Government has refunded $1,008,970 to the Dart consortium for the ReGen project, which Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn called an “inherited obligation” .
However, Ahearn, who is with the Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Ministry, declined to speak further on the refund when she responded to Cayman Compass queries, only saying that the stamp duty and land registry charges related to the purchase of land for the planned ReGen facilities.
“While we cannot go into detail due to commercial sensitivities and the active status of negotiations between the Cayman Islands Government and the Dart Consortium, we can advise that the land purchase was an inherited obligation for the ReGen project,” she added in the emailed statement.
The government’s post-Cabinet meeting summary for 29 Nov. mentioned the refund as part of an update on the Integrated Solid Waste Management System.
No further update was provided on the progress of the project and the Compass was directed to Premier Wayne Panton’s 30 Nov. statement, when asking about the status of the negotiations.
The talks on the financial close of the project are ongoing and the premier has said it was now expected in early 2023, after negotiators were unable to seal the deal before the 30 Nov. deadline set for the close.
Cameron Graham, Dart president of infrastructure, in a comment to the Compass Wednesday, said the project negotiations are progressing.
“As a partner in ReGen, Dart shares government’s commitment to complete the current negotiations and deliver the new solid waste management facilities in a timely manner. We are optimistic that we will be able to reach an agreement on the financial close early in 2023 to be able to proceed toward that goal,” he said.
The project’s long-stop date is 31 Jan. 2023 and Panton, in his statement, said while the project negotiations are “lengthy and complex”, discussions were proceeding at pace.
In March 2021, the public-private partnership between the Dart-led DECCO consortium and the government was formalised under the Progressives-led administration, weeks before the 14 April general election.
When the PACT administration took office it commenced a review of the project as well as continued negotiations with the consortium to achieve the financial close to get Cayman’s sole waste management project rolling.
While those negotiations continue, work on the environmental impact assessment for the project restarted in September.
“The EIA helps to gain a holistic understanding of how the ReGen facilities might affect the local environment and informs the final design and operational details,” a 30 Nov. government statement said. “The Terms of Reference for the EIA were agreed in 2021, enabling baseline environmental assessment studies to commence on air quality, emissions, hydrology, noise and vibration, marine ecology and terrestrial ecology.”
Once complete, those studies conducted as part of the EIA will form the basis of an environmental statement.
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