Government has been granted more time to continue its negotiations with the Dart-led consortium to exit the ReGen contract, the Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Ministry said on Monday morning.
Cabinet has approved a request by Minister Dwayne Seymour to extend the deadline until 28 Feb. for the termination of the project, the name of which has reverted to the original Integrated Solid Waste Management Systems (ISWMS) project.
“The extension grants the Government and the Dart-led consortium additional time to complete the necessary legal requirements and negotiations to exit the project agreement,” the ministry statement said.
This is the second extension for the project termination and makes signing the exit deal more time sensitive as the 30 April election draws near.
Previously Cabinet had extended the negotiations to 31 Dec. 2024 after the government and Dart-led teams were unable to meet their 31 Oct. deadline.
In the statement, Seymour said that Cabinet’s decisions to grant the extension “enables Government to ensure that the exit from this agreement will be efficiently executed”.
“The Government is committed to ensuring that the termination of the contract is mutually agreeable and we have already made significant progress in our ongoing negotiations. I thank the Cabinet for their decision to approve the extension, and we will work diligently to find solutions that deliver a timely and beneficial exit,” Seymour added.
Government spent almost $14 million on legal advice and consultants during the failed negotiations over the deal, data released to the Compass under the Freedom of Information Act has shown.
It was announced in July last year that government was taking steps to terminate the ReGen deal.
In December, government said it had approved a memorandum of understanding with Dart Enterprises Limited “with the goal of advancing, resolving and creating agreements” on three matters – the National Roads Authority Agreement, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Systems contract, and Barkers peninsula.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, who is head of government’s negotiating team for the MOU, in response to Cayman Compass queries late last month, said that the negotiation team had a preliminary meeting with Dart Enterprises.
“It is anticipated that other meetings will take place early in the new year. Regarding the question concerning period election sensitivity, that period begins when Parliament is dissolved, which is expected to be 1 March 2025. It must be underscored that no decisions have been made on land swaps or concessions,” he told the Compass via email.
The ministry statement made no mention of the MOU or those discussions.
Editor’s Note: The Cayman Compass is a subsidiary of Dart Media and Entertainment.
Related Videos
So the government spent 14M dollars to get nothing done. It would have been better to spend the money on recycling
Now that the Ministry of Procrastination has given up on burning our garbage, exactly what steps have they taken to identify a new site to take over from Mt Trashmore which is rapidly reaching the end of it’s noxious life.