Government is seeking professional services to prepare an outline business case and master plan for the proposed development of the cargo port to address capacity issues at the existing facility.
A request for proposals was recently posted to government’s Bonfire public procurement portal. The deadline for submissions is 19 July.
The Cayman Compass has reached out to the Ministry of Tourism and Ports for comment on the RFP and is awaiting a response.
Among the RFP documents is the strategic outline case for the port, released in February.
That report notes that it would cost about $65 million to expand the port in George Town.
An option of moving the existing operations to Breakers has been suggested and appears to be the preferred choice, based on the strategic outline case, which pointed out that the quarries at Breakers would be the least damaging to the marine environment and offer “an excellent basin for a sheltered, deep water port.”
The document noted that the excavated quarry sites are already deep enough to accommodate the larger cargo ships that the port expects to deal with in coming years.
The other options outlined in the document are Red Bay/South Sound; North Sound; East End Sound; and Frank Sound, but it notes that each of these would involve extensive dredging and impacts on the marine environment.
The cost to build a new cargo port at the quarries in Breakers was not estimated in the document, which described the project as a multi-million dollar, multi-phase one.
The strategic outline case noted cargo companies plan to introduce larger vessels, with deeper drafts, which the current cargo piers would not be able to accommodate, and that a larger cargo facility is necessary to ensure future food security for the islands’ growing population.
In February, when the planned project was first touted, environmentalists questioned the government’s plan to either expand the cargo port at its George Town location or move it to Breakers. Shirley Roulstone, founding member of Cruise Port Referendum Cayman, at them time called on the government to clearly outline its plans for the cargo dock, saying that she would like to see the government make a well-informed decision about cargo and present the plans to the public.
The request for proposals also includes environmental notes, the census report and wind and tide data to be used to refine the outline business case.
The environmental notes stated that “there are important environmental resources that are not captured by the protected areas so site-specific information will be important as the [outline business case] refines the location choices”.
According to the environmental notes, there are legal protections for species and habitats that fall outside the protected areas regulations which will need to be taken into account.
“Once the OBC is underway and the consultants are ready to consider specific areas, we can provide more detailed information, such as habitat maps for the marine and terrestrial environment as well as species level information, if required,” the notes stated.
It was also pointed in the documents that the National Conservation Council has delegated the consultation function described the National Conservation Act to the Department of Environment “so a consultation under Section 41 of the law will need to be carried out by the Port Authority before the making of any decision or the giving of any approval or undertaking”.
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