Gov't responds to construction firm's lawsuit, urges dismissal

ST. CROIX — The V.I. Public Finance Authority on Friday filed a response to construction firm Hill International, which on Sept. 11 sued it and its subsidiary, the V.I. Office of Disaster Recovery, over a $137 million, three-year contract awarded to another firm.

The PFA awarded that contract to CH2M in August to provide project and construction management services as the territory embarks on the next stage of its recovery from hurricanes Irma and Maria under a “super project management office.”

Hill International called that award “arbitrary and capricious” in a complaint filed in V.I. Superior Court, noting that their own bid was approximately $107 million below CH2M’s for the same scope of work. Hill also questioned why one firm was selected — pointing to a section of the V.I. government’s request for proposals which stated that a minimum of two firms would be selected — and alleged a conflict of interest in the government’s selection. According to Hill, three out of the five members of the government’s selection committee were members of the Public Works Department, which also employs two people who work for CH2M’s parent company, Jacobs Solutions.