Work on the Environmental Impact Assessment for the multi-million dollar ReGen project at the George Town landfill is on hold, Department of Environment Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie has said.
Ebanks-Petrie, speaking at Wednesday afternoon’s National Conservation Council meeting, said the project has been paused as government continues its discussions with the Dart-led DECCO consortium to finalise the financial close for the project.
“We were informed several months ago now (the project) has been put on pause while the parties to the public-private partnership that is ReGen, that sort of encapsulates the whole ISWMS project… they need to sort out some issues and some contractual issues. So whilst that discussion is going on, the EIA has been paused. So we’re basically waiting for that to resume,” she told the Council.
Last month, Auditor General Sue Winspear confirmed to the Cayman Compass that her office was carrying out an audit review of the contract between government and a Dart consortium on the stalled ReGen project.
The public-private partnership was formalised in March 2021 under the Progressives-led administration, weeks before the 14 April general election.
The PACT government, after having taken office, was expected to finalise the financial close on the project by the 30 Sept. 2021 deadline.
However, in October Premier Wayne Panton said the deadline had been “at best, an ambitious target”.
Parties involved in the ReGen project have been locked in talks, and there is no indication when those will end.
A government spokesperson told the Compass on 9 Feb. that “discussions with the contractor are continuing and further updates on the project will be provided as we are able to do so”.
There have been no further updates on the project.
Deputy Opposition Leader and George Town North MP Joey Hew has been calling for government to address the financial close of the deal. He had noted that ongoing delays in the project have left him worried about the safety of his constituents.
Just this weekend, there was a report of a surface fire at the landfill.
East West Arterial EIA
Meanwhile, Ebanks-Petrie also informed the NCC that the National Roads Authority has issued a tender for consultants for an EIA for the East West Arterial.
“We’ll shortly be, I think, working with the NRA and whatever consultants are hired to develop the terms of reference for that EIA,” she added. “And obviously part of agreeing and finalizing those terms of references is a mandatory public consultation. The public should stay tuned for notices and notifications about when that public consultation will happen on the draft terms of reference. Of course, we will announce it and try to make it as widely known as possible.”
The tender, or request for proposals, was issued earlier this month on thr government’s procurement portal, which is seeking one professional environmental consultant to perform all requisite technical studies and analyses to complete an EIA for the extension.
The bidding exercise will be open until 5pm on 14 April 2022.
The NRA, as project proponent, is proposing the construction of a 160-foot-wide, multi-lane highway from Woodland Drive to Frank Sound Road. At its eastern end, the proposed route includes an 80-foot-wide southern connector road.
“The footprint of the proposed road will result in the removal of 174 acres of undisturbed terrestrial habitat,” the Environmental Assessment Board noted in its scoping opinion last November.
Back in 2016, the National Conservation Council required an EIA for the proposed 10-mile-long road as it would “traverse a substantial area of wetland habitat along the entire length of the southern perimeter of the Central Mangrove Wetland”.
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