Airport 20% over budget and a year late
Owen Roberts International Airport renovation project is nearing completion
(CNS): The Office of the Auditor General has finally released a redacted copy of an audit report it completed last year, which was initially withheld, on the Owen Roberts International Airport renovation project. Sue Winspear and her team have revealed that the cost of the project is at least 20% more than originally budgeted, that it has taken almost a year longer than planned and that steps in the tendering process were not properly followed. The OAG also found that the lead consultants have done a poor job running the project, with problems identified as far back as 2015 — though nothing was done to address them — along with a number of other unknown problems that are currently secret.
The original budgeted cost for the entire redevelopment project was just under $52 million, which was largely to be funded by passenger taxes collected by the Cayman Islands Airport Authority with a cash injection from government of $15 million.
But by August, when this report was published, estimated final costs were more than $64.3 million and rising. The current estimated final cost remains redacted, as the auditor has described this as still sensitive and potentially contentious and that unveiling the true figure prematurely could impact the challenges relating to the whole project.
The increase in costs appears to be the result of a combination of factors: the board wanting changes after contracts were signed and the consultant’s poor original design and drawings, which caused a catalog of problems. But the report shows that many of the challenges were caused by the CIAA not properly following process from the get-go.
The OAG found that the outline business case was not completed and that Cabinet had not given formal approval to the project when the tendering process began. No final business case was ever completed, which the auditors said would have outlined and confirmed key elements of the project.
The lead design consultants that appear to be behind many of the problems were not the winners of the bid but part of a consortium selected after the fact. As well as raising questions about the quality of the designs and drawings, which led to delays and cost overruns, the subcontractors also criticised these lead contractors for poor communication, the report states.
However, the OAG made clear in the report that one of the major issues is that although the consultants’ poor work was identified early in the project, nothing appears to have been done about it for at least one year.
One example of the shoddy work of the consultants is the electrical drawings, which were wrong and had to be submitted 14 times before they were accepted by the inspectors, delaying the project by two months.
The design of the baggage handling area was also so bad that it had to be redone before the tender documents for that part of the project could be issued, and problems continued to reoccur during the process. All of these things delayed the bid and the start of that part of the job by ten months.
And it wasn’t just the consultants who were at fault. The auditors found that the airport management made changes to the project, such as changing the quality of the hurricane glass, adding land-side canopies and upgrading the CIAA offices, after contracts were agreed and signed, increasing the cost significantly.
The project is currently on track to be largely complete by next month, almost a year later that the March 2018 target date, and will be more than 20% over budget, with the final figure still under wraps.
Winspear’s report details many of the issues, and the auditor urged the CIAA to carry out a post-project evaluation report so that lessons could be learned from this first project to go through government’s new Major Projects Office, which is part of the Public Works Department.
In addition to concerns over the increased costs and time delays on this specific project, the report’s findings may well raise questions surrounding the fact that the Major Projects Office is also managing the cruise-cargo facility project.
The airport reconstruction is a fraction of the scope of the controversial George Town port development and it is already apparent that the process is, once again, not being properly followed. But getting the port designs wrong, running over budget and over time on that project will have far greater adverse consequences than those at the airport.
Category: development, Government oversight, Local News, Politics
My God just where have our common sense gone.. these Islands were built with common sense, honesty and integrity. What is happening to us? Come on Government – please listen to what us. Greed is killing some of us. So sad.
The airport design is just awful. It looks like a huge public washroom from the 90s. Big ugly tiles, golden fake marble counter tops and intense blue plastic cladding. Add to that a selection of only American fast food and you have the worst airport with 0 local flair. What a shame.
And the best part, Bermuda, which is very similar in many ways, is building new terminal building too. Big difference, it’s pretty and they’re transparent about the whole process: https://bermudaairport.com/about-skyport/new-terminal/
They have progress reports posted on their site
A far cry from Cayman
Where even getting a comment from the minster is a pain
I believe the last comment made by the Min of Tourism himself on this issue was from late 2017, excluding LA statements and the response today)
“Design elements that reference classical Bermudian architecture”
Thank you for the link!
11:51, I really feel like crying for Cayman. Why are we so stupid?
I ask myself this question every day. Opportunities come, and are inevitably wasted. Good intentions turn into poor results. Obvious features and solutions are never obvious to those responsible. You can always count on the current guard in Cayman to just not get it, and their ignorance is more glaring all the time.
I’m wondering why any of the work was done at all. The departure lounge is just as overcrowded in the afternoons as was the previous one; if the space behind the present plywood walls is taken up by the retail shops then we are no further ahead. The bar/food booth is just as inefficient as it always was, the new electronic signs over the gates usually show inaccurate flight information, the public announcements are recorded and played half a minute late when the substance is already out of date. Don’t even think about the terrible layout of the security area.
If the original concept was to ‘renovate’ or ‘improve’ the original building, would it not have made sense to employ the original architects who are a local firm and not bring in outside ‘consultants’.
Add the constant drone of the tannoy, which takes me back to traveling in the 80s ..
We need to remember this was a renovation project and not a new build. 20% overrun on a renovation is not bad.
However, if you deduct from the 20% the “add-ons” that we’re approved during the project when extra cash came available, you are going to find “overruns” of around 10% and pre-approved “add-ons” of around 10%. The AG was well aware that the “add-ons” were for enhancements not in the original scope or price of the project, and were only added after banner year cash flows made them affordable and therefore possible. She purposely included the “add-ons” in the “overruns” column for reasons only she knows.
It’s like adding a garage you didn’t think you could afford on your house project, after you had a cash windfall and saw it was possible, and then blaming the contractor for the “overrun”.
10% overruns on a renovation of a 30yr old Government building is a big success story. No corruption or mis-management, just normal construction headaches that were dealt with as they occurred. Good job by all involved.
A new build would have been much cheaper, easier, and better, and for example would have meant it could be elevated above hurricane flood level.
Hurricane Flood level…also known as: projected 2050 shoreline.
Gosh, I hope you are not an accountant or economist. Your arguments make no sense at all.
So what she is saying is (read the report)…there were approximately 5 million or 10% in project overruns. In addition, at the same time the original project was being built, the Board approved another 5 million in add-ons and enhancements and paid for them separately. Why did she even include the add-ons in her report if they weren’t part of the original scope and weren’t meant to be paid for out of the original $52m project? Maybe looking for a sensational headline?
10% over on a renovation project is a job well done.
Gosh? Really? Let me explain it to you…5m/52m = 10% in overruns. 5m in additional out of scope projects, funded separately = 0% overruns and should not be in the report. The extra 5m was not part of the 52m contract. Do you understand now?
Sounds like you’re part of the mis-management team!
No but unlike most of the commenters here, I have read the report front to back and I don’t see a problem with the way CIG managed this project. If you
would actually read the report, rather than piling on ignorant comments and headlines, you too would see that this one is not bad at all. There is hope for CIG projects after all.
6.59pm I assume you have not read the redacted sections. Wait and see what the final cost comes to and I’m sure that this will be a true to form CIG project.
9.10am You sound like a CIAA employee. Hurricane proof glass and weather canopies should have been included in the original plans. As for your final comment you are either delusional or acting under orders.
I look forward to your further extracts from Alice in Wonderland once the project is finally completed and the true cost (which hopefully will not be redacted by the CIAA) is finally known.
If a 20% cost over-run was already conservatively baked into the original CIAA estimate, then aren’t we actually dealing with a 40% increase in real costs (so far)? Am I missing something?!?
Yes, an education in math and English. Please look up the difference between estimate and quote.
I know this isn’t going to garner many likes, but as a comparison I just had a look at the average cost overrun on medium sized projects (50m to 1Bn), surprisingly they average around 32% over budget. This study was a worldwide review. It should perhaps serve as a good measure that whenever Government say it will cost X to complete, it will probably be X+32%, so applying that to the dock a $300mio estimate would be nearer $400mio.
Which company is the building contractor for this project?
The Airport has bigger problem that no one is talking about,THAT PROBLEM IS THAT THEY ARE HIRING 15 AIR TRAFFIC OFFICERS FROM OVERSEAS AND CUTTING OUT LOCALS FROM BEING EMPLOYED! INVESTIGATE THAT CNS PLEASE?
Not everyone is cut out to be an air traffic controller because of the serious nature of this work and zero margin for error.
In the USA entry-level applicants must complete required training courses at the FAA Academy AND gain on-the-job experience before becoming certified professional controllers.
There is probably a good reason experienced air controllers are being hired.
Air traffic controllers are super humans.
Characteristics that air traffic controllers must possess in order to succeed at what they do:
1.Spatial awareness
2.Simultaneous capacity
3.Excellent memory
4.Respect for authority and the rules
5.Making decisions under pressure
6.Exercising effective personal authority
7.Paying attention to details
8.Visual-motor coordination
9.Teamwork skills
10.Tolerance to frustration
11.Emotional stability
12.Willingness to accept criticism
10.16am I assume you list “spatial awareness as #1 as we don’t have a radar facility at ORIA?.
should have let dart do it…..
thumbs down for the best developer in cayman????
You describe him as developer, yet he is so much more.
20% cor is not bad. The contractors and CAA has done a great a great job building this airport around an existing structure and an increasingly busy airport. The electrical drawings presented 14 times do not seem bad either. I have seen some house that the electrical drawings were also presented 6 times.
World’s ugliest airport!!! Uglier than Denver’s camping out looking piece of trash.
Why not build something looking very tropical?
The previous airport viewing gallery was South Seas looking and not exactly Caribbean but it was better than this!
Is this supposed to look like a rolling wave on the ocean?
Pathetic and going to be expensive to cool!!!
You can’t make this stuff up!!
Over budget – expected, past completion date – expected. But what gets me most is the airport itself. There are plenty of new and upcoming airport projects around the world and they are meant to tick at least one of the following two boxes: an amazing ‘wow’ design that gets people talking positively; or a design that reflects the heritage of the country where the airport is.
Can someone explain to me which tick box was used in this airport design because I just can’t figure it out.
According to the CITA website the new airport was “based on the profile of the green sea turtle”
Do with that what you will
Its still ugly
I wish cns still had the LOL button! That is hilarious. Looking at the new airport I would never in a million years have guessed it is supposed to be a turtle. Maybe if I squint really hard I could kina-sort-of see it.
No, the ice rink will have the turtle roof. Kurt was adamant about that.
AND if you ere gullible, drunk, medically sedated… etc
Well, I’ll be damned!!!
100% agree. It already looks old and it isn’t even finished yet. The color scheme of the counters at check-in is terrible and looks like it is from the 80’s.
Feels institutional and has no wow factor.
Heads are likely going to roll following this debacle, – doesn’t seem right those exposing it will probably be the first up to the guillotine…
But that does not happen in Absurdistan
Nope, some heads involved will likely get a promotion. That’s how CIG and it’s Authorities roll.
We aren’t even talking to the next wave of cruise industry leadership:
Virgin Voyages “Scarlet Lady”
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/virgin-voyages-scarlet-lady/index.html
I wanna know why they let Steive Wonder choose the interior color scheme!? Those yellow countertops and blue cabinates are hideous!
6.00pm. I agree colour and whole design is despicable! And LEAKING wow… God help us. What a mess we got. We headed for a disaster.
The arches!! Anyone in Cayman actually get off island to know what the arches represent in the rest of the world?
I’ll tell you: the worlds cruddiest, low priced, garbage fast food chain on the planet!
Welcome to the McRaunchy Cayman Islands! Ironic especially when you can’t get those fries here! Lol
I don’t know where you got your information from but it seems to be following the Trump standard of sensational, first to get headlines, and exaggerate with false news style. There are many questionable facts in this article above and the most abhorrent in my opinion, is slandering by one of your bloggers, of the good name of Mr Anderson. A major project of this nature should have always had a 20% plus contingency in the first place. There were always going to be too many unknowns. My second comment, if the consultants drawings were so bad, how is it that two reputable local construction companies were able to price, based purely on the consultants documents, with an extended tender period sufficient to ask as many relevant questions necessary to complete a tender, and then willingly sign the contact documents to agree to deliver on a fixed price contract. If the comments in the article were completely accurate, then it implies that the two contracting companies did not know what they were doing. There is a lot more to this story then this bit of selective sensational reporting.
CNS: All the information in this article came from the OAG report. There is a link to it at the end of the article so anyone can read the whole thing themselves (except what has been redacted by the OAG). Just because you don’t like the headline does not make it wrong.
The 20 % is better than I expected , but is project finished yet ?
The 20% contingency is BUILT INTO the budget not assumed to be in addition to!!!
The tenor of Mr Merodon concerns me.
“A major project of this nature should have always had a 20% plus contingency in the first place.”
Is this the tenor we can expect from the cruise ship berthing facility construction from this government?
And it wasn’t 20% cost overrun, it was a 20% plus.
A sincere concern.
Hmmm. I wonder if the author is a member of the consulting firm.
For those Who are not in the business, the contractor prices whatever is on the drawings, right or wrong. The contractor is not there to coordinate drawings or do peer review of the design.
Contingency is for unknowns, Not design delinquencies. Is it fair to assume that the one out of five design solutions are going to be wrong? That’s with a 20% contingency means.
If 20% cost over-run is baked in to the CIAA cost estimate, then we’re 40% over actual budget.
NO surprise here and you all know it.
And if you think that port is coming anywhere near only 20% off budget, you are as stupid and thick as anyone that says there is no corruption on this island.
Hide and Watch
This is the cost that the Canadians predicted when they lost their bid. What absolute fools the CIG made of the Canadian bid which had a guaranteed price.
Must be another of these Canadians who love to come here and try to run things. Go back to your own country maple leaf!
3:38, Or move to Bermuda where they will have a world class airport next year unlike our airport in Cayman.
A world class civil service. Lets hand out some more awards. Haaaa Haaaaaaa
At least we have a world class AG.
I note the thumbs down on our auditor general but frankly I have never heard a negative word about her. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
I agree with Chris Johnson.
Chris, realistically what difference does it make if there are no consequences? Does the falling tree in the forest make a noise if there is no one to hear it – or in this case, if no one wants to hear it.
We have a world class civil service. No one is ever held accountable because there is nothing to be held accountable for….
You are correct but I feel more comfortable that we have an AG that spots these things and reports it.
Auditors in public practice have missed a lot of fraud including CIFA They wonder why they get sued.
We are blessed with having some great AGs who stand up to bullying politicians. You will recall Bush having a go at previous AGs .
Whether anything takes place is anyone’s guess but our AG is above reproach .
I am intrigued by the words redacted and secret in this report. Why can we not get the true story ever? Imagine the overruns on the cruise dock if it ever happens. Has no one ever heard of guaranteed pricing?
Some of the portions of this article that I thoroughly enjoy
“the cost of the project is at least 20% more than originally budgeted, that it has taken almost a year longer than planned and that steps in the tendering process were not properly followed.”
“with problems identified as far back as 2015 — though nothing was done to address them”
“along with a number of other unknown problems that are currently secret.”
“But the report shows that many of the challenges were caused by the CIAA not properly following process from the get-go.”
“One example of the shoddy work of the consultants is the electrical drawings, which were wrong and had to be submitted 14 times before they were accepted by the inspectors, delaying the project by two months.”
I can’t tell if I am naive
but I just sat in awe of this article for at least 10 minutes
Trying to understand just how this could be happening in the most developed country in the Caribbean
Moral of the story:
Anyone who supports this port project is doing so knowing the CIG track record of capital projects, this instance is one of many of similar occurrences in the past 10 years is not being honest with themselves
Throw this port project out of the window
Anyone who honestly believes this project will be done without going drastically over budget and being years late at best
Is either stupid, fooling themselves or both
Meanwhile the compass has no less than 4 different areas of today’s paper talking about Cayman Cookout and other culinary events
They are complicit in the ignorance of the people
I could not agree with you more.
No, that’s on your own heads.
In other they’re doing exactly what they’ve been doing for at least the past three decades – printing CIG propaganda.
Deliberate distraction
Don’t forget the best part
No one will be held accountable
No one will be held responsible
No changes in the process will be made because of this mess
and the CIG will just continue patting itself on the back
giving themselves more 5% raises
and saying what a fine job they are doing
and best of all its already too small
Moses Kirkconnell is ultimately accountable for these projects and mismanagement. The buck stops at the top with him as Minister of Tourism and the senior ministry officials responsible for implementing government policies or directions.
but look what a great job he has done with the brac economy….oopps…my bad..
“the buck stops with him” – I literally cackled reading this
“responsibility” lying with a minister… hilarious
Sorry bobo you got the wrong set of islands in mind if you are looking for accountability
The blame is always shuffled onto nameless civil servants who are unaccountable to the people and are shuffled around from department to department from failed project to failed project
Speaking of culpable ministers
Still waiting on the people to hold Tara and Alden responsible for our subpar education system, the results of which we are seeing now
But they were both reelected by huge margins
And what about the past 3 Ministers of planning and development?
Our voters don’t vote based on policies or past performances its all about handouts and who you know
and the media doesn’t hold these ministers responsible
The Opposition is too busy trying to be viewed by the public in a positive manner to ask any tough questions
Q. Who, and on what basis, was approval given for the diarrhea-brown laminate countertop theme? Lasting impressions of tackiness.
A Caymanian wanted Caymanite.
Sad! Depressing! Knew it when I saw those low ceilings and bathroom countertops at the ticket counters and the space in arrival just to name a few outdated designs! Come on guys, I know that it’s easy to dip into the treasury’s vault but someone has to pay for it. Didn’t we learn from CHHS? And can’t we stop this cronyism, nepotism and all the other isms! I agree, forget the grand-design port, we are doing fine without it.
LOL, talk about deja vu? This is just history repeating itself. Haven’t CIG heard of things like penalty clauses?
Where does one Lodge a complaint?
very good.
will ask again….how many involved at board level are lodge members????
I think there are 3 or 4 lodges in Cayman, so start in Prospect and if you not successful there move to the ones in Newlands.
You mean the lodge at 321 Mahogany Way, Prospect Park?
This is public info on their website
At the lodge
…and not a jet-way insight. Poorly done, chaps.
And how much more over-budget and behind schedule would it have been if they had ordered jet-ways? Simple fact of life – jet-ways are complex, high-tech pieces of equipment and if they break down in an airport the size of ORIA you’re screwed. Do you seriously think the skills are available on these islands to run and maintain them? Because I for sure don’t when they can’t even keep garbage trucks on the road.
4.12pm I suppose your argument is that Ju Ju’s magnificent arches which must have cost a fortune and serve no useful purpose are superior as they are not complex, high tech equiment,, but what’s the betting that they will leak?.
Dis Pair
No what I’m pointing out is that when ORIA employees treated jet-ways in the same way DEH treat garbage trucks ORIA would very quickly grind to a shuddering halt. I’ve no issue with installing jet-ways if they can be kept working and that I seriously doubt.
But it’s too small of a screw-up right now: make it epic, give the poor airport staff a new toy and put in the jet-way!
– Bed Farta
Is Bermuda that much more sophisticated than Cayman?
6:37 Yes.
Bermuda are spending $300mio on their airport and are about 4 years behind, they also have a much, much older average age. We don’t have $300mio, nor do they, but that’s another story.
7:27, Just got back from Bermuda and what you are saying is simply not true. The project started by the Canadians at the same time as the Cayman project. They will both be completed next year. The Bermuda Government took on no new debt as it is a public / private partnership and Bermudans are being trained in Canada now on airport management. The Bermuda project is not / not costing $300 million. Get your facts right before spouting lies.
I got the cost from the Bermuda Government website. I rounded up, as its says $267mio for construction and $16mio for demolition, I reckon that’s $300mio, give or take, but the actual cost is unknown as it is based on relinquishing 30 years of future income. What facts do you have? The estimated increase in costs per traveler are about $20 and increases in line with inflation. At around 500k visitors/year the increase is $10mio/year index linked, best calculator I could find would double the cost over 30 years, on a straight line, the total cost would be $560mio.
https://www.gov.bm/airport-redevelopment-project-arp
Unless the information I’m using is wrong I stand by the comment. Maybe you want to check your facts, “both will be completed next year” Cayman is due to finish next month, although maybe May….
12:00 You simply do not understand public / private partnerships and how projects of this type are financially structured. Do you understand what the difference is between public debt and private debt? You also have not calculated the cost of training all of the Bermudans in airport management. This includes air traffic controllers and all aspects of airport maintenance. Sorry to say that although the Board Of Directors of our airport will be Caymanian the majority of the operations will be managed by non Caymanians. In 30 years time our airport will still be operated by non Caymanians at a working level and our restaurants and duty free area will still be third world.
Funny how the Jamaicans in both Kingston and Montego Bay Airports seem to have no problems with these so called “high tech pieces of equipment”. Guess the Jamaicans have the skills. If the Canadians can train the Bermudans to operate this high tech equipment then they could have trained Caymanians.
I have been to biggest airports across the globe and some of them don’t use jet way.
Name them
We will wait
Jetways are not used for all departures out of LHR and LGW.
In the past 2 years I have deplaned using stairs at both Heathrow and Gatwick in London and Lisbon in Portugal.
And in all 3 jetways are the preferred option with overspill being handled by bussing because the physical size of the terminal doesn’t provide enough gates. Not the only option.
And what happens when the jetways go ‘tech’? It’s the ‘putting all your eggs in one basket’ syndrome.
I have flown into Heathrow from Miami close to 200 times and used stairs once.
4:51 I’ve boarded without jet-ways at Frankfurt, Hamburg, Moscow, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stansted, Luton, LGW, LHR (notably T5) and London City – how many more do you want? ORIA is about the same size as most large UK regional airports and none of those use jet-ways.
Obviously you are flying in small private jets. I also have flown into all those airports in and out except Luton and have always used jetways.
Do Montego Bay, Kingston, Barbados, Nassau, Port Of Spain and Bermuda next year have jetways? YES THEY DO.
Hawaii – The Big Island. Even has outside check in counters and baggage collection. Covered but no walls & no A/C. They have way more visitors than we do with no problem.
Tom are all the other airport around the World located in the middle of a tropical climate like the Cayman Islands are?! BTW Jetways provide all-weather dry access to the aircraft and enhance the security of terminal operations.As such Jetways provide enhanced access to the aircraft for passengers with diabilities or mobility impairments as they may board and disembark without climbing stairs or the need for specialized wheelchairs….In fact not having Jetways in this day and age is in contravention of the Cayman Islands Bill of Rights!!!!….
In one years time you will be able to compare the building and price of the new Canadian built Bermuda airport with jet ways, and the new Cayman Airport without jet ways. Guarantee the people of Bermuda were not hoodwinked by their Government like the people of the Cayman Islands.
636? The difference between Bermuda and the Cayman Islands? Some sort of classiness that Cayman just can’t pull off or come up with. Bermuda is a world class place. Cayman is a wannna be, nevva evva gonna be, wish they could be backward place in total denial and mostly glad they have Dart but have this love hate relationship with Dart. Caymana Bay and Dart is the only classy thing going on for the Cayman Islands. Betta not have Dart leave. Do have them build the Port if you must have it you up tight control leaders.
3.14am Bermuda does not have feral chickens or slot machines in their Parliamentary building.
I guess you don’t follow any Bermudian news, cost estimates are around 300 mio and no money to pay for it so they signed over control for 30 years. It will be a nice airport, just not something they can afford. The level of political wrangling has been much higher than Cayman has seen. They’ve also been talking about redevelopment since 2008, so around 12 years to complete, if they finish in 2020.
7:39 You obviously do not understand what a public / private partnership is and how it is financially structured. New airports are built this way around the world today. You also do not understand that the Canadian Government guaranteed the price. If the price is over the original cost the Canadian Government will go legally after the contractors and equipment suppliers for the cost overruns. Sorry to say no one in Cayman will go after all the contractors who are building the Cayman airport because there are no penalty clauses in any of the contracts. STUPID STUPID STUPID
The similarities to the piers sound compelling – signing over control for decades for something that may look nice but the country cant afford
7:39 Guess you also did not follow the news in Bermuda that 70% of the workers on their airport site be they welders, electricians, dry wallers, painters, IT people are Bermudans. Ask the CIG what percentage of the workers on the Cayman Airport site are Caymanian. You will not like the answer.
typical civil service…..plus no-one is telling people of the long term cost to be picked up by users thought higher airport charges/taxes….
Only 20% over budget? That’s practically under budget here.
This is just the starting numbers….more claims will continue to come in…expecting about 40% at the end!!
well if they are admitting 20% its probably at least 30% in reality and will be 40% at final account
If they cannot get this right, what in the world makes them think they can get the cruise berthing facility right and without going over budget? I have no confidence in the current Government, they cannot ensure simple procedure is followed and refuse to hold anyone accountable for wrong doings withing CIG.
What’s new? Did Government or the public expect any different with the present management team at CIAA? Albert Anderson isn’t at fault, the Board selected him without proper qualifications and put him there (Lodge brother). Sad though, because it’s public funds – OUR money!!
Apart from the poor design of the baggage area, I wonder if the report includes the 8 change orders for the baggage conveyor system; the destruction and re-build of a portion roof to accommodate the chiller system; rental of mobile restrooms for over a year at $600 per day; rental of curbside and airside tents, among other wastes.
Will anyone be held accountable? No!
All this and still no jet bridges.
I get the whole “stepping off the plane onto an island” vibe is nice, but that gets ruined with a little rain very easy.
I would bet my bottom dollar, the cost of the roofs on those arches, would have given us at least 8 jetways. What a vulgar waste of good money. They are covered with at least 4 layers of materials. First the zinc, then 2 or 3 layers of plywood, then ice and water shield, then the last layer of standing seam. In the name of God, WHY???
The airport is a national disgrace.
Does this surprise anyone? Wonder how much of that airport money got pocketed.
As usual, imported overseas experts not knowing local rules and regulations, coming in with the support of government and it appears, screwing it up. 14 submissions to get the electrics right? Seriously?
Not overseas. Look up the so-called consultant experts and where they are from.
I did. Seems to be driven from USA. Design inspired by the elegant shape of a green turtle. SMH.
When Caymanian Master Electricians begging for work
Yet another monumental Governmental c—up. Those arches are taking forever to complete, for what benefit?. The eventual cost of this project if ever honestly released, will be a lot more than 20% over budget, aided and abetted by Mr Anderson and his management colleagues “upgrading” their offices after the contact was signed – shades of the Port Authority here. I suppose all these serious problems are closely related to the desire to promote local employees beyond their level of competence.
And they want to build the port?!?! LMAO get out a here CIG, you’re drunk.
Could we please just finish AND pay for the airport, schools and sort out the educational system, fix the garbage trunks and have regular garbage pickups, upgrade the roads, sort out the dump, finish upgrades to the roads,build a vocational school, provided health care and support to our elders,…………………before we even think about a cruise ship dock and Port!!! What a mess!!
The only thing the PPM can actually guarantee is that any and all projects they play a part in will run way over budget and time spent to complete. There’s schools not completed some 12 yrs after work began, there’s now an Airport, but wait for the one that will eclipse them all and sink us into eternal debt.
Maybe if they fix the parking ticket machines and not have to hire 3 staff to be available to help customers with parking ticket problems their profits would increase.
Or they could just abandon the kiosks and go with a simpler, more old-fashioned system that worked.
relax…repair man soon come…
Did they downgrade the hurricane glass?
A 20% overrun on a government project is pretty par for the course with every government in the world.
Yes but other governments have serious penalty clauses when projects are 20% over budget.
So the $300m dock will be a $360m block, at best guess?
It will be more when you factor in opportunity costs, bad weather destroying the new port, poor planning and execution. Just where exactly they gonna land the ships while this monstrosity is being built?
Raising my pinky to my thin smile… “One Billion Dollars” Bwahaha… Bwahaha….
I’m betting closer to $0.5B. This will ultimately mean the port will be underwater before Cayman begins to see any ROI.
Given the wave height impact may be underwater in more ways than one!
20% more for the Lodge.
Instead of them big Arches, they should put Jetways so people would not get wet getting on & off the Planes
They have to continue with the ole time English inefficiency! Spending that much money on an airport and no cross arms to have folks stay out of the broiling sun and downpour of rains in a tropical humid place!! Oh no!!!
Far too sensible!
No crap burlap
Well, at least it isn’t 100% over. That kind of thing does happen around here. All in all it seems more successful than most Caymanian projects, and really no auditor has ever been pleased with someone else’s work ever. So congratulations all round!
You know it’s bad when you congratulate tardiness and overspend! #CaymanProblems
It’s called the Moses K PPM PR strategy
What an utter ass you are!!!!!
Yet….
classic cayman civil service explanation…can the bar get any lower around here?
Still better than the $200mio quoted by the Canadians, mind you the two projects aren’t the same, but better to have something we can afford and live with than too expensive and forever paying for….Bermuda went with CCC and will likely spend $300mio on building a new airport, it will be nicer, but unaffordable.
12:50, You don’t know what the hell you are talking about. The structure of the deal was such that CIG would have taken on no new debt and the price would have been GUARANTEED by the Canadian Government. There is no way the project in Bermuda will be $300 million in the end.
12:50, You do realize that during the past 10 years all/ all of the new public airports built in the Caribbean, Europe, Canada and the U.S. have been built with public / private partnerships. By doing it this way, it means that Government’s do not have to take on new and more public debt. But no, not in the Cayman Islands where we seem to have an unlimited supply of money and the CIG does not really care how funds are spent as long as their friends can have a good feed at the public trough.
Dread to think how much the new port is going to cost the Caymanian people while the rich boys continue to stuff their pockets at the general public’s expense. What a disgrace.
Well done AG for exposing the financial nonsense with the new airport.
Only 20%? A big chunk of the $50-odd million initially forecast was in the form of outstanding IOUs for unpaid landing fee receivables from CAL…basically, another “surprise” off-balance-sheet nut reshuffle from CIG/CAL to CIAA was always going to be part of this. Did CAL pay this off and are they current now on CIAA fees? Why are public entity accounts always redacted? Who is getting fired for not following procurement procedure?
https://www.caymancompass.com/2013/01/21/cayman-airways-in-32m-debt-for-landing-fees/
https://www.cita.ky/new-airport-design-more-than-doubles-size
“the consultant’s poor original design and drawings” You think????
But someone had to approve these big curved roofs and glass walls, like someone had to approve the 7 buildings that make up Clifton Hunter, approve the ten new buildings in the brac, approve the curved roofs (they love them) on the vehicle inspection building and the garage at the container port for the x-ray truck that has yet to spend a night in it (how much were those two again?) like someone will approve filling our natural harbour with concrete.
Don’t know why i get so worked up… Carry on.
CHEC & Decco will do all these jobs for way less money, always be on time and at the normal Dart great quality. Just let them do all jobs.
Dartrollian
Not sure if Dart wants to share ownership of the Cayman Islands with anyone!
Driven past Beach Suites lately? Their low-quality website is taking real world guest bookings for February 1st (a week this Friday) at $599/night. Driven by KAABOO?…our FyreFest moment is almost upon us…3 weeks out and only 700 tickets left (like that’s a shortage)! Still (possibly all) $20,000 2-day VIP port-a-potty-serviced tickets available…
Decco are the most proficient builders in the Cayman Islands and once they are teamed up with CHEC they will also be the most cost effective. All government projects should proceed thru the Decco procurement office to make sure we get the best value for our dollar.
How much do you think people like this get paid to write these comments every day?
Right because the Kimpton wasnt a year over schedule and then ripping up and replacing things not even a year later!!
Anyone surprised? It is time that Albert Anderson admit he is over his head. Who “forgets” the deadline for bids which almost led to having another bidding process.
I remember reading some time back if not mistaken that the airport would be within budget and on time. Correct me if I am wrong.
First of all he knows nothing about the aviation business and should not be there running Cayman aviation, I’m not Bias towards him but aviation isn’t his field and I guess he has been learning it. Sad to say he brought over a lot of his coworkers from C&W who also know nothing about aviation and have been put in BIG positions they arent qualified to hold.
Albert’s Amazing Airport!!
Well if ” within budget and on time” means “late and costs more”, then you’re wrong! 😉
Lodge looks after lodge in every decision and favor granted
If only people knew