Former minister alludes to $38M closing cost to exit ReGen project

In addition to the already significant costs associated with the ReGen project, government appears to be facing a $38 million price tag to exit the George Town landfill contract with the Dart-led consortium.

Former Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, questioning her successor Dwayne Seymour on the project in Parliament on Wednesday, dropped the $38 million figure as she sought clarity on the status of the contract termination.

Government spent almost $14 million on legal advice and consultants during the failed negotiations over the deal, according to data released to the Compass under the Freedom of Information Act.

Ebanks-Wilks, as the line minister for the project, would have had intimate knowledge of the matter and subsequent discussions. She announced in July that government was taking steps to terminate the deal.

She had indicated then that “the parties will have no liability to each other except for any contractual liabilities accrued prior to termination of the project agreement”.

At that time, there was no indication that there would be any closing costs.

After Ebanks-Wilks and three colleagues resigned from the government benches in October, she claimed during a public meeting the following month that Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly and Seymour held meetings with Dart without her, while she was still minister, to discuss extending the termination date of the ReGen deal.

She said at the time, “Here we had members of the same government sending different messages. We walked away from that, and the acting premier at the time, Mr. Seymour, circulated instructions to me to communicate to the organisation that the government was agreeable to extending the termination agreement.”

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Ebanks-Wilks, now an opposition MP, questioned Seymour on why the notice of termination for ReGen Project was extended from 31 Oct. 2024 to 31 Dec. 2024.

Seymour said direction to terminate the contract was issued by Cabinet in early June 2024 to the minister responsible for the project – at that time, Ebanks-Wilks – “to find a mutually agreeable way to exit project agreement”.

He said progress had been made towards this, but “it was extended to remedy the situation”.

Ebanks-Wilks continued to pursue the issue, questioning if Seymour, since extending the termination, had discussed ways to “defray” the $38 million with land swaps and concessions.

Seymour asked her to rephrase the question, saying he did not understand.

Ebanks-Willks responded by questioning whether the “mutually agreeable way to exit the project agreement” still looked like a cash payment on termination, or “does that now look like something different in relation to land swaps and concessions?”

Seymour declined any further comment, saying that “these discussions are ongoing”.

Leader of the Opposition Joey Hew then sought confirmation that the $38 million figure was the termination cost.

However, Speaker of the House Sir Alden McLaughlin noted the uncomfortable circumstances arising from Ebanks-Wilks, the former minister, questioning Seymour, the current minister, while Hew, the opposition leader, tried to ask a supplementary question of Ebanks-Wilks.

“This is a rather awkward situation. I’m not sure how to deal with it,” McLaughlin said, bemused.

Hew, who had noted that Seymour was thrust into the post and was not the minister at the time, recognised the challenge it presented to both MPs and withdrew his question.

Editor’s Note: The Cayman Compass is a subsidiary of Dart Media and Entertainment.