Cayman Islands Government announced today that a Dart-led consortium has been chosen as the preferred bidder for the proposed Integrated Solid Waste Management System (ISWMS) to be implemented in the Cayman Islands.
ISWMS will replace the current landfill in George Town, which is nearing the end of its life.
The new system is expected to process and divert up to 95 per cent of waste from being landfilled in the future. It is to be operated as a public-private partnership, with the successful consortium awarded the contract on a "design, build, finance, operate and maintain" basis.
The consortium, led by Dart, was identified after careful consideration by the ISWMS project team as the preferred bidder because its proposal best follows the recommendations in the outline business case and offers the greatest value for money.
Spearheaded by DECCO Ltd., which is Dart's construction/development division, the bid team includes local firm Island Recycling partnered with Guernsey Recycling Group. They will deal with the recycling and composting aspects of ISWMS.
The bid team is also comprised of the Denmark-based company Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC) for construction of the waste-to-energy facility. U.S.-based firm Cambridge Project Development Inc. will deal with the residual landfill component, and the international consultancy firm GHD completes the group, handling environmental and design aspects of the new facility.
The Department of Environmental Health will continue to provide waste management collection services for ISWMS.
"I am extremely pleased that the efforts to deal with the pressing issue of the landfill have taken such a significant step forward," said Hon. Dwayne Seymour, Minister for Health, Environment, Culture and Housing. "As the matter now falls within my portfolio, I look forward to working with all parties to ensure that the people of the Cayman Islands are provided with a modern waste management system that caters for the essential needs of our country."
The next stage of the process is for government and the preferred bidder to finalise a number of technical, financial and legal details before the contract can be entered into. This is expected to take several months, with planning approvals sought, and an environmental impact assessment undertaken, in the meantime.
Ground-breaking is anticipated next summer for a phased implementation of the new waste management system, with the aim to have it fully operational by 2021.
"The DECCO consortium team has the specific experience and expertise to introduce and manage an ISWMS in the Cayman Islands," said Cameron Graham, President of DECCO Ltd. "Finding a sustainable alternative to the existing landfill is a matter of national importance, and we are pleased to be a part of the solution."
ISWMS will include the closure, capping and remediation of the current landfills on Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands, with recycling, composting and a waste-to-energy approach at the heart of the new operations.
The procurement process for the future ISWMS contract followed best practice and transparency as outlined by the Public Management and Finance Law, and the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility.
Government's Major Projects Office has been leading the ISWMS project team and provided waste management expertise to take the initiative forward. Specialist consultants Amec Foster Wheeler, KPMG, as well as Maples and Calder/Burges Salmon, were engaged to provide technical, financial and legal services for the procurement and evaluation of the ISWMS tender process.
The ISWMS outline business case, which recommended the public-private partnership, was produced for government by Amec Foster Wheeler and KPMG, and released in autumn 2016.
A competitive dialogue procurement process was followed for tendering of the ISWMS bids from October 2016 to May 2017. Seven companies responded to an initial pre-qualification request for the ISWMS project, and three firms qualified with the necessary technical and financial requirements to go on to the next procurement stages.
The qualified firms were then requested to submit outline solutions for ISWMS, which were evaluated by the project team, followed by an invitation to submit final tenders by April of this year. The tender submissions were subsequently scrutinised by the ISWMS project team, before the preferred bidder was identified at the end of September.
The Dart-led consortium's tender is closely aligned with the financial estimates presented in the approved outline business case, but detailed costs remain confidential until the contract is finalised.
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