Activists want people’s vote on PR grants
(CNS): A group of local activists are making a bid for a people-initiated referendum to stop government from granting permanent residency to the backlog of applicants until the more than 1,200 unemployed locals and the 600 new graduates expected to hit the job market this year have found work. Worried that government will offer all of the 1,000 or so applicants PR in a block grant, they have begun a petition with an eye on collecting signatures from 25% of the electorate to trigger a referendum.
The organisers told CNS that they want government to take care of local workers first before they create what they believe will inevitably be more competition for Caymanians who are already discriminated against and struggling to secure employment. The activists believe that this is their only hope to prevent the growth of local unemployment in the face of increasing imported cheaper labour.
“This is why we are directing our elected representatives to defer any approvals as a matter of national security, or to deny without prejudice these applications where they can re-apply and seek approval at a later date once our country takes care of our own citizens first,” the activists told CNS.
“While we are cognizant that we will always need to rely on work permits because there are more jobs than unemployed Caymanians, the fact of the matter is that there are far too many Caymanians unemployed at the moment to push them down any further by approving mass PR grants for these 1,000 non-Caymanians and all of their dependants.”
There is no indication that government plans a mass grant of permanent residency to everyone who has applied. However, officials have said that work will begin this week on the backlog that has built up over the last three years. While some people will qualify under the law, many may not meet the legal criteria to be granted permanent residency.
But there are concerns that anyone refused PR who has waited more than a year to have their case heard or who has now been legally resident for ten years or more due to the delay will have a legal right to contest any refusal. Although it remains a tightly guarded secret, speculation has mounted that the still secret Ritch report on immigration issues, which was commissioned by the government, came to that very conclusion.
While the Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board along with immigration staff may be undertaking the official process, their decisions may prove immaterial because it may ultimately be the courts that decide.
The petition organisers are faced with a significant challenge to collect the names of 5,108 registered voters, the number required to meet the 25% support for a people-initiated referendum. While it could take months to physically collect the signatures, they are hopeful that government will stay the review of the applications until they can demonstrate the support for the referendum.
However, even if the activists can raise the support for a referendum and then win that vote (which requires 50% of the electorate plus 1), the law will still need to be changed, making the goal a long, complex and unlikely achievement. But the organisers believe the current situation is fundamentally unfair to them and made worse by government’s failure to enforce the law concerning work permit practices by employers.
They want a comprehensive overhaul of current hiring practices to address discrimination and believe these potential PR approvals at this time will “punish our newly graduated Caymanian youth and our already unemployed Caymanians”. Describing the current situation as a “form of legal apartheid”, they said government must listen to the will of the people and stop the PR grants, as they are the country’s voters.
“We truly believe that there is room enough in Cayman for everyone, but Caymanians can no longer be overlooked and be expected to bear the burden of our surplus and our economy on the backs of Caymanians only,” the activists stated.
Aware that they face a daunting task, the organisers said that “doing something was better than just griping about our government …the unemployment and poverty”, as they urged all Caymanians to help.
They said that they would like to have “as many boots on the ground” as possible to help, pointing out that if 100 people committed to gathering 50 signatures from registered voters among friends and family members, the goal was within reach. If 200 people were involved, the petition could be before Cabinet by next month.
“This is a grassroots community effort where we have no resources for an office location, access to printing off petitions or to pay anyone a salary. We are proceeding paperless at the moment and requesting those so minded to help to direct their friends and family members to the online petition,” the organisers said.
Anyone who would like a master copy of the petition, can email PeopleInitiatedReferendum@gmail.com.
The organisers said they are already cross-referencing completed petitions with the official Elections Office voter list, so they can submit “a 100% clean petition to Cabinet”.
Category: Local News
Almost more comments on this thread than signatures on the petition. Thank you to the majority of Caymanians that understand that our government must follow its own rules. The sooner that starts, the better for all of us.
I hope Adlen’s ability to influence policy is significantly limited with the coalition government. He must be totally removed from power if he tries to continue his catering to foreign interests instead of listening to his people. He caused this sense of entitlement of the guests of our islands with liberal granting of work permits and removal of roll-over.
We have the right to change the law. Make it stricter and return filing fees to the litigious ungrateful applicants. Bon voyage.
Agreed and the only solution. Then reinstate the old rollover policy and no PR allowed at all. Those that argue that companies lose employees with 9 yrs experience get over it. People stay in jobs at max 5 yrs at a time before moving to a new company so you would need to get new hires anyway. Rollover rollover and we all say rollover…
So accurate and true. I have seen all these Irish and Canadian newly qualified accountants job hop their way up the ladder. These companies don’t really care about their staff anyway, their business models make millions and they will be encouraged to retain local knowledge and experience to offset the rolled over job hoppers
This is how it should go:
1) Return all applicants fees and bon voyage. You got 4 years extra on island on top of 9 yrs equals 13 yrs you were lucky. Count your blessings.
2) Change the law to be 7 year rollover and you can return after 2 years away for another 7 years. Max roll over is 3x7yrs and then no more.
3) No more PR status applications. Those that have it again are lucky but no more will get it. As another poster says the Caymanian people are just 14 000.
4) To avoid inbreeding as another poster stated these rules will encourage foreigners to then marry locals which will increase the gene pool and avoid inbreeding and they get permanent residency that way only. Win win for both sides.
5) However to avoid abuse of point 4) the marriage should be real and strict rules of proof should be applied just like the USA to say it is genuine love and not for a right to stay on island.
6) Points 5) and 6) will ensure more solidity and intervention of community between expats and locals as well.
7) Those who complained about skilled labor and clients over 9 yrs, people on average don’t stay longer in jobs than 5 yrs to diversify their experience so that argument is not valid.
8) Those who complain about the education of locals, mixed marriages will lift the locals up to a higher standard and bar to the benefit of their children they will have a mixed culture and benefits of both.
9) For those who say they want their application reviewed you will have your fees returned. No one is under obligation to give you PR just because you applied. You still got more time on island even if your application had been rejected so you should have no complaint. Take your pension and your money and go. If you want to return you can in 2 years.
Lastly to all expats change your attitude of benign better than the locals you are not. You are their guests and if I had guests who disrespected me and called me undeclared and names I would send you to the street without any guilt.
Locals and government raise your standard of education so that the ammunition that the expats use of not being good enough to work can be eliminated and everyone is on even ground.
I generally agree except your suggestion that applying does not guarantee PR. It does, if you meet the criteria, and most do.
How many people have read the comments on the actual petition? I think it speaks volumes.
Most of the comments have terrible grammar, punctuation and spelling. Many of them just don’t give a reason beyond ‘it’s the right thing to do’. Clearly educated, sane and well thought out factual arguments there then ….. Ha ! Maybe, just maybe, this is why you don’t have a job? ( Laughing at real irony here)
“Clearly educated, sane and well thought out factual arguments there then”…no idea what you are trying to say. I assume your equally illiterate expat buddy hired you?
Yes there are spelling errors etc, but how many people take care especially when they typing from their phones which 99% of people do these days. You are more careless than if you were at a keyboard. And perhaps yes they need to be educated to a higher standard in schools in order to compete with their foreign counterparts, that is for Government to do, but not for you as a visitor to criticize. I am sure you have people who are also not as educated as you back home who are living on the dol, not putting in a hard day’s work but get benefits in the UK despite all this. What incentive do Caymanians have when foreigners sweep in. What is the excuse in the UK who do not have that sort of competition to contend with, without the privledges you came along here with. So have some empathy and compassion. We all in this together, but the blatant truth is locals need priority as they have no where to run to if all goes pear shaped financially for them. It is no wonder crime has increased. Desperate times equates to desperate measures.
Im a local, but boy are we dumb.
You just now wanting a say? Really tho
When there are less than 14,000 locals, and we total over 70,000 population now?
Do the math. You think it matters any more?
All of you better have some respect for these islands and the natives and stop blasting them. Humble yourselves and wait for the outcome before all your paperwork get lost.
Have some respect or get the hell out of here.
Why should we be surprised that you are openly threatening corruption, that is why you will never have self rule or respect.
PR applicants don’t need to humble themselves, they have done far more to support these islands and their people, they have added billions to our economy during the past decades by investing and paying your punitive taxes, and they do it by hard work and selfless volunteering.
What have you ever done to improve the lives of the drunks, druggies, animals and the vulnerable, apart from whine that it’s everyone else’s fault?
I’ve been working hard on these islands for longer than many of your ingrate ‘locals’ have been alive and I know that I have made positive contributions to the society in which I live.
The shame is that the uneducated nationalists don’t want to see what is so obvious to everyone else and would rather destroy their economy for the sake of petty bigotry.
And what is a ‘native’ anyway, the vast majority of so called native Caymanians are of Jamaican, Honduran or Cuban extraction and not the original ‘natives’ of UK heritage, how does that particular piece of folklore add up? There are no natives on Cayman, you are all immigrant stock who cannot come to terms with your own genetics. Get over it or stand aside for those who really care and do make a positive contribution to Cayman and its people.
Here’s to the future ‘Caymanian’ people, may their PR and status grants soon come, those who will leave the dinosaurs to their natural extinction and work towards a less bigoted and selfish society.
Agreed I feel all of them need to go back where they came from!
Why don’t these activists focus their efforts on something that actually makes sense like fighting crime, poor public education or child abuse?
I would guess that the vast majority of PR applicants are experienced professionals who are productive members of society. If they are denied PR their employers will either leave the island (possibly resulting in other jobs for Caymanians disappearing) or they will replace the person with another qualified professional by way of a work permit. In either case it will not help the current unemployment situation and may even make it worse. A 16 year old straight out of high school or an adult who has no relevant experience will not be able to replace an experienced professional in any field no matter how many people sign a petition.
What would help the current unemployment situation, would be for expats in a position to hire qualified Caymanians do exactly that. Rather than looking for any possible reason to exclude the Caymanian applicant (not educated enough, too educated, not enough experience, over qualified, etc.) then accepting the foreign applicant with a similar resume, maybe they should just hire the Caymanian? Rather than accepting resumes from Caymanians AND expats, then claiming “oh, we couldn’t find a suitable Caymanian”, why not simply initially accept resumes from Caymanians only, thereby increasing your chances of finding one that is suitable? THEN, when a suitable Caymanian REALLY can’t be found, accept resumes from foreign workers. Really making a valid attempted to find suitable Caymanians, rather than making half-hearted efforts (or in some instances, no effort at all) and lying to themselves and their like minded friends that Caymanians don’t want to work, that would certainly help the current unemployment situation.
I want to see these clown activists account for the huge ECHR compensation bill for denying PR applications based on such ridiculous notions.
Many of these applicants have contributed far more to Cayman and its economy than the Caymanians who hate them so much, you don’t have to be a high flying lawyer to contribute to a society.
OK Mr Super-You.. What country are you from, that doesn’t have more than it’s share of derelict souls, infidels and neer-do-wells?
Chances are, you barely escaped by the seat of your pants..
Chill, Bobo
Some folk have a real spiteful attitude. Let the Caymanian people deal with their own stuff. They were here before you washed up and now you want to marginalize them in their own country?
How is this fair? WTF!
Go to Dubai and try your shit.
There is a word for this. Bullying.
No, I am not Caymanian, just the owner of a piece of paper that allows me to walk among them.
Have some bloody respect in someone else’s house.
Respect is earned. Pathetic monaing of the deluded does not deserve respect.
Get real, go back to your over medicated and over weight part of the world and sort out your own pile of crap.
We’ve lived here and made the tough choices, we’ve paid into this economy, we’ve built this place into the country that you can come and ‘walk among them’.
We have a right to speak, a human right, and if you don’t like it, go preach to someone who cares you self righteous idiot.
This is not Caymanian stuff, this is international and European law. Most of the idiots who are causing this trouble are descendants of immigrants who have been quite happy to take since their descendents rocked up, possibly in the 50’s and 60’s. But they hate the thought that others might do better or dismantle the cartels that are the driver of real local poverty on these islands.
Have some bloody respect for those who have given so much and those who would give more but are continually subject to prejudice and discrimination in the name of nationalism.
Right, and you don’t have idiot descendants back in your home country? Maybe you’re from Britain, where the idiot descendants there want to “Brexit”? Or maybe you’re from the US where idiot descendants elected Donald Trump whose win was a direct result of his campaign of xenophobia, fear mongering and fueling racism? Where ever your home country is, I’m sure they are happy to cede the best opportunities for employment and education to foreigners. Of course they are.
Look at the numbers:
1200 unemployed + 600 graduates =1800 Caymanians
Why does this petition only have 353 signatures after 4 days?
Because there are 353 stupid people allowed too near computers?
Like yourself maybe?
I can’t wait to hear the excuses when this petition comes up short.
Probably the same excuses for not showing up to an interview.
Like I can’t come to the interview because it it raining?
UPDATE: There are now 372 signatures after 6 days… that’s 1428 less than those who are allegedly immediately impacted by these PRs.
But then again, one can’t be expected to read and sign something over the weekend right?
The best hope for Cayman is that the next generation of Caymanians embrace the multi-cultural diversity of the island and the expat-hating entitlement that seems to reside with the older generation dissipates. The vast majority of ex pats are not here to loot and plunder. We’re not here to kick sand in your face. We’re here to integrate and live, work, eat and drink alongside you. I think the younger generation gets that thankfully.
Are you sure you’re not here to loot and plunder? You do give that impression.
Please do work and live here…just understand that our people need to be entitled and have first chance at suitable employment…you are guests.
“Entitled” perfect word for your “people”
The laws of every country in the world are understandably biased towards their citizens. This results in entitlement. Sadly our last administration worried to much about foreign interests and perceptions at the expense of our rightful entitlement.
That is well and dandy to integrate, eat, drink and work together but the truth is you want to live here permanently too and take over. You are guests only so learn your place and be respectful of this fact. No matter what you do here we don’t owe you that. We don’t owe you anything. You benefit working here in the sun as much as we benefit the businesses that are here so don’t go throwing that in our faces all the time. It is you that must adjust to our culture not for you to come and give the rules. Again you are guests, transient people who come and go who we don’t care about having you stay on.
Well said. Not sure why it appears to be so hard to understand.
1:54 PM…You seem pretty level headed and I wish all expats had the same mind set. Yes, Caymanians are happy for expats to live and work here, so long as they don’t occupy a job that a qualified Caymanian can do. Would you not want the same in your home country? Are we asking for too much, for our kids to have opportunities here and not have to move to Canada to find work? And expats, please please please stop talking about “entitlement”. Most of the professional expats working in finance on this island come from a position of privilege back in their homeland. They get all he opportunities back home, while minorities take a back seat. So of course, when they go abroad, they want that privilege to come with them. So is it the Caymanians or the expats that feel entitled?
why stop there? there’s loads of empty 2nd homes on seven mile beach in these never ending condo developments and also now the concrete shoe box thing that dart built, let’s repossess them and house the sick, elderly and infirm…and anyone who doesn’t like their current home too…..then its off to the gated communities and demand access to the canals, they’re ours……maybe next we can storm the airport and insist the private jets open their spare seats to fly us to Tampa….
be careful what you wish for…we got a good thing here, the world is broken, we don’t need to fix much to make everything alright….but for sure, we need CIG to waken up now and not be afraid to press back a little against the big investors for assistance
I can’t believe guests are demanding PR. Where ever possible give lowest points…only really consider applicants who have been here at least 20 years. The rest are easily replaced
These are people with 9+ years work experience in Cayman. If you have a professional working for your business for 9 years, trained year over year, with client relationships and years of experience in what your business does, how can you say that this person is easily replaceable?
Chances are people who applied for PR are qualified and earned significant PR points to have a chance to obtain PR. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have paid the fee.
These people cannot be easily replaced without causing significant increase in business costs to attract and train a replacement. Even with the increase cost, the person filling the shoes will not have 9 years experience in the business and any client relationships.
Replacing client facing people who worked for 9+ years causes business higher costs and potential client loss. If that happens, costs would need to be cut putting others in unemployment. We need businessses to run as efficiently as possible to compete with world wide firms which do not have employment restrictions. Only then our businesses would grow and create more jobs. If we can’t compete, business will shut doors or relocate.
Think – CITCO, Goldman Sachs, butterfield fund admin, credit Suisse, admiral/maitland. These businesses moved to other jurisdictions because of cost of doing business and restrictions imposed on them locally. In the end all Caymanians were let go unless they wanted to relocate to wherever the business relocated.
And where in your contract to train a caymanian did you missed? Let’s face it every person coming to our shores whether they meet this stupid point system or not cannnot obtain and should not just get PR. For crying out loud you have the children graduating from high schools and university each year. So common sense must be applied here by immigration.
What will eventually transpire here will be like the Native American Indians. Caymanians hold onto your properties,, lease them if you have to but don’t recreate history as we have seen how short sighted the tribal chiefs were.
I didn’t. No Caymanian ever applied! We had a couple of Jamaicans and Hondurans walk into the office and pleading for any type of work, (one volunteered without pay) just to get their foot in the door. But never did a young Caymanian send a resume or walk into the office looking for work.
But I guess we can’t expect to have a replacement for 5000 lawyers and accountants on an island with 20k local work force, can we? So who am I supposed to train to replace me, if no one pitches up looking for work?
comment on here, Carson. Any mention of another Country’s past, the reference to American Indians, etc, is itself a short-sided view called lack of accountability.
And “what will eventually transpire here”… Are you serious?? I don’t live on the island but you do, where the hell have you been. It’s happening/happened.
When has this issue been a positive one in the last decade alone..??..
The law says you must apply before you reach 9 years
So human rights and UN mandates count for nothing in your sad, deluded world?
Our laws and constitution count first…no one is holding you here against your will so I suggest you go spout off your UN mandates and human rights rhetoric in say Saudi Arabia or perhaps China.
No one is demanding PR. Just read the applications. How would you feel if you had to pay over $11,000 for something you dont even know if you are getting. Then on top of that you don’t even review the application.
Really, should have stayed with roll over or even pre-roll over
Who did you pay $11,000 to? Not the government. Sorry you got ripped off. The government will refund you application fee and you can go after whoever for the rest.
To the government. You must pay application fee plus the PR when you apply. So no I did not get ripped off. Read the new law
It should be refunded as well unless it is in lieu of an equivalent to the work permit. If so then including that in your cost analysis is deceptive.
They are not demanding PR, the people who brought law suits only were asking for their claims to be considered within a reasonable period.
It seems that distinction is missed to lots of people!
This is needed. If Caymanians want to retain the demographic majority. If PR is given these people will job sit as the market dries up. Further down the career chain will freeze up until you get the school leavers who will then be frozen out. Also the RERC that the expat receives requires them to be in certain jobs therefore those managerial jobs will be frozen as the Expats will find it difficult to move. Wages will also stagnate as Expats will not move from their jobs and with an increased supply of labour employers will not have to increase wages to attract talent. Loose labor markets like Cayman weaken the bargaining power of workers. You can see on this thread certain persons saying they will laugh from afar. The threat that business will leave offshore is one the managerial class use to keep the workers under control. That is the threat which in the Cayman business model is moot as these banks and hedge funds make millions. They wont find political stability elsewhere. Other societies are taxing their citizens to the hilt. The other thing is that the Expat PR applicant is required to invest in property and as such we have seen a massive increase in prices which further affects the young Caymanian first home buyer.
These are worldwide problems affecting every country. Increased automation and technology will eventually kill most traditional jobs you are thinking of. Things will never go back to the way they were.
Yes and the mass movement of people too. The managerial elites have used this to destroy organised labour. Everything written in the above post will come to pass. The politicians have s lot to be blamed for soon.
If Caymanians want to retain demographic majority you will be facing an inbreeding pretty soon. This is not to insult you, but state a fact.
Thankfully, matters of legal interpretation are still decided by grown-ups via a functional judiciary in the Cayman Islands, following the structure and principles (statutes and precedents) of English Common Law, and not led by folksy petitions or cartoonish political impulse. These matters are scheduled in the courts already, where they should be. While our stakeholders expect and rely on UK Territories to adhere to these structures and principles, our Cabinet should be reminded they don’t have the discretion to supplant our judiciary, or to behave like Cuba, or some despot African regime, even if it seems popular or (fleetingly) invigorating to do so. Any whiff of that and we risk suspension of our self-governance, as we have seen played out elsewhere.
Great the slimiest of the lawyers have it.
Yes the law needs to be changed and weak dictatorial, corrupt European law removed.
Caymanians wrote the PR application rules and have not followed them. That’s why there are lawsuits from applicants. You can’t change a law to repair a prior and ongoing breach?
Actually I think Jamaicans and Canadians wrote them, but that is a whole other issue.
Caymanian unemployment is a myth. Take out the drunks, the junkies and the criminals and you are left with a tiny rump of people who just don’t want one of the many many jobs that are available. So every single one of these “unemployed” have simply decided not to work.
you’re a myth
actually, you their, Im not a myth.
im a Misseth and I aim to find my place here also.
Not true; big generalization, which is very easy for even a 5th grader to do!
Congrats, you’re as smart as a 5th grader!
Really! You are so small minded…
I returned home 2 years ago with a Masters Degree and I have had to settle for a retail sales position because in my field there is no company willing to hire me. It’s the same old story each time, either I don’t have enough experience or they aren’t hiring right now.
Here’s the funny part, one of my friends that I went to school with in Canada got a job with one of the top financials firms right after graduation. He applied for and got one of the same jobs that I applied for and is now here on island working.
Well this makes no sense. Why would someone leave a great job to take one in retail sales. You/your friend may have a master degree but never graduated the school of logic and good ole self interest.
Huh?
Wow, read the post properly. The person said they had “to settle”. Do you understand what that means?
Try reading one sentence at a time luv.
What is your degree in? What school did you obtain it from? Perhaps you need to work on your interview skills?
Should you be qualified then there is a job for you, employers don’t like paying permit fees.
Also can I ask why there is such an emphasis on Masters Degrees in this country. Unless you are getting one from a solid school they are a waste of time.
Specialize and get a professional qualification that can provide guaranteed meaningful employment.
So you are not unemployed.
I highly doubt a work permit would be granted for a graduate. In this case, you should have submitted a complaint to immigration.
Also did your friend work for another branch in Canada then transfer to Cayman – if so, slightly difference.
Dive supply has a sign saying help wanted on the front window! Just noticed it today. The only qualification is to be a dive master.
Can any of the 1000 unemployed apply?
There is shortage of certified dive equipment technicians on island and too much demand. It takes now more than a week to get a regulator overhauled and serviced! Any of the 1000 willing and able to take this on? As a Caymanian you can open a business quickly and start servicing dive equipment.
i would want to know who serviced my dive equipment.
True. Not the hungover dudes at my bar daily I hope.
We definitely need more competition in this field of service! It has been a cartel of two/three shops for years!
“Cartel”
With that kind of mindset for business owners who took a risk and made it work…no wonder no one will hire you.
Grow up!
5:39PM. That is true about Kirkkie. But how many Kirkies do we have who turns up and is ready to work? How many Kirkies do we have that are qualified and committed? How many Kirkies we have that will put in a full days work without long bathroom breaks, Face Book browsing and cell phone calls? How many Kirkies do we have that are willing to start from the bottom and move up OR start from the top and humble themselves. Show me them because I am sick and tired of paying work permit fees.
Interviewers can smell the probability of future absenteeism and sick day spoofing during first rounds and this is often confirmed after reference checks. High maintenance manicures, family “in the Brac” (and the infamous Monday/Friday “sick” days), and single moms are coincident indicators of future unscheduled productivity interruptions. In mission-critical support roles, it’s sometimes better-advised to pay more for a reliable work permit than risk a replication of past performance.
Part of me would like to see this happen, just so I could laugh my ass from afar of when Cayman’s economy evaporates and becomes the crime ridden, poverty stricken Bahamas where the ONLY people that have any money are offshore investors and politicians and their cronies. All in the name of “saving the Bahamians”…
Who ever is pushing this doesn’t have the *first clue* how an economy runs. like absolutely zero. Complete and utter uneducated ignoramous. This is what happens when you put babbling idiots in power pandering to the lowest common denominator.
So go ahead! no more doctors work permits allowed! no more police work permits allowed! no more teachers, and lawyers and accountants until every unemployable work loathing entitled Caymanian has a job! Go ahead morons!
Smack on!
“Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it” comes to mind.
They are talking PR not Work permits. Try again.
With the changes in the Pension Law fewer people would want to come to work to the Cayman Islands, as long as it is mandatory to contribute.
Personally i am very happy in fact elated to know that those just like you 551pm and 615pm and your racist and anti Caymanian rant “it takes one to know one eh?” have left and planned to leave many that are just like you who are here with the identical attitude need to follow suit and stop threatening and bluffing and get on with it.Let the ship sink and watch from a far thats a change because many have been on board trying to scuttle and sabotage her for so long they have now become an established crew. Oh yes you pirate Hoard aaaarrrrr stop whinning and get back to work and make Cayman great again or we will drain the swamp! Final word you mean donkey not camel and we Caymanians have been carrying this burden and putting up with your S%$# for too long you leaving simply will lessing the burden for a short while until your replacement turns up to continue the fleecing of these islands. Try go sit down wid ya foolishness!
I lwould love to be an activist but I am not nearly mediocre enough.
sounds like you are incredibly mediocre…bordering on challenged.
8.58am So you would laugh to see Cayman fail. I bet you are one of the PR applicants but still feel this way. Shame on you.
well you definitely aren’t mediocre at random and irrelevant comments
Some respect please. How would you feel to have foreigners go into your country and call you and your family names like stupid, mediocre, lazy and walk around with a better than you attitude. It is not right. Every person is an extension of God and Christ should be seen in every person. So stop the hatred, it is is appalling.
How would you like to go to a foreign country and be hated and abused by the locals? Every one has the right to live and work abroad. You should give it a try. You will see many countries who embrace and rely on ex pats to enhance their business and or lively hood. You govt clearly has no faith in the Caymanian people to make this country grow. I’m sure they have solid proof and good reasons why they are relying on foreigners and yes it’s likely money, but whether you like it or not, money rules. Do you only go to caymanian owned establishments? I doubt it. So it’s a 2 way street. You don’t see “I am an expat where are my rights? ” page on social media. But on the contrary, you have the other, run by a group of very racist people so you want to be racist towards expats, well they gonna be racist right back. Get over it.
You mean a group of local fool fool people.
This makes no sense what so ever.
Domestic helpers waiters cooks masons gardern handyman and hairdressers have applied for PR. Where are the Caymanians that want these jobs.
So if Caymanian’s don’t want those jobs then you bring in new people on work permits as simple as that. The point is they don’t want people here permanently taking over and feeling overrun and run out of their own country. You don’t belong here so get that permanent residency motion out of your head. Make your money and go home.
Pay us properly for them then. Fool.
This divide of Expat and Locals is rather serious. As an expat you should be more respectful of someone else’s home country, it is not yours and you don’t have any rights to it. As locals change the perception people have, don’t mix in the wrong crowds and make a future for yourself. At the end of the day there is no “they” and “us”, we a community together and the right thing should be done for all in all fairness. True a carrot should not be dangled with promises. Rollover is the most logical solution to please all parties. You can’t satisfy everyone with PR. And yes expats leave when your time is up. The problem is everyone arrives wanting to stay, that is impossible and not feasible and causes much rife and fighting when they rejected for PR, which can lead to contentions and lawsuits as is happening now. NO ONE gets PR. Caymanian’s remain in control of their country. End of story and this whole never ending circus show of disaster.
Hate to burst your bubble….
Who changed the law 3.5 years ago? Was it the Ex Pats? Who decided to allow every permit holder the chance to apply? Who changed the roll over policy from 7 yrs to 9 yrs? Who did not look at a single application since changing the law? Now we have many people without the required points that have been here more then 10 yrs, asking this people to leave now is a human rights issue. An average of 5 applications a week came in over the past 3.5 years. Why couldn’t government at least look at them.
Under 90 points denied and sent home.
Above 130 points granted PR
Between 90-130 deferred while the few arbitrary points were dealt with in a timely manner
Suggested many times and ignored.
The answer is simple review and reject most of them and keep the top 50 with the highest scores. Once the backlog is all mostly rejected then make a 9yr rollover and no PR applying at all. Those that got in the past got lucky. Replace people after 9 yrs, that is 2 yrs extra you get from 7yes. As for a human rights issue just because you make the point doesn’t guarantee you a spot. Those that score higher than you still
get preference. And no human issue since you lived freely here another 4 years due to this issue. Those applications should get another 9 years grace to live here as compensation and then be rolled As the rest of us will be. You can’t complain with that verdict. Clearly giving everyone an opportunity to apply for PR is causing overhead in admin and further division in the community. As that other poster said try behave like that by making demands and suing in Australia or Dubai and you will be sent packing never to return. It is outrageous that you even think you can sue. In these countries it is a very long process to wait too. So get a grip. Be happy you got to stay longer.
Were is this petition to sign as you need to get it out to everybody to sign it !!!!
Exactly.
The website and information needs to be advertised on a largely scale. Use the billboard near Hurleys round about or something. Use Rooster and Radio Cayman Talk. This will get the message out there who wish for fairness
Who are these activists and where are they hiding?
They are mediocre. And they are hiding their own mediocrity by lashing out at foreigners. That is what the mediocre do in the internet age.
That’s rich…Cayman has always been the dumping ground for international companies least capable personnel…they could do no harm. The dumplings in turn ensure job security by hiring even more mediocre expatriate friends
Our mediocre are less mediocre than your mediocre.
You seem to have maybe heard that word a lot in your life.
11.23am The biggest dumping ground by far is our Civil Service where minimum effort (except in running personal businesses) is the norm and mediocrity a qualification for Civil Servant of the Month.
True. If the Civil Sevice clamped down on their staff having personal businesses, the short fall could be made up with those who claim to be unemployed.
Job done, don’t thank me.
2:26. I guess one of those mediocre civil servants granted your work permit.
You are referring to the civil service 4 years ago. Not today bo bo our civil service has greatly improved.
For clarity, their names and goofy bar-room theories are in the comments posted on the petition.
Probably the same place these supposedly unemployed, willing to work Caymanians. In imagination land.
It is indeed sad that any group would organize such a petition. I am so in agreement with 5:51. Every expat should take everything they have and leave Cayman. Afterall, it would appear that this would make all locals quite happy. Let me tell you all one thing, any attempt to further delay this process would be opening up the government to a swarm of successful lawsuits. Many who are waiting are actually being understanding -far beyond understanding – and are now pleased to know that finally, the government is moving forward with a law they themselves reviewed and changed. It is indeed a shame that 3 and half years later, they cannot apply the law. Further attempts to delay the process would be the straws that will break every bone in the camel. Don’t even go there! A word to the wise is sufficient!
Oh please, there would be a new batch to follow. Many expats here have been spoiled…there are still plenty of people in the world looking for opportunity and a better life (remember, that’s why you came?) so go on if you’d like…
It is abundantly clear from these posts that the divide and hate is getting worse. I’ve seen Cayman change in the last 4-5 years in a terribly sad way. I left because quite honestly, I didn’t want my children to see or hear the anti expat BS that is completely unfounded and used as an excuse for the country’s failings as a matter of routine. I have taken my pension, my savings and everything I had and contributed to Cayman and left. Best decision ever judging by the sentiments here. I would say to any expat in Cayman, it’s not going to get better, make a exit strategy, a smart one like we did, grab your pension while you can and get out. Not only will you be relieved, as we are, but every hate filled Caymanian will get their wish too. Watch the ship sink from a far, don’t be on it when it goes down.
Anyone who fails to also see the anti-Caymanian BS rhetoric on this forum is nothing but a bigot – and also likely a good ol’ traditional racist. (Only racists and bigots fail to see racism and bigotry where it clearly exists.)
Get off your high horse.
Personally, I am happy you and your children are not here. You would have been just another one stirring the pot.
– Who
Not a racist! Caymanians are not a race! You need to go back to school. Being Caymanian is a nationality that has been decreed by the British. Once again, not a race.
Actually it’s not a nationality either
Caymanian is not a race! Therefore, cannot be racist. Please be reminded that Caymanian is a nationality.
No. It is an immigration status.
@Who – that chip on your shoulder must weigh a ton by now. Stop being so hateful and bigoted.
It is all about the daddy issues.
Re: “Racist” remark;
At no point did I suggest Cayman is a race of people.
However, what is clear is that the negative sentiments and rhetoric directed at Caymanians on this by non-Caymanians is identical to what we see in typical, traditional, and cultural American / British racism against minority groups.
No one despises a nationality in this manner – there is much more at play here and it is very, very familiar.
In fact, many of you are happy to utilise the term “Caymanian” in your posts as it provides a go-around for the otherwise usual terms.
So miss me with the bullsh!t please. Thanks.
I trust the matter is now clarified.
– Who
@5:51pm. You summed up what most caymanians hate about the current situation. You are able to rape us and then cash out. Meanwhile we’re stuck with a depleted pension fund. You know why you’re able to cash out your pension? An expat drafted the law and left loopholes to protect their own.
We’re finally taking control and have closed that loophole. Pensions are for retirement, not a convenient savings account. Good luck cashing out your pension at home (if your country even has a mandatory pension law that is).
And I’m cashing out because of the way I have been treated by Caymanians! I’d have stayed and invested if not for the ‘ this is my country, you stole my job, you have no rights, shut up driftwood’ mentality. So, sorry, once again, you are wrong.
don’t go away mad..just go away
Rape you? for what exactly, it’s our money, not yours! How dare you, and you don’t think Caymanians are entitled, that just summed it up. You are not entitled to my money, ever! What have expats taken exactly? Take a look at almost all the charity events, beach clean ups, large companies hiring locals, the supermarket tellers, the person who served you your cocktail and then tell me again, what are we raping you for!!! Disgusting.
@11:02am. Tell me that most of the expats doing these charitiable acts aren’t doing it for “points”.
Yes rape is the appropriate phrase. Your cashing out dilutes the overall pension pot which affects MY money.
Again, IF your amazing homeland has a pension law I suspect I wouldn’t be abale to cash out when the indigenous decided it wad time for me to leave.
Like a previous poster said “don’t go away mad, just go away”. Caio
Clearly it’s a logical mind that the “Caymanian” is being rapped of.
Over and over I hear business owners refer to the same mindset: the local talent pool is lazy.
Do you hear my tiny violin playing?
except you forget that with pensions there isn’t a divide between local and expat, it is between private and government employees.
Employees in the private sector have their own individual forced savings pension plan that comes out of their pay and into their individual pension fund. All their own.
Government employees pension is funded by taxpayers, otherwise known as everyone who sets foot on the island and many who don’t. Government collects that tax and promises their employees they will pay a pension sometime. That’s the one that isn’t funded.
You do know about MLAs double dipping? Caymanian MLAs, double dipping? Drawing pensions whilst earning a massive salary for doing next to nothing.
Expat drafted that too?
@6:57am. How’s this different than english MPs doctoring their expense claims?
When it comes to politicians the world is pretty even (all governments screw tje people).
But the problem with your logic is that you focus your blame on the expat instead of the Caymanians running the failed governments that do not educate your children and parents/families.
The Caymanian business that cash in with cheap foreign labor also get a pass when you blame the expat.
Perfectly stated!
I swear Caymanians are raised to put the finger outwards.
Of course, it’s not you…
For retirement you say? Then how is it that Caymanians can use their retirement funds to purchase properties well in advance of retirement age?
It is so lovely to pocket the premium paid for having to live in a god-forsaken backwater full of crazed hicks knowing you can leave and take it home one day…
I understood that companies/businesses are required to train Caymanians for upward mobility. They hire from overseas and replace the local employees, they also pay them more.
9:19am you are one of those blood suckers that should never have drifted to these shores.
It was Caymanians who changed the law to allow Caymanians to plunder their pension pot whenever they want, so much for “pensions are for retirement”!.
Even Kirkie has a steady job now. Goes to show that if you show up and are ready to work, jobs ARE available.
Let’s be clear here; Kirkie has a job because a native Caymanian (yes we exist, sorry to hurt you with that “awful” truth), hired him!
Who else was going to hire Kirkie and give him a chance?
A native Caymanian hired me as well
I was also hired by a native caymanian… I’m white as white can be ya’ll!! Kirky made an effort. Some Caymanians should learn from him…