Cruise port work could start in weeks
Cayman cruise ship passengers visit George Town
(CNS): The controversial cruise port berthing project could be underway in a matter of weeks, even though the entire bidding process has remained under wraps. Government appears to be on track to award a contract shortly and for the project to break ground in September, with a locally led consortium in partnership with a leading cruise line already having been selected to build and finance the project. CNS understands that tenants at the Royal Watler Cruise Terminal seeking to renew their leases are being refused new agreements and have been informed by the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands that the tenancies expire this month.
CNS has reached out to all of the relevant officials but the only response was from the acting port director, who referred us to the ministry, which has not responded to our questions.
The public has been kept completely in the dark about the process, despite the new procurement law requiring transparency. But that may be because the massive and costly development has been rapidly losing support in recent years, with concerns that only a small proportion of the tourism sector stands to benefit, while the bulk of the industry catering to overnight visitors could be negatively impacted.
Both CITA and the Chamber of Commerce, whose members have the most to lose or gain in the development of piers, have been reluctant to offer their full support. The original public consultation came down three to one against, and since then the opposition has grown, making this a particularly unpopular project.
There are several issues that have led to opposition to the project: the massive marine environment damage, concerns about the costs and the impact on the public purse, as well as the limited beneficiaries of the project. The failure of the government to justify the need has also caused concern, especially the impact on existing infrastructure, tourist attractions and local beaches. Another warning sign is the poor experiences of tourism stakeholders in other jurisdictions where cruise lines have led development projects for piers that have not delivered the promised benefits.
While the process has been mired in controversy for years, the recent increase in cruise port calls here, coupled with the growth in coastal development which is limiting public beach access has compounded concerns.
Many now believe that the numbers of cruise passengers required to finance the cruise berthing facilities is too great. The construction could cost as much as $300 million, which would need a guaranteed passenger count of well over two million people annually — considerably more than even the highest year on record for cruise numbers. George Town and Seven Mile Beach would simply be overwhelmed by the numbers of passengers arriving in peak season because, whether or not the piers are built, cruising remains seasonal, with numbers dropping in the summer months.
Regardless of the multiple concerns, the tourism ministry has pressed on with the project. However, progress has become increasingly secret and it does not appear to be following the rules set out in the new procurement law. The nine bidders that were supposedly pre-qualified were never revealed and how those were whittled down to three, four or possibly five has also remained a secret. The documents relating to the bid have never been published publicly and meetings between government officials and potential developers have continued behind closed doors.
There are now also concerns that China Harbour Engineering Company may be back in the pool of bidders under consideration. The firm, which caused a stir when it was in talks with the previous UDP administration, was one of the original nine bidders to be pre-qualified but it later emerged it was one of the four or five pre-qualified bidders that was out of the running. Nevertheless, sources close to the process have now suggested that the company may still be a viable contender.
But as the process becomes increasingly opaque, CNS has received other information to suggest that an entirely different consortium led by a local developer is the favoured bidder and has already been earmarked for the lucrative contract.
Whichever bidder eventually secures the increasingly unpopular bid, the recent news that tenants are now being informed that their leases will expire this month gives a clear indication that the government appears ready to move to a contract award and present a sceptical public with a fait accompli.
Category: development, Local News
The most unsettling thing about this debate is the fact that we’re still in a situation where nobody, and that includes all the journalists working here, has obtained any real feedback on this project from any of the cruise lines. The nearest we seem to have got was a comment from the FCCA but very bluntly they don’t count – it’s the people who actually own and operate the vessels we need to hear from.
My big concern here is that the cruise ships are becoming huge floating, self-contained resorts that don’t need stop-offs. If you check some of the current Caribbean itineraries you’ll find that the passengers are spending over 70% of a one-week cruise at sea – we’re actually creeping towards a situation where cruise lines might take this one step further and stop island-hopping completely. From an operational point of view that makes sense because the vessels operate most economically running at a constant cruising speed and the operators wouldn’t be sharing the proceeds of any activities with anyone else or paying landing fees.
The cruise lines need to give input to this because without that we’re back to the old, ‘If we build it, they will come,’ concept and based on my experience of the hospitality industry that’s a recipe for bankruptcy.
In order to justify the dock it seems we need one of two things –
1. Substantial outside funding so if it does go belly up the entire financial burden doesn’t fall on the people of these islands or;
2. A cast-iron guarantee that the various cruise lines will continue to use the facility for at least as long as it takes CIG to cover the building and upkeep costs.
The facts are nobody seems to be rushing in with funding and there is no way on this planet that any of the cruise line will risk committing to a potentially open-ended obligation like that, their shareholders simply won’t let them.
Do we need a dock? At this present time considering record numbers of arriving passengers the answer is no. However, without input from the cruise lines and guaranteed passenger loads for a minimum of fifty years nobody knows and anybody who claims otherwise is delusional. The risk is too great for the country.
Dear Government of National Unity Members,
Please enlighten the public and provide clarity on the following questions:
1. Will the public be informed of the full details before you commit to the final agreement in Q3 2018?
2.
(a) When will the public be able to review details?
(b) Is it a secret?
(c) Why are details being treated as a secret?
3. How will the project be financed? Cruise lines will not pay for the cargo expansion component.
4. Has the government updated the Outline Business Case given the new design and financing projections?
5. Will the results of the new Environmental Impact Assessment be made public? If so, when and how will the information be shared?
6. How will Cayman accommodate the 2.3-3 million cruise passengers per year?
7. Is new infrastructure being put in place along the SMB to accommodate the volume that wish to soak up the world famous beach and its pristine waters?
8. Where is the transparency that was promised and the Progressives campaigned on in May 2017?
9. What exactly do you have to hide? Is the proposed deal that bad for the Cayman Islands long term?
Unfortunately, the attitude and behavior being displayed by the government particularly the Minister of Tourism Moses Kirkonnell, the Cabinet Members, caucus and ministry of tourism officials regarding the promised public consultation and information sharing phase with relevant details suggests that there are significant issues that will embarrass the government.
The question to be asked then is why are you committed to moving forward at any costs? In fact, your collective actions are reminiscent of the conduct of the previous UDP administration during its covert negotiations with China Harbour Group in 2011-12.
Sincerely,
A. Caymanian
Dart Cruise Line may be in the making…
All roads lead to Camana Bay…
Is Gambling approval on the table?
Seems the chickens just run amok after their feed.
We all know about environmental and health Impacts of openly dumped untreated waste.
Now, lets look at the famous Dump from a different point of view. Who is the major contributor to its growth? Grand Cayman visitors or its residents?
4.4-4.6 pounds is the amount of trash generated daily, on average, by every American (per google). Lets assume the amount is roughly the same in Grand Cayman. 55,000 residents x 4.6= 253,00 pounds/day
Question: How much solid waste 2.1mil. visitors (2017) generate per day? Lets include in this number hotels waste, public beaches waste, tourism related construction and demolition waste, waste by the households who provide accommodation facilities to tourists, airport waste, streets sweeping, waste generation by shops, restaurants and cafes.
Some helpful data: United Nations Environment Programme has estimated that European tourists generate about 1 kg person-1 day-1 of solid wastes (when touring in Europe), while tourists from USA generate up to 2 kg person-1 day-1 (when touring in USA).
“solid waste generation rates in touristic regions can be significantly higher compared with municipal solid waste generation, a situation that can lead to serious environmental impacts, particularly in the case of low density population touristic regions without sufficient infrastructure in place to deal with wastes generated by the relatively small indigenous population. Besides, in several zones of high touristic interest, visitor amounts can even overcome the volume of wastes generated by the local population during the ‘high season’. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0734242X15594982
So why such a disproportionate focus on tourism which generates less than $2 in revenue for every dollar DoT spends (per Jude Scott, the CEO of Cayman Finance)?
Tenderbots are out in force!!
Kirkbots and ppm kool aid crew are out in force trying to manipulate the likes or dislikes counts. How pathetic guess they are not very busy at over at Kirk free port these days
Only someone on the payroll of the tender operators would makeup such accusations.
Only someone on the payroll of the Kirks and/or Dart would makeup such accusations.
So what’s the argument here for the justification ? – cruise pier eventual equates to more Govt revenue with which to facilitate the Islands education, infrastructure, police service/safe living environment and public amenities for the benefit of all. ? Sorry Mr McLaugh-lin, Mr KirkChummel and immediate pals, there needs to be some heavy convincing on that one with the same verbiage being recycled from when handing Mr Dert all of his concessions and approvals. At the end of day has quality of life improved, probably fundamentally not really with not much in terms of real value to show for it but instead rising crime, failing education, loss of beach facilities, ignorance of anti trust principles, increases in the costs of doing business (especially small businesses) and a population division escalating to that not seen before. Unless the perks from the sacrifice of concessions/developments has been syphoned for the elite few I don’t see a better Cayman. I would argue now instead our identity has become diluted, priorities wayward, and the majority of the population gasping to keep their head up. The fact that all of this is being determined behind closed doors demonstrates that those elected don’t really care who else is able to keep swimming beyond their cronies in the lifeboat but worse, a true Captain is nowhere to be seen.
The benefit of dart has been thousands of caymanians employed in camana bay, hotels etc Plus you can’t ignore the added benefit to workers that are not employed by dart: taxi drivers, charter boats, restaurants and local shops, when one family stays at the kimpton/dart owned property. I don’t agree with dart being allowed to buy a huge percentage of property on smb area but once again the fault lies with planning permission and government agencies that allow this to happen. To bash dart and say that quality of life has not improved for many caymanians is just untrue, think of the thousands employed that have a stable job and an income every month. rising crime is a separate issue to corporate activity. It is very hard to argue that by offering jobs and scholarships to Caymanians that darts activities in Cayman are conducive to increased crime levels. If we want to point fingers about rising crime levels how about starting with each family encouraging their kids to stay on the right path and go to third level education? Surely parental guidance is the most obvious factor when education is free and government scholarships, dart scholarships and private corporation scholarships for college are accessible given a minimum grade? the government is to blame for many things but rising crime has to be looked at from a micro perspective of each household.
Where is the voter-led petition demanding a Cease Order on the unelected Unity Gov’t, and Referendum on the pursuit of this Cruise Berthing Facility? Only need 5,288 voters to sign.
People-initiated referendums:
§70.—(1) Without prejudice to section 69, a law enacted by the Legislature shall make provision to hold a referendum amongst persons registered as electors in accordance with section 90 on a matter or matters of national importance that do not contravene any part of the Bill of Rights or any other part of this Constitution.
(2) Before a referendum under this section may be held—
(a) there shall be presented to the Cabinet a petition signed by not less than 25 per cent of persons registered as electors in accordance with section 90 (@21,150 = just 5,288 voters);
(b) the Cabinet shall settle the wording of a referendum question or questions within a reasonable time period as prescribed by law; and
(c) the Cabinet shall make a determination on the date the referendum shall be held in a manner prescribed by law.
(3) Subject to this Constitution, a referendum under this section shall be binding on the Government and the Legislature if assented to by more than 50 per cent of persons registered as electors in accordance with section 90.
What’s’ happening Alden? I voted for you but would not vote for this arse of a dock and will help vote you out if it goes ahead.
asked it before…who many government mla’s and ppm’s are masons?
To the Caymanian people; you are being royally screwed by a bunch of stupid but clever people that are doing this to line their pockets. To the illegal dock builders: better make it about 10 feet taller to allow for sea level rise.
And now my little poppets, my little sheeple, now you know the REAL reason the Anwar Choudhury was removed…
Forget about simply writing in these type of blogs what is needed is legal action to block this mistake. The politicians laugh at the talk radio and these blogs because they know these are meaningless. Legal court action to stop the government is the only viable action to protect the George Town shore line.
Kmanlady was
I have done quite a bit of cruise travel in my days and had to be tendered into port and I think that is what make our island unique. I have also seen the effect of what can happen when a concrete monster of a dock is built. Not good.
So if we need to cater to the cruise ship, for which I don’t believe we have to because their promises 10 to 15 years ago off not returning to our island due to lack off a dock & they are still here is just a scare tactic. I recommend we built 2 piers long enough to accommodate 2 ships on each side of it. However the piers should be built in a way that the water can still flow under and between each pier which I believe would not cause major damage to our reefs and 7mile beach and would not sink our islands financial.
Just good for thought
I spoke to some cruise ship passengers at Royal Palms the other day. Every one of them was horrified at the cruise pier plans, notably because of damage to coral reefs.
They should just stay home.
@ 10:16 That was the most asinine statement I’ve heard this week. If they all did then we wouldn’t need the dock. Doubling up on stupid pills won’t cure you Bo Bo.
This article right on the back of the article which speaks to our economy growing and debt falling, here’s a great idea! Let’s run as fast as we can and build a $300 million port, this is GAB all over again. Don’t let anyone fool you, every person living on this island will pay for that dock.
Absolutely disgusting.
Alden and Moses – you two will go down in the bad pages of Cayman history for this unforgivable decision.
Suckoo and Miller; what say the opposition?
Please speak to this matter in an official capacity soon.
FCO; what say you? Does this constitute “good government”?
A financial commitment of this magnitude MUST seek the input of those footing the bill – the Caymanian people.
If all else fails, a protest will result and many of us will be front and center to express our concerns.
Cayman has suffered far too many ill-conceived expenditure missteps for us to stand by and allow our temporarily elected servants to gamble with our children’s future – especially when so many are below acceptable educational standards today.
FFS, can our government adopt and apply a progressive and cohesive approach to our crumbling society for once?
– Whodatis
Another massive nail in Cayman’s coffin. And the fact that the Govt. of the day will press ahead regardless of the majority local feeling goes to show that, yes, they are all a bunch of money-grubbing shits who care only about lining their pockets and couldn’t care less about the Cayman Islands long-term future, democracy, or the Caymanian people.
I hope you Whodatis will finally recognise that the enemy of the people and the Cayman Islands in general isn’t the UK or its government, it’s your own Govt.
I’m sure he’ll find someway to play his normal game
“FCO, BLAIR, THATCHER, COLONIALISM, UK, BREXIT!!!!!”
And I’m sure you’re more concerned with getting in a jab at Whodatis than the actual issue at hand.
Awesome.
– Who
We’re in full agreement up until the last sentence.
Our government is our enemy in ADDITION to the UK government – they have proven themselves as such on many occasions – (and our “constitution” upholds and defends that probability at all times) – similarly to how the average Brit today regards their UK government as their “enemy” as well.
I couldn’t care less about sparing the feelings of the UK government, so kindly miss me with those tactics.
My main concern is the welfare of my fellow Caymanian people.
– Who
Hope it sinks to the the bottom out there.
The EIAs have warned that it’s a very real possibility with our cavernous limestone hardpan which pilings will be drilled into. $300mln of wreckage could lay at the bottom of the harbour after first Nor’wester – blocking access to what remains of the port. It’s incredible that it has progressed to this stage. Insuring this blue water engineering marvel, tugging, and dredging costs to warranty depth have not been factored at all…
@9:38 I agree with the spirit of the post but if that monstrosity sank, it’s removal would devastate the surrounding area even more.
I am calling on all Caymanians and Expats who love this island and who understand the dangers of this port to now come together and protest and start a petition. We need to initiate a referendum for something of this magnitude. This is too important to ignore.
Forget the expats, we may make this island tick and bring in its wealth but we have no say and are nothing better than what you might scrap off your shoe if it really be known if the likes of Alden, Mc and the other cronies actually spoke the truth
I go to almost all demonstrations and signed almost every petition but I am an expa/resident. Apparently my vote does not count. But it won’t stop me doing it! 🙂
Is this country ruled by dictatorship?
People of this country said NO to this projects. They said NO to Smith Cove “improvements”, they said NO to the Kaboo project!
Then why do they continue? Why few with money rule this country?
What The Cayman Islands Constitution says about the government’s powers?
Sort of. They’re now drug dealers as well since they changed the drugs law to fit their own personal agenda. Remember this government is fine with marijuana consumption as long as you’re buying from them.
CNS: 1) The government pharmacy does not stock cannabis oil, you have to get it from one of the private pharmacies that does stock it.
2) You could make the same argument about any drug used for medical purposes, i.e. it’s really daft.
3) Medical cannabis oil is very low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the element that makes you “high”, and high in cannabidiol, which has no psychoactive effect.
4) Those of us who know someone who is getting real medical benefits from cannabis oil find your comment offensive and idiotic. I’m not posting it again.
Thumbs up to CNS on this.
Who really runs the country. ..DART
And every election they are voted in.
Fake News….about work starting in weeks.
CIG has not yet selected the preferred bidder yet.
See link relating to preferred bidder for the dump
https://caymannewsservice.com/2017/10/dart-consortium-finally-wins-dump-deal/
‘”Imagine living with this crap’: tempers in Venice boil over in tourist high season”.
As residents leave and visitor numbers soar, the city’s quality of life is being eroded. This summer, irate locals have taken to the streets.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/23/venice-tempers-boil-over-tourist-high-season
Not just Venice, other places around the Med are trying to cap the number of tourists.
Sociology experiments have shown that as rat density increases in any given enclosure, they start to fight, then with further increase they seriously injure each other, then with further increase they start to kill each other and with further increase they eat each other. So much for Cayman Kind and the quality of Caymanian life!
This all reminds me of a 1981 by the Specials entitled ‘Ghost Town’ –
This town, is coming like a ghost town
All the clubs have been closed down
This place, is coming like a ghost town
Bands won’t play no more
too much fighting on the dance floor
Do you remember the good old days
Before the ghost town?
We danced and sang,
And the music played inna de boomtown
This town, is coming like a ghost town
Why must the youth fight against themselves?
Government leaving the youth on the shelf
This place, is coming like a ghost town
No job to be found in this country
Can’t go on no more
The people getting angry
This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town
Because that’s the way it’s going.
Two things guaranteed to drive away our core business of stayover tourism are hoards of cruise shippers and the years of disruption a project like this will cause.
GT at night is already dead, even during the day the cruise shippers there aren’t spending anything like the money I remember being spent 10 years ago. This is fool’s gold!
I know that song well and named GT after it over a decade ago. It only got worse and Dart built an exclusive version of what government should have done with GT all along.
My wife and I love Cayman Islands! We are divers and have now visited all three islands. Our favorite dive site is Devils Grotto in Georgetown Harbor. I followed with much interest the details on the first environmental assessment that was completed and the dangers to the reefs it predicted. What a wonderfully transparent process! Then the lid was put on everything. Now the citizens of Cayman have no idea what is planned and when they do, it will likely be too late to do anything because of penalty clauses put in place to prevent changes. For us a divers, we are waiting to see which reefs in and south of Georgetown are destroyed. Unlike other tourists who come for 7 Mile Beach we are ones that enjoy the beauty of Cayman under the water. Don’t forget about us who keep coming back to your lovely isles.
I completely agree. The biggest draw is the diving. Protect the reefs and marine environment.
and amongst the lowest spending tourists are the divers
You ever been diving? It’s not a cheap thing to do.
What are you talking about 7:03pm!? They may not be down at the jewellery stores but they do indeed spend more on the island. And the ir money is spread further.
You have no idea what you are talking about.
That label belongs exclusively to the cruise ship cattle. Divers are big spenders, and repeat stayovers here.
You 7.03 pm saying that visiting divers spend less than the cheapskate cruisers? I believe most divers actually stay in hotels, so your argument makes no sense at all.
There are 365 documented dive sites …. so the divers have lots to explore!
I have one question.
What did Anwar (you know that guy we were supposed to have as Governor for 4 years) think of this project?
Interesting that he’s conveniently not around when this is happening.
I do seem to recall him expressing environmental concerns shortly before he was expressed out of here.
We have the Addams family for a Government in Cayman.
We have a Government? I thought we just had special interest groups doing whatever they wanted.
Special interest groups with deep pockets and politicians who only seek to feather their own nests or those of family and friends. Politicians in Cayman do not serve the people. They serve themselves
Nah.. Gomez would be making us money hand over fist and he wasn’t afraid to do what was right.
Bring back Kearney Gomez!
When transparency stops, corruption begins. When the local company and the cruise lines are through the back door talking to Govt in this prequal process they have compromised the ethics of the tendering process which required all parties to only communicate through a web based portal for all communication to be shared by all parties in the running. This has not happened, for the local company, the cruise lines and the Chinese have all been in back door communicating and discussing with Govt.. It is interesting that the no. 1 contender is a local company together with the cruise lines, a group that did not even exist in the prequalification phase 1 process and suddenly they appear together in the middle of the game as the game is in process. So much for adhering to accepted International Tendering protocols. Corruption at its best make this Govt is no better or any different than all the others. Very Sad because supporters all thought the Progressives were strictly honest and ethical.
2:16 And we don’t even know who the (mythical?) cruise line is. I’ve got contacts in the two major players in this market and it doesn’t sound like either of them are involved so who the **** is it? The fact that there’s been no big PR release suggests to me this is just another case of ‘if we build it they will come’.
It’s Carnival and RCCL. If you contacts are there, you need better contracts.
This project needs to be halted. We aren’t stable enough to make such serious decisions right now… trust me, this smells like rotten eggs too.
You mean not intelligent enough
Yes. I didn’t want to sound bitter, but that too.
So who else wants to be chained to the reef to stop this!! This will destroy the diving industry and so much of our environment!!
Cayman will live to regret this and this govt. Will stop at nothing to please their lobbyist. Talk about transperency. Referendum needed for this huge costly project.
The money would be better spent planting red mangroves to protect us from beach erosion and raising sea levels!
This government is the worse EVER!
What are the odds it’s DART?
Big chance he’s involved. He’s killed George Town by taking all the office occupiers to Camana Bay. Now theres plenty of real estate around the port that can be snapped up at a discount. Just watch.
cig killed george town not dart.
A conspiracy theorist! You haven’t got a clue.
Camana Bay will be the new capital in 40 years, just wait.
In forty years we will be a dive site
Elected officials over the generations killed us there bo. I am no Dart fan but truth be told he only did what CIG lacked the vision and failed to do. That plus ridiculous rents GT was already doomed long before Dart broke ground on Camana Bay.
@5:05 pm
Camana Bay is 1.8 km from the Mount Trashmore (funny that Google map has it as a landmark). Sadly, International school is even closer.
Anyone who lives or works within 5 km radius from an open air dump is more likely to have adverse health outcomes.
So relocating to Camana Bay from George Town wasn’t a smart decision after all.
All the hardcore environmentalists who were trying to protect Smith Cove from any change at all conveniently remain silent on a project that would likely destroy all of the Hog Sty Bay area and change much of the remaining waterfront permanently
But somehow the bigger threat is a mobi-mat for the disabled community
Disgusting
Caymanians need to take the lead in stopping this disaster.
Us Caymanians are facilitating the disaster.
It is time for Caymanians to lead the conversation and stop the destruction.
This project and the long term environmental and financial mess it will cause the Caymans will be the best representation of the political legacy of Premier Alden McLaughlin and Deputy Moses Kirkonnell and every member of this government.
A very bad and expensive decision that will be made worse by a pending global recession. Your leaders have not learnt any lessons from the last global recession.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6018135/Experts-say-housing-market-rate-rises-indicate-overheating-economy.html
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thestreet.com/amp/world/global-financial-crisis-looming-on-horizon-warns-george-soros-14604110
Thank you!!!!
If they actually do this despite all warnings, I propose we mount a big, brass plaque on the ironshore where everyone can see the names of all the legislators who signed this ruinous thing into being. It will have to be on private property so the Government can’t remove it.
This is awesome news! We’ve had a false jump in numbers due to the hurricanes that hit the eastern islands, we’ll need the improved facility to keep long term growth
You definitely have “solja crab mentality”.
As my good friend suggested this morning… If this (South Sound) boardwalk costs our government 1.3 million with no special engineering features other than solid concrete framing and synthetic Trex board… Then one can reasonably assume that the 180 million cruise berthing dock the government suggested is grossly misleading……Not to mention the cost of relocation of coral reefs! Just does not add up folks! Do the math… We are screwed folks!
Exactly….but $$$ and power blind peoples’ common sense and completely destroys their moral compass.
We can’t afford this project, in more than one way.
We can’t seem to hear; so watch as your children and children’s’ children feel the pain of these very stupid political decisions.
Caymanians will have no choice but to become economic migrants to other countries in the near future. Stupid premiers and ministers.That’ll be their legacies.
We are so screwed!
When Cuba turns around you can take a broke boat and beg for jobs in their caymanian detention center.
@8:28 am
LOL
the muppets can’t even operate a carparking ticket machine…never mind build a port
@12:21 You really think the government is going to spend money to relocate a “bunch of crusty , fuzzy rocks?”
Only in Cayman could building a port dock be called “controversial”. The rest of the modern world, calls this progress.
Why do you want to be like the rest of the world? It’s a complete mess out there incase you haven’t noticed! Our island is a natural beauty and should be preserved at all costs!!
It’s not the building of the dock you moron, it’s the type of dock they are building. There were other environmentally and unique offers they could have gone with, to achieve what they needed and make Cayman stand out from the rest. But no, they elected to pour tonnes of concrete and “move” the reefs, FFS.
And the fact that a lot of what is going on around it is being hidden from the people.
The rest of the world is $*cked up. You seem keen to blindly jump on the bandwagon and drag the rest of us with you.
WTH? Like 15 people want this. Caymainians, where you at in controlling your government? Oh wait….
Scandalous…and hiding in plain sight…next we’ll hear it’s a JV with the vulture….then we’ll hear all the retail outlets will belong to a certain family with political connections….and then that company will be bought out by, guess who, the vulture….they’ll probably put a roundabout in the middle of it just a giant F-U to us all
Overnight tourism is so much better for the island. Remind me again how many locals are employed at the 4 largest hotels.
How did this just happen? lol
Wow
ground breaking won’t start in september.(hopefully)….i’ve been hearing soon-come updates on this nonsense for the last 15 years
Depends on who is involved.
money would be better spent on stayover tourism and improving the cruise ship experience for existing visitors…
The money would be better spent on education.
seems like economic madness to me….. we were told 10 years ago that cruise ships would stop coming if we had no port….but yet here we are with record numbers of visitors….
if ppm think there is public support for this …just hold a referendum…. what are they afraid of
Mark my words – our Salad Days are coming to an end.
We will no longer be a jewel in this Caribbean. Just another port for cruisy’s to pop into for a half day.
Ugh, gross. No class only greed.
My only hope is that this will make my property value increase to fill my pocket on my way out.
How soon until the ACC gets their tasers?
not soon enough
How about a petition to stop this madness……..crickets!
I’m thinking at this point it will need a March as well as a petition. But they’ve kept it so quiet in order to sneak up on us so that we don’t have time!!
No march needed. Just line up as many people you can (hold hands) at the site where they plan to build and show them, literally, in person that you, the people do NOT want this project to go forward.
Actions speak louder than words.
#StandAndBeCountedCayman
I’m in!!
What is wrong with crickets you muppet? They are lovely animals.
Unpopular…
Guess we now know why all this chaos with the Gov. One massive misdirection to get the prey looking one way while the attackers swoop in from the rear.
This pier will be paid in only one way. Direct taxation. There is no other way. And that tax will remain to continue funding the feminist welfare state.
Any state which raises weak men, will invariably watch their society bullied and overran.
Caymanian women, if you want to save your children’s future, best to start your protests now. Your modern culture failed your men. The buck stops with you.
Just wait until it messes up the current flow and SMB ends up looking like Rum Point beach after Joe Imparato messed up the current flow in North Side!
What a disaster this will turn out to be
It already is….