bidding for the Berkeley Institute -- and Government has been asked to clarify its position.

The Construction Association wrote to Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott last week to seek clarification on the selection process used in the tendering for the $70 million contract.

It has asked Mr. Scott to provide it with information about the process used in the bid, and the process to be used in future bids, so it can be passed on to members of the industry for guidance.

But as of yesterday afternoon, the association had not received a reply.

And last night The Royal Gazette learned that the Chamber of Commerce is holding a meeting on Friday to discuss the bidding process for Berkeley.

President Charles Gosling said last night that he had received "several'' calls from concerned members of the industry who questioned the bidding process, none of who were involved in the bid for Berkeley.

And he said some had concerns over whether or not Pro-Active had met all of the pre-qualifying criteria to enable it to compete.

But he said the meeting would largely be about gathering information. He will then go back to the management team for a general consensus on how to proceed.

Mr. Scott has repeatedly said that all five firms who bid for the contract made it through the pre-qualifying stage.

However, questions have arisen because once the firms have made it through the pre-qualifier, they should be on a level playing field. People in the industry claim the deciding factor after that is usually price.

In this case though, the lowest bidder BermudaTech did not win the contract.

Mr. Scott said he was not obliged to pick the lowest bidder, or, indeed, any of the bidding firms.

GOVERNMENT GVT