Auditor General delays issue of December 2021 report on the Integrated Solid Waste Management System, Regen
The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) issued its report “The Integrated Solid Waste Management System for the Cayman Islands (Regen) – as at December 2021,” to the Parliament on Tuesday, 30th July 2024. The OAG planned to publish the report today but it has come to our attention this morning that the report may still contain commercially sensitive information. Therefore, the OAG is not publishing the report at this time.
In March 2021, the then Government signed a project agreement for the integrated solid waste management system (known as Regen).
In August 2021, the incoming Government asked the OAG to review the project and the Regen contract. The audit focused on the Regen project, from its inception in 2014 to October 2021, and assessed the value for money of the project.
On 4th December 2021, the OAG provided a draft report to the then Governor, Premier, Deputy Premier and senior civil servants.
The Government did not provide a management response to this draft report, which is the usual opportunity for the factual accuracy of a draft report to be confirmed or otherwise clarified.
The OAG agreed that the Government could use the draft report to assist with the renegotiation of the Regen contract prior to financial close, which had been delayed. The OAG agreed that we would not publish the report at that time.
The OAG subsequently advised on several occasions over the last few years that we would publish our original report, together with an update, when the Regen contract reached financial close.
On 25th July 2024, the Minister for Sustainability and Climate Resiliency announced that the Government had decided to begin discussions to exit the project agreement for Regen.
With the process of renegotiation ended, the OAG issued its report to Parliament on 30th July 2024. In the normal course of events, the OAG would then publish the report on its website.
However, the Government informed the OAG on 1st August 2024 that the December 2021 report may still contain commercially sensitive information. The OAG does not publish reports with commercially sensitive information and usually redacts such information before issuing reports to Parliament and publishing them.
The Government has now committed to providing a response to the OAG by mid-August 2024.
The OAG will publish the report as soon as possible after we assess and redact any commercially sensitive information and update the report if the Government identifies any factual inaccuracies.
More information can be obtained by contacting Angela Cullen, Acting Auditor General at (345) 244-3220.
