Sub-sea cable may be taken on by private firm

(CNS): Government’s plans to finance a third sub-sea communications cable may have changed, but it’s not clear from Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks’ opaque answer to questions in parliament last week when he said that an undisclosed private sector company had offered to build it and Cabinet was exploring that option.

Ebanks said the consultants hired by the government had costed a project plan, and “an interested party” had made an offer “to connect the Cayman Islands to a multinational system”.

Although he was pressed on the matter, Ebanks said very little about the proposed costly project that would have seen the public purse pick up the tab. When Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart asked the minister for an update, Ebanks said that Cambridge Management Consulting, which was contracted last November, had reviewed previous analyses and assessed potential industry partners and stakeholders.

“Preliminary recommendations and a costed project plan were presented to caucus in March 2024,” he said. “Caucus then instructed further engagement with potential industry partners and evaluation of alternative partnership and delivery models. An interested party has submitted an offer to connect the Cayman Islands to a multinational system. A cabinet paper is being prepared for consideration.”

Although the minister did not identify the interested party that had made the offer, Seaborn Networks made an unsolicited application to OfReg in 2022 to pay for and connect a marine communications cable, which is likely to be what he was referring to.

When Opposition Deputy Leader Joey Hew asked whether the ministry had “accepted or rejected” the consultants’ recommendations, the minister read the formal answer again, even though it did not directly answer the opposition member’s question. When Hew asked if that meant the government was going to enter into a partnership with a private firm instead of doing it themselves, the minister insisted he had answered the question.

However, Speaker Sir Alden McLaughlin intervened and told the minister that he did not understand how that answered Hew’s question, which required a yes or no answer. Ebanks insisted he had answered the question, but added that he did not want to say more because a paper was going to Cabinet and he did not know what would happen “once it gets there”. He said he was waiting on that Cabinet decision before he gave any more information on the project.

The government has faced criticism over the proposed project as there has been little information offered to justify the level of investment required. The CIG has already spent between CI$1.5M and $2M of taxpayers’ money on consultants relating to this project.

Ebanks’ reluctance to answer questions about the project is not unprecedented; he and the ministry have been very reluctant to reveal documents or reports, answer media questions about the proposed project or reveal how much has been spent to date.