🗑️ Cayman Islands Government pulls out of waste management deal with Dart-led consortium

The Cayman Islands Government (CIG) is in the process of withdrawing from a deal with a Dart-led consortium for the management of the country's waste and the construction of a waste-to-energy facility. The decision was announced by Sustainability Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks in parliament, stating that the project was 'untenable'. The Dart consortium was chosen as the preferred bidder in October 2017, but the discussions for the ReGen waste management project have lasted almost seven years. The government now aims to find a more affordable solution for the future. 🚮

There were several unresolved issues in the deal, including risk, liability, indemnity, local company control, and insurance problems. The power purchase agreement between Dart, CUC, and the government regarding the electricity generated by burning the rubbish was also problematic. The government had anticipated that the energy costs in the power purchase deal would be around 15 cents per kilowatt hour, but that had not been agreed. The minister revealed that the government could risk breaching compliance with the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility if it didn't raise fees to cover this project's cost, which would be too much given the current rate of inflation. 📑

The government is now reviewing the policy and the original strategic outline case for it. The Department of Environmental Health has stated that the landfill can be used for another five or six years, provided that there are no major hurricanes. The government plans to apply the lessons learned and tender a revised project that would meet government needs. The minister assured that the government would release as much information as it could going forward. 🔄