The deal, the largest ever reached between the government and a private sector entity in Cayman Islands’ history, will cost the Dart Group more than $100 million in cash outlay, not including construction-related investment. All together, the Dart Group is committing to US$415 million of direct investment over the next five years, US$200 million of which will be spent in the next two years. The Dart Group anticipates spending more than $1.2 billion over the next 20 years.
There is no debt, sovereign guarantees or cash outlay required by the Cayman Islands Government as a result of the deal.
Elements of the deal include:
*Dart to give government 110 acres of land for a new solid waste disposal facility in Bodden Town and to construct the first phase of that facility;
*Dart taking ownership of the George Town Landfill, leading to its closure, capping and remediation;
*Dart to extend the Esterley Tibbetts Highway north from its current terminus at Raleigh Quay to Batabano Road in West Bay and create at least one more feeder road from the highway to West Bay Road;
*Government to give Dart about 2,500 feet of West Bay Road starting around Raleigh Quay Road and going north, leading to the closure of that section of road.
*Dart to give government 26 acres of land for usage on the Esterley Tibbetts Hiqhway;
*Dart to give government 70 acres of land in Barkers for inclusion in the National Park;
*Government to give Dart about 70 acres of land near Salt Creek;
*Dart to give government approximately 150 acres of land in the Central Mangrove wetlands in the middle of Grand Cayman;
*Dart to provide $18 million of funding for community projects, including land for schools, affordable housing, education facilities and district parks;
*Dart to redevelop the former Courtyard Marriott hotel, creating a new four or five star hotel with more rooms, conference facilities and other amenities;
*Dart to commence construction on the first ‘for sale’ residential phase of Camana Bay by the third quarter of 2011;
*Government to rezone certain Dart land holdings, including about 40 acres of mangrove buffer at Camana Bay;
*Dart to get 100 per cent abatement of development fees and import duties in relation to construction activities on its Camana Bay, Starfish Point and West Bay properties, up to a maximum present value of US$44 million, or up to US$54 million if the costs of remediation of the George Town Landfill exceed current project estimates. Once the cap is exceeded, Dart to get 50 per cent abatement of development fees and import duties for a further period of 15 years;
*Dart to get a 50 per cent rebate of hotel taxes levied pursuant to the Tourist Accommodation (Taxation) Law for all hotels it develops or acquires and renovates or refurbishes for a period of 10 years after each hotel is opened or renovations or refurbishments are completed for any hotel permitted or acquired within 30 years from the date of execution of the definitive agreement;
*Government to bring environmental tort reform legislation relating to the George Town Landfill;
*Government to provide Dart with assistance in permitting through various boards and agencies, excluding the Immigration boards.
Please see much more detail on this story in Thursday’s editions of the Caymanian Compass….
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Sounds like quite a deal. Closing West Bay Rd for their hotel – unacceptable! The people should not stand for this.
The scale of this agreement is staggering. There are many contentious issues which appear to have just been swept aside. The key point however is that Dart are a business, with their mission being to make money. This deal, whilst bringing many benefits to the island, will generate Dart significant financial returns, not least with the hotel tax rebate. I fear for this island and its people that one company can have so much power over the local government.
OH NO…progress.
Crowd grumbles response…ROBBLE..ROBBLE..ROBBLE..ROBBLE..ROBBLE
oh ya…I almost forgot….OH NO…THE SKY IS FALLIN
ROBBLE..ROBBLE..ROBBLE..ROBBLE..ROBBLE
This deal is really staggering!
Based on just the above, who in your opinion, is really the winner in the long term?
Cayman Winner: (AGREE)
Dart winner: (DISAGREE)
About time. Let’s get Caymanian people back to work and let’s put tenants in the empty apartments. Let’s get this economy going. Now approve the East End Seaport and the Shetty hospital and let’s get these going too. Thank you Dart group.
I’m sure the environmentalists will find something to complain about despite the fact that this deal provides a solution (finally!)to the Mount Trashmore problem,the biggest environmental hazard in this country.
This is most likely the deal that will put Cayman back on the map but it’s a shame that so much potential future profit to the Government will have to be sacrificed. It’s clear that in this situataion a sigle private entity is bailing a whole country out althought he’s getting a hell of a lot in return…Well that’s just business I guess…
Christ forbid that a business deal could benefit both sides! There are no free rides in this world, and yet some people (ahem, MacG) are complaining that Dart will benefit financially and that’s just WRONG! 🙂 Wow! Really? Is money all you think about? Look at what Cayman is GETTING from Dart. Just moving Mt. Trashmore is a HUGE benefit, one that the gov’t has been unable to do for HOW LONG?! It’s the biggest blight on the island, one that sullies the drive along the bypass and is shameful when cruise ships pull in to GT. Seems to me that most people think that as long as the expats don’t benefit too much, it’s okay for them to be here and serve their masters. Let’s call it what it is: Racism. The sometimes not-so-veiled anti-expat mentality expressed by Caymanians is getting old and tired and standing in the way of real progress.
There doesn’t always have to be a winner and a loser, my fellow humans. Yes, Dart will make money, but the quality of life in Cayman will go up, people will get jobs, the bypass extension (another project that would NEVER have happened with the Cayman government due to costs) will be a welcome improvement.
There are intangibles and tradeoffs in everything in this world, aren’t we all tired of the head bashing?
Ya…what he said…
Very well put JFK…
JFK has a good point about Mt. Trashmore… If you’ve ever been anywhere in GT or up West Bay Road when the vile stench of the dump wafts south or north west you’d give anything to run and hide. Moving this disgusting landmark is a blessing for tourism and locals. With all the budget battles, the government would never have been able to make this happen in a reasonable period of time.
Hey,
I have nothing against Mr. Dart. How many Caymanians does he have in his employ again?
But if the man keeps purchasing land don’t you think that soon and very soon Mr. Dart will be the first Prime Minister of the Cayman Islands. By golly the man has the dough to at least make a down payment on the trillions of dollars it will cost to break away from the UK!
Get the conversation going, its been too boring so far….!
gotcha!
@ JFK: No one is saying the Dump doesn’t need to be moved. But think about it for a minute. We have had the dump for decades and nothing was done about it. DOn’t you think that if our forefather’s weren’t swayed into thinking that this would be a future bargaining tool to get an upper hand on the country itself and it’s people. We need the dump dealt with, our Govt. could have started it 20years ago and we would have been out of the mess today and wouldn’t need to trade it for so many tax cuts! Why can’t we agree to say we will give you a ‘tax-cut’ over 50 years versus NO TAX at all. We need the tax to pay our debts back to entity supplying it to us. Why should any of our policies, laws come under revision for the sake of one. I will bend to the hand of the giver, but only ever so slightly, and not over that far.
We can have a mega deal with Dart, but we have to insure that it is a balanced deal, and one that MUST be put to public opinion pole. Let the Dart Corporation pay for the election, and have nothing to do with it’s supervision. Give the constituents the opportunity to have some say in what is going to happen to their future and the future of the generations to come. We cannot jump into this blindfolded we must have some time to digest, investigate and it wouldn’t hurt if the Dart Group also provided funding to make the documentation on this entire deal simplified for ALL and sundry to comprehend. This legal jargon terminology is what is confusing our people. IF we are being considered on all levels and this is the best deal possible, then those supporting this should give the people of these Cayman Islands the opportunity to have their say and make it count. Therefore a public vote of all registered voters.
There are no guarantees in life, we don’t know if all that is promised in this agreement will come to a reality. How many Govt. deals have we had in the past that were never fulfilled? Many I tell you. This deal needs more investigating, and that is one aspect of the deal that the in the public are uncomfortable with. The people have the power to put in a ‘no confidence’ notice on the Premier, and one has to further query why isn’t that being dealt with as well?
We do not throw pearls to the swine, it is not our mentality and that is where we are being taken on this ride to erode everything that we know as being right for our country.
We have to seriously ask ourselves how did we get here this fast? IN DEBT?
IF our civil servants want to do something and have a voice take a stand and demand a pay cut from everyone. They can hold their own vote to take a pay cut. But claiming you won’t take a pay cut, will not aid you tomorrow, it will hinder you.
Do something to cut the cost and it can start from anywhere. IF we drop the cost of living we will also help this country out of it’s debt crisis. There are other areas we can tap into, other avenues, don’t just give us the first man on the scene, let’s take two extra weeks, or less, review this megal deal, see where we can cut in the civil service even if that means civil servants standing up and taking a pay cut voluntarily. Go to your mortgage providor and tell them you have had to take a pay cut so they will have to cut your mortgage to accommodate your change. Thank those civil servants participating in the temporary pay cut relief effort.
The premier don’t have time for his own poor suffering local people but he sure can allocate much of his time for the rich elite and famous. O Yes, I can tell you that!
Regardless of how many development projects are completed Caymanians can NEVER GET A JOB inside those buildings. No wonder there is so much hatred.
The development is NOT to help Caymanians at all.
Dear Dubai,
This is a direct response to your post about the fact that Caymanians will never find a job in those buildings.
I had a nice chat with my gardner the other day, a Jamaican immigrant with 5 sons, of whom all are employed on the Island. I myself am an immigrant from South Africa and have now lived and worked in many countries all over the world and the one thing I can tell you of each place I lived in is that there was never unemployed immigrants. Immigrants want to work and better them self, hence why they moved from their country of origin.
Maybe you should not be so negative about being Caymanian and instead take the opportunities you have here on Island and from your Government and make something of yourself. You can be what ever you want in life.
I also think your fellow Caymanians will not appreciate the negative image you are portraying of Caymanians.
I have met many very successful Caymanians. ALSO Success and happiness is not measured by what Job you do or in which building your work. You can be happy in your self doing any job and living the lifestyle you chose.
I hope you take my response the right way. Take that negative attitude and turn it to a positive outlook. Remember only you can change YOUR future.
As a young caymanian with a young child, it is vexing to see some of the responses on here. Crabs in a bucket, blatant ignorance, short sightedness, envy and small minded negativity is all I read. So sad to read those words from Caymanians. If you all had your way my daughter would have been born under a thatch roof, chasing iguanas for food and drinking water from a well.
If you were not sucessful in life, stop looking to blame the rich foreigner that lives in the big house. Go back to school, learn a skill, start a business and above all else, put real a investment into your children and educate them! Stop the ignorance. Let your children and grandchildren atleast have some chance to live a good life. Thats what the rich foreigner parents or grand parents or great great grand parents did for him at some point.
Mr Bush is doing everything in his power to save Cayman and stimulate the economy and he knows who to talk to. We are extremely lucky to have the Dart Group and Mr. Bush both. I hope Mac gets re-elected again. Cayman needs him.
Dont think we need him? Its so easy to sit back and say he shouldnt be doing this and he shouldnt be doing that. You tell me what other options he has to ensure continued economic growth when Govt is broke.
The headline should have read: Cayman Finally Gets a Break.