My company was part of the Ketza group that bid on the Dawson City wastewater facility. In fact, we are the supplier of the actual wastewater treatment system.
I would like to personally thank the Yukon News for their diligence in keeping the issues associated with this process in the open so those directly affected by this project can become informed of the issues. It is encouraging to see you searching for the facts and encouraging others to do so.
The fact is, our system uses proven technology with some 800 successful installations around the world, 100 of which are in northern climates similar to Dawson City.
No one needed to use judgment or rely on theory to see if it works - it does, in the real world!
The fact is, our system has a proven reliable reputation of producing effluent of exceptional quality, far surpassing the Yukon guidelines.
The fact is, our capital costs are considerably less and we stand by that price as it includes everything required to make this project a success.
The fact is, our operating costs, which can be verified, are far lower than those of the competing technology - based on actual results.
The fact is, we indicated we could have the system installed well before the court-ordered date.
The fact is, we agreed to the period of acceptance testing and guaranteed the effluent.
If indeed a detailed technical analysis was completed before the decision to reject our bid was made, it is certainly not clear to us.
The only feedback we received was very superficial in nature, contained many factual errors and only served to indicate our proposal was not reviewed thoroughly, or was not understood in the haste to select another bid.
Given there were only two bids, we would have expected the committee to do everything possible to make it a competitive process, rather than simply finding a way to eliminate one bid so there is only one option.
In addition, the approach taken seemed to be focused more on how the proposal was written, rather than verifying the technology in the real world.
That type of academic exercise, where opinions and judgment of what is written in theory about a system, is very unusual in an evaluation of this nature. We have no idea what motivated the committee to take this approach or to be so anxious to find a way to eliminate our bid.
We have offered to meet with the committee to show them where they have made mistaken assumptions in their analysis of our proposal and provide any additional information they need to ensure they can meet their stated goals.
Of course, this normally would have happened during any thorough analysis of bids.
Unfortunately, they have declined.
Our offer stands to meet with anyone, anytime to explain why the biological treatment plant we proposed is a great solution for Dawson City’s sewage issues.
Dan Huras
Sapphire Group president
Calgary