Lusaka Q A(Final).pdf

Questions and Answers about Solicitation SAQMMA‐11‐R‐0009

Local Guard Program Lusaka, Zambia

1 Section C.5.6.2 states, “The Contractor shall provide all necessary CAMS equipment required for a fully operational CAMS system. See Exhibit D Contractor-Furnished Property for list of system components.” However there is no mention of system requirements for a CAMS system in Exhibit D. Based on this, is the Contractor required to provide a CAMS system?

Alarms will be provided and owned by the Government. The contractor will be responsible for providing alarm transmitters.

2 Exhibit C - The allowable time per response is 10 minutes. Is it possible for the U.S.

Government to make certain exceptions based on traffic and distance between points in terms of patrol vehicle geographic spread?

There should be no reason for exceptions. We have divided the city into three sectors for the mobile patrol, and there is no where that the vehicle can't be within its sector under 10 minutes. The longest timed we have come up with is 7 minutes to the farthest residence out that we have.

3 Exhibit L H.2.3 - Reference is made to the contractor conducting a credit check on all staff prior to acceptance on the Embassy project. There are no credit bureaus in Zambia. Therefore, credit checks would not be possible. Please clarify.

Required credit checks will be removed from the solicitation, but the standardized form will not be revised.

4 Exhibit L H.2.4 - There are no traffic violation record checks available through the Zambia Police Service. What is the expectation in this regard on the part of the U.S. Embassy?

All accidents are reported to the police. The U.S. Government expects the contractor to check with the police for a record of accidents.

5 Exhibit L H.3.6 The law in Zambia does not allow for any employer to test for HIV/AIDS without voluntary consent from the employee. Please advise how the contractor is to verify communicable diseases.

By medical screening.

6 Exhibit L H.7.5.19 Explosive detectors and/or X-ray inspection equipment operator training is to be provided, however the extent of training in terms of project personnel numbers is not defined. Please advise on Exhibit A which post applies to this requirement.

Exhibit A outlines the positions that would require specialized training.

7 Exhibit L H.10.22 CCTV operator training is to be provided, however the extent of training in terms of project personnel numbers is not defined. Please advise on Exhibit A which post applies to this requirement.

Exhibit A outlines the positions that would require specialized training.

8 Solicitation C.5 Does the GEM system have to be brand new or could we use the one currently in use?

A new GEMS is not required as long as it meets contract requirements.

9 Solicitation C.5.2.2 We currently travel 7,000 to 10,000 kms per month, per vehicle. Please confirm if the figure stated in the solicitation is accurate at 5,000 and if it accounts for rapid response outside of roving patrols.

The solicitation will be revised to indicate 10,000 km per vehicle, per month, which includes response to alarm activations.

10 Solicitation C.5.3 Will vehicles be used for escort services? If so, this conflicts with B.8.3.1.

Please clarify.

We have never used guard force vehicles for escort.

11 Solicitation C.5.6.2 Can the Embassy please define how a faulty alarm will be determined? If this is outside of routine maintenance verifications, then a reporting system must be agreed for ease of reference to avoid any confusion relating in penalties. Please clarify.

When the alarm goes off the mobile patrol investigates, if there is no reason for the alarm, then clearly it is false. Incident reports/CAMS reports requirement is already established.

12 Solicitation C.5.6.3 There is no timeframe mentioned regarding the replacement of old alarms for contractor supplied alarms. Please clarify.

The soliciation will be revised to indicate the alarms are to be Government provided are owned by Post.

13 Solicitation 5.10 This section is contradicted elsewhere in the solicitation where it states that six mobile patrols in 24 hour period (C.5.2.2) and five patrols in the same period (5.10).

Please clarify.

The correct number is six (6). The solicitation will be revised accordingly.

14 Solicitation H.4 English language is one of the regularly spoken languages in Zambia. Are Key Personnel required to speak any of the local dialects?

No other language is required.

15 Solicitation H.5.4 - The minimum education requirement for various staffing levels of form 5 or secondary school will thin out the available workforce considerable. Can the Embassy consider form 2 as an acceptable level of education for hire? Please clarify.

Form 5 only means that they have a high school diploma.

16 Solicitation H.5.6 - We have no way of identifying prior driving history and offences as the Zambia Police Service does not retain records in this regard. Please advise expectations on this basis.

All traffic offenses that are reported to the police and are kept on record.

17 Solicitation H.9.1 - The Embassy makes reference to the fact that material imported for use on the project may be imported duty and tax free under their name, however they make no assurances. What is the probability that those provisions will be helpful to the contractor?

Please clarify.

The probablility of assistance is zero. The soliciation will be revised to indicate that the Government will not assist with the importation of equipment.

18 Solicitation 1.11.3 - Please advise if salaries are to be based on Zambian minimum wage or union wage. Zambia law states that union negotiated wages can be lower than the minimum wage and this is currently the case with G4S Zambia. By using union negotiated rates we may gain competitive advantage over other bidders; however we may be disqualified as not compliant in terms of the expectations outlined in the solicitation. Please clarify.

The lowest acceptable compensation the Government will consider acceptable is the minimum wage established by the host country. If negotiated union wages are less than the established minimum wage, it will not be considered acceptable for performance of this contract.

19 Exhibit A Hours - Several posts under Exhibit A are not active during holidays, yet the annual hours include those holidays. Please adjust the hours in Exhibit A to reflect the actual hours for services rendered by the Contractor.

The hours included in the Exhibit A are the Not to Exceed Hours, not a guarantee of hours.

Exhibit A will not be revised.

20 Meal Service - According to local laws, the provision of a meal allowance is required.

Because this is a legal requirement, is the Contractor to provide a meal allowance and a meal service (B.6.1)? Please clarify. Would a meal allowance equal to the requirements of the Meal Service be an acceptable replacement for the Meal Plan noted in Section B.6.1 ?

Meal Service is in addition to any other mandatory benefits required by the host country.

21 Solicitation B.8 -1) In regards to providing the contractual 15 minute break relief every 4 hours, has the USG considered the cost implications associated with the manpower levels required to service this in terms of residential geographical spread? 2) From a logistical perspective, would the government view acceptable the use of Mobile Patrol vehicles to support this requirement as well?

Relief guards will not be required for residential posts. The solicitation will be revised accordingly.

22 Solicitation - B.8 - The solicitation request that we provide manned cover on the basis of a 60 hour week. Currently Zambian law provides for a 72 hour week. Please confirm that this request is based on the moral issue surrounding acceptable working hours rather than the law in the country.

The 60 hour work week limitation is a contract requirement which is more restrictive than the local labor law in Zambia.

23 Solicitation B.8.3.1 - This section of the solicitation demands that roving patrol vehicles only be used for roving patrol duties, however under different cover in the document, they demand that the vehicles also attend to alarm signals. Because of this new requirement, will additional vehicles be required? Please clarify.

Roving patrol duties include responding to alarm activations. Additional vehicles are not required.

24 Solicitation B.8.3.6 - Please confirm the nature of meals. Can we provide cold food to be reheated on post? If so, is it possible to purchase a single plate cooker to employees and distribute meals on this basis?

Hot food is required by the contract. The Government will not sanction the use of hot plates or paraffin stoves by guard personnel.

25 C.2 Marine Guards. Please describe the interactions between the local guard force and the Marine contingent in more detail. We see the requirement to notify Marine Security Guard Post 1 regarding alarm response (C.5.6.1). Are there any other areas of interaction?

There are other times when the LGF will interact with the MSGs, but the extent of interaction is limited.

26 C.5.2.2 Mobile Patrols. Is the estimate of 5,000 km per month for mobile patrols per vehicle or a total for all vehicles ?

The solicitation will be revised to indicate 10,000 km per month, per vehicle.

27 C.5.5 CCTV. Please identify the locations of CCTV systems.

This question will not be addressed in a public forum.

28 C.5.6 CAMS. We note that there is no line item for the CAMS system and understand from the site visit that there is some uncertainty about who will provide the system. Is it the Government's intention that we propose a system without pricing? Also, if we propose a system should we assume that we will provide the alarm transmitters? Should we assume that we would be responsible for maintaining the alarm transmitters?

Post provides all alarms, contractor provides all transmitters. and Post does maintenance on all alarms and the contractor does maintenance on all transmitters. The solicitation will be revised accordingly.

29 L.11.2.2.2 Past Performance. We are confused about the instructions for return of past performance forms. Can the forms be emailed or must they be returned via fax or mail?

Past performance forms can be emailed.

30 Exhibit A. Currently, Post A-3 is listed as 12hr/7 with weekly hours of 168. These numbers appear to be inconsistent. Please clarify the requirement for Post A-3.

Solicitation will be amended to include an updated Exhibit A.

31 If there is a previous or current contract, may State please provide the following information:

Contractor; Contract ID#; Number of combined standard hours per year; Number of guards;

Contract value; and Expiration date SSI, Inc.; SZA600-07-C-0006; 881,914 hours; Contract is performance based therefore, information on # of guards is unavailable; $6,053,300.37; March 31, 2012.

32 If there is a previous or current contract, may State please clarify if the supplemental wages are a newly established contractual requirement?

Contractor provided supplemental wages are a new requirement.

33 If there is a previous or current contract, may State please clarify if health benefits are a newly established contractual requirement?

The contractual requirement for health insurance is a new requirement although operationally, this practice may not be new.

34 If there is a previous or current contract, may State please clarify if meal service is a newly established contractual requirement?

Contractor provided meal service is a new requirement.

35 If there is a previous or current contract, may State please clarify if laundry service is a newly established contractual requirement?

Contractor provided laundry service is a new requirement.

36 Are relief guards required for residential posts?

The requirement of residential relief guards has been removed from the solicitation.

37 Rather than actually maintaining or subcontracting a laundry service, may a contractor offer to provide guards with laundry bars of soap and shoe polish every month? This is more economical and is standard practice in the region.

Laundry services is a requirement of the contract. Offerors proposals should illustrate how they will provide this service.

38 B.6.1 states, “The Contractor is required to provide one hot meal per day to each posted employee, consisting of locally appropriate food.” Meeting this obligation for non-residential posts is not a challenge; however, meeting this requirement for all residential posts would significantly increase our costs and ultimately our bid. Rather than cooking and delivering hot meals to all residential posts, will State consider an alternative of supplying each residential post with a small paraffin stove and basic utensils so that guards may cook contractor provided roller meal, the Zambian staple food, during their lunch breaks? The approximate cooking time for one serving is ten minutes and the contractor would designate an area on residential properties, preferably near the domestic quarters, where guards would be permitted to cook whilst maintaining professionalism. Please advise.

Hot food is required by the contract. The Government will not sanction the use of hot plates or paraffin stoves by guard personnel.

39 Roughly, when does State project an award to be made?

The award of this contract is expected within 120 days of receipt of proposals.

40 May State disclose the average age of the guard force?

The Government doesn't know the average age of the guard force.

41 Do spouses and dependents of guards need to be covered as well in the health insurance plan?

Yes

42 Please confirm whether all the bids are to be submitted directly to Arlington as contained in item 8 or they could be submitted through your Lusaka office.

Bids are to be submitted to Arlington, VA as indicated in the solicitation.