Government Paid CI$1.5m Above Valuations It Commissioned for West Bay School Site

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Government Paid CI$1.5m Above Valuations It Commissioned for West Bay School Site

Analysis · October 24, 2026, 2:42 PM · 12 min read · Ask

The former Kiddiewinks preschool site in West Bay, bought by Government for CI$6.5 million in July and now part of Sir John A. Cumber Primary School

The Government paid CI$6.5 million for a West Bay school site that two of its three valuations put at CI$5 million or less. The Ministry of Education and Training says the purchase represented value for money, citing recent construction projects and the speed with which the site provided additional school places.

The sellers had asked CI$7 million, the Ministry told The Caymanian Journal (TCJ) in writing, in answers on 19 October to a 33-question request first put to it on 16 September, and in answers to a further set of questions on 21 October. The Ministry said it negotiated the price down from that figure.

The Government paid CI$6.5 million in July for the former Kiddiewinks preschool site, which it announced on 21 August as the new home of four reception classes and two autism-specific classrooms for Sir John A. Cumber Primary School. The preschool, at 61 Birch Tree Hill, is less than half a kilometre in a straight line from the main campus at 44 Fountain Road, the addresses given for both on the Ministry's register of educational institutions, and about a 10-minute walk by road. The Lands and Survey Department obtained three independent valuations before the price was agreed. JEC Property Consultants, on 2 February 2026, put the site at CI$6,895,000. DDL Studio, on 4 February 2026, put it at CI$4,859,000. BCQS International Property and Development Consultants, on 2 April 2026, put it at CI$5,000,000. The Government paid CI$1.5 million more than the BCQS valuation and CI$1.64 million more than the DDL valuation, and CI$395,000 less than the JEC valuation.

Asked which valuation was the basis for negotiation and why the price settled above two of the three, the Ministry said on 21 October that "Lands and Survey considered all three independent valuations". It said the sellers had asked for CI$7 million. "As is the case CIG tries to make all acquisitions as low as possible," the Ministry said. "Recognising that valuations will differ, we approached the negotiations with a view that given recent construction projects undertaken by the Ministry and the cost estimates for projects presently being researched we believe we have achieved good value-for-money with this acquisition."

The Ministry cited recent construction projects and cost estimates for other projects, but did not say how it reconciled the three valuations in agreeing the price. By TCJ's calculation, the CI$1.5 million paid above the April valuation equals about two years of the additional staffing the Ministry says the site needs, which it costs at CI$755,000 a year.

What the price was measured against

The Ministry said on 19 October that it looked at building new classrooms on or beside the existing campus, but that the "cost for new build was not yet determined" when it chose to buy. Its judgement that the purchase represented value for money rests, in its words, on "recent construction projects undertaken by the Ministry and the cost estimates for projects presently being researched", not on a costed alternative for this site. The Ministry said no other sites were considered and that the purchase was negotiated rather than advertised.

The Ministry said purchases of this nature "only required the approval of Cabinet", with the funding approved by Finance Committee under the supplementary appropriation described below, and were exempt from the Procurement Act, citing section 3(1)(e) of the Procurement Act (2023 Revision). That section provides that the Act does not apply to the "acquisition or disposition of land or any immovable property or rights in relation thereto". Section 3(2) of the same Act requires an entity procuring outside the Act to ensure value for money in accordance with section 4 and Schedule 1, which assesses value by cost, quality and sustainability over the life of the project. The Ministry said no conditions, such as a satisfactory valuation or condition survey, were attached to the release of the money. Asked what condition survey had been carried out, the Ministry said the facility "was built in 2025 and all the approved planning documentations were in order".

How the Ministry came to buy

The Ministry said it first became aware in the last quarter of 2025 that the site was or might become available. The preschool had been built that year. Valuations followed in February and April. The Ministry said Cabinet approved the acquisition by circulation on 29 June 2026, and that the decision document was stamped on 3 July, the date it had first given as the date of approval. The published Cabinet post meeting summary for 1 July records that Cabinet confirmed approval, granted by circulation on 29 June, of two supplementary funding requests for the Ministry of Education and Training, to be reported to Parliament under section 12 of the Public Management and Finance Act (2026 Revision); it does not name the site. The Cabinet Office's published policy is that "only a summary of the decisions will be published". The summary for 15 July records approval of a reallocation of funds from the Ministry of Education and Training to the Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure, under which Lands and Survey sits; it gives no amount or purpose.

On 30 June, Finance Committee approved CI$134.3 million in supplementary appropriations, among them CI$48.0 million under the Ministry's education appropriations for the "acquisition and completion of school facilities". The Government's announcement of that approval on 3 July did not name the West Bay site or any other. The Ministry said the purchase was classified as capital expenditure in the 2026 financial year and funded from that line, and that the acquisition was not identified publicly before the announcement of 21 August because it "was not yet finalized". Asked how much the Government had spent on acquiring land and buildings for education purposes in the current financial year to date, the Ministry said on 19 October that the figure was CI$6.5 million. The Finance Ministry told TCJ that where additional expenditure requires approval under section 12, "Cabinet authorisation and advance approval by Parliament's Finance Committee are required", and described those as "institutional approvals, not a second personal approval of an Education purchase by the Minister in his Finance capacity".

The preschool ceased operating in mid July. The purchase agreement and transfer were completed on 20 July. The Ministry announced the purchase on 21 August. Its release of 25 August said the school "will begin occupying the site in the coming week" and that teachers had already been recruited to staff the new classrooms.

Rolston Anglin MP, Minister for Education and Training and Minister for Finance and Economic Development, linked the purchase in the August announcement to population growth in the district. "The pressures that come with projecting population growth in this district over the next five to 10 years caused me a great deal of concern," he said. "In listening carefully during our school visits, we made sure we did something about it." Of the additional accommodation, he said: "For any primary school in Cayman, that addition is significant. It allows us to manage and accommodate both the current and future growth rates we are seeing across our islands."

The Minister

Spending on schools is proposed by the Ministry of Education and Training and funded through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Rolston Anglin MP leads both. He is also the elected member for West Bay North.

Asked whether he took any part in identifying the site or negotiating the price, the Ministry of Education and Training said no. Asked whether he wished to comment on the purchase in relation to the district he represents, the Ministry said no.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development answered the same questions on 18 September.