Cruise Berthing Financial Services Contract Signed (GIS)

The Cayman Islands Government formalised the financial services consultancy contract for Grand Cayman’s proposed cruise berthing facility with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Tuesday morning (1 July 2013).

Deputy Premier and Minister of District Administration, Tourism and Transport, the Hon. Moses Kirkconnell, JP, who presided over the signing, noted: “The signing of this contract signifies that we are taking another step in international best procurement practices. It reflects Government’s commitment to be open and transparent in all processes in developing the cruise berthing facility.”

On 3 May 2013, the then Ministry of Tourism and Development disseminated a Request for Proposal (RFP) for financial consultancy services. The Ministry then evaluated the bids that were submitted on 24 May 2013. PWC, named the successful bidder last month, will commence work early in July 2013, Ministry Chief Officer Mr. Stran Bodden, JP outlined.

On Tuesday, Mr. Bodden, on behalf of CIG, and PWC representative Mr. David Walker signed the contract at Government Administration Building to formalise the consultancy.

“PWC is tasked with producing an outline business case, the full business case and tender documents for the proposed cruise berthing project,” Mr. Bodden said.

Following the issuance of tender documents, and a suitable tender period that will include a timeframe for negotiation, the construction contract is expected to be awarded for the proposed cruise berthing project in 2014, he noted.

He added that deadlines for each of these steps will be firmed up in the coming weeks.

Photo captions Photos by Suzette Ebanks:

Minister of District Administration, Tourism and Transport, Hon Moses Kirkconnell (3-R), and Chief Officer, Mr. Stran Bodden, JP (1-L) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) representatives look on as PWC (title) Mr. David Walker signs the port financial services consultancy contract at Government Administration Building (GAB) on Tuesday (1 July 2013).

On behalf of Government, Chief Officer Stran Bodden signs the financial services contract for the new Grand Cayman cruise berthing facilities.

EDITOR”S NOTE:

This follows months and months of failures by the Bush government to obtain permission from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office to use China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to construct the berthing facility.

Although the designs put forward by CHEC displayed nearly 130,000 square feet of new retail space in a two storey development with a two pier cruise berth, the Deputy Premier has intimated it will not be that large and will not be a finance/build cruise