Revised port deal missing
(CNS): The interim government and the civil servants involved have not been able to find any further agreements that supersede the recently leaked framework agreement with CIG and CHEC signed by former premier McKeeva Bush. Following claims made by Alastair Patterson, the project manager on the cruise berthing negotiations, that there is another agreement that improved substantially on the deal published on CNS last month, the tourism minister has called on him to reveal the newer agreement. Patterson, who was put on the job by Bush but paid as a government contractor at $15,000 per month, has not shown the current minister or any of his staff the deal which he said he re-negotiated.
Patterson told The Caymanian Compass that the document signed by Bush on every page in March 2012, with China Harbour Engineering Company was only a starting point. He said that when he joined the negotiations in May 2012 he re-negotiateda much better deal that government could have acted on that would have been good for Cayman.
According to the current tourism minister, Cline Glidden, that mystery deal is nowhere to be found. Glidden said the new government has no idea if it exists, if it has been signed or what it commits the Cayman government to. CNS contacted Patterson, who stated that to the best of his knowledge the revised deal was not signed.
“It was in the final chapter of negotiation when the project was scuppered. It was not intended to be signed until negotiations were finalised and our instructions were on conclusion of negotiations all documents were to be approved by the ministry, the Port Authority Board and the Central Tenders Committee,” he wrote in an email.
Patterson said he does not have copy of the revised agreement that he claims he re-negotiated. “As far as I am aware all documents, including the draft business plan, are in the hands of either the Ministry, the Office of the Premier, the Port Authority or their attorneys. All of the CHEC technical data, of which there was a substantial amount in terms of design, specifications etc, would most likely have been returned to them,” the project manager stated.
Glidden said that the new government met with Paterson at the start of this year during the process of collecting all existing information relating to the port which could help shape the necessary strategic business case that government will need in order to create a Request for Proposal package for the actual port tender.
The minister said that Patterson made no mention of this substantially different second amendment during the meeting earlier this year and had told the new government that he had only become aware of the signed framework agreement, which is now in the public domain, part way through the negotiations. Glidden said Patterson had told Cabinet that it had been pulled out by a member of the CHEC team when talks stalled over a sticky issue and it was pointed out that the issue had been settled in the framework agreement signed by the then premier.
Glidden said the new Cabinet would very much like to see whatever other agreements exist, especially given that the Cayman government is currently assessing the potential liability it may have following the ending of talks with the Chinese after the FCO forced Bush’s hand. The tourism minister also queried why, when Patterson’s contract lasted to February of this year and he was still employed and paid by government, he did not give the ministry this new document.
However, Patterson implied that the new government, which was part of the past government, knew all about it
“If not all of the intrinsic details which were in discussion at the end, they knew what was going on and had been briefed in some considerable detail at the UDP caucus in October,” Patterson told CNS. “The Ministry, the Office of the Premier and the Port Authority were all up to date with both the PA Chair and Deputy Chair having been involved in discussions. At the end the negotiations included the entire PA Board,” he said.
Patterson also denied saying he had redrafted the original agreement in his interview with the local newspaper but that there was a negotiating team, including the ministry, the Office of the Premier, the PA, KPMG and law firm Maples and Caulder.
“That team offered recommendations which were approved or otherwise by the Ministry, The Office of the Premier and the PA and implemented,” he added. “Cabinet also had a briefing on outline information of the status at that time as well as a detailed briefing on the Spotts Landing improvements including working drawings, specifications and programme.”
Patterson said he had briefed the current minister and his chief officer in January about the negotiations to date involving the amendments to the framework agreement, which CHEC had agreed to renegotiate, but he admitted that he did not talk about the signed deal as he said he believed it was off the table.
In addition, Patterson denied being paid $15,000 pcm as he said he was contracted on a fixed fee and in the end he was paid a total of CI$127,500 for almost 10 months work.
Category: Politics
I just wonder if there is a case for the Government of the Cayman Islands to sue Bush and the Chairman of the board for this.
If CHEC pursues this and sues the Cayman Islands Government using this current agreement I believe the Cayman Islands Government due to teh myriad of ways this was done wrong may have a case to sue Mr Bush and the Chairman of the board see that they wrecklessly signed this agreement and seemingly purposefully.
Have a case yes, balls, no.
Here is a note to all potential "consultants" in Cayman.
You will get lots of money working for McKeeva providing you give him the answers that he demands (the facts be damned).
Of course you must make sure that you get enoough money to pay for the damage to your reputation.
This revelation exposes the lies of Cline Glidden, the entire PNA and the port authority that they new nothing about everything that was going on. Our government representatives are a spineless bunch of Sgt. Schultz's from Hogan'a Heros – "I know nothing" "I know nothing".
On the 22nd of MAY it is time to place honourable, ethical and transparent representatives in government who will be accountable to their people and this country.
Welcome students to Dishonesty 101. This course is the prerequisite to "Screw your country 201", and required for students wishing to continue to "Pad your wallet 310". XXXX
OMG !!! Through them all out for heaven's sake. How blind do they think we are????
Down on the ground, maybe, but only after having been given an outrageous amount of we Caymanians' money to do some questionable stuff for Bush. There are no "cheap shots" involved here, just very expensive ones which we taxpayers have to absorb.
The latest agreement was written in Chinese, and McKeeva was able to take it with him when he left office by telling everyone it was some of his crayon drawings.
The only side benefit to there being no documentation is surely the pesky Chinese cant have a multi million dollar claim to compensation for their efforts to bring the sheme this far. XXXX
It's really not fair to blame Alastair. But as usual the court of public opinion would rather prosecute the messenger than the people who should be held responsible. Alastair is exactly the type of person who should be assisting with the negotiations of contracts at this scale. Had this beenproperly put out to tender he would have gotten this country a good deal. Instead of flogging him now it would be best to put him at the forefront of the entire tendering process.
12.55 you are either a joker or totally ignorant of the skill and experience/ expertise needed to negotiate a $200 million marine construction deal. This "project manager" does not qualify.
Bit more concerned as to who he thinks his employer/client is. Surely if he was paid by CIG its CIG, irrrespective of who the individual office holders are, and if that is the case, why hasn't he cooperated fully in bringing the issues and the agreements to the attention of the current administration? You are paid that kind of money to negotiate the deal, say publicly that you had progressed the deal to a far better state than the publicly available copy, but cannot produce even a working draft of it or point to where one can be found? Really?
He deserves whatever he gets and more.
If he was any kind of perdon he would have said sorry but I can not becone a part of this because I can see this is not beingdone via proper protocol.
You yourself said it that if it was done right he would have gotten the country a good deal, then why did he not back out when he saw how it was being done. I am sorry but if you lie down withdogs you going to get fleas.
Is the point…..
1. Who is going to re-elect an MLP who obivously isn't capable if he can't recall being in a meeting where such a fundemental matter is discussed and then embarassed himself by claiming not to know about it.
2. Had the present government contiuned with the plan the island would be a whole lot closer to ground being broken
3. The normal charge for these types of consultantancies are at least $150 per hour (try calling a few and asking them how much they cost), which would put the bill at inexcess of 20,000 a month, the price is not unreasonable for this type of work and is normal globally.
MLP? Sounds like you were at the meeting!?
True, but usually the "real" consultants can produce a doucment that has value.
Where is the value for money paid to this guy?
$150 per hour maybe, but you're assuming Alister was full-time on the job for the Port/CIG.
If I contracted and paid someone $150 per hour, and they worked 100 hours per month to make $15,000 per month, and they worked 9 almost 10 months for me to pay out a whopping $127,000…
YOU CAN BET YOUR ASS I would have gotten interim reports/draftsand when i called on them to produce an updated draft I would get one ASAP!!
Where is his contract? Surely that should have some regular deliverables to CIG in it for that kind of money.
Forget about Mr P, I want to know what Godfrey Dawkins was paid as the chief negotiator in the back ground. Not to many people know about him….. Meeting in Jamaica and china.
I heard that Santa, Cupid, the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny all had copies. Does anyone know how to get in touch with them?
If the government paid for this and Maples might have a copy why doesn't somebody ask?? Oh I forgot this is government.
What The $(^%#&
How can we have a civil service writing big checks for this month after month but not requiring that the documents we are paying for exist and are submitted as at least some evidence of value for money. Mr. Auditor General and Mr. Deputy Governor time you had a heart to heart with these people. I am tired of reading about the waste of my money by government.
When are we going to see the back of Milli Vanilli Glidden i guess he will be blaming someone else now Who will he Blame now for his ineptness?????
This is something that has cost the island (and everyone that lives here) millions of dollars already and there is nothing to show for it but lies ,cover ups, and a continued pay check for all involved. This is why even with a huge amount of money coming in Grand Cayman islands is well on its way to being bankrupt in just a few years time. A huge amount of the public purse is being spent on a small fraction of the population while the rest is just thrown away or lost in the confusion that is called "honorable for life" governing. If Caymanians cannot get it together themselves or at least take the advice of non "honorable for life" expat consultants then they will prove themselves unworthy of self governing once and for all. This next government could very well be Caymanians last chance of saving themselves from themselves.
For the seekers of truth , why doesn’t Minister Glidden request the Port Authority chairman and the Govts legal advisors Maples and Calder to to release the lastest document being proposed by the former Premeirs negotiating team or to confirm or deny if there was a revised document containing significant changes advantageous to the Cayman Islands which was proposed to China Harbour Engineering.
Criticizing Mr Paterson for stating his knowledge and honestly held belief is grossly unfair!
Can the next government just please make it a absolute that if you are caught lying to the public about matters of national interest you instantly lose your job?
you mean accountability?…… caymanians don't do accountability…….
Did anyone ask Ellio? He was also chief negotiator for quite some time. For someone who had an opinion on everything under the sun before being elected, he sure has gone silent lately.
Say it isn't so! I am shocked.
Wait, no I am not, this is Cayman, the island that time forgot (amongst other forgotten things)
Give the PNA a chance. Welcome them back into a normal democracy ans society. We cannot blame them for everything, after all, it was the voters who are to blame. A lot of under table deals that are surfacing now are new to them too. It is best to have them as allies and help join forces to rid our ountry of corruption.
The PNA had their chance.
The award for the dumbest comment goes to you today – congratulations you can collect your prize any time after elections.
They had their chance. The chose to be cowards. They chose to throw me ane you under the bus, rather than stand up for what was, and is, right. Not a pair amongst the lot of them.
"Errr. that there agreement that is signed and initialled on every page is not the real agreement, we have the real one. Honest. We can't show it though, and it's not signed. But it was a much better deal than the one we actually signed".
You can't make this cr@p up! What the h*ll is this – comedy hour!!
Oh and btw didn't McKeeva have Chuckie subjected to a Commission of Inquiry for taking away govt. documents? What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
There are bad applies in every nationality, just like there are good honest Caymanians. The problem is there are more bad than good. We will root out corruption and we will demonstrate that Cayman is still the best place in the world to do business, live and be the example to the world that we once were. Let's focus on the opportunity to turn this good ship around and steer in the right direction with honesty, transparency and ethical practices.
It is hard to imagine that a man of Mr Paterson's stature had an imaginary job producing an imaginary document, at an unimaginable $127,000 for just 10 imaginable months…
Mac, Allastair, John Henry and every current and former UDP member that caused this disaster and the payout to GLF should be made to repay every cent and failing that, to receive one lash for every $100 lost with a cow cod in front of the court house, or a year in prison for every $100 lost with only bread, balogna and water for subsistence. Idiots.
AlastIrand John henry were not involved in the GLF deal, they were appointed after
Breda, you want to lash people, beware of what you wish for it may happen to you.
do you think any company in the private sector would pay alistair patterson $15k per month????
just another day on wonderland……zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
We are now being told it will take 4 years starting all over again in Oct. Anyone in business can now join the welfare line as this is too long. No one will be in business at that rate.
WOW! I think I'm going to start kissing ass. It obviously pays well.
You do that and let me know who has the stinkest so I can avoid kissing that one.
$127K for nothing?
But Mac said, "We is broke!"
Stinks worse than Mount Trashmore!
My dear judgemental Morons, it seems fairly clear from your vitriolic attacks on Alastair Patterson that neither one of you have actually taken the time to read what he is saying. So, please try reading the article again, and then do what is right and offer the guy an apology. If you don't feel up to apologising, then I will pray that your overdue lobotomy is succesful.
Apologise for what? You must have lost your mind. In this day of computers you really believe that he did not save a copy? Did he write it on a notepad and threw it in the thrash? Please give me a break. We are not all stupid!!
23.25..clearly your labotomy did not work, hope it is still under warranty and it works out for you!!
Shame on you Alistair !
Deal was written on magic disappearing reappearing paper which is now at the end of the rainbow with the pot of gold. Man, you find some of that coke on the beach?
So we spent CI$127,500 and got nothing in return.
Thank you McKeeva for your astute value for money.
It certainly is profitable to be a McKeeva stooge.
I’ll give him 15 grand to find it.
Dear God, Alastair, what happened to you?
Nothing happened to him. Leopards don't change their spots. I think what has actually happened is that CG burned down the Bush that the leopard was hiding behind. Unfortunately the Bush has been burned 4 years too late!!!!!
$15,000 per month??? Now the conspiracy is branching out into subsets. Insane. If it had been a properly tendered agreement, we wouldn't have to shell out extravagent salaries for people to do their JOB.
Alastair: I am a Scotsman like you who came here many years ago. I was employed doing a very minor sad thing in the eyes of you and your rugby club cronies at the time. i was teaching Caymanian kids. I have not made much money here in Cayman but then I would not have done that back in Scotland either. In the seventies and eighties, you and the other expats of that time -mainly lawyers and accountants – made fortunes -I don't know what happened to yours but you all used to boast about it at the Cayman Arms and Lobster Pot. Many of these guys have retired at the age of 40 or so and no longer need to work. You still need to, apparently but it is sad to see you asociating yourself with Mr Bush's dodgy enterprises. What happened?
Smug Scot warning!
Wonder who that could be?
A bitter and dour Scotsman?!….you could knock me over with a feather……the issue here is that so many people believe that others are "dodgy" because they deal with Mr. Bush…"DART DOES DEAL WITH BUSH…."TROUBLE TROUBLE!!!"…well before we go buying a brass band from the music man consider that the islands elected Mr. Bush and re-re-elected him. The government of this island, elected by the people, lets him act on behalf of the country and in many cases he seems to be the only politician with thick enough skin to actually do anything – whether it is taking us in the right direction or not or is for the wrong reason or not so anyone who wants to do anything of worth (or lack thereof) has to deal with him. If the island elects someone else then the businesses will deal with them instead – we can't keep blaming businessmen for doing business and we can't expect businessmen to look out for the islands' interests, their main responsibility is to their company. We can however expect our elected politicians to look out for our interests and our children can expect that their parents will have the foresight to kick them out of office if they do not and not sell their country's future for a handful of magic beans or as has been alleged the odd refrigerator and or outboard motor.
What happened is a small minded Scot just took a cheap shot at a guy when he’s already down on the ground.
What's his ethnicity got to do with it, otherthan he shares it with Mr Patterson? As for a cheap shot, apparently it cost us 127K!
Well said.
You call 127K cheap? I'll take that and produce some results.
Don't know about anyone else but this makes me want to womet! Wake up Cayman and fry these UDP Udp lite on May 22 nd. It all stinks and they sat by and watched it.
Poor Alastair Patterson finds himself at the center of yet another controversy.
Hope this one works out a bit better than the others.
Yes, strange how that keeps happening to him……..
Mr Patterson was a major big money earner player in Cayman 35 years ago doing auctions, MC-ing etc but then he faded away into being involved with projects that always seemed to be controversial. Then apparently he started applying for top jobs in Government which in the seventies and eighties he (like most of the brilliant expats of that time) would have looked down on and he never got an interview because his reputation was so negative about government This one with Bush where he was paid a staggering $15,000 a month suggests something sad has happened to Alastair.
"missing" or "imminent"
Move on Alister, don't dig yourself a deeper hole.
Let me get this straight–the deal on actual paper that has the actual signatures on it is not a real deal, but instead a renegotiated deal that is not signed and no one has any drafts of and few have ever heard of before is the real deal, even though the Chinese are waving the paper with the signatures in your face when you try to renegotiate. I guess Patterson is an optimist.
A very rich optimist at the rate of $15,000 a month from the public coffers. That's $180,000 a year Mr Bush contracted this man for… and for what?
I suggest if the port has a real deal then the new gov't coming should look at it .If Mr. patterson has created a better deal for the country then we should move on Spotts first. If it this is done properly then onwards to georgetown and forget the turtle farm pier. We cannot loose anymore time hoping and waiting for the powers that be to complete a perfect agreement . We have lost to much time.
Ships will start to leave and will take 2 years or more to get back once they leave.
It is certainly convenient when a tale of contract negotiations does not include any documentation whatsoever.
Don’t forget about flip-flopping Glidden!!!! This man supported big Mac and now blames him for everything while he setback, took a paycheck, and followed the other sheep
The difference is – he did not NOT follow the other sheep in December!
The reason they cant find any other agreement, is because there is none!! A draft document does not require every page to be intialed and a signatory, but a LEGAL BINDING CONTRACT does!!! This is the agreement.