Contact: Mr. Hichem LAJNEF, General Director & President, Office des Ports Nationaux Tunisians (OPNT), Bbtiment Administratif 2060 -- La Goulette, Tunisia, Fax: 011-216-1-735-520/812, Phone: 011-216-1-736-960

B -- TUNISIA -- PREVENTION AND ABATEMENT OF MARINE POLLUTION CONTROL FEASIBILITY STUDY POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009 Prevention and Abatement of Marine Pollution Control Feasibility Study. The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study to review the Tunisian marine oil spill plan and to provide recommendations for the plan's implementation. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) is providing a grant to the Tunisian Office des Ports Nationaux Tunisians (OPNT), a part of the Ministry of Transport, which is responsible for environmental maintenance and the clean-up of the Tunisian ports. The grant shall be used by OPNT to acquire contracting from a U.S. business qualified to review the Tunisian marine oil spill response plan and recommend a new implementation plan. Financing of the project's implementation is being provided by the World Bank as part of a $160 million regional project called "Pollution Management, Abatement, and Control in the South Mediterranean Sea." The feasibility study team will be comprised of three U.S. experts for a period of four weeks. One team member must be fluent in French. The feasibility study Terms of Reference include the following tasks: 1) review the existing contingency plan for marine oil spill in the ports of Bizerte, la Goulette-Rades, Sfax, and Zarzis, and identify its strengths and weaknesses (the task will be performed in the U.S.); 2) conduct a site survey of strategic locations for pollution control and interview key personnel with responsibilities under the plan; and 3) develop recommendations, an action plan, and procurement specifications for pollution control equipment and services. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $65,000 grant to the Grantee from TDA. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Scope of Work, and a background desk study report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA, 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA-financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 PM, December 29, 1997, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. (0311)

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