said awarding CH2M the contract represented a conflict of interest, as three of five members of the government’s contract selection committee were also members of the VI Public Works Department, which employs two people who work for CH2M’s parent company, US-based Jacobs Solutions.

The complaint was moved to a US District Court, and the VI government has asked it to be dismissed. According to the VI government, Hill did not follow the bid protest process outlined in the request, alleging the company had no basis to sue. The government also alleged that Hill’s bid only met about 20% of the government’s evaluation criteria.

The government called Hill a “disappointed Respondent” and said the company’s allegations of a conflict of interest were without factual support.

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