After nearly 48 years in the heart of George Town, Cayman’s cargo port could be moving out of the capital and into a new location away from the waterfront.
Tourism and Ports Minister Kenneth Bryan, addressing a public consultation meeting on the proposed project Wednesday night, said government decided to move forward with the port facility project and is seeking public input to inform the decision-making process on recommended options for a new port.
Bryan maintained his position that the existing facility on the waterfront is “approaching the end of its functional lifespan“.
The current infrastructure, he said, is unable to support the projected increase in cargo volumes required to sustain the island’s growing population over the next decade.
“The cargo port shares the space with the cruise operations, forcing it into a two-part shift system. Again, as the volume of imports increases, this arrangement will become unsustainable,” he said.
Harold Westerman, the sector lead for ports and marine terminals at consultancy firm Stantec, speaking at the meeting, described the project as complex.
Westerman said a lot of research went into the projections and the most viable options.
He said there were 12 possible options for the project. Expanding the existing location was not considered among them.
He said a substantial expansion of the existing port was not a “viable” option as it would require more land and would run into the issues of sharing with cruise ships and road traffic congestion.
He said the proposed list of options was whittled down to four possible sites, which are seen “as technically viable sites” for the new cargo port.
The quarries at Breakers, which have been identified as having the least environmental impact, were previously determined as a strong option and were discussed at the meeting.
Westerman presented three plans for Breakers, as well as concepts for a West Bay location using undeveloped land in the North Sound, offshore at Frank Sound and offshore at Bodden Bay.
The Strategic Outline Business case listed options as Red Bay/South Sound, North Sound, East End, Frank Sound and the quarries at Breakers.
The three Bodden Town options, Westerman said, would connect to the East-West Arterial, which could help with traffic flow for the container trucks.
The port project itself, he said, is projected to take 10 to 15 years and in the interim, the existing port site will be expanded as a short-term measure while the new port moves ahead.
“Upgrades are urgently needed,” he said.
He said no decision has been made on which option to pursue “but now we have options”.
He said no cost estimate could be presented at the time.
Westerman, responding to a question from the public, said, that the short-term expansion at the existing port could take four to five years while the main port project is constructed.
He said there will still be a procurement process and an environmental assessment process before work can begin.
The existing facility is running out of space and the wealthier the island gets, the more imports will follow, he said.
Expansion would be so “substantial in George Town”, he said, that it just didn’t appear to be a reasonable option.
“The island has been growing quite rapidly,” he said and the population is projected to grow to 250,000 by 2074, according to projections from the Economics and Statistics Office.
Westerman, responding to a question from Bryan, said the current port can handle very little additional population growth and would max out at a population of 133,000, which is projected by 2039.
Population growth remained the main concern coming out of the consultation. One member of the public also expressed concern about the state of democracy on the island and asked that the deadline for the consultation period for the project be extended.
This week the Ports Ministry re-posted the 2022 Cargo Port Development Project strategic outline case ahead of the consultation.
It estimated that the total project at the harbour facility would cost from $25 million to $30 million “once pilings, steel concrete, labour and other materials are factored in”.
It also outlined another $35 million for land, as well as a new warehouse and mechanic shop and removal of the old structures at the Cargo Distribution Centre.
The business outline case on the project stated that the quarries at Breakers offer an “excellent basin for a sheltered, deep water port”.
“The excavated sites are already 50 ft draft and once completed, would serve no other useful purpose for the islands. To use them for a port would only require them to be connected together and then to the sea. There are no Marine Reserves or Marine Parks where the channel would need to go,” the business case stated.
Community concerns
Fisherman Nicholas Foster objected to the proposed areas in Bodden Town, which he said is where he does 50% of his trips.
He called building the port in that area a “terrible idea” as it is teeming with conch and fish and is a “very sensitive” reef area.
Photographer and environmentalist Courtney Platt said expanding the existing port would be a better option than taking on the damaging environmental impact of moving.
He said population growth needs to be controlled and attributed growth to community issues such as crime.
Stran Bodden, Tourism and Ports Ministry chief officer, responded to concerns that the ongoing development plan consultation should be completed before deciding on the port project.
Bodden said options have been proposed and the government is looking for feedback from the public.
“We realise that any example of a port is not going to be ideal, but what we are saying is, looking forward, looking at population growth, there is going to be a need for additional infrastructure,” he said, adding that the port proposals are done in tandem with the national development plan.
Westerman said none of the proposed projects would accommodate cruise ships.
The second consultation is set for Thursday, 1 Aug. at 6:30pm at Church of God Chapel on Shamrock Road in Bodden Town.
An online survey is also being conducted until Friday, 2 Aug. to get the public’s input on the project.
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