🗑️ Delays continue for Cayman's national waste management project

The national waste management project in the Cayman Islands, known as the ReGen project, has been delayed once again. Despite a target of early December for a deal to be agreed upon, talks between government officials and the Dart Group have failed to reach a conclusion. The project, which aims to build a waste-to-energy facility, has been in discussion for over 2,260 days since the Dart-led consortium was awarded the bid. The delay has raised concerns about the sufficiency of the current landfill space to manage the growing waste production of the Cayman Islands. 🌴

Although some waste is being recycled, it only represents a small percentage of the rubbish generated in the Cayman Islands. The situation has been worsened by the lack of glass recycling after Dart decided not to replace its ageing glass crusher. During a recent budget debate, Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, the new sustainability and climate resiliency minister, confirmed that she had taken over the talks in relation to ReGen. Ebanks-Wilks stated that the project needed to be "affordable now and in the long term" and that improved communication over the talks was needed. She also did not provide a new deadline for the deal's finalisation. 🔄

Meanwhile, a fire broke out at the landfill on Tuesday night, but was swiftly extinguished by the Cayman Islands Fire Service. Despite the windy conditions, firefighters were able to control the situation and remained at the scene throughout the night to monitor for any signs of smoke or fire. 🔥