CIG to press on with cruise port plan
The Balboa Shipwreck and reef is located in 10 to 30 feet of water immediately in front of the cruise ship landing and will be completely removed by dredging operations if the cruise berth goes ahead as planned. Many consider the Balboa to be both the number one and number two of the top ten dive sites in Grand Cayman – night dive is #1, day dive is #2 (Photo by Courtney Platt)
(CNS): In an announcement greeted by a stunned silence at the Ritz-Carlton Wednesday, the premier said that government is pressing ahead with the cruise port facility. With no formal Cabinet decision or the PWC updated business case and in the absence of the ministers for the environment and finance, Alden McLaughlin said government was moving to the next stage. As the environmental impact assessment has indicated that Seven Mile Beach is not under threat, the premier said Cayman was faced with protecting its economy or protecting the environment, as he revealed that CIG would now discuss with the UK and cruise lines about how the project will be financed.
In a speech that received very little reaction from the Chamber of Commerce audience at its annual Legislative Lunch, the premier, as had been suspected, made the announcement that despite the massive environmental damage expected, government still wants to press on. He said that the business case was “favourable”, though the updated review has not been made public.
He said that Cayman was the only Caribbean destination that did not have cruise piers and if it was to retain the cruise business it had developed over the last forty years, it needed a dock.
Check back to CNS later for more on this story and other announcements from the premier at the annual business-political lunch hosted by the Chamber.
Category: development, Economy, Local News, Marine Environment, Politics, Science & Nature
The employees of the downtown business owners and the rum cake company must be working overtime on the voting buttons as we already knew.
What the pier supporters unfortunately seem to not know is that the 2 greatest strengths of Cayman are the waters and the safe environment. Many tourists come for the diving and the safe environment for decades. They are the real contributors to the local economy.
The cruise ship visitors drive these stayover visitors to Camana Bay because of the crowds in downtown George Town.
Less cruise ship visitors can actually have a better experience with the limited infrastructure and having had a good experience the possibility of returning as a stayover guest more likely.
The government doesn’t seem to have a real mental image of what Cayman is. They go with any idea that seems like it will pay off and the result is a country that looks like Disneyland.
The concept of simple and quaint doesn’t register. The local George Town business owners may get their pier but in the end they will regret it and have no one to blame.
I’m just happy to see a government that actually gets things done.
PPM you now need to make sure you follow through and turn words into actions. Don’t let this be another project that stalls into oblivion. You have come this far unlike any other government.
Move on with the dock, move on with the airport, move on especially with the dump.
I have been following this for the last few months and I can confidently say that I am confident that measures can be taken to prevent widespread damage to the coral reefs in George Town.
I am very familiar with the workings of the harbour and even though I do not dive anymore I am also very familiar with the dive industry and the dive sites spoken about throughout this debate.
I have witnessed the construction and dredging of many projects and I can confidently say that the techniques and technology utilised in current times far surpasses any operations that I had the opportunity to witness in my youth. I fully believe that if the Cayman Islands Government takes the approach to make the environment a priority that there will be only concentrated damage in the vicinity of the actual piers themselves. I can confidently say that even in other examples from Caribbean islands, Cayman has a much better situation in which to build a port. Much greater efforts have been needed to create the port space and water depth in every other island.
Cayman cannot wait any longer on this greatly needed and well studied national project and vital infrastructure.
Thank you.
Your intoxication is clearly confidence inspiring……..
Easy on the rum cakes there stooge.
Firstly I probably don’t count for much ex pat white etc etc, firstly I don’t dive but have travelled extensively around the world. Let’s be honest what has cayman to offer. A tacky dollar draining turtle farm, stingray city which it is agreed is at capacity and a nice beach at SMB, that is it. There is no scenery, mountains (unless you count the tip) waterfalls or areas of natural beauty. So,if a cruise port port is built this island and don’t forget it won’t start for at least 2-3 years and will end up massively over budget cayman will be so far behind other islands for attractions it is untrue.
GT can’t cope with one ship let alone a mega ship it has no regulated public transport and taxi drivers that just try to rip you off from experience.
The PM hit the nail on the head cayman is the only island not to have a pier, well then keep it that way and make this island unique, make it a high end destination and spend the money on GT give small business concessions so that there are up market craft, coffee shops and restaurants. Make,it compulsory that all buildings will be painted bright Caymanian colours and make this island stand out as one to visit, because it really has nothing else to offer.
Oh sorry forget yes a family (government) watch shop, rum cake and tee shirts
Small business concessions…mmmm. You mean to local folks right? Are you flippin out of your blooody mind UK Driftwood?
Such a shame. Worrying about being the only country of 22 in the caribbean not to be building a cruise pier when a little foresight would show that by not building the pier you might be the only country with something left of your marine environment for people to enjoy (and pay money to see). And what will happen to the economy when the environment is destroyed? Will tourists come to see the folly of a government’s poor judgement?
I’ll bet the Kirkconnell’s and Hamaty’s joined the Premier and Deputy Premier for a bottle of bubbly last night..
Dont feel bad, you’ll be invited to the opening for sure.
Oh no, no, no, no my friend. We use them for getting stuff done, but we don’t actually invite them into our homes and such.
It’s a good thing we have tenders or Jerry’s boys would be sitting round not doing anything today… But with the tenders, 2/3 ships got unloaded and folks used taxis, transportation, went on tours, looked at watches… Bought some t-shirts and moved on…. Thanks tenders!
I personally would not have a problem giving up two of the lowest class cheap ships once every now and again to make sure that we got the bigger ships all year round. Not to mention the massive upswing in time ashore, spend per customer and overall better experience for our tourists for the entire rest of the year.
Looks like Jerry’s boys will finally get a chance to start a fabulous retirement from the hundreds of millions generated by the tenders over the past forty years. Lucky dudes…WHAT? Oh ok, that’s just what i thought.
The Premier is more shrewd than you think. He has agreed to move ahead with this project thereby keeping the people who want the dock happy. The FCO won’t agree to the project as there isn’t the money. The Premier can then shrug and say “I tried but the UK stopped it”, the people who wanted the port will say “We understand” and the Premier doesn’t lose too much political capital. The people who are against the port will be happy as “Common sense prevailed”.
You are half right
No he is all wrong. Finally we have a Premier who is doing his job as Premier of our country in our best interests. We should all be very grateful for that and do away with the judging and dis-ing and trying to class him with the likes of our last premier.
Don’t forget if you say the wrong thing you can be labeled “TREASONOUS”.
Then perhaps you should stop saying the wrong thing.
LOL, this is the first sensible comment that’s been posted here.
Self praise is no recommendation.
Where is the w**ker button when you need it?
Sorry, the w**t button?
Yes, and Carnival are not rushing in to offer the customary financing because of the potential hullabullo over environmental issues. The do not want the bad image associated with coral destruction that will break out on the internet. So where do we go? Why only GT harbour being considered???
Probably because it’s already the most damaged area in our waters.
This dock is nothing more than a bailout for a failing business model of the downtown merchants. The Cruise ship industry has changed and will continue to change so the dinosaurs need to adjust to the new climate or go extinct.
Modern day cruise ship passengers have much lower disposable income than those of the past. They don’t spend money on island to the same degree and with a birthing dock they are more free to leave and return to the boat, which will cause them to spend even less as they will just return to the boat for meals etc. Modern day cruise passengers are just sightseers and window shoppers. So spending more economic and environmental capital to bring more of these to the island is many levels beyond stupid.
We need to market ourselves more and target the high disposable income tourist. Brand our product as the best experience in the Caribbean where you don’t encounter panhandling or a mass amount of people trying to be in a place too small to accommodate them comfortably.
Cayman is different so why follow the rest of the Caribbean with a mega dock? Lets be OURselves and play to OUR strengths and not try to be the mini jamaica or dominican republic or cuba.
40 years from now when private air travel will be the norm with technology advances, will we be happy we didn’t invest in this massive relic of the past or will we stare at it with disgust and wish we were more forward thinking?
I agree, Cayman is a special place that I have been coming to since 1997. There have been so many changes and not all of them have been good. It has lost its special aura and now with the ruining the waters for some drunk boat people, who come in and ruin the reefs with inexperienced people and basically trash the environment. It needs to stop now.
diane if you think these islands were special in 1997 you should have seen them when I first arrived in 1992 – then they really were great. The dive industry was huge, you had to queue to get on popular dive sites. Stayover tourism was booming and GT wasn’t gridlocked in the mornings.
The coral in the harbour was a lot nicer and healthier back then before 30 years of dropping anchors and running tender boats over the tops of the coral all day long.
First off, your failed description of a business model is at best ignorant. Cruise Passengers are tourists. If you are in a tourism businees then to by pass a market is probaly foolish. This Island has nothing to corner a market in, but can be a player. In order to be a Player you need to be diverse, as you put it, be a safe destination, which we are gaining a reputation for not being. The Government needs to get crime under control, stop the playing Peek-a-boo with the CCTV that are ineffective and of poor quality provided by the Security Centre, be able to effect proper and transparent prosecutions, stop large amounts of drugs from reaching the shores of these Islands and house the convicted in a Prision that is secure, drug free, and guarded without contracting millions of dollars worth of ineffective products and services to one Security firm. If you think that the overall economic well being is not in part guided by crime levels, then respectfully you are not in the real world. The cost of goods, the ability of getting on shore, and SAFETY are paramount. Do not ommit the Island from one aspect, thinking you can recapture the loss in another venue. Agreed cruise people do not spend alot, but the numbersthat they come here or anywhere in, there is at worst a modest living to be earned by people that cater to that venue. Given that a lot of Caymanians are crying hungry, this is not a bad thing
PPM will pay at the polls for this!
Oh no they won’t, they’ll have run out of money by then
Oh no they won’t. Why do you think they’re changing the financial year?
PPM will be collecting votes for this at the polls! They are finally delivering on something previous governments never could.
PPM is lookin out for me and my family. I can only say Thank You Mr. Premier.
Thanks so much for pointing that out. That will be a perfect day to show what ths real capacity and limitations of the tender boats are.
Get the cameras ready boys this is going to be a great day to talk to tourists about how enjoyable those lines and little boats are.
Listen folks, the dock is going to be built. End of story. For all our benefit. Except of course the billionaire tender owners. Lets just be very very happy it didn’t happen when the one and only forever honerable mac was in power.
The dock can only handle four ships..Without tenders how are the other ship going to unload?.Are you to going swim out to get them..Stop talking foolishness..This is for the Duty Free shops and the liquor store billionaires not the tender billionaires..
Stop talking foolishness. This is for Cayman and the Duty free shops and the liquor store billionaires and it seems there will even be some for the tender billionaires.
Unless of course anonymous wants to swim out to get them.
One thing isfor sure, all the PPM guys are doing this because it’s the right thing for us, not some “good deal” for mac and his boys.
I sure this wasn’t an easy decision, God Bless them for clear, honest actions. This is a big project and will make our future much better,
It’s just the identity of the related parties who benefits that has changed. . Macs plan sold out the retail space to the overseas bidders. This plan supposedly keeps those dollars for other vested interests locally. I suppose it depends how you define “us” – which exact pockets do the dollars end up in. .
If the tender business is so lucrative why aren’t Caymanian company’s bidding for the tender contract
Er, because we’re building a dock, sunshine.
This is more important than the dump?? Poison seeping into the ground and into the North Sound and we’re going to build a dock? Anyone paying attention to the cancer ratios per capita here? Think there is any correlation to the seeping, unlined dump? Nah.
Poison (dump) and destruction (dock)…. Sounds legit. I’m on board with that.
It’s not more important, but if you were at the luncheon yesterday you would have heard plans for the dump are underway too.
We heard that 20 years ago, only it’s still there!
Dump should be top priority. Period.
When the first half of the Seven Mile Beach starts eroding I hope Alden and his PPM puppets are still alive and well and accept the blame. Anyway, at that time, welcome to the new Northwest Point Beach!!
How many reports from experts do you have to read to finally understand 7 Mile will not be affected.
Dr. Seymour’s report from the DOE says it won’t be affected
Harry Roberts who originally wrote a report back in 1983 has evaluated his own report the Seymour report and the EIA and has given his conclusion that 7 Mile won’t be affected.
Baird in the EIA stated and then re-confirmed in their responses to public questions that 7 Mile won’t be affected.
How many times do YOU have to be told that we commission reports but don’t act on them and certainly never implement them.
Signed: Yours truly, Koolaid headquarters.
What a load of utter bull.
Dear Government officials,
When your plan to build these docks FAIL to bring the “big money” to the shores of downtown because, the cruise passengers simply do not spend like you think they will. Then what? Once you ruin the environment for the docks, you know that you can not say oops and just replace the marine life you have demolished. When will you realize that the real big spenders arrive by air. Blinded by greed however, you are blinded by the wrong visitors. Wake up and spend your time more efficiently and really look to see which visitor is bring more revenue to the island of greed.
Cayman and Caymanians need both Air and Cruise to survive.
We gots to rise up!
Agreed! Let’s rise up and show our support for this vital infrastructure project. No more dilapidated, poorly maintained, and over crowded tender boats as the first and last impressions of the Cayman Islands.
The first and last impressions of the Cayman Islands is actually the eyesore and stench of Mt Trashmore. Have you ever been on a boat in the GT harbor? Prevailing winds out of the East blow the stench directly on the cruise ships. So perhaps we should fix the dump before building a dock!
so would you say that the boats going to the sand bar are not dilapidated, poorly maintained, and over crowded.
Yep, I’ll be risen up to vote for the PPM again. They making me proud to have voted for them last time.
Cuba will be fully functional for cruise line visits in the 3 to 4 years it will take to build this dock. Once the word gets out on what Cuba has to offer cruise tourists for their experience, having the docks wont make much difference to ship arrivals one way or the other. Cruise tourists will express their desires for Cuba as a prime destination choice, the ships will have to accommodate this request by having Cuba on the itinerary. But on the good side, Alden will have built a better freight terminal for cargo & Port Authority can open up one of the docks for hand line & rod fishing on off days of the week & weekends.
Why would you hand or rod fish from a dock that is built over a newly created wasteland. This fish that are there now will be long gone and there will be no food chain in the area to bring them back for years.
I guess you are not too familiar with how adding structure to the ocean works. Every dock around the world becomes a massive habitat for marine life. Corals grow, fish congregate, live thrives.
If won’t make much of a difference to the dive industry though because just like the Balboa you can’t dive there.
Hyperbole aside you are partially correct. man-made structure can act as an artificial reef if placed in locations with conditions conducive to eco-system growth. However we are talking about creating a commercial port here, not a little dock in south sound or a reef nourishment project. Prop wash from the bow thrusters, diesel and bilge water and the simple activity levels of people, boats and machinery will deter and delay the underwater garden of Eden you expect.
Cruise ships don’t stop at one port! Cayman, Cuba and Jamaica could be a very popular cruise
If you build it, they won’t come.
The iPads at GS must be running full tilt this am
Slow cruise day, little choppy and lots of seaweed. Got to pay the bills somehow.
Save GT should have a look at http://www.caymanport.com and have a look at the upcoming cruise ship schedules. He/she may wish to visit the “ghost town” of George Town on March 23rd: Brilliance of the Seas ,Carnival Breeze ,Regal Princess ,Celebrity Equinox ,Nieuw Amsterdam, Carnival Magic ,Celebrity Silhouette ,Star Flyer Totals: 8 ships (19,482 passengers). In fact start looking from November of this year. These are facts open for anyone to see. “Save GT”, just 3 words for you: Greedy choke puppy.
7. Star Flyer is not a cruise ship
19,000 cruise arrivals in one day and they will all be catered to by the tendering service …………. proof positive that we do not need a mega expensive cruise ship dock!
Even with a dock, we can only dock 4 ships per day so on days like March 23rd, the tendering service will have to cater to half the cruise ships stopping in Cayman. If the weather is bad we will have to tender all 8 ships, even if we build the unnecessary dock.
Cruising is in ‘season’ when the winds are high and the waves are rough ~ will a couple of ships still be diverted to Spotts and the overflow be turned away even with the dock during inclement weather? Larger and modernized tenders seem more logical AND much less of an expense……
We have to get our product up to standard Cayman. No matter whatever these naysayers nay say.
Fact checker you need to Checkout! Leave the freaking reef alone. You look like a green goo Classical example that ignorance left alone will eventually pick up confidence!
It really saddens me that Cayman has chosen the “cookie cutter” path to become just another Caribbean cruise ship destination. Perhaps this government hopes we can become another Nassau, tragic.
Of course we knew this government would bow down to the downtown business owners.
Perhaps an early legal challenge by the opposition might be successful in saving the country from this blight. The 4 ladies who challenged the West Bay road closure were late in filing their legal objections hopefully the anti pier folks will learn from that situation.
In a choice between greed and doing the right thing, greed has won. Again.
Spock, you’ve got to get us that cruise dock.
I pity the fool!
This poor decision (another expensive mistake) by Premier Alden McLaughlin, Moses Kirkonnell plus PPM MLA’s will have significant consequences, much of them unintended and irreversible for the islands and its economy short to long term.
This dock will be built on that firmest of footings. The foolishness of politicians.
Aren’t our cruise ship arrivals already as high as they have ever been? If that’s true why are those that depend on cruise ship tourism complaining they can’t make a living and we need more? Restaurants closing, George Town dying, crushed under the weight of people leaving us nothing but garbage and sewage problems. cruise ship visitors do more damage than bring in dollars.
300 Million to bring us more volume in a failing business model won’t fix your financial woes. It might finish topping off mount trashmore.
Oh I forgot, it’s actually the head tax the government gets from this that is desired. Government wants those fees and they will mortgage your and your children’s future to get it.
What a day in CAYMAN history. WOW what a day!
First …the Auditor General announces he has received the “First ever set of government consolidated accounts” that he is able to audit.
Second… The premier announces the cruise ship port is going forward.
Good or bad, a Caymanian final shit and got off the pot.
Though undoubtedly self serving at the time, Mac’s West Bay pier idea isn’t looking that bad after all. No need for cargo expansion either if we stick the spendthrifts up there.
I couldn’t be bothered before but I’m going to go ahead and register to vote just to help my fellow Caymanians ensure this never happens.
Before everyone gets too excited it’s worth looking at what the Premier actually said. To quote from another story on this, “He said negotiations would now take place with cruise lines and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to agree on designs for the port, as well as a financing model for the project, which has an estimated minimum cost of $150 million.”
In short, “Soon come,” because that process isn’t going to happen overnight and probably won’t be concluded before the run up to next election in May 2017. There’s still plenty of time for this to go through the courts and make a few lawyers even richer.
All I hope is that by his reference to ‘cruise lines’ this time he actually means the vessel operators themselves and not just the FCCA because this project needs solid commitment to be viable, not third-party promises that don’t mean jack.
I got 3 words for Alden and the PPM Government .. “Political Suicide Completed” That is all…
You obviously vote for the whole of Cayman.
The UK say erryting is alright with destroying da corals cause we destroying their financial industry too soon there will be unrest and finish the rest of Cayman then they will have to scratch dirt wid da chickens
Smell the roses
it comes down to one person loosing local tender money
the cruise industry is going mega cruiselines
what is the replacement income when we start to see a decline in cruise passengers
coral can be saved, successfully done including Falmouth Jamaica which enjoys the oasis
environment is not the issue as this can be minimized, livelihood of Caymanians is what is
being threatened
Press on Premier
Concerned
Maybe you should remove your rose coloured glasses. Four years after 140,000 coral fragments were relocated in Falmouth surveys could not find any higher coral cover on the sites that received the coral compared to the one that did not.
You are spewing nonsense Anonymous 12:26 am. You CANNOT move a dive site to a new location. Do you dive?? If you do not, then you have NO RIGHT to judge what is important to other people. You are WRONG about this dock making Caymanians any wealthier. Since when do Caymanians take on waitress jobs, or get hired to sell watches? How many EXPATS are brought in to take on those jobs? Sure, Kirkonnel hires Caymanians, but rarely for the jobs in the FRONT of the store. The extra sales will not change the number of TOP jobs, only the profit of the TOP guys. When they get busier, they will need one or two more sales ladies, but I will bet they won’t be Caymanian because many of them are not Caymanian right now so those jobs are available TODAY if a qualified Caymanian wanted them.
Our finance industry hangs on by a thread with increase regulation and scrutiny by the US.
Cuba opening up poses a much great threat to stay over than our cruise industry.
We just saw that MSC plans to home port in Cuba and include Cayman on that itinerary. What happens when the US really starts heading in?
Oasis class cruise ships were designed specifically for the Caribbean. They have the open promenade through the middle of the ships for warm climate. These are not made with Asia or any other markets in mind, they are Caribbean ships.
Guess what that means? When these larger ships launch they replace smaller ones that can be utilized for new and growing areas like Asia.
Like it or not, we are at a cross roads. We can continue with cruise or not. Some seem to think we should just discard cruise. But think about it a little harder for a minute, does it make sense to throw away an industry that is already working and employs thousands of people?
What would we replace that $160m with? Everyone seems to think that the two tourism industries are not linked.
43% of cruisers come back to one of the destinations as a stayover guest.
DOT Cayman has already proven that 5% a year of cruisers come back to Cayman (at 2M people that is 100k future stayover tourists).
That is even forgetting about the fact that if you lose jobs without cruise or with a drop in cruise it will trickle over into every aspect of life in Cayman.
Funniest thing about your post is that you believe the shit the DOT spews out.
Tricks of the Trade – You say, “Oasis class cruise ships were designed specifically for the Caribbean.” In which case why has Allure of the Seas been based in the Mediterranean since May 2015? In fact the Oasis class is designed to work wherever the money is.
Right now their winter Caribbean itineraries from Ft Lauderdale show seven-day cruises with only three stops and two of those are at facilities part-owned by Royal Caribbean – that doesn’t leave much scope for Grand Cayman does it?
You’re right about one thing, it leaves no hope for Cayman as we don’t have a dock. They will never tender into a port ever.
11:38 You need to read the comments before replying – the Oasis class isn’t going to come here whatever we do. Is that clear enough for you?
CNS, do you honestly believe, your continued publications of the No. 1 night dive and the No. 2 dive in Cayman’s top ten dives, you are delusional and you are in denial especially when the real fact is that you are not permitted to dive in GT harbour at all during the week on cruise ship days and you also can not dive when cargo ships are in port. This is and always has been the country’s commercial cruise and cargo port and permission to dive must be granted by the port authority. You can dive some but very few week nights if no cargo ships are in port so the reality and truth of the matter is that the area that is so very recently important is hardly dived on at all and all the claims of the diving in GT harbour are great exaggerations and complete falsies.
The Balboa IS the favorite night dive. Always has been for the 45 years I have been diving here!! How many night dives do YOU do in Cayman Anonymous 12:10am? Do you even dive at all? If you don’t then you have NO right to judge what our diving tourists like. Currently, because of our location on the cruise line itinerary, there are often no cruise ships almost half of the week — Sat, Sun, Mon. So stop trying to pretend that this stupid dock plan is not wrecking anything that is important to others.
So we have to find another favorite night dive if the balboa cannot be relocated. Simply. This is really not an issue. Sunken hulls can be strategically placed to create the same or better effects for future generations. It is a very simple fact of life that sometimes the old has to be done away with to make place for the new.
There are already ships in the area to grow Cayman’s economy and any additional traffic is going to come in the form of larger ships. You add more ships that won’t tender and guess what happens….they don’t stop here. Ships keep launching and they are getting bigger. Ships continue to cross Cayman. Every year that a big ship launches it takes smaller ones off of the Cayman route. Wash rinse repeat until there isn’t enough cruise traffic stopping in Cayman to make any GT business viable.
Anyone that tries to say that this dock will affect the beach or cause permanent milky water is out of their mind. There are dozens of examples of cruise dock built right in the middle of beach areas causing no coastal erosion and no water visibility problems. Projects with double or more dredging than Cayman’s proposed project. Quit the lies quit the scare tactics. You know you are false.
Please show us 1…..
Our esteemed Premier has obviously not heard the wishes of the people of Cayman.
Time for a referendum.
Your comment is five years late.
Once they break ground on the dock and get it under way and everyone sees how much the tender lobby exaggerated there are going to be a lot of red faced people looking out at the economic saviour of our nation’s capital.
Thousands of Caymanians depend on cruise for a living. Most of the rosy glass wearing people have no idea what is being weighed in this decision.
One day we are going to look back and realise how smart this government was and how they made such a big difference to our country.
Airport Check
Cruise Check (not Checc)
Dump Check
Thousands of Caymanians?????????? Really?
Yes, over three thousand according to the Price Waterhouse report.
When all is said and done, the new dock still won’t help the owners of the big red roofed plaza because they built it too far away.
If the current 1.6 million cruise tourists don’t walk there now, it is hardly likely any additional ones who come because they can step onto a dock will make the long trek.
So all the new visitors will just walk straight into the welcoming arms of Dart’s people because that’s who they see first.
You know, a thought just occurred to me. I am dead set against the dock, for particular reasons, but I pose this question for people to consider: how would you feel about Cayman losing Kirk Freeport? From what I understand, that may be one of the things at stake. Just something to think about it.
I imagine your ancestors made similar points about plantations.
Yes they did.
It is high time that our citizens unite; start a peoples referendum and stop this sh!t…
Politicians bowing to the Kirkconnels and George Town cronies need to have their asses kicked back into the reality that if this project goes south there will be nothing for cruise visitors to see when they get here…
Let’s rather spend our money on the airport infrastructure and have more tourists that spend thousands of dollars while in Cayman instead of trying to convince a couple of 300lb all you can eat tourists to leave the buffet and spend $10 – $15 when they get off the ship.
You have no idea what you are talking about. The airport already broke ground and is a done deal. Cruise is a much bigger part of the economy than you understand. $160 million got spent by cruisers in Cayman last year.
On what exactly?
http://youtu.be/ADecI4xw-yg.
PEOPLE JUST WATCH THIS! It’s exactly what is going on here on our islands!
Is our country really supposed to stand still all because one boat company with a monopoly wants to build up a fake environmental campaign just to save their $5+ per person times 2 million cruise passengers a year cash cow?
There is no way this makes sense.
Cayman wake up you are being fed over exaggerated green goo.
The new study show 6 acres total and says it can be moved.
Balboa can be moved.
No flooding risk
No increased wave risk
Increase customers spending on shore
More time for passengers and crew on shore
Secure a cargo dock without having to dredge out and build a second dock
Create jobs for Caymanians
Secure business for George Town and help in its revitalization.
Encourage GT land owners to re-invest instead of closing stores.
Prevent increased unemployment
Prevent crime increase
This is an important revenue stream for government and local businesses alike.
We don’t need the cruise ships to come here for our island to prosper. If you believe we do, I have a bridge to sell you. Let it just die down eventually they will stop sending the floating trailer parks that need tenders and another rich family will have to evolve with the times.
Invest in marketing our island, stop exploiting the financial industry and look to better ways to stimulate the economy. Casinos perhaps?
CIG spends $20m a year on advertising and another $20m on Cayman airways for stayover.
Financial industry is slowing down all the time and you never know with US regulations how much longer that will last.
Do you really think it’s a good idea to toss away a huge part of the economy?
You mean like you are tossing away the financial industry which probably contributes more to CIG than anyone else?
You can pay for any study to say what you want it to say.
“Fact Checker” is the only one to provide honest commentary and it is refreshing to have comments from practical realists with truthful facts.
Fact Checker, I really hope the fellows that own the tenders sell the whole fleet to Mexico this year and retire. Then see how many fat tourists spend money at Kirkconnells or Hamatys.
Reality Checker
In case you didn’t notice tendering isn’t exactly a thing of the future. I can’t imagine the market for tenders is exactly booming these days with so many dock built in the Caribbean
Boats that are used for tendering can be easily modified to do other things on the water. Tendering does not have to be the end use for these vessels. When they are gone, good luck getting anyone ashore for at least 3 years.
That is exactly why Cayman needs a dock. Cayman should not be at the mercy of a monopolistic money grabber that can hold the country at ransom.
And it will magically appear today? Get real.
Idiot, the cruisers will stop coming when overcrowding reaches its breaking point. Even chicken now demand free range and you want to squeeze hordes of people into physically limited space. Overnight tourists will stop coming to avoid crowds. Super rich will stop coming due to decline in quality of life.
What a legacy you will be leaving behind
In my admittedly less than ‘professional’ opinion, the ‘permanent’ environmental impact of building the dock is being over exaggerated. It is a very sad fact in our world today that enough money can buy exactly the desired professional ‘opinion’ or ‘assessment’. At the end of the day we as a people are left with nothing more or less than our own common sense along with the Almighty’s guidance, if we humble ourselves enough to ask for it, in weighing the pros and cons of this important matter. We built a cargo dock that failed to destroy the environment and we have had hurricanes the likes of ivan that i would venture to say cause more damage to the environment than any amount of construction imaginable, and mother nature bounces back every time. May God be with our leaders in the running of this country.
Perhape we should have an environmental impact study done on the damages caused by pollution from a dozen tenders making dozens of trips to and from the cruise ships on a daily basis.
I’m tired of both sides exaggerating. Only a little bit a reef that we don’t dive anyway will get taken out and the ships won’t completely stop if the sorry excuse for an environmental group stops the dock.
You know it will be built whether this government or the next. try to do it well and redesign town and let’s all get on with life.
It is not about just reef. There is such a thing as capacity limits.
Anonymous 8:18 pm. Do you dive? If not then you have NO right to pretend that this area is not important to other people. The life you want to get on with is NOT the type of life that others want to get on with. We want to get on with a life filled with a pretty environment on an island that is beautiful and not OVER CROWDED with traffic. We want a life that is clean, we want a life with a pristine harbour and lovely restaurants overlooking the water, and a beautiful boardwalk around the harbour and nice shops selling things. We do NOT want a concrete loading dock pouring people in who look around, get disgusted and go back onto their boat and traffic so congested that it takes too long to get to the beach and back.
Sweetheart, if we follow you we’ll end up with 2 extra dive sites, and growing crime on land from the unemployed. You need to be more considerate of someone other than what you want to keep you happy.
Maybe you could find a deserted island somewhere to move to.
The future generations will condemn us if we don’t act now and stop this madness.
No. They will thank us and wonder why we took so long.
One family gets what it wants, they got the SEZ now they get CBF paid for by the people. That’s not democracy. Very sad.
Mr Premier the fact that Cayman is the only Caribbean destination without piers is something to be proud of, it’s a selling point not a reason to destroy the environment.
Worst. Argument. Ever.
Folks this is a money maker for the CI Govt. The cruise ship pays a fee to the Govt for every person getting off the ship. More people will get off if they can just walk off.
The port will bring more money to Cayman.
Also, the ship companies will pay for the dock like they did in Falmouth, JA and in Labadee, Haiti.
The cruise port is going to be a great income bearing venture for the CI.
Relax folks.
This dock needs to happen. George Town has been a ghost town ever since the new Oasis sip came out and won’t stop in Cayman. There is another same ship coming out next year and we are going to keep losing ships and better passengers to other islands until we get a dock.
We can either build it the right way now or let some other government come and do it their way in a couple years.
This is the best plan with least environmental damage ever proposed.
Eden Rock and Sunset will be just fine.
Another “expert”
Another “expert”
Bull….George Town became irrelevant when Caymana Bay opened. We currently get more cruise ships than our current infastructure can handle. Government and merchants are puting the cart before the horse….money ( if there is any to spend) should be spent on waterfront infastructure and attempting to create our own ‘Caymanian’
Identy before we bring in bigger ships & merchants should examine the competativeness of product…there’s too much competition today…not like decades ago.
Just my view…
@ 8:04 FYI, there are two ships in the Oasis class already sailing with another scheduled for delivery next year and a fourth ordered for 2018. Regardless of whether or not the dock is built there are no plans to put any of them on the Grand Cayman routes. Unlike the smaller ships, when operated in the Caribbean these mega-liners function as self-contained floating resorts with fewer stops (typically just three in a seven-day cruise) and more time cruising at sea.
It’s a real shame that nobody has bothered to consult the cruise lines before starting this process. I’m not saying that the dock shouldn’t be built but what concerns me is that there has not even been a basic market research survey conducted so the whole thing still hinges on an, ‘if we build it, they will come,’ mindset.
“Eden Rock and Sunset will be just fine.”
Famous last words…….
When the port is built, George Town will be even more of a ghost town. No local or stay over tourist in their right mind would want to spend any time downtown when a ship like the Oasis comes in. If this is supposed to stop the migration towards Camana Bay, it will probably just accelerate it.
George Town was a ghost town long before that. Bring in more cruise ships it will still be a ghost town. Lots of people wandering around aimlessly and incidentally, bored, does not make a bustling town or city centre. What makes a town or city centre is actually having one – e.g. shopping malls, food and fruit markets, and stores other than diamond and T-shirt stores, cafes, bares, restaurants, everything should be there for all in GT so that locals, workers and tourists alike can enjoy. Until that day – GT will continue to fester no matter how many tourist you ship in and how many $ you needlessly waste on docks for budget-minded cruise ship tourists who usually travel all-inclusive, i.e. most of their money is spent onboard the ship and not on-island.
Sad part is (and this is very sad), the Oasis class of ships can be tendered and RCCL and the Cayman Government knows and agreed they could be tendered with on shore security… They could have been coming here for the last three years….