From Office of the Opposition Date: February 13, 2019

With
final bids on the cruise ship and expanded cargo port facilities due
at the end of next month, the Leader of the Opposition the Hon.
Ezzard Miller has red-flagged a conflict between that bidding process
requiring 100% financing and efforts by the Ministry of Tourism to
secure supplementary funding under a separate arrangement.

A
deal by Government with two major cruise lines to help finance the
construction of the facility was disclosed in the Cayman
Compass
article dated February 7, 2019, “Cruise port petition puts dock
debate on collision course.”

However,
additional information to which Mr. Miller has since been privy
indicates that the Ministry of Tourism has been actively negotiating
with up to four additional cruise lines, seeking loans towards
defraying the cost of the design, building, and maintenance of the
cruise ship and expanded cargo port facilities.

According
to the sources, who have spoken on condition of anonymity, it is
being proposed that these loans from the cruise industry are to be
repaid through rebatement of port charges, Mr. Miller said.

In
response to the news of these developments, Mr. Miller contends that
this parallel arrangement would effectively alter the RFP that has
been issued to the three bidders on the port project.

Consequently,
he has raised a number of questions, among which are why
supplementary funding has become necessary and how these actions
would impact the Procurement Committee’s ability to carry out its
role:

• 
  “Does
  this mean that the short-listed bidders are experiencing difficulty
  in raising financing?
  
  
• 
  If
  so:
  
  
  How
  would the ministry know this?
  
  
  What
  are the implications of those financing issues for the bidders and
  their longer-term capacity to honour their contracts, and
  
  
  How
  will the negotiations for and acquisition of supplementary funding
  impact the Procurement Committee’s evaluation of the bids?”
  
  

Mr.
Miller, who also chairs the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and is
therefore familiar with the requirements under the Procurement Law
2016, noted that among the principles at risk is that of
“transparency,” one of the seven codes of practice defined in
Schedule 1 of that law:

“Transparency
Public
sector entities should ensure that there is openness and clarity on
procurement policy and its delivery. All proposed procurement shall
be published on the Government’s website in addition to the results
of procurement.”

Meanwhile,
Mr. Miller noted, in a matter of six weeks the cruise/cargo port
“bidders will have concluded their financial arrangements in
accordance with the ministry’s existing RFP requiring 100%
financing.”

Unless
there are “some rapid interventions” that will appropriately
address the conflict, “the potential clash in the two seemingly
concurrent processes,” Mr. Miller said, “would drastically alter
the RFP, presenting a complication in the final stages of bidding
that would make it impossible for the Public Procurement Committee to
properly evaluate the three bids.”

Should
that complication continue to its logical end, “The Public
Procurement Committee would therefore be well advised to reject the
bids and to require the bidding process to be re-started,” Mr.
Miller said, adding: “Barring urgent adequate interventions, this
is the least that should be done out of an abundance of caution to
ensure that the bidding process and its outcome do not fail to meet
the requirements of the Procurement Law, with all those far-reaching
implications, to the ultimate detriment of the project and the people
of the Cayman Islands.”

As
it is now, if the parallel negotiations continue on their track, Mr.
Miller said, “the issue and publication of a new RFP would seem not
only unavoidable but absolutely imperative.”

Nevertheless,
Mr. Miller emphasised that, while he will continue to flag these
serious concerns, he remains committed to the people-initiated
referendum initiative and to the belief that it will have a positive
final resolution.

“The
referendum drive is gaining momentum as it nears its target number of
signatures,” the Leader of the Opposition said, adding that he and
his colleagues in the Opposition are engaging in a final drive to
push the numbers over the top.

“I
am confident that members of the public will have their say on this
very important national issue that will impact us irrevocably now and
in the future,” he said.