Thread: Cayman Islands Port Deal Flounders

The chair of the Cayman Port Authority said Tuesday evening that speculation over a collapse of the cruise berth negotiations between government and the developer was not accurate but admitted that negotiations were very sensitive. Stefan Baraud said that despite the challenges DECCO was still at the table and involved in the process. In the face of rumours that government was examining options to the DECCO partnership, Baraud said there was a lot of work to do but the developer, government and the Port Authority were all still talking. He said that they were examining the business case presented by the Camana Bay developer over the lease length on the upland part of the project.

Although the port chair said he could not reveal the details of the negotiation stumbling blocks, he indicated that the main area of concern was the length of the lease. In the Legislative Assembly earlier this month the premier had pointed to the lease length as an area of contention when he said government was seeking the shortest time period possible and the developer the longest time possible, in a span of 20 to 99 years as set out the framework agreement.

FMI: http://www.caymannewsservice.com/hea...-teeters-brink

Also from the article:
The cruise berthing facilities will be developed on land owned by the crown or, ultimately, the Caymanian people. As a result, the time period that the land in question will be leased to the cruise port developer is sensitive. Too long a period and it will be seen as a sale of the people’s property -- a controversial political position -- but on the other hand, offering too short a lease could undermine the feasibility of the project for the developer. This would also cause a political headache for government, which is relying on the project to boost the country’s flagging local economy.

Sure seems like this has been going on forever.