Daylight savings bill published
Sunset in West Bay, Grand Cayman
(CNS): The government has published the bill which, if it passes in the Legislative Assembly next year, will see Cayman introduce daylight savings in order to remain in sync with the east coast time zone in the United States. Having been debated for many years, it comes at a time when Florida is considering remaining on daylight savings time all year round, since the length of days there, just like Cayman, remains fairly consistent. The Cayman government plans to introduce the time change in March next year, when clocks will move forward one hour.
The bill, which has cross-party support and is broadly supported by the financial services sector and cruise tourism, is now open for its final public consultation phase. It states that the adoption of daylight saving time (DST) will bring several positive changes, “including increased sunlight in the evenings, which could facilitate increased outdoor playtime for children, provide longer outdoor time for sports enthusiasts and encourage more family time outdoors in the evening.”
Daylight saving time, which results in more light during evening hours, takes effect from 13 March to 6 November each year.
Announcing plans to move ahead with DST earlier this year, Premier Alden McLaughlin said the issue had been debated in Cayman for many years and the financial services and tourism sectors had requested the change. A public consultation and survey by the Ministry of Financial Services, Commerce and Environment had found the majority of people responding were in favour, with the benefits outweighing any inconveniences, he told the LA in May.
“We believe, as does the business community and those who support the implementation, that the benefits are clear,” he said, noting that it would eliminate confusion over travel times, put the financial industry in sync with New York, and put an end to early arrivals and departures of cruise ships, benefitting stores, restaurants, taxis, tour operators and many more small businesses.
Those who will be inconvenienced however are likely to be farmers, early workers and students living in the outer districts who will be getting up in the dark in the summer as well as the winter.
Situated in a tropical location, the Cayman Islands has a relatively consistent hours of sunlight throughout the year, with only around a two hour difference between its mid-winter sunsets in winter and summer. Daylight savings was designed to assist countries with a much greater variance.
Meanwhile, State Representative Kristin Jacobs has filed a bill in Florida, dubbed the “Sunshine Protection Act”, which would keep daylight saving time year round in that state. US media reports that the proposal will be considered during Florida’s 2016 legislative session and, if passed, could take effect 1 July 2016.
“As the ‘Sunshine State,’ Florida should be kept sunny year-round … daylight saving time shall be the year-round standard time of the entire state and all of its political subdivisions,” the bill says in part.
If both Cayman and Florida passed their respective daylight savings bills, Cayman Islands time would once again be out of sync for part of the year for travellers coming through Florida hubs.
Category: Local News, Politics
Why is Cayman doing everything the US is doing, everything here is adapting the US way, rules…why??? They teach the american ways in school? Aren’t we still under the Queen?! The island is becoming so much like America and developing properties like America. Soon the tourism will go down. They leave their home to come to an island, our islands to get away from the cement jungle and come here.” This is an island to retire and relax in a hummock with a glass of pina colada under a coconut tree”. Do you not think that it will look all to familiar and just pass us by..??
Like the Indians said, cutting off the end of a blanket off and sewing it onto the top doesn’t make the blanket longer does it?
What a great idea !! When are you all going to make the US dollar value the same as a CI DOLLAR? We need to do that . Then Americans can figure out prices and spend more money. It will be a 20% discount. Then ,then we could change the way we drive ? How about everyone learn to drive on the right? Then all the cars will be from USA or LHD? More uniformity is better. Let all Americans and Canadians come in and not need a work permit as long as they can reciprocate the same for us ,oh wait we have a lot of American/ Caymanians already. Well ,what the heck lets start paying taxes and we won’t be on TV and films anymore. Thats been a problem for a long time. Lets change it all , because its better over there. We should stop being different and be the same. We need sidewalks, bicycle lanes, 20-30 story buildings. Just imagine all the illnesses we are curing no more smoking cigarettes,cigars, and don’t lets start on liquor.
When we had nothing we could catch a fish,conch or a lobster, plant cassava yam,breadfruit, walk barefoot anywhere in Cayman. We had no rules but we had no crime. We had shotguns and pistols but we respected each other. We had so little to enjoy life with but we had friends and fun.
Now everything is wrong because they say so . I remember marching because we didn’t want the UK gov’t taking away our land and there was a British war ship in GT with her anchor on coral. Now Caymanians have low paying jobs where it doesn’t reach cost of living? We bring in cheaper labour who go home with the small money and build middle class homes in their country. They changed our society too. Baby mommas are all over the Cayman Islands. Their music changed our youth thinking. Their churches only help their people not ours. They help to kill our benefits of free medical,dental and eye exams. But they’re happy . Our people are turning into drug addicts and depression. Where or when did we lose our people?
You do know the CI dollar is pegged to the US dollar and the difference in value between CI$1 and USD$1 is just a way of squeezing extra profits out of American tourists don’t you?
We got nuff sun already. We don’t need England forcing us to take an extra we got plenty.
They need it more than us.
Yo. If this thing is Ever introduced, it would be a good thing, as it would be the only type of Saving that I would have here in Cayman.
Simple solution is, put is to a referendum by the district boundaries and constitutions, and those who agree for it can take daylight savings.
That would also alleviate traffic and no one would run late ever, with the staggered work hours by nature.
Seen
Anthony Eden would campaign to go back to the Bronze Age.
One group of people not represented in this discussion is mothers and other people who are caregivers to children. Drawing on my experience as a mother with the “time-saving” exercise, it is my strong opinion that the people who make the decision to make the clocks “spring forward” in the spring each year, are the people who should have to be responsible for getting the kids to bed at a reasonable time, and then get them up in the a.m. at the required time. Not easy physically nor mentally. Just saying!
One reason you are not involved in this discussion is because you are an idiot. The clocks changing will make no difference to these things. If anything children will keep more normal hours as it will light so early on summer mornings. Stick to what you know about. Which is probably nothing.
Bots seem to be at work. That is the problem with bots, they leak into other threads.
How stupid are you? This policy makes no difference, except it probably means children sleep marginally later in summer which is almost certainly a positive.