Daylight saving time plans shelved
(CNS): The premier has confirmed that plans to introduce daylight saving time in the Cayman Islands have been shelved. The government had indicated it would introduce the change to local clocks in March in order to keep in-step with Miami and New York throughout the year but Alden McLaughlin said Friday that as a result of considerable representation from the people, the plans were being reconsidered. The pressure for the change was coming from the business community, in particular stakeholders in the tourism sector, in order to accommodate cruise ship timetables and synchronise flights.
The financial industry was also keen to synchronise with New York. However, much wider opposition in the general community, in particular people in the eastern districts who would be impacted more by dark mornings, have been vocal in their opposition.
McLaughlin told CNS that the considerable representation from the people meant he did not feel government could implement the policy this spring, as had been planned, and the idea was going to be shelved.
“I don’t think this is going to go ahead now. There have been strong representations made from people opposed to it,” he said, adding that given the new line-up in the Legislative Assembly, his government will need to seek consensus for any legislation coming to the parliament.
In less than three months, the PPM has gained one new party member, Roy McTaggart, but has lost the support of veteran MLA Anthony Eden over the issues relating to same-sex partner dependency rights, Alva Suckoo for similar as well as undisclosed reasons, and Winston Connolly, a C4C candidate who had sat on the government benches.
Several of the existing and new independent members, including Connolly, have said that they do not support the change to the local clocks and would be voting against it.
With an extremely slender government majority, McLaughlin will be battling numbers over the next 14 months if he is to avoid an early election, and daylight savings is the first of what is likely to be a number of legislative casualties.
Category: Politics
Stick to your guns man, nobody like a soft man.
No doubt most of the proponents of DST instatement here are from frigid climes and it seems their brains haven’t fully thawed out yet.
If the banks and the tourism industry want it why not let them start work early and finish early? No Ph.D., mba, bsc or as degree just good ole common sense! This should lessen the traffic in the mornings and evenings and everyone tourist and locals alike can enjoy the island better.
The problem is that is not how it works Mr common sense. Tourism and banking businesses serve both local and foreign customers. Starting early does not mean leaving early, it means extra hours and extra cost. Also it becomes harder on their employees especially if they have school age children, are you really going to drop your young kids off to shool at 6am?
No, but your helper can
Stop giving employers ideas! No one I know gets overtime in FS, you just fo it.
Can the PPM not complete anything? This was a simple project that befits our major economic pillars. Spineless is as spineless does.
Clearly there are some idiots that are amongst us! If you wish for DST then move to a country that recognize it. Not everything a monkey see it must do! For heavens sake why can’t you idiots just leave Cayman like you found it? You don’t see any of us running anywhere in the world and telling you all to change your times or telling you to stop eating your national dish? Why can’t we just live the way want to live? Much of the country is much already ruined by the gangs, robberies, traffic, discrimination and the list goes on. Well done Alden! One for the people.
All residents, Status holders and meglo-capitalists start planning your move off island now. You want DST, well move to a jurisdiction that observes it.
End of….
Ancient driftwood
What can now only be considered a “lame duck” government frightened of it’s own shadow
Good. This was the worst idea in years. “If something isn’t broken…”
THANK YOU!
I am far from being a spineless fool and i most crertainly DO understand the issues to hand. The only thing lacking is that the idea was only “shelved” – it should have been chucked in the dust bin once and for all! The only people in favour of this dumb idea are those who think that those on the East Coast of the USA who are in the financial industry can’t adjust their thinking by an hour. Truth is, they do it all year long when they have to deal with other time zones right within the USA, not to mention all the rest of the world – including the Eastern Caribbean which is on Atlantic Standard time year ’round! Thanks, Alden – you done good!
Best news I’ve heard in a long time. Please don’t re-visit this idea
Excellent.
Somehow most people have just lost the plot and just do not understand the main reasoning.
This is not about “Daylight” saving, it is about synchronizing with the US eastern where many businesses and much of the revenue for the island comes from.
It is about enabling business not getting you and extra hour to job during the day (as it is in the more northern states/countries.
Cayman keeps moving backward, and this was such a simple decision.
I hope all the loud mouths that went against it work for companies that are affected, end up with those same companies deciding to start an hour earlier and I get to laugh when I get an extra hour of sleep while they drive to work. It will still be dark then but hey they will get what they wanted right?
Dear 2:19, yes some people here do business with East coast businesses. In case you haven’t noticed there are other sections of the US and the world where we also work with. I, for one, do a lot of business with Californians and applaud the shelving of this idea.
So you’re saying that for businesses to move forward here we need to synchronize our clocks with Eastern North America. Well I really can’t see how much more of a benefit this would be to local business. Most businesses that deal internationally adapt working hours suit their communications overseas.
What if eventually most of Cayman’s business eventually dealing with Asia, would you then be in favour of switching to Beijing Standard Time?
chamber of commerce must demand aldens resignation….
ppm= peoples procrastination movement.
they are just plain stupid and/or lazy. end of story.
Finally government is showing some intelligence in this situation.
There are several options here.
The best one (if you want to capitalize on longer daylight) is just to move clock once, one hour forward. That would give even more benefits then DST gives. People would still go to work during the daylight, but would have one more daylight hour after work. During all the year. Not only in summer.
The second best is just leave everything as it is. It just doesn’t make sense so close to equator.
The worst is introduce DST. “Align clock with NY” doesn’t sound that clever and I haven’t really seen business which have issues with that. There are some companies which have issues with time zones, but they are mostly the guys working with India and Asia, one hour wouldn’t do much for them…
For those of you in support of DST for business purposes simply open your stores and offices an hour earlier. Or are you incapable of that simple move without a change in legislation?
Seriously? I may have seen 10 people on Facebook that were against daylight savings. And those 10 people are pretty much against anything that pops up. There is no people’s power here, just a really bad decision that makes no sense by this government to change their minds.
Sore loser!
Thank good. Every other country is running from this we are backwards indeed for trying to pick this up.
Some one has a modicum of sense! Yay, good move, government!
Excellent! I am an evening jogger, 15 minutes after sunset. I wasn’t looking forward to starting my run at 830 and having dinner at 9pm.
(Its all about me, after all).
So 200 “eastern districts” people’s opinion carries more weight than the whole of the financial services and tourism sector. Not to mention the other 30,000 or so who want to see this implemented! Laughable but to be expected.
This is what happens when you make a decision by slaying a chicken and reading the entrails, rather than by comparing actual costs and actual benefits.
Unbelievable.
Well…well..ONE for the people. The value of more PEOPLE actually standing up and voicing their solemn obligation.
PEOPLES POWER is real my good friends.
LET US FULLY UTILIZE IT!!
Can be used now for a BIG MARCH in February against price gouging that is happening with our gasoline fuel prices.
It was not going to be any darker – in fact it was going to be lighter. It was being introduced in the Spring – so we spring forward an hour and then in fall – we fall back to exactly what it is now – the only months that would change are the summer months.
It should have been explained better – I thought it was a good idea
“in particular people in the eastern districts who would be impacted more by dark mornings” meanwhile the rest of the of the island would not have dark morning
??
Alleluia
Does this mean we’re not getting the extra hour anymore and we are stuck with 24 hour days?
I tink dats wha deh ment by “sawin”s?
The strength of one’s support for DST is directly proportional to one’s belief in evolution and the Big Bang.
So… are you saying it’s an intelligent idea?
Inversely proportional, I would think.
Well…well..ONE for the people. The value of more PEOPLE actually standing up and voicing their solemn obligation.
PEOPLES POWER is real my good friends.
LET US FULLY UTILIZE IT!!
Can be used now for a BIG MARCH in February against price gouging that is happening with our gasoline fuel prices.
Indeed, well done. Another good decision scuppered by the idiotic minority.
Cayman 1, Common Sense: 0.
Winston Churchill: “The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”
Dumb move by Alden.
Don’tcha just love sore losers??? Get a life! Buy a sunlamp and turn it on if the lack of that extra hour threatens your existence…jeez, wimps.
Could they please just shorten this afternoon by about 3 hours so I can get to the beach and bar?
another win for the backward, small minded, small town thinkers….
i never thought i would see a more useless government than the last udp adminsitration but ppm proved me wrong……zzzzzzzzzzz
you mean these small minded people that put together a finance sector in cayman that would attract you here to work. Gee why didnt your more advance people from your home come up with the idea. Hardly any country in the caribbean uses dst i dont even think Hawai does yet it is stupid?
ppm decoded:
we have done nothing but maintain the status quo since elected.
spineless fools…
This is pathetic. The vast majority of sensible people could see the many benefits. Just because the vocal minority made a fuss (as they do with everything) it has been shelved. As many comments on this site showed many objectors really didn’t even understand the issue very well.
I am very sensible, well educated and well employed and could see no benefits at all of a change. What you meant was that in your opinion you felt a change would be better. Don’t go speaking for everyone else Bobo. You don’t have that right.
Majority of sensible people… but not the majority of all people. I think you’re assuming that the vast majority of people are sensible. It was more than a vocal minority that were against this.
Nothing is stopping Customs and Immigration (or any enterprise) from mobilizing earlier and/or later shift slots to process the earliest arriving and latest departing cruise ship customers. If controlling and maximizing shore time is commercially important to us, and those CIG agencies are the cause of the shore time bottleneck – we can fix it ourselves.
Woah there tiger – way too progressive a concept…
What about staggering people work times, I’ll solve the traffic & business problem! Bracka
Brackas might want to just focus on working. Period. Welfare junkies.
Totally disagree with you. I live on the Brac and find that most people work and work hard to support their families and better their life styles. Have you ever been on the Brac? Do you know anyone on welfare in the Brac? Do you have any statistics to back up your allegation or is it just baseless calumniation?
I usually stagger into work about 10:30. Never have traffic problems but driving whilst still drunk is tricky.
Have you ever considered becoming Minister for Education?
The main reason why he shelved it is because he now has to have an agreement with the opposition to go ahead. Ppl jump ship!
Alden listening to the electorate ? This is a first.
how pathetic , we are the only country in the world that does not do the obvious thing. I guess when after 4 years in govt, they cannot make a decision on the most pressing issue of the a dump, i guess it is too you much to expect them to make a decision on moving a clock 1 hour forward.
Whatever Alden has considered to revoke this proposal should have been considered before Government announced that DST would be implemented. The majority of the population does not want it but that never occurred to Alden and crew when they were pushing it through to please special interests!
PPM would have been better off not supporting this from the onset rather than announcing it and then back-tracking!
Holding my breath for the Port announcement next.
Best news in years!!!!
Can this man do something for the benefits of everyone, instead of doing something for the chosen few.
Still the islands that time forgot.
‘Islands that forgot time’?
Can’t see any great benefits from changing to DST. Keeping to tradition definitely has benefits. Tell the business people to go read a clock!
lame duck government.
The Government of feeble attempts and weak resolve. Alden has proven he is only a back bencher. I hope he has is resume ready. Join the line of unemployed my friend.
Best news all week! I was dreading the rise in early morning accidents involving pedestrians and runners forced to run in the dark even in the summer months.
versus the accidents and costs of runners and drivers being injured from losing out on the extra hour of light after work? This is such a sad example of a few vocal idiots ruining the substantial benefits to the vast majority of residents and visitors for nothing more than the fact it is a change and they don’t want to get up an hour earlier for 6 months a year. Brutal.
please note you have been nominated for the stupidess comment of the year. in the tropics daylight savings has next to no value. you don’t lose daylight hours you just get them in the morning.
LOL there has been many representations about the negatives of the cruise pier project but he will not change his position on that. I wonder why?
Excellent comment.
More flip flopping by the Premier Flip Flopper
Has April 1 come early? What a joke, the benefits far outway any downside, of which quite frankly there really isn’t any tangible downside. Eastern districts affected more….how long does it take the earth to rotate 22 miles…again what a joke. Mario Ebanks put forward an excellent view point and all this U-Turn shows is how weak a leader Alden really is. You govern by appeasement and you’re going to be in deep trouble, which he is, and he knows it. Weak leadership.
It takes the Earth 1 minute and 20 seconds to travel 22 miles ……. what was your point for asking?
Here is another time fistance solution for people like you…….. It takes CAL 1 hour to fly to Miami…… buy a ticket and sayisfy your lust for DST……. It serves no purpose for people living in the tropics.
The whole reason for DST is because of longer seasonal days in the nothern and southern hemispheres and it defeats itself becsuse we expect the southern hemisphere to synchronize its DST with the nothern hemisphere.
To answer your question and to quote the article:
“However, much wider opposition in the general community, in particular people in the eastern districts who would be impacted more by dark mornings, have been vocal in their opposition.”
Eastern districts impacted more – give me a break. Its all about the Wotes and Alden is now running scared, subject to his personality actually allowing him to be scared.
Wots a “Wote”?
Seriously?
It would serve the purpose of having is on the same time as the Eastern seaboard throughout the year. For those who do business with other countries the fact that we are sometimes on EST and sometimes not and sometimes 5 hours from London and sometimes 6 causes unnecessary confusion and leaves us with an hour less to deal with Europe in the summer months. This decision is a real shame.
You want more time to ‘deal with Europe’ then try going into work earlier! Quite a simple solution and if you really need more time to deal with them I’m sure journey boss will be happy to change your hours. Mine did. Start at 7 and leave in time to collect kids from school….
Cayman should be encouraging flexi hours to reduce traffic congestion
That only works if the CAL flight actually leaves on time and is not cancelled.
it is amazing how you people think that everyone is an idiot simply because they don’t agree with you.
the concept of daylight savings time works well outside of the tropics but not as critical a need in the caribbean hence very few Caribbean countries use it. in fact I believe hawai does not.
the single greatest advantage I see is to coordinate our business day with eastern usa where a lot of our business comes from.
Spineless coward. Typical Alden. Wotes first, right thing second.