🚮 Cayman Islands Government's $1B waste project riddled with errors

The Cayman Islands Government's (CIG) attempt to establish a new waste management system has been marred by a series of errors, according to a leaked report from the Office of the Auditor General. The public-private partnership with Dart, known as ReGen, was intended to be the most expensive infrastructure project in the islands' history. However, the auditor's report reveals that the project was mishandled from the start, leading to a lack of value for money and the eventual withdrawal of the government from the deal. 📑

The report, titled 'The Integrated Solid Waste Management System for the Cayman Islands', details the numerous mistakes made by the government throughout the project. These include a failure to set clear objectives, inaccurate data, and a misunderstanding of public-private partnerships. The government also wasted millions of dollars on consultants and failed to properly regulate and inspect the facility. The report concludes that the project ended up being far more costly than a conventional public contract would have been. 💸

The auditor's report was leaked after Sustainability Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks announced that the government was pulling out of the deal. The government now faces the challenge of starting over, more than twelve years after it reneged on a tender awarded to a conventional contractor in 2011. The report is expected to be officially published, with redactions to remove commercially sensitive information, in mid-August. 🗓️