Dart to build cruise berths
(CNS): Speculation that the Dart Group will be behind the construction of the cruise berthing facilities in George Town Harbour was finally confirmed this morning by the leader of government business. A Memorandum of Understanding is to be signed with DECCO(Dart Enterprises Construction Company) in preparation for the negotiations of the contract. McKeeva Bush said once again that, as a PFI, the project will not cost the Cayman Islands government anything. DECCO, he said, will in turn be negotiating directly with the cruise lines to collect a fee for use of the berthing facilities to cover the costs of the estimated $150 million project. Bush said this was both a unique and urgent development.
“Cabinet approved the selection of DECCO Ltd. as the potential development partner to finance, design and build the cruise-berthing facility and cargo enhancement project,” Bush said at a press briefing on Wednesday morning. The LoGB explained that the cruise lines will also form part of the MOU as they will, in effect, be the client of the developer and the organisations that will ultimately pay for the project through extra fees over and above the passenger tax.
Government is hoping to have the facility operational by 2012 in order to accommodate the new generation of mega cruise ships, which currently do not have the Cayman Islands on their future itineraries.
Cline Glidden, backbench MLA for West Bay who has been spearheading the project in conjunction with the Port Authority Chairman Stefan Baraud, detailed the process. He said everyone on the select committee had independently arrived at the conclusion that DECCO was the best choice. Aside from meeting all the requirement criteria in terms of experience, he also noted that it was the only developer that would not need to seek an external partner to help with the financing. Glidden was one of four politicians on the select committee that narrowed down the twelve ‘expressions of interest’ to four, which were then submitted to Cabinet. However, he said that the four politicians had only one collective vote.
The announcement comes in the wake of considerable controversy about the development of the facilities. Firstly, there have been a number of questions raised about how the selection was made — an issue which the auditor general has said he plans to investigate once a contract is signed — as well as questions over the commitment to do an environmental impact assessment.
Explaining the situation in more detail, Glidden said that an EIA would be done and that there were genuine concerns about the need to protect Seven Mile Beach during and after the development. “The EIA will be done to World Bank Standards,” Glidden promised, adding that it could not start before a developer was selected as the method of construction would influence the environment study.
Speaking to CNS, Glidden said that the cruise lines, the developers and the government would all be wearing their environmental hats when it came to this development as it was in everyone’s interests to protect Seven Mile Beach and South Sound. Now the MOU was signed, the developer would be starting the EIA and was doing so without any guarantee of a successful contract outcome, he said.
Although Glidden said he could not speak for the Cabinet members, who would make the ultimate decision about the facility once the results of the EIA were known and what environmental degredation it would be prepared to sacrifice for the facilities, he suspected any government that wanted to be re-elected would need to protect Seven Mile Beach. He also observed that the cruise lines, and in this case, particularly given his massive investment in Cayman, the developer, would also have an interest in protecting the beach and the environment as a whole.
When it came to the issue of the selection process, Bush emphatically deniedthat the government had not been transparent about the decision and attacked the auditor general. He said that these were unique circumstances where government had to act fast and accused Dan Duguay of being involved in a conspiracy to undermine Cayman’s economy.
The AG had made it clear that all government projects over $250,000 need to go through CTC regardless of financing arrangements. However, the AG has confirmed that he will only do an audit once a contract has been signed, and given that government has merely entered into an MOU, he said he will, in the meantime, be simply collecting information.
Bush said that, given the developer’s interest and investment in Cayman already, he was an obvious choice. “My concern is that the money stays in this country,” he said. “When we have someone who has roots here as well as the interest and wherewithal to do the project, why would we just take it and give it somebody else?” Bush asked as he justified government’s decision to bypass the Central Tendering Committee.
It was also confirmed that government, DECCO and the cruise lines will, over the next few weeks, negotiate the exact terms of the contract to prepare for signing as soon as possible in order to allow construction to begin within the next few months.
Category: Headline News
For all the bellyaching by some, this is the best-case outcome on this project for our Country. Most developers cut corners, stall, reorganize, or go broke when a massive project like this encounters unforseen challenges or gets in trouble. They are all trying to make money on the deal. That is not going to happen with Dart Group behind it. These folks are well organized, local, and cash liquid. Ken Dart is doing more than trying to make money in Cayman. He is building a legacy. Why we would even want anyone else is beyond me.
Please get a life there is alot of local contractors that had buid big projects in Cayman long before there was a Dart Construction and I don’t see any buildings from those big projects falling down and sure they had cost Thousands of dollars to build as well, so tell me what makes you think our Local contractors can’t build that Berthing Facility also and do a very good or should I say a better the job than your good old buddy Dart?
Once cruise ship Finger Piers are extended far out into the George Town Harbour, will Jackson Point Tanker moorings be replaced with a Berth also or will the oil companies be forced to relocate due to the proximity of the cruise ships to the oil Terminals.???
I certainly hope that whoever is responsible for approving the construction of the Cruise Berths will also take in to account that some Cruise ship Masters may refuse to Berth their vessels whilst Tankers are berthed at Jackson Point. I know of cases where some cruise ship captains dont even want to see an aluminum dinghy anywhere near their vessels.
Do any of the persons on the committee have the experience with Port construction or even know what International Port standards entail?????
Assuming the Cruise Ship Berths is a done deal, will Dart also provide the several large Tugboats that will be required to assist with Berthing/Unberthing and standby assistance, or will this service be quietly passed to another of Macks buddies.
I travelled on the QM2 into New York. She was escorted into the harbor by a small pilot boat then turned herself around and backed into her own berth without any help from Tugboats or any other assistance.
With modern day ship design including bow thrusters and side thrusters why would there be any need for a tug service?
I really don’t understand what all of the fuss is about. There is to be a brand new port here in Cayman, at no extra expense to the Government.
From what I can gather from all of the information put forward in recent weeks, if a port was not built here in the next couple of years the cruise ships will stop coming. That was an ultimatum put to the Cayman Government. Now correct me if I am wrong, if this country did not have it’s tourists and the financial sector is dwindling what other revenue would it have?
As for Dart "owning" half of the Island, who sold the land to him in the first place? Somebody was quick enough to take his money and make a nice little earner. If it wasn’t Dart who bought it, what would Camana Bay look like now, another soulless housing estate with homes only used a couple of times a year. Not the fabulous construction it is now. Other Islands would give their eye teeth to have a Camana Bay and be proud of it. How many of you who "dis" Dart and its companies have wandered round on a balmy evening soaking up the peace and tranquillity it offers, also how many of you jump to the freebee evenings which are put on for locals and their children (Halloween for example) set in a safe environment or use the cinema (not your regular fleapit, which are found on other islands). Many times I have walked through Camana and found children having a wonderful time running in and out of the water fountains, while the parents sit around on the benches knowing their children are safe.
Not all people on cruise ships want to go to the beach when they come and visit the island, elderly for example want to sit in the shade or safely wander around a town, sit down when tired (which at the moment in Georgetown is virtually impossible). Camana Bay has this for them.
In answer to a previous comment, from what I can gather Mr Dart has been a permanent resident here for years and has put a great deal into the local economy.
So remember one thing, Cuba is opening it’s doors soon and will be offering exceptional facilities for tourists and if Cayman doesn’t keep up with the times it will be goodbye to the tourists hello ghost town.
CNS, the headline is wrong. The M.O.U. does not mean that Dart will build the Port, it only means that they (CIG and Dart) will exchange confidential information and that they will keep it secret.
Other than that, the M.O.U. is a worthless piece of paper, committing neither party to anything and they can cancel it at any time without obligation.
I wonder if Mr. Dart is single…
Have a safe and pleasant weekend!
To answer your question "YES" and he is also straight!
Gand Cayman belongs to DART. Period. It does not belong to the people anymore. For those of you who are blind or just ignorant, like the other posting said, Cayman is being sold bit by bit, one job at a time.
Spotts Dock tourist welcoming area included, right!?
Also, a little touch up for the Brac while ya at it please.
Let’s do this thing.
C. I. now becoming D. I. I just hope that any and all impact on the environment is studied. I don’t see that happening, but one can pray. Diving out west of the island has been in decline for some time now, this will simply hasten it’s demise.
Cayman, you are being sold out piece by piece, parcel by parcel, job by job. When is anyone going to see this?
We will never see anything that is happening as long as Mack is putting the blindfold over our eyes.
It appears that most of the West Bay voters wear blinkers on voting days so that they only see straight ahead and not off to the sides. Until the blinkers are taken off and the West Bay voters can once again see around them we just have to take whatever is dished out to us.
Remember Macks problem with the AG is about him losing money if the Port project dont go forward. He did not say the country would lose money.
Ok, so it was all a bit rushed. True. What we should have done was tell DECCO on the side that they were going to get the contract, then wait 6-12 monthstwiddling thumbs, pretending that the proper procedures, etc were being followed, then the big announcement. In the meantime DECCO could have being doing the background work and preparing for the groundbreaking.
Would everyone be happy then?
I don’t actually support a berthing facility as I can’t for the life of me see the need, the majority of voters (who chose to elect the UDP) obviously do support it however and since it is going to go ahead it seems, I’m at least glad that i can be confident that it’s going to be done properly.
There was alot more transparency (published adverts for expressions of interest etc) in this case before the signing of the non-binding MOU with Decco than was the case of the secret exclusive MOU signed by previous govt with Atlantic Star.
I think the Auditor General should have investigated that case as as well. Why didn’t he? Seems like there was merit even based on the public perception. When did Atlantic Star start buying up all the property around the port? Could they possibly have known something beforehand that others didn’t?
Lets not forget that both PPM and UDP said they want the piers. Some people just have their egos hurt as they would rather it be their statue on the dock.
Why the divide with this decision? Isn’t Dart a Caymanian?
Weren’t you all saying a few weeks ago that Caymanians must look out for Caymanians?
Caymanians, please decide what you want. No other prospect(s) should have been considered in the first place as there is a Caymanian that meets the qualifications.
Don’t hesitate to let me know if my above statement is full of ***t, I am simply trying to determine what decision would have pleased the masses.
Maybe awarding the contract to a foreigner …..?…….LoL.
His Premiership Mr. Mac, remember the Israelites prayed for food? Well, good sent Manner from heaven……. I leave this to the Christian community to reveal what transpired after a couple days of Heavenly Manner.
Have a good day all!
When and how did Dart receive his status and how long has hebeen on Island?
As a previous poster has asked, when did Mr. Dart become a Caymanian and under what circumstances?
"Well, good sent Manner from heaven……. I leave this to the Christian community to reveal what transpired after a couple days of Heavenly Manner".
The word is "God" vs. "good" and "manna" vs. "Manner". I’m not sure what this has got to do with the issue though. Are you saying Mr. Dart is a "Godsend" to save us in our time of need?
So much for McKeeva’s "better way forward". Cayman is on the way to becoming Dartland.
D evelopment
A ll
R ound
T own – even channels in the north sound.
_____________________________________
D elivering
A ssistance
R ight
T ime
Apparently Mckeeva Bush, Cline Glidden and Rolston Anglin think that we are so naive and stupid that we will swallow their clever spin on the revenue angles. There is no such thing as a free lunch and if it sounds too good to be true it usually is.
Under a democracy, the people get the government they deserve. To quote the late Miss Louise Bennett, things can also go from worse to "worser-ra". So you didn’t like the PPM Government, so you decided to jump from the frying pan into the fire! This was akin to "cutting off your nose to spite your face". Unfortunately you dragged the rest of the country with you into the fire, which is your right as you were in the majority (just barely in actual votes). If you survive the burn, I hope that you are taking notes, because you clearly can not rely on your memory.
Did this announcement surprised anyone!?! DECCO will be more of a project manager/developer than the actual builder. I just wonder what the "real" price of this project will cost the people of these Islands in the long run compared to the perceived, quick benefits.
Una dam fools una better keep quiet and hope that dart stays here and pull us out of this mess that them doggone Nitwits put us in!
Hear! Hear! This is the most intelligent thing anyone has posted on this topic so far!
I guess regardless of how much information is provided, people still endup drawing their own conclusions.
Where did it say signing of contract in the story? It said MOU!!! Further, how do you commence an environmental impact study without engineering specs? Damn what ignorance! with this kind of genius, why would the government every waste time and consult the masses!
Mac, please continue your good work, maybe one day some of the posters will see the benift.
While I have no problem with the fact that DART "owns half the island", I do have a problem with them being awarded a job of this magnatude with so little experience as a construction firm. The DECCO name has been around for merely two, maybe three years. They don’t, as far as I know, have any marine experience, other than the canal works at Camana Bay. Which incidently was all contracted out. Should we maybe look to someone with more marine construction experience?
I agree completely. There is no way DECCO have the experience to complete this size of marine project, across the board, from the staff to the senior management. Forgive the pun, but there is no doubt they will be completely ‘ out their depth’.
They will certainly need to introduce some very experienced people into the business. I do however, think the Government are right to give something back to Mr Dart, a man who has certainly heavily invested so much into the Cayman Islands, and has the country’s interests at his heart.
I just hope at the senior management, designer level they bring in the right people to complete this project. It’s far too important, to allow amateurs to run with.
I am sure DART will do what they always do…get the best folks to work on it with them….and they have the money to get the very best.
I think this was a no brainier decision anyway…not sure even why the Port Authority and Government even went through all this process….
Caymanian company with money in the bank and real commercial interest at risk opposite the port and down the road…no brainer!
Now let’s hope it is as fine as Camana Bay.
Mac has already agreed with Dart who are the subcontractors are. Remember Misner who got Royal Watler terminal job in mysterious way is also involved in this. The whole episode is very very mysterious. That 5 member committee is a joke and an insult to the intellegence of the Caymanian public and was set up to rubber stamp mac’s decision. In that, there was no one with experience in port operation, engineering, accounting and environment. I don’t have an issue with Dart doing the job, but proper procedures and environmental impact study should be carried out before anything else. The Caymanian public needs to be rest assured that their interest is well protected. This is why the Auditor General’s oversight is important in this matter.
It would also appear that even the Port Authority Board itself was by-passed in this process. And that is the legal entity which owns the Port, and controls its operations!!!
Another blatant case of a total disregard for our own Laws and established procedures, by our own elected law-makers.
What are we to expect from lesser mortals?
Ahhh… Stefan Baraud and Woody Foster are the Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively of the Port Authority Board. They were on the selection committee. How exactly does that amount to the board being by-passed?
The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Port Authority (UDP appointees) were involved. Of course we know that the UDP does not appoint anyone for their independent thinking.
Instead of the Cayman Islands government havingthe Dart Group finance and build the berthing facility, I would much rather see the Dart Group be persuaded to sort out the landfill. The landfill is an environmental disaster waiting to happen and an existing problem. The berthing facility is not necessary and can be delayed.
Dart already offered to buy and fix the landfill but his offer was refused…..
Am delighted to see who has the contract for the construciton of our port. If anyone can do it, it is the Dart corporation. Go Dart!!
Dartlandia- a small island near Cuba owned and operated by a consortium.
Ha, I was thinking Dartmore!
I see the comment of the timing of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) coming up over and over again.
The key is the middle word “Impact”. You HAVE to do some design first prior to doing an IMPACT study otherwise you have nothing to study the impact of.
The standard method is to do an initial design, then do a study of that design’s likely environmental impact. The result then has two outcomes. One, the impact is greater than the benefits of the project and the project is stopped or radically changed, or two, the design is tweaked and developed some more and then the studies are again reviewed to quantify the mitigating impact. The EIA is, in this second scenario, used to inform design changes and mitigation methods.
An EIA is therefore not something that one can do prior to any design contrary to opinion. It is merely a decision making tool for valuing the trade off between environmental damage and economic activity. No more, no less.
In this case, given the idea that it may impact our primary beach has been mooted it should be done as a part of the project process and I am glad to see that the Darts and Government are planning to do one.
Congratulations Mac on a job well done. Here’s praying that all will go according to plan and that in the end there will be positive benfits all around from this development.
Yea right, "congratulations Mac on a job well done", and that well done job is another step towards The Cayman Islands becoming The Dart Islands.
So what you idiot! Dart’s the only one that can pull us out of this mess!
HEY, u calling me an idiot? Who u think u is? How dare u call me an idiot? U want me deal with u? By the way my name is NOT mckeeva so how dare u call me an idiot? you idiot!
Well I am sure there will be "positive benifits" for some people from this.
The only problem is that there will be no real benifits to the people of Cayman
My biggest fear with this is that all the local companies besides those few that can provide some labor will be left out. Dart never buys product on island anymore. Everything from furniture, fixtures, flooring, and other typess of product that can be bought locally is sourced by DECCO overseas and purchased through one of the local companies(on paper only) that is set up to avoid giving anyone on island a chance to get a slice of the pie.
I gave up bidding for jobs at Camana Bay a long time ago because they just send out requests for quotes so that they can be politically correct or strictly for immigration purposes when it comes to labor.
I just hope this time around government will demand that DART utilizes on island companies and I don’t mean those ‘paper’ ones that have their official owner as DECCO Limited.
Your comments are right on the money … spoken by one who’s also watching Decco’s little tricks. Watch how H-U-G-E Decco is going to get in the next five years. Goodbye Arch and Godfrey, McAlpine, Hadsphaltic… and others. There’s nothing … I mean nothing they won’t now expand into — plumbing, flooring, mechanical, electrical … Twinkle twinkle little star — the sky’ll be the limit.
Dart like many international businesses has got to think of its bottom line. Why would they pay a local contractor or business twice the rate they would pay somebody overseas to do the same job. Whilst it is nice to put some business to the local companies, the mark up of the typical Caymanian business is extortionate, whilst those charged by competitive overseas companies is much less. That is why Dart and every other company uses the cheapest option.
Caymanian shops and businesses need to realise there is a depression on and while in the past we may have paid through the nose to keep a local trader in business, nowadays few people can afford to pay the kind of profit margin they want so have to seek alternative and cheaper suppliers abroad. if the local businesses got witht the program and provided competitive pricing and value for money, then they would get their share of the pie. Unfortunately they still demand the huge profit margins they did when times were peachy. They should be triming costs and margins like every other supplier in the world.
I take great umbridge with your comments 08-21. I am one of those local suppliers that have been undercut by one of the DART "paper" companies. I have on island exclusives for certain products in the Cayman Islands. I went as low as ten percent profit over freight and duty in order to get the job and keep my business alive DART or should I say DECCO went to my supplier’scounterpart in Canada in orde to bypass us to get product here at ten percent less
He who feels it knows it, until you feel it don’t make comments like these. Caymanian business have suffered and many of us have sacrificed everything. Remember when there is no competition we will all suffer.
10 percent markup on what base price? The supplier in Canada is likely much larger than you so they are getting a much much better deal from the manufacturer. So even if DART paid your "cost" they may be paying double what they can get it for from another supplier. If you can’t compete, don’t blame the buyer.
So, you sell cement?
"the project will not cost the Cayman Islands government anything"
except all the future revenues for the porting of cruise ships. Does this alos include the $ they currently receive from the cruise lines? So effectively Cayman will get less per cruise tourist than with no dock.
I suppose it’s like giving the Ritz a waive on duty didn’t actually cost the government anything in outlay, just future revenues.
This deal does not suprise me as obviosly no one will build the dock for free, just wish poticians were more honest on the true cost.
I understood the press conference to say that it wasNOT going to impact our current revenue stream from the Head Tax. What is being traded off would be the money the cruise lines now pay Bodden Shipping would go to berthing fees. Usually these projects also use money from rent of commercial space on the port as well as concessional operations to pay the loan.
It is estimated that theships pay $4-5 per passenger to the tender company or over $6M per year. With enough commercial rent and concessions that can easily get to the $15-20M per year to pay for the quoted $150M construction cost.
So, yes it can be free to the Government without impacting the current revenue to Government.
When you couple that with the local economic activity of trucking, labour, work permits, construction, food, import duty, fuel, etc it is highly likely that Government will be in a net gain on this one.
The other point CG made today on radio that I did not realize was that the cruise lines were shifting ships from here to add the new large ships in the western caribbean…some 150,000 passengers to go was what I think he said. So this maybe more of a defensive move than I had thought before.
However, I agree with you on the main sentiment…we should not be giving private investors waivers unless they bring some public good directly to the people or you are trading off future revenue for nothing.
Thanks for clearing that up
Surprise!!
You look for the bidder who is giving you the most value, the arguement of money stays in Cayman or goes out is neither here nor there.
This is a sad day in Cayman.
The largest contract in the history of our development is granted by a board consisting of 4 politicians, none of whom have any experience in port construction.
The details of the 4 competing plans were not even made available for public scrutiny.
No Environmental Impact Assessment was done prior to the contract being awarded.
There was no involvement of the Central Tenders Committee.
Just out of interest CNS should publish what percentage of the retail property in Cayman is controlled by the DART group of companies. (The new port, half of George Town, ALL of Caymana Bay and others).
We are selling our souls Cayman…and the sad part is we dont even know if it is to the highest bidder.
Cayman people, take what unna get! This is what unna wanted, well take that. He & his close associates, buddies, colleagues & family get richer while we get poorer, & we are losing our country at the same time. TAKE WHAT UNNA GET!!!!!!!
‘unna’ is not a word. go learn proper english
Thanks for the correction! The poster meant "unah": a commonly used local dialect word in Cayman which means "you all"…similar as Americans use "Ya’ll" or the British use "ello thare" as often heard on BBC.
Let’s remember this site is not about an English Language test eh (Canadian) 🙂
Cherio, aight, lata
So true!
I will avoid the obvious comment about DART getting this contract.
But another question. What happens to the tender operators and their businesses? Are agents like Bodden Shipping going to lose all their cruise ship contracts?
In the words of Buck Owens – "Here we go again!"
Excellent choice!
"[Mr. Glidden] accused Dan Duguay of being involved in a conspiracy to undermine Cayman’s economy"
Are you serious?! Questioning the UDP about why it has not followed the proper procedures means that you are enemy to Cayman? This is pure demagoguery.
This is a relief
It would have been crazy to do it the other way around where the study might influence the method of construction.
yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Surprise, Surprise!
Good choice. I’m sure Dart will do an outstanding job.
I’m happy to see that he port development has gone to the Dart group. His project at Camana Bay speaks volumes as to the capability of this entity. Dart City is second to none and we can expect the same high standards with the port as well. I say, congrats to the Premier for making such a decision and remember, that there are people out there who will always oppose you just for the sake of it.
This is one project that wont he dirupted… Need to have Dart on all the projects! Whilst at it, sign over the contracts for the schools too. 🙂
Wow, what a surprise…not.