The barge loaded with scrap metal from the George Town landfill looks set to remain off Seven Mile Beach for some time as the tug towing the stockpile is down for repairs.
A Dart spokesperson, following Cayman Compass queries, indicated that the tug towing the barge “is currently awaiting repair, as parts are on order”.
It is unclear how long the tug will take to be repaired.
The barge has been spotted along Seven Mile Beach for the last week and has been seen moving occasionally from George Town to West Bay.
Its prolonged appearance piqued the curiosity of readers who reached out to the Compass asking what was happening with the vessel.
Dart has been clearing scrap metal from the landfill since November 2019, when a consortium of companies, led by the group, was contracted to begin clearing the backlog of legacy waste, shipping out the scrap metal to recyclers in the US and across the Caribbean.
The removal of the scrap metal is a crucial part of the National Solid Waste Management Strategy.
As of February this year, more than 12,000 tons of scrap metal have been shipped from Cayman since April 2019, as officials at the Department of Environmental Health look to clear the backlog.
Meanwhile, discussions on the financial close for the ReGen project remain ongoing as government has said it is committed to completing the process no later than 31 October.
The long-stop date for the project will be no later than 31 January 2023, three months after the proposed financial close date.
A long-stop date is an established practice in contract negotiations; if the necessary conditions have not been completed by this date, the agreement is either automatically terminated or one of the parties has the right to withdraw.
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Good article! Thanks! Perhaps you could inquire why the barge is being towed continuously burning a lot of diesel fuel in the process. Would it not be cheaper just to anchor it till the tug that is set to take it out is repaired?