Dump deal not done 2,057 days after Dart won bid
(CNS): Five years, seven months and 18 days after it was selected as the preferred bidder in October 2017 by the PPM government, the Dart Group has still not signed the deal that will see it roll out the long-awaited waste-management project, known as ReGen. Premier Wayne Panton announced Monday that the parties have agreed to push back the “stop date” until the end of July.
Since taking office in April 2021, the PACT Government has been scrutinizing the agreement signed by the previous administration just weeks before the general election. Panton has said on a number of occasions that there were significant problems with the deal that the Unity government had signed, and he intended to review the agreements and ensure value for money.
The true costs of this project have yet to be revealed but it is currently estimated to be in the region of $1.5 billion.
However, the talks have dragged on well past the original financial close date and have continued to prove challenging. Despite the optimism of the premier, who has suggested the end “is in sight”, this is by no means the first time that a target date to seal the deal has come and gone.
“We are at a critical stage in contract negotiations,” Panton said in his latest statement released yesterday. “Both the government and the Dart-led consortium are working hard to finalise the last few details remaining to secure financial close.”
The premier said the government and Dart had recognised that these remaining details wouldn’t be wrapped up or the necessary approvals obtained by 31 May, the previous date when officials had said the deal would be signed.
“Both parties have agreed to push the long stop date to 31 July,” he said. “The length of the project negotiations reflects both the complexity of the project and the project team’s desire to ensure ReGen is done right. This project includes the construction of infrastructure we expect to deliver decades of sustainable waste management to the people of the Cayman Islands. We know how urgent our solid
waste management challenges are and that we have limited capacity on the current site.”
Panton said the government was taking its “obligation to address the challenges in a fiscally responsible, timely and sustainable way very seriously”.
To date, Dart has been working on capping and remediating a significant part of the George Town landfill. This was a key goal of the islands’ largest landowner and a significant motivator for the company’s decision to bid on the project after the efforts to move the dump to Bodden Town failed almost twelve years ago in 2011.
But in the haste to cover up the unsightly pile of rubbish next to its flagship development, Camana Bay, there is now only a small area of the old dump left for tipping the excessive amount of garbage that Grand Cayman generates every day.
As a result, this area of the landfill is expected to run out of space before Dart completes the proposed waste-to-energy facility where, in future, the country’s rubbish will be burned.
The environmental impact assessment, which is not expected to be completed before the end of this year, is underway. The previous government waived the entire planning process for the project. But even after the deal is signed, work on that part of the facility can’t begin until the EIA is finished since it will inform the design and engineering of that project.
Meanwhile, there has been no advancement in the development of a composting area at the site; recycling has declined rather than increased after Dart chose not to replace its glass recycling machine, and no work at all has been done to begin trying to reduce the amount of goods we consume or reuse what has been generally discarded.
In March, Auditor General Sue Winspear revealed that the Cayman Islands produces five times the global average of rubbish every day. In a report looking at Cayman’s progress in meeting the UN development goals, she said that none had been made on the government’s own targets to cut the amount of trash going to the dump every day, and there are almost no strategies in place to do that.
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Category: Environmental Health, Health
Any fool can see that Dart is waiting on POM to reclaim power in two years! Apparently they even refused to meet with some of the present Cabinet minions
Ren Gen dirty laundry “reported” and DART buys other newspaper to control the media. Wow, Billionaire monopoly game? Can we ask for some trains on this game board, he already has the Hotels!
Awesome. Still a chance for this headline to say dump deal signed sealed and delivered in record time next week then?
I remember a headline in the Compass about 5 years ago that said something like 25 years of just talk about the dump. Make that 30 years.
A few key elements/queries:
1. There was a bid process for mitigation of the dump.
2. Dart and other entities bid upon the document.
3. Dart won the bid.
4. If there wasn’t a concise project document outlining the parameters of the dump mitigation, then what did all the companies bid upon?
5. If there was a project document that was bid upon and Dart won the bid, why isn’t it being enforced?
6. If there wasn’t a proper study as to what was needed, and just a general open-sourced agreement with Dart, why was it characterised as a “bid”?
7. In the real world, a project guide document is created with measurable parameters, detailing the scope of work, timelines, and costs associated. Companies in that industry bid upon the project, and the lowest bidder “wins” the bid. If that wasn’t the process here, then we are back to square one, trying to coax Dart into a series of actions which benefit us as much as Dart.
8. Sounds to me as if we should rebid the process, and acquire a contract with a company that wants to do the work. Oh wait, you say…….. Dart already WON the bid. Fine. Enforce it. Get it done. Get the dump mitigated with future sustainability and recycling to carry us past the next several generations.
Anything short of that seems an abject waste of time, just as we’ve been doing for decades. Fix The Dump Guy, are you still there? This is your moment.
Any one with a brain would not have tried to do business with Mr. Dart, a known wheeler-dealer with a background of dirty dealing with different governments of different countries after The Cayman Islands caught his eye when he was refused entry to Belize, and later got palsy-walsy with some weak-minded folks running the Cayman Islands. They loved the promise of getting oodles of money so he came on down to help the folks running the Cayman Islands. It has been said that he is now a billionaire. Wow, those folks that run the Cayman Islands must be very generous!
In all fairness, Mr. Dart was a billionaire before he came here. Our first Premier courted him and escorted him into our lives. Mr. Dart has built and done some good things, but never forget that his motive appears to be his own best interests. No problem with that, except where the interests of the islands conflict.
I believe this is one of those cases.
In all fairness, Mr. Dart can, will, and has always done what he says he can do. CIG can not, will not, and never has done what it says it will do. And the problem here is that it does not want to pay what it will take to get it built and functional. Caymanians stopped him from moving and fixing the dump before and they are stopping him from fixing it now. Get used to it. We all know you can’t blame yourselves so don’t….But.
So, there wasn’t a bid process, bidding, acceptance and award?
Agree that Dart comes through with that of which he is contractually obligated.
What’s the significance of 2,057 days?
Dart gets things done, and done on time. The government is out of its depth on this.
can’t we just burn everything in an incinerator and then put the dirty smoke in a hole in the ground?
Sorry, but I have to tell you’re not very bright, to say the least.
Thats essentially the plan. (With a lot of details.) They’re just arguing over how much is it going to cost (and some of those details I would guess, like composting and recycling before burning) and who will pay for it how.
FOI qn: How much has CIG spent on legal, technical and accounting consultants on this project?
Millions and counting
$30m-$50m I heard
If you cant make it work in California, how can it possible work here?
https://recyclingtoday.com/news/anaergia-rialto-1383-bioenergy-feedstock-bankruptcy/
Very different plant and concept than what’s being proposed here. Look up waste to energy plants in Denmark for a better comparator (albeit bigger than the one proposed here). The technology and company you referenced were for the conversion of organic waste to “renewable” natural gas, which could then be burned for power or utilized for other ancillary products.
Yes, that is true but I am also involved in a WTE facility in the UK and the issue will always be sufficient feedstock to generate enough power to make it viable.
notice who all the government projects projections have gone through the roof! When are the people going to get a dividend payout on OUR MONEY! We about to lose our houses and investments because banks here want to juice the vig! Cayman needs patriots running this country, not dweebs.
Boy, you fool.
Start the petition to change the Elections Law. Ban convicted criminals for a start!
Can’t make up these headlines. My country signals to all big investors that they are bush backers ill equipped of Knowledge, morals, business savvy and the island is here for the taking. If i ever get elected people are going to be imprisoned for corruption! No exceptions!
Gross CI government incompetence:
Government mismanagement
Negligence by government
Administrative incompetence
Government neglect
Gross government Negligence
Gross indifference to human life and health
Willful disregard for public health and safety
List of governors of the Cayman Islands in the last 25 years:
Peter Smith (5 May 1999 – 9 May 2002)
Bruce Dinwiddy (19 May 2002 – 28 October 2005)
Stuart Jack (23 November 2005 – 2 December 2009)
Duncan Taylor (15 January 2010 – 7 August 2013)
Helen Kilpatrick (6 September 2013 – 5 March 2018)
Martyn Roper (29 October 2018 – 29 March 2023)
Jane Owen (21 April 2023 – present)
What have they all done to prevent or mitigate the CI government incompetence? What their achievements are? Other than changing T-shirts and running for one disease or another that can’t be prevented in the CI.
Don’t forget Anwar Choudhury!
#bringbackanwar
I didn’t include him for he wasn’t given a chance to make a difference.
He was given a chance, actually, he was going about it the wrong way, acting like a politician, and in the process upsetting both the politicians and the civil servants. Cayman can’t have a ‘dynamic Governor getting stuff done’. That would be the role of the Premier of an organised government that was elected on its full ticket.
He was too busy hosting expensive parties and busting the budget (alongside allegedly bullying staff).
#freeanwar
Agree with your sentiment; I am also frustrated. However, we are allowed to self-govern, and none of this is the role or purview of the Governors. If it were, we’d have direct rule, and that’s an entire other kettle of kippers.
Precisely the reason we require direct rule now.
LET THIS SINK IN:
In March, Auditor General Sue Winspear revealed that the Cayman Islands produces five times the global average of rubbish every day.
In March, Auditor General Sue Winspear revealed that the Cayman Islands produces five times the global average of rubbish every day.
In March, Auditor General Sue Winspear revealed that the Cayman Islands produces five times the global average of rubbish every day.
THIS IS CRIMINAL. THIS IS PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.
100% completely misleading. Cayman has 600,000 air arrivals a year, or approximately 10 times the population. In the US, that would equate to 3.5 billion visitors to the US in a year.
Plus add the short-term 1 million cruise ship visitors.
The average family and/or person in Cayman doesnt put out 5 times the amount of trash than a US or UK resident.
Nope.
Every country with mass tourism takes the influx of visitors into consideration when designing a Waste Management System.
Most civilised or even developing countries have full scale RRR or at least some meaningful recycling programs, while Cayman is doing absolutely nothing.
If CIG is unable, unwilling to implement a proper waste management, they must restrict the number of visitors, cruisers including, otherwise the waste will swallow this island.
Hire Japanese, they do offer the establishment of proper waste management to other countries- you won’t recognise your island in one year.
You can’t argue with the activists using facts.
Yup. The study was classic lying by numbers like the covid projection model that caused havoc for ZERO reason.
Mathematics fail.
The 600,000 stay over tourists are here for an average of 6 nights each. Assuming the average resident is on island for 340 days of the year it’s the equivalent of adding just above 10,000 full time residents to the population. Do the same for the cruise ship tourists who are here for 8 hours and it’s more like adding 3,000 people to the full time population. Not insignificant, but not five times the population.
None of this detracts from the complete ineptitude of the sitting government to push this forward. It’s clear now that the proposed solution to incinerate the waste won’t be in place before the current dump site runs out of capacity. So where is all the waste going to go in 3-4 years’ time?
It’s not about the time here but their impact. Tourists generate a lot of trash. From the single-use toiletries to the half-eaten groceries to the left-behind snorkel gear to the Burger King bags.
80% of landfill waste is construction and institutional waste. Eg. 100% of Lacovia once demolished will be going onto the pile later this year.
Unless you are going to require the tourists to pack their garbage home with them the problem remains.
Does that “5 times the global average” take into account all the cruise ship passengers or is it based on population?
Doesn’t matter, is not to blame or target this or that, if we produce 5 times the average is what matter, regardless of if it is from locals or tourism.
Except that Dart did not present a winning bid document. They were gifted an agree to agree deal in final minutes of Unity administration which didn’t go through procurement. PPM were hoping it might get them re-elected and they were wrong. PACT should dissolve the negotiation for bad faith and re-tender the opportunity to the biggest waste management companies worldwide. Do things properly for once.
Thank you. That was my suspicion. I don’t have proof of it. We are SO far down the road from the numerous bids and agreements.
I think it is worth taking the time to do it right, once and for all, to benefit the Cayman Islands. Dumping the waste in lined pits should never be on the table. True, sustainable, ongoing waste mitigation and recycling. Yes, it will take work.
DART is stalling to force the project to fail and force the dump to Bodden Town. Place your bets now
That’s exactly why he stopped crushing glass. I bet glass container volume is a significant fraction of the total daily input to the dump. Let’s see who’s going to win this arm wrestle.
and his airport.
Has PACT signed it then?
Signed what?
Read
I can read. Can you?
Blame Sir Alden. He sold us a bill of garbage just before the election.
thank you cns.
a truly shocking indictment on the incompetence and failures of cig and the civil service.
Wrong conclusion. The developer hasn’t delivered a deal that PACT can endorse. Non-delivery is not a customer problem. Only a fool would walk into a car dealership and ask how much cars cost. It depends. Do you want a compact, sedan, SUV, truck…power windows, sunroof…yet that didn’t stop Alden and gang from doing just that in their final minutes of power, except worse – on the assumption that the dealership might want to get into making cars. Time’s up. PACT should scrap this developer for non-performance and bad fit, put a red X against their future nominee company applications, and start over with a transparent re-tendering process.
Wrong. If the deal was so bad, why has it taken successive governments so long to act and maybe give the contract to someone with a better deal. Of course, the better deal would likely go to one of their friends/relatives, who would under- or non- perform, leaving tax payers to foot the bill. Maybe we should review the CCTV tapes to figure this out. Oh wait ….