Island Cement Ltd has submitted a proposal to Government to lease and operate the Dockyard Cement Facility and has secured financial backing from the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU), The Royal Gazette can exclusively reveal.

The move was confirmed by Myron Piper, president of Island Cement, who also said the BIU had taken up a 20-percent active ownership stake in his company.

But, in a further development, with the lease expiring at the end of this month, the current leaseholder Maxcem has applied to the landlord the West End Development Company (Wedco) for a six-month extension.

Meanwhile, a letter obtained by he Gazette, written by cement manufacturers Titan America to Mr. Piper, which was copied to Wedco and the BIU, outlines a proposed offer to supply 60,000 metric tonnes of bulk cement per year to Island Cement over an extended 10-year period starting this month, adding weight to Island Cement's bid to run the plant.

"It is true — the Union has taken a 20 percent stake of Island Cement," said Mr. Piper. "And that (Island Cement formally submitting a proposal to Government to lease and operate the Dockyard Cement Facility) is true as well."

Wedco's general manager Andrew Dias also admitted that Maxcem had asked for a six-month extension to their current deal to lease the facility.

"We have received a letter from Maxcem (formerly the Bermuda Cement Company) and they have requested an additional six months while we continue to work out the details and its progress," he said.

The Bermuda Cement Company had been operating the plant at Dockyard for more than 40 years, before Jim Butterfield, former majority shareholder and six other shareholders, agreed to sell their stakes in the company to Mr. Correia, husband of former PLP candidate Jane Correia, giant cement manufacturer Cemex, Christopher Shanks and Paul Simons after five years of protracted discussions.

Mr. Butterfield decided to sell up because he thought it was too expensive to meet Wedco's demands to demolish the silos and rebuild the plant at a new site, estimating reconstruction costs of between $12 million and $15 million, and was not financially viable to sign a 20-year lease, while Wedco told the BCC shareholders their lease would not be renewed.

There was no response from Government or Maxcem at time of going to press.