A Cayman Islands medical supplies company confirmed Monday it plans to drop its lawsuit against government, saying officials have now agreed to honour an order for 500,000 lateral flow test kits.
Blue Water Medical Supplies had filed a writ in the Grand Court earlier this month alleging government had pulled out of a contract to buy the COVID-19 Flowflex Rapid Antigen Tests for a total cost of $1.275 million.
Randy Merren, of Blue Water, told the Cayman Compass, Monday, that government has now agreed to honour the original purchase order.
“They have agreed to pay us the funds and we will go ahead with the purchase as originally planned,” he said.
Aside from a possible costs hearing, the court action is now expected to be withdrawn.
The order of test kits for the Ministry of Health was cancelled a week after Cabinet approved a separate order for 1 million lateral flow tests with UK based company Crown Agents. Summary notes from the Cabinet meeting of 2 Nov. indicate government agreed to pay $3 million for the tests form the UK company – a higher per-unit price than the order with Blue Water.
At the time, the writ was filed, on 19 Nov., Finance Minister Chris Saunders told the Compass he been uncomfortable releasing funds for the original contract, with Blue Water, based on the details he was given.
At that time, Merren said his company had been awarded the contract after a tender process conducted by the Ministry of Health and Wellness and had ordered the tests from a supplier, based on the purchase order issued by government. He said the company could have been left out of pocket and with a damaged reputation with its suppliers as a result of the impasse.
Speaking Monday, he said he was happy that government had agreed to honour the contract and was looking forward to delivering the tests.
It was not clear, as of Monday morning, if government also plans to proceed with the order of a million test kits from Crown Agents. It is feasible, given the widespread use of the tests, that both orders could be filled.
The Compass has reached out to Deputy Governor Franz Manderson on the issue, and is awaiting a response.
Use of the lateral flow COVID-19 tests – which provide results within 30 minutes – are considered key to keeping children in classrooms and workers on the front lines as the virus sweeps across Cayman.
They are particularly important in schools, where students are required to test every day for 10 days in order to attend class, if one of their classmates has tested positive.
The new protocols requiring visitors to take three lateral flow tests during a 10-day trip, could also mean that more kits are required.
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