Government considers ‘land swap’ with Dart over Barkers parcels

Government is negotiating a land swap deal with Dart Enterprises in an effort to expand its holdings on the Barkers peninsula.

Talks over the long-held goal of creating a proper publicly-owned national park at Barkers are being rolled into discussions with the developer on a number of other fronts, most significantly, the moribund agreement to transform the George Town landfill into a waste-to-energy plant.

Government may owe the Dart-led consortium up to $38 million to unravel that contract, former Sustainability Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks indicated in parliamentary questions last week.

A deadline of 31 Oct. had been set to terminate the contract, which was finally abandoned in July when government decided it had become too expensive after seven years of negotiations. 

That date was pushed to the end of the year and the latest announcement suggests it will now be extended further and the scope of negotiations with Dart expanded.

Government issued a press release Tuesday announcing a Memorandum of Understanding to negotiate with Dart on three matters:

• The National Roads Authority Agreement
• Integrated Solid Waste Management Systems contract, also known as ReGen
• Barkers peninsula – meaningful advancement of the Barkers National Park concept.

A civil service negotiation team, led by Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and involving multiple ministry chief officers, will conduct the talks in order to ensure “seamless transition between administrations,” the release stated. 

The move, to have senior civil servants lead the negotiations, appears designed to head off concerns that a minority government is involved in complex, financially impactful talks with Cayman’s biggest developer in the run-up to the election in April 2025.

The reference to the NRA agreement – a previous deal between Dart and government that included the construction of a four lane highway from George Town to West Bay and paved the way for the development of the Kimpton resort – is understood to concern several million dollars in duty waivers owed to the developer.

There is no clear link between the three issues covered in the MOU, which are distinct matters that need to be negotiated between government and the islands’ biggest private sector company.

Barkers swap deal?

Dart currently owns the bulk of the land on the Barkers peninsula, including the majority of the beach front property. Though it has long been known as a ‘national park’ government owns less than half of the land, largely in the interior.

Given that the other two items to be negotiated in the MOU potentially involve substantial sums that government owes to Dart, it is not clear how it could leverage the negotiations to acquire additional land at Barkers.

The release states that the MOU will, “define a plan and mechanisms for creating Barkers National Park, facilitated through an exchange of lands”.

It doesn’t say what lands government is putting on the negotiating table and what the comparative value might be. It is logical that without a cash settlement the exchange would need to net out in Dart’s favour.

Much of that remains to be determined, the Compass understands.

Ebanks-Wilks, the former Sustainability Minister, appeared to have wind of the negotiations when she raised the issue in parliament last week.

She asked her successor Dwayne Seymour to confirm if any land swap agreement was being contemplated as part of the winding down of the dump deal, which she indicated could cost $38 million.

At the time, Seymour said negotiations were ongoing and he could not comment.

That still appears to be the case and Tuesday’s press release largely indicates a commitment to negotiate on this and other issues. It states “the committee will guide the exit process for that agreement”.

There is still no new plan for the landfill, which is expected to run out of space in the next few years, and the negotiations are not linked to that.

Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly indicated that resolving the issues in the MOU swiftly is a priority and set a goal of closing agreements on all three matters by the end of February.

“Discussions on the matters contained in the memorandum have been ongoing for many years and we know it is in the best interest of the country and our people to bring them to mutually agreeable closure.

“The agreements have spanned numerous governments, and we wish to achieve clarity and not pass on ambiguity to future governments.”

Dart Chief Executive Officer Mark VanDevelde welcomed the move saying, “We appreciate the Premier’s and Cabinet’s willingness to engage with Dart to address these outstanding commitments and new agreements.

“We look forward to working with the Deputy Governor and the Cabinet-appointed team on efficient and mutually beneficial outcomes.”

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