Above: George Town (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The government of the Cayman Islands says it is inviting each of the major cruise lines to engage in “bilateral discussions” on the development of the proposed cruise berthing facility in George Town.

The British Overseas Territory’s Cabinet approved the Outline Business Case for the facility at the end of December.

“Government has approached the FCCA and cruise lines as they will be the prime users of the berthing facility, and it is important that any specific user requirements they might have are determined early on in the process,” Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell said. “Once this has been accomplished, we will then look at the best ways to incorporate those needs, while ensuring value-for-money for the Cayman Islands.”

The Tourism Ministry is overseeing development of the facility, and has already issued Requests For Proposals for a planned Environmental Impact Assessment.

In a statement, the government said its intention was to carry out the impact assessment this year.

“It is proposed that the EIA process, the discussions with the cruise line users and the subsequent procurement process will all proceed during 2014,” the government said.