Republic of Mauritius

Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities

Selection of Consultants

Request for Expressions of Interest

Consultancy Engineering Services

for the
Sustainable Integrated Water Sector Management
Master Plan for the Republic of Mauritius
Contract No: MEPU/EOI/01/23-24
OPEN INTERNATIONAL BIDDING

Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities

Level 6, Air Mauritius Centre, President John Kennedy Street, Port Louis
Telephone: PABX 210 3774
Fax: 213 2543
[email protected]

January 2024
Selection of Consultants – Request for Expressions of Interest 1

REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS

Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities

Sustainable Integrated Water Management Master Plan for the Republic of Mauritius

CONSULTING SERVICES
Expressions of Interest

The Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities of the Republic of Mauritius has received a financing
from Agence Française de Développement ("AFD"), and intends to use part of the funds thereof for
payments under the “Sustainable Integrated Water Management Master Plan for the Republic of
Mauritius” project. The Government of Mauritius aims to strengthen its efforts for a resilient water sector
to ensure the water security of the country that follows the sustainable development trajectory taking
into account all the issues linked to climate change, the preservation of biodiversity, social inclusion,
etc.
The main Services of the consultant shall consist of the following:
(1) Strategic Review of the National Water Policy for the Republic of Mauritius to be aligned with the
2030 agenda for sustainable development and the Paris climate agreement,
(2) Preparation of the Master Plan for Sustainable Integrated Water Management for the republic of
Mauritius,
(3) Strategic Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the reviewed National Water
Policy and the Master Plan.
A maximum budget of 930 000 Euro is allocated to these consulting services.
The reviewed National water policy is expected to integrate and include the water resources, water
supply, sanitation, rainwater and drainage sectors. The definition of a reviewed National water policy
that integrates the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement means that the consultant shall analyse the
contribution of the water sector to all SDGs, identify the relevant indicators and take into account the
impacts of climate change and the preservation of biodiversity. A diagnosis of the current policy will be
carried out in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses and propose policy directions and measures
aligned with both the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. The consultant shall carry out a Water Demand
and Water Supply/Availability Analysis based on hydraulic simulations to assess the impacts of climate
change for the time horizons of 2030 and 2050.
In parallel, the consultant will also carry out a Strategic Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
(SESIA) of the reviewed National Water Policy and the Master Plan based on best international practices
which should comply with both the Funding Agency’s and country’s environmental guidelines. This
SESIA wil be carried out all along the preparation of reviewed strategy and the master plan: the
methodology of this SESIA is a key element for the development of a policy and a master plan which
take into account the climate, environmental, social and public consultation issues.
The development of the reviewed National water policy and the master plan must, in addition to technical
issues, deal with the governance, institutional, legal, organizational, capacity developpment and
financial aspects. A multidisciplinary team of experts is required to carry out this consultancy
services.
The Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities hereby invites Applicants to show their interest in
delivering the Services described above.
This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to Consulting firms.
Selection of Consultants – Request for Expressions of Interest 2

Eligibility criteria to AFD financing are specified in sub-clause 1.3 of the "Procurement Guidelines for
AFD-Financed Contracts in Foreign Countries", available online on AFD’s website: http://www.afd.fr.
Interested Applicants must provide information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to
perform those Services. For that purpose, documented evidence of recent and similar services shall be
submitted.
The Applicant shall submit only one application, either in its own name or as a member of a Joint Venture
(JV). If an Applicant (including any JV member) submits or participates in more than one application,
those applications shall be all rejected. However, the same Subconsultant may participate in several
applications

The following documents are to be submitted by interested Applicants:

a) Administrative documents containing:
1. Covering Letter comprising the firm’s name, address, contact person, telephone, fax and
Email,
2. The signed Statement of Integrity, Eligibility and Environmental and Social Responsibility
3. If the Applicant is a JV, the expression of interest shall include:
 a copy of the JV Agreement entered into by all members,
or
 a letter of intent to execute a JV Agreement, signed by all members together with a copy
of the Agreement proposal,
In the absence of this document, the other members will be considered as Subconsultants.
Experiences and qualifications of Subconsultants are not taken into account in the evaluation of
the applications.
b) Technical and financial documents:
 Certified statements of financial capacity of the lead firm and members of the consortium: The
applicant must justify (proof documents: balance sheets and profit and loss accounts. documents
must be in english and issued by a certified auditor) the achievement of an average annual
turnover during the last three (3) years (2022, 2021, 2020) greater than or equal to 500,000 Euro
or its equivalent in foreign currency. Sub-consultants must not submit financial statement.
 Presentation of firm showing the firm’s oraganisation, main activities and expertise. In case of a
Joint Venture, it must include the main specialisation of each party.
 Proof of experiences in definition or reviewing national stategies, policies or programmes of the
water sector.
 Proof of experiences in Strategic Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (SESIA).
 Others: information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to perform those Services.

Criteria of evaluation
 (a) The nature of the Services: multidisciplinary strategical studies in the water sector (water
sector means water resources, water supply,sanitation, rainwater and drainage).
 (b) The technical area and expertise: Water policy reforms, integrated water resources
management, hydraulic simulations to assess the impacts of climate change, SESIA, SDGs,
biodiversity.
 (c) Experience in definition or reviewing national strategies, policies or programmes of the water
sector
Selection of Consultants – Request for Expressions of Interest 3

 (d) Experiences in Strategic Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (SESIA). A SESIA of
water sector reform will be a plus.
 (e) Experience in the organisation and engagement in a multistakeholders’ dialogue on water
sector strategy/Policy reforms.
 (f) Experience in projects/studies with a component on 2030 agenda for sustainable development
will be a definite plus.
 Experience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) similar to Mauritius will be an advantage.
 (h) Skills and availability of in-house technical back-up experts provided to the on-site experts;
 Local representatives/partners;

For this assignment:

Firms not satisfying the criteria (a1) and (a2) for Administrative documents above shall not be
shortlisted.
Any information deemed necessary for a proper assessment of the Applications at this stage of
the procurement exercise need to be submitted by the Applicant. No detailed information such
as Methodology, detailed CV’s etc need to be submitted.
All shortlisted firms who will be invited to submit a Request for Proposal will thereafter be
required to fully substantiate the affirmations.
Detailed evaluation will be undertaken for the selection of the Consulting firm at the Request for
Proposals stage.

Among the submitted applications, Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities will shortlist a maximum of
six (6) Applicants, to whom the Request for Proposals to carry out the Services shall be sent.
The Expressions of Interest must be submitted to the address below no later than 13 March 2024 at
13.30 hours:
Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities
Level 6, Air Mauritius Centre
President John Kennedy Street
Port Louis - Mauritius

NB: Submissions by Email are not permitted. All documents of the Expression of Interest are to
be submitted in a sealed package containing the hard version as well as an electronic copy (PDF
File on a suitable data medium storage e.g USB stick).
Interested Applicants may obtain further information by adressing an Email at latest, fifteen (15) days
before the deadline for submission of Expressions of Interest to:
The Director, Water Resources Unit / MEPU at Email: [email protected].
Selection of Consultants – Request for Expressions of Interest 4

Appendix to The Request for Expressions of Interest

(To be sumitted with the application, signed and unaltered)
Statement of Integrity, Eligibility and Environmental and Social Responsibility

Reference of the bid or proposal _______________________________________ (the "Contract")

To: ____________________________________________________ (the "Contracting Authority")

1. We recognise and accept that Agence Française de Développement ("AFD") only finances
projects of the Contracting Authority subject to its own conditions which are set out in the
Financing Agreement which benefits directly or indirectly to the Contracting Authority. As a matter
of consequence, no legal relationship exists between AFD and our company, our joint venture or
our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants. The Contracting
Authority retains exclusive responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the
procurement process and performance of the contract. The Contracting Authority means the
Purchaser, the Employer, the Client, as the case may be, for the procurement of goods, works,
plants, consulting services or non-consulting services.
2. We hereby certify that neither we nor any other member of our joint venture or any of our suppliers,
contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants are in any of the following situations:
2.1 Being bankrupt, wound up or ceasing our activities, having our activities administered by
the courts, having entered into receivership, reorganisation or being in any analogous
situation arising from any similar procedure;
2.2 Having been:
a) convicted, within the past five years by a court decision, which has the force of res
judicata in the country where the Contract is implemented, of fraud, corruption or of
any other offense committed during a procurement process or performance of a
contract (in the event of such conviction, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity
supporting information showing that this conviction is not relevant in the context of
this Contract);
b) subject to an administrative sanction within the past five years by the European
Union or by the competent authorities of the country where we are constituted, for
fraud, corruption or for any other offense committed during a procurement process
or performance of a contract (in the event of such sanction, you may attach to this
Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this sanction is not
relevant in the context of this Contract);
c) convicted, within the past five years by a court decision, which has the force of res
judicata, of fraud, corruption or of any other offense committed during the
procurement process or performance of an AFD-financed contract;
2.3 Being listed for financial sanctions by the United Nations, the European Union and/or
France for the purposes of fight-against-terrorist financing or threat to international peace
and security;
2.4 Having been subject within the past five years to a contract termination fully settled against
us for significant or persistent failure to comply with our contractual obligations during
contract performance, unless this termination was challenged and dispute resolution is still
pending or has not confirmed a full settlement against us;
2.5 Not having fulfilled our fiscal obligations regarding payments of taxes in accordance with
the legal provisions of either the country where we are constituted or the Contracting
Authority's country;
Selection of Consultants – Request for Expressions of Interest 5

2.6 Being subject to an exclusion decision of the World Bank and being listed on the website
http://www.worldbank.org/debarr (in the event of such exclusion, you may attach to this
Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this exclusion is not relevant in
the context of this Contract);
2.7 Having created false documents or committed misrepresentation in documentation
requested by the Contracting Authority as part of the procurement process of this Contract.
3. We hereby certify that neither we, nor any of the members of our joint venture or any of our
suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants are in any of the following
situations of conflict of interest:
3.1 Being an affiliate controlled by the Contracting Authority or a shareholder controlling the
Contracting Authority, unless the stemming conflict of interest has been brought to the
attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
3.2 Having a business or family relationship with a Contracting Authority's staff involved in the
procurement process or the supervision of the resulting Contract, unless the stemming
conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
3.3 Being controlled by or controlling another bidder or consultant, or being under common
control with another bidder or consultant, or receiving from or granting subsidies directly or
indirectly to another bidder or consultant, having the same legal representative as another
bidder or consultant, maintaining direct or indirect contacts with another bidder or
consultant which allows us to have or give access to information contained in the respective
applications, bids or proposals, influencing them or influencing decisions of the Contracting
Authority;
3.4 Being engaged in a consulting services activity, which, by its nature, may be in conflict with
the assignments that we would carry out for the Contracting Authority;
3.5 In the case of procurement of goods, works or plants:
a) Having prepared or having been associated with a consultant who prepared
specifications, drawings, calculations and other documentation to be used in the
procurement process of this Contract;
b) Having been recruited (or being proposed to be recruited) ourselves or any of our
affiliates, to carry out works supervision or inspection for this Contract.
4. If we are a state-owned entity, and to compete in a procurement process, we certify that we have
legal and financial autonomy and that we operate under commercial laws and regulations.
5. We undertake to bring to the attention of the Contracting Authority, which will inform AFD, any
change in situation with regard to points 2 to 4 here above.
6. In the context of the procurement process and performance of the corresponding contract:
6.1 We have not and we will not engage in any dishonest conduct (act or omission) deliberately
indented to deceive others, to intentionally conceal items, to violate or vitiate someone's
consent, to make them circumvent legal or regulatory requirements and/or to violate their
internal rules in order to obtain illegitimate profit;
6.2 We have not and we will not engage in any dishonest conduct (act or omission) contrary to
our legal or regulatory obligations or our internal rules in order to obtain illegitimate profit;
6.3 We have not promised, offered or given and we will not promise, offer or give, directly or
indirectly to (i) any Person who holds a legislative, executive, administrative or judicial
mandate within the State of the Contracting Authority regardless of whether that Person
was nominated or elected, regardless of the permanent or temporary, paid or unpaid nature
of the position and regardless of the hierarchical level the Person occupies, (ii) any other
Person who performs a public function, including for a State institution or a State-owned
company, or who provides a public service, or (iii) any other person defined as a Public
Officer by the national laws of the Contracting Authority’s country, an undue advantage of
Selection of Consultants – Request for Expressions of Interest 6

any kind, for himself or for another Person or entity, for such Public Officer to act or refrain
from acting in his official capacity;
6.4 We have not promised, offered or given and we will not promise, offer or give, directly or
indirectly to any Person who occupies an executive position in a private sector entity or
works for such an entity, regardless of the nature of his/her capacity, any undue advantage
of any kind, for himself or another Person or entity for such Person to perform or refrain
from performing any act in breach of its legal, contractual or professional obligations;
6.5 We have not and we will not engage in any practice likely to influence the contract award
process to the detriment of the Contracting Authority and, in particular, in any
anti-competitive practice having for object or for effect to prevent, restrict or distort
competition, namely by limiting access to the market or the free exercise of competition by
other undertakings;
6.6 Neither we nor any of the members of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors,
subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants shall acquire or supply any equipment nor
operate in any sectors under an embargo of the United Nations, the European Union or
France;
6.7 We commit ourselves to comply with and ensure that all of our suppliers, contractors,
subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants comply with international environmental and
labour standards, consistent with laws and regulations applicable in the country of
implementation of the Contract, including the fundamental conventions of the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) and international environmental treaties. Moreover, we shall
implement environmental and social risks mitigation measures when specified in the
environmental and social commitment plan (ESCP) provided by the Contracting Authority.
7. We, as well as members of our joint venture and our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors,
consultants or subconsultants authorise AFD to inspect accounts, records and other documents
relating to the procurement process and performance of the contract and to have them audited
by auditors appointed by AFD.

Name: _________________________ In the capacity of: ___________________________________

Duly empowered to sign in the name and on behalf of1: ______________________________________
Signature: _________________________________________________________________________
Dated: ____________________________________________________________________________

1
In case of joint venture, insert the name of the joint venture. The person who will sign the application, bid or proposal on behalf
of the applicant, bidder or consultant shall attach a power of attorney from the applicant, bidder or consultant.