Chinese Contractor Wins Historic Shs222bn NSSF Towers Project

Chinese Contractor Wins Historic Shs222bn NSSF Towers Project
By Our Reporter:

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has beaten two other Chinese companies to the lucrative multi-billion tender to complete the long awaited Pension Towers.
CCECC who tendered to construct the intelligent building at Shs222.3 billion, beat China National Aero-Technology International Engineering Corporation (CATIC) and Sino-Hydro Corporation hands down to the mega-deal- the biggest in the commercial real
estate sector.

According to a best evaluated bidder notice, pinned on the NSSF Notice board, the other two firms failed on various aspects of work methods and proposed staff qualifications.
20 companies fromUganda, Kenya, Switzerland, South Africa and China were in the race for the big-ticket project, but only three Chinese companies were picked for the final phase.
Roko Construction that constructed the first phase of the project and the name behind a number of big-ticket projects in Kampala did not make it to the final round.
Tight Race

According to reliable information obtained by The Red Pepper, even though CCECC price of Shs222.3 billion was slightly higher than that of the other two competitors, CCECC who has a rich construction experience on the African continent emerged victorious because “their bid showed that they knew what they were doing.”

The source intimated to us that in a probable haste to cut down costs, the other two bidders had opted to use less qualified people and rudimentary work methods and in some case proposing unrealistically low timelines.
For example CATIC proposed to use grade 25 reinforced concrete instead of the required grade 35 reinforced concrete. The company also proposed to use rudimentary means of mixing and transporting concrete such as wheel barrows and buckets, instead of
the required mixer trucks and cranes.
SinoHydro Corporation on the other hand failed on work methodology. For example, the firm proposed to do curtain walling before the completion of the main concrete frame on which the curtain walling sits. The firm also proposed to fix electrical installation after completion of structural works yet the two are supposed to be carried out concurrently.
Record breaking
Construction of the first phase of Pension Towers which involved construction of four basement levels and some elements of ground and mezzanine floors, started in April 2008  and was completed in January 2012, This phase cost Shs42.5 billion.

Once complete, Pension Towers will be an ultra-modern ‘intelligent’ tri-tower complex. The Central tower comprises of 25 floors while the other two side towers are each ten storeys.
The three towers sit on four basement Floors, one ground floor, one mezzanine floor and one podium floor, making a total of 32 Floors for the taller tower and 17 floors for the short towers, ultimately making the building the biggest and tallest in Kampala.

The building whose surface area is 75,000 m² has 20,000 m2 of net office area. Net parking area is 10,000 square metres and can accommodate up to 500 cars.
The building is said to be bigger than Workers House, Communications House and Crested Towers combined.

Once completed, the building which has been redesigned twice, will have costs Shs264.8 billion shillings, again making it the most
expensive and biggest building structure in modern times.
The building whose cost was originally Shs36 billion had its price increased to Shs120 billion by the NSSF board in 2008. Following

NSSF’s acquisition of an adjacent plot on Nakasero Road, the project was again redesigned to include the newly acquired plot, pushing the cost to the current Shs264.8 billion.
At an earlier press conference to reveal the new design, Richard Byarugaba, NSSF Managing defended the new design as being commercially viable.
“The current redesign will enable us to optimally utilise all the land and ensure that the property earns a good return for contributors.

We anticipate an annual return of 15%,” he said.
Pension Towers is one of the projects under the Fund’s Real Estate Investments portfolio.
Other real estate projects in the pipeline include a 5000 unit affordable residential housing estate in Temangalo and a 3000 unit estate for high income earners in Lubowa.
Experts have also defended the project saying that it will bridge the supply gap in the sky-high priced commercial rent sector.
Renowned architect William Henry Ssentoogo, a Senior Partner with Ssentoogo&Partners said thatthe building would significantly “bring rental costs as well asaddress the supply gap.”
Then board chairman, Mr Vincent Ssekoono, said that increased demand for modern office space in the city centre meant that the fund would make more returns.