Mega ships are red herring in cruise project
Celebrity Edge, currently under construction, will have a capacity of less than 3,000 and will include Grand Cayman on its itinerary
(CNS): A list of cruise ships that will be delivered to the cruise lines over the next ten years, compiled by industry experts Seatrade Cruise, reveals that only 15 of more than 100 ships in the pipeline will carry more than 5,000 passengers. The document indicates that many of the leading cruise lines, such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Disney, have ships ordered that are no bigger than the ones currently plying the Caribbean region. The Cayman Islands Government has largely justified its proposed controversial and costly cruise berthing project based on claims the cruise lines are all moving to mega-sized ships — a position completely undermined by the order book.
Government doubled down during the recent Legislative Assembly meeting on Cayman Brac, when Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell insisted that the Cayman Islands must have cruise berthing because of the future dominance of the next generation of Oasis and Genesis classes of ships.
However, the information from Seatrade Cruise seems to negate this argument, as it is now evident that the major cruise lines will still be sailing new ships in this region well below that capacity for many years to come.
Another claim by Kirkconnell, that the largest cruise ships will not use tenders, was called into question when MSC Cruises confirmed that its new mega-ship MSC Meraviglia, which can carry 5,714 passengers, has included Grand Cayman in its itinerary next year and will use tenders.
Opposition Leader Ezzard Miller is planning a series of public meetings in the coming weeks to ensure that everyone has access to as much information as possible, especially the facts that counter the government’s claims. He said this latest information kills its main argument.
“Why is the government telling the people that only Oasis class ships are being built, so we must build a pier to stay in the business?” he asked. “This kind of misinformation to fool the people and justify their white elephants is regrettable and unfortunate.”
Miller said there was no evidence that if Cayman does not build a pier, the cruise business will be cut in half.
“Cayman needs to address passenger satisfaction and comfort, not cater to the cruise lines to invest millions so they can dictate what happens to the cruise industry in Cayman and continue to extract maximum profits from the local industry,” he said. “Cayman has what other ports on the western itinerary do not have, and we can develop our product as a niche market to get maximum profits for Caymanians working in the cruise industry rather than the cruise lines.”
Miller said the document demonstrates that the claims government is making, that the future is about giant cruise ships, is simply not true.
The issue has dominated the political agenda this month. During the debate in the LA, Austin Harris, one of the MLAs who joined the Government of National Unity after the 2017 elections, revealed his new-found support for the project, despite his vociferous opposition when he asked for his constituents’ votes.
The debate also turned up new details about the extent of the environmental damage to the marine life in the George Town Harbour, even with the re-design, which government claims is more environmentally friendly. That information was unveiled by Kirkconnell in a short document tabled in the parliament and came just a week after CNS revealed that DoE Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie had been booted off the cruise port steering committee.
Over the weekend, volunteers for the Cruise Port Referendum campaign, seeking to trigger a people-initiated referendum on the subject, were out and about once again collecting signatures. According to the organisers, the numbers of registered voters now signed up is fast approaching the halfway mark for the signatures needed to force government’s hand. There are currently 21,124 registered voters and 25% of them (5,281) must sign to trigger a national ballot.
Referendum campaign volunteers have joined with SaveCayman this week to organise a fundraising screening of the documentary film, “Rebirth”. See details below.
See the Seatrade order book and other documents on the cruise port in the CNS Library
Category: Business, development, Local News, Tourism
Mega ships are the way of the future.
Cayman, whether the environmentalists like it or not, is a t a cross roads where we have to decide if cruise tourism is what we want or not.
If we choose not, then we better have a plan for the 3000-4000 people that depends on that industry or unemployment and crime are going to explode killing the stayover as well.
So the people that are in the cruise supported industry is potential criminals if they dont get piers
The Jewelry Stores have found the RCL ship passengers on average spends more in their stores than other cruise lines ( they write down on purchases which ship the passenger is on) The Oasis class do by-past Cayman mainly because we don’t have shore side security screening and they were designed for that unlike all other ships. This is why certain business wants more and more RCL ships. Now other businesses such as restaurants, bars, souvenirs shops etc have found that their biggest spends come from Carnival and other cruise lines. Go figure now.
8.29am You are confused . The Carnival Line caters to the lower end of the passenger market, hardly big spenders. You see plenty of them in the shops, but only because it’s hot outside, and there are far more of them as 75% of the cruise ships calling here are Carnival.
If Moses Kirkconnell is involved, well he will want to run the whole thing.
run it? nah…probably just name it after himself or the family…these things tend to be about legacy….look at camana bay, utter nonsense, but its one man’s legacy to himself…these things happen
156 comments and counting!. I think this hot potato needs to be put through the chipper.
I’ve never been on a cruise, but been to GC 2x a year for 20 years. If hotels don’t lower the prices soon ( as they have raised them almost double and at peak times triple the rate since hurricane devastation on other islands), I will soon be taking my first cruise.
The Government head tax from cruise arrivals has forever gone toward subsidizing other things like education, roads, welfare and other public needs. If Government used even half of this towards building the facility that the cruise tourism needs we could have paid for a dock debt free ten times over by now. George Town is not the only beneficiary of the cruise, these funds cover a lot of the things we enjoy as citizens.
How the hell do you figure? With the record 1.5mln arrivals last year, inflated-up by tragedies elsewhere, CIG collected just $3mln in head taxes (see the July Budget and CI Port Records). At that pace, it would (literally) take 100 years to pay off the proposed double cruise pier. Doubling the arrivals to 3mln involves the impossible ask of doubling the passenger headcount in a mature decades-old theater of operation. Some of the liners are already offering free cruises to fill their boats (hoping to make up the difference on beverage, excursion, gambling, and meal packages). Consider that the CIG squandered the equivalent of 100% of this cruise arrival income on make-work-vote-buying exercises…or not even a third of each of the annual CAL or Turtle Farm subsidies. Even the best arrival metrics don’t move the needle on any of the normal waste of this regime. It’s just an opportunity to siphon-off tens of millions that nobody will notice on a hundreds of millions of dollars infrastructure project. That’s all it is. That’s why the Standards in Public Life Law will not be enacted by this regime, because of the risk of jail time. They are all welcome to prove me wrong…
It’s a matter of public record that the CIG worked a backroom deal with Dart over several versions, now known as the NRA Agreement, to build the roads and provide a Special Needs school (which the gov’t elected to pass on and collect $1mln). CIG had no money for roads, and remains on such a tight spending allowance that they are barely in compliance with payroll requirements, and cannot retire more than half of the $315mln loan that comes due next year. In the background, there is perhaps a Billion dollars in undeclared and unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities. So, it would be reasonable to ask: why are we buying planes, and talking about hundred million dollar piers…it’s madness and vanity at best, which seems to be the status quo for politics in the Cayman Islands.
The referendum better hurry up with their signatures….marl road has some contracts that if signed become irreversible and CIG are committed to going thru….marler road has that deadline before end october….tick tock….paved paradise, put up a parking lot
Yeah Marl road we hear they tryin to rush and sign some contract so government is locked in. Not a smart move now they been rumbled.
Any deal signed this far outside of prescribed protocol would be non-binding. The Opposition could file an injunction just to be sure. The Cabinet members ought to be hyper-aware of their personal accountability, and assume everything they’ve done, all their emails, all their phone calls, text messages, travel, and BBMs, all of their computers, and financial family accounts, may come under intense scrutiny in relation to this project. Assume that it will all come to light.
Did anyone notice if any of the Kirk Freeport stores were open on Sunday when we had a high spend ship in for 8 hours?, asking for a freind.
Proof that the Kirkconnell are not all about money no matter what opposers say. They have religious and family values that have always been more important. More power to them.
Or they don’t give a crap about anyone and just want the dock out of greed for the 6 days that they are open.
or the 50,000 sq ft of retail that they’re going to be operating on the new port….
Sorry not buying it, a quick check of the ship arrivals shows that there was no ships in on Saturday and Monday,so the one day out of three that a ship is in and you choose to stay closed?,not sure you would find any financial consultant that would tell you thats a good business plan , regardless of family values or religion, but the point is that we all know these are the guys behind the Pro Port agenda, sorry if your not willing to put the work in when it there for the taking then you have no sympathy from me if your sales are down.
That’s allowed if they are appropriately licensed by T&B Board, which I am guessing they are. There is, or was (not familiar with new law) a license authorising certain stores to be open for the duration of ships visiting on Sundays, until I think 30 mins or so after they depart.
This is an important fork in the road. CIG won’t be able to turn the clock back on this one so they best get it right. My vote is to err on the side of caution in the name of quality of life for locals and everyday congestion. Differentiate Cayman by being one of the few ‘quaint’ ports remaining where you tender to shore. If cruise numbers increase, so will the work permits. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
1) Anyone that says that cruisers don’t have money or that the mega ships are just for cheap tourists obviously have no idea what they are talking about and have never worked in a business that caters to cruise.
2) If the dock was going to affect 7 mile beach it would have done so already. The current dock is solid walls so the whole of George Town would be choked with sand if the sand flowed through town to 7mb. Common sense really
3) Every other county in the Caribbean has switched to berthing docks years ahead of the Oasis or other mega ships, so this is not just a mega ship problem, our tender fleet is the equivalent to using cat boats to move the cargo ashore. It’s just easier to have a dock, people spend more time on land and easier and better experience to get on and off.
4) it’s not about what will it cost, it’s about what revenue CIG is going to lose in the near future when cruise drops.
1.) Go and speak to the citizens of Venice, Italy about their views on the mega cruisers. (Word of advice; pack a helmet.)
2.) Are you really comparing what is at Hog Sty Bay now to what will be after +$200,000,000.00 worth of dredging, blasting, drilling, filling and pouring?
Do you realise that 15 acres of marine will be destroyed to facilitate the proposed dock?
3.) No other country in the Caribbean is Grand Cayman. End of story.
Regarding the “more time” fallacy; cruises are sold as package deals. Even if Cayman was able to miraculously add 6 hours to the usual 24 in a day, the passengers will still revert to the ship for their pre-purchased meals, drinks and entertainment.
4.) Let’s focus on remaining a niche and exclusive destination – in a region of watered-down, commercialised, “made-in-or-by-China” ports.
– Whodatis
*Everyone – sign the petition for the PORT REFERENDUM.
I feel dirty – I just thumbed up Who…
I got a hose bro, it’s ok.
Turn around tho – it may sting a bit.
– Who
🙂
Iv been doing it for a while now. The guy just wore me out 🙂
That didn’t sound good bro.
Well, aren’t you lovely?
Much obliged.
If you’re a lady, I’m yours – if not, we’ll just go join Chantelle’s fight as this must be true love!
😀
– Who
The only reason cruisers don’t spend money in bars and restaurants is the price. I won’t go either. But if they come down to a reasonable price business should be brisk. Cruisers love Cayman not the price. But be honest no one is staying after happy hour anyway. Venice is not the Caribbean, we always say to keep Cayman the way it was? Then why are the prices and other cost of living products and services so bloody high? Greed!!
Lets remember its not only for the tourists but also for the local people who would like to enjoy GT.
The reason it’s taking so long, they did another EIA after the FCCA meeting in Cozumel to make people happy. We didn’t want to dredge closer to shore. It went down from 55 acres to less then 15 acres. We were told go out to 80 feet of water to reduce that impact.
We were told and saw a video by Tim Austin that the George Town reefs are dying. We also saw several videos of diving day and night diving in Cozumel, Mexico on International pier, whenever ships were not in port. Cozumel is very similar to Grand Cayman. It is a Coral Atoll and has mangrove swamp and sandy beaches. Cozumel has 3 different piers and do not have ridiculous prices for liquor and food. Can you afford to take your significant other once a week to lunch or dinner at these prices?
The propaganda that has come from over the years of uneducated guesswork is unfortunate. But alas without going diving or snorkelling, go along the George Town shoreline and see for yourself the beach sand from Lobster Pot, Arthur Boddens’, and Hogstye Bay and tell me why the sand is so dark? Its not part of the 7 mile beach sand. The beach sand goes off the dropoff. When you go to Smith Cove the sand is obviously the same color as south sound. A short snorkel to deeper water it turns to hard bottom. You have to go deeper 15-50 feet to see pretty sand like 7 mile beach.
It’s about how much stay over revenue we lose when we max out the island with hordes of low spend tourists and torpedo the environment and the quality of our offering in exchange for volume.
Yes Jotnar, preach.
Careful you’re messing with a big pay day for many politicians who may not be in office next term.
Why everything that is done in Cayman , people kick against it and when it is finished they all sing praises about it. Be a fool sometimes but don’t make a career out of it.
I NEVER sing praises about the rape of the environment, and being on the edge of a great downward plummet for the habitable planet, it will soon be mighty hard for anyone, even you, to do do either.
They have already given themselves a 5% raise this term
I wish that I too could collect 18 of my peers 4 times a year to sit in a chamber and talk and think that I deserve a 5% raise
The number of small ship or big ships being manufactured doesn’t necessarily dictate which areas the ship will be serving. Small ships could be for opening new markets while big ships are used in established markets with high demand.
Given the emergence and strong growth in the small luxury exclusive cruise market, supported by the order book, wouldn’t the $200m be better spent enhancing Cayman so we attract this, in line with our high end focus?
Wouldn’t that help the Kirkconnells, tender operators AND tour operators – win win
@7:33 You’re idea won’t work. It makes too much sense.
At the end of the day, Cayman (and Caymanians) must decide what we want our tourism product to be.
Either an exclusive and niche destination OR a “mass-produced”, congested, haggled, soul-less cash-cow.
Whatever the case we need a REFERENDUM to have a clear and final word on the matter.
I signed last week. The process is really simple and they required only basic information.
Wednesdays and weekends tend to be when they are most active.
– Whodatis
*Yes, the votes are being deliberately skewered in every thread of every related story. Ignore the votes. Do your own research and make up your own mind.
Thank you for signing.
If you look at this season’s upcoming cruise calendar, available free-for-all from the CI Port website, we have all of this region’s biggest 150k GT ships for the next 10-15 years already voluntarily calling on George Town, with 100% tendering. We have 6-7 ship days scheduled for the high season with several days over 20k passengers. This is the most ever. How can the Kirk Freeport and Stingray boat operators be complaining about these numbers or hoping to improve on them?!? Please spare us the false distress calls. If you guys can’t make magic happen in the current format, then you shouldn’t be in business. Sign the petition and end this era of opaque regime leadership. It’s gotta end.
My relatives run one of the water sports companies and let me tell you, his big fear is that if this dock do any happen and he has to downsize there are young men working with him that don’t have skills to do anything else. He worries at night that if h can’t employ them that the next thing they are going to do is start breaking into people houses. They don’t have any other option and he hired them even though they from not so good backgrounds. The hotels are not going to give them jobs, so cruise is all they depend on to keep them working and family fed.
Sadly, that uncertainty stems from his not being allowed to do the research or the math for himself, but then again, neither have our officials. It is all buried in false assumptions and numbers that don’t make sense. Shouldn’t all Caymanians demand full accountability and bankable expectations, particularly if their livelihoods depend on it? Sign the petition, demand full disclosure, a resumption of prescribed oversight, and a referendum for all to decide the deal, or no deal.
Is your relatives the one that ran his boat up on the iron shore ? Then I can see why you’re speaking for him like how you are.
And the cruise ships will keep coming. This port is ridiculous and unnecessary. Even IF that were the case that the island would lose business without a port it’s unfair to expect the majority to put out significant investment to protect the few.
Blatant emotional blackmail…with no evidence to back up that numbers will swindle without the port. In fact, it’s growing fast WITHOUT the port.
I am against the dock, but this is some of the dumbest shit I have ever read about anything.
What if a 1/4 of the $200 million projected cost was reinvested in sending these young men to trades school or similar? $50 million could pay for a lot of upgrading, counselling, hand holding, and whatever else the young men need to become trained productive citizens. Why is ‘fear’ all too often the tool of choice (and governs) in decision making?
And by what logic do you figure they will lose their jobs ? PS. How many work permits does he have and how many of them is he offering training ?
See 9.40’s comment above- there is no issue with visiting ships. We don’t need the dock. This is just pro-port fear mongering again. Getting tedious-when the only good arguments you have are fear, you don’t have any arguments for it at all.
But fear is such a great argument for so many projects to destroy our world. Ironic isn’t it.
For those of us who own and operate businesses directly impacted by the decision – and that includes all watersports operators along SMB and all retail businesses in GT, hotels along the SMB corridor and any tour operators and bus and taxi drivers – the lack of information that has been provided should have us all up in arms. Do we know what impact the construction would have on arrivals during the period of time that the dock would be being built? How long would we endure this? How would that affect cargo deliveries in the interim? How will the construction impact the quality of the water along SMB? How will any of this affect the decisions made by visitors (whether on island, or on a ship) to return to Cayman? I really don’t appreciate Government’s decision to plough ahead and potentially jeopardise my business without full disclosure.
So funny. I went to bed last night whilst all the thumbs were predominantly ‘down’ against what someone had suggested were propoganda posts for the pier and ‘up’ for a referendum. Lots and lots of ‘anti-pier’ votes.
Then, this morning, suddenly, by magic, naturally of course, the voting is reversed. Unless CNS is only allowing thumb voting in distinct, partisan groups, only a complete idiot wouldn’t recognise a concerted PR effort to defeat comments for a referendum and bias the debate.
There are dark forces at play and the people should be even more suspicious of the ‘just build it and trust us’ crowd.
CNS: The thumbs vote is a plug-in, which I activate and then have no control over. If it’s acting up I need to find a new one, but the only thing controlling the tallies are cyber gremlins.
What I have noticed about the thumbs buttons, is by all the smart and intelligent comments been published has caused the kirkbots and dartbots and tenderbots , to see and understand right from wrong .
I don’t think it is cyber gremlins, it’s more likely a bunch of people with a vested interest using multiple devices in ‘stealth’ mode to bias the voting.
Take these votes with a grain of salt. I can bring this to 1000 downvotes if I was feeling malicious.
I’m a white-hat, though.
I have no IT expertise at all, but with enough time on my hands can move the votes by just logging out and in and revoting. Not rocket science, and if I had a large group of low paid staff, or were prepared to pay a troll shop to do it the old fashioned way, could move the thumbs up or down. But hey, none of the already wealthy Caymanians who see their personal economic interests affected would ever do something so low down, right?
Changing the results of a non electronic voting referendum would be considerably more difficult tho – perhaps why some people don’t want one.
The only concept of tourism management held by Moses and company is bigger is better and more in better. They have no true concept of how to manage an upscale tourism destination. Their idea of flooding the island will cruise ship visitors simply compromises the quality of life for all on the island. It isn’t rocket science after all but greed seems to confuse them.
Say no to the dock. This will benefit no one except the greedy rich who are trying to get this project passed. Let’s stand up for our beautiful coral. Coral is becoming endangered and let me ask this, can life on land still thrive without coral in the sea?
when last did you visit the coral you are talking about ?
Just because you don’t go and visit the parts of your world that are being destroyed, doesn’t make their destruction any more of a healthy event. Sheesh.
Do we see what the Cruise Lines are doing. They are building these hugh ships and they are dictating to these destinations greedy leader of these destinations, by showing them that they will be brining in these big numbers of people , so therefore they are convincing people like Cayman Government to accommodate the Cruise Lines the way that the Cruise Lines wants to be accommodated at their government expenses, and pretty soon they would be telling the Governments what they are going to pay for passengers head fee , because the Cruise Lines are bringing in this hugh amount of people . The cruise ships needs to have these destinations more than the Islands needs the ships .
I think that what these governments of these destinations needs to get together and plan on how to handle these cruise line in the future.
But did we read the article above and see how Mr. Ezzard Miller is defending YOUR interest again , and not being the gullible like Mr. Kirkconnell . Like I said before support Miller because he’s helping you and the Environment and YOUR great grandchildren future .
It’s not just about mega ships, although this is where are the big money spenders are. Even smaller ships will only have one tender stop per cruise max so we miss out.
Overall the better productivity with berthing is the main goal
The money isn’t in mega ships! They pack so many in there so the cheapos can afford a cruise.
Why do you say the big spenders will be on Mega ships? I would have thought the exact opposite; mega ships will be cheaper to run and operate and attract bargain hunting tourists.
@9:05 is under the same impression as our worldly and knowledgeable politicians that the larger ships equals more wealthy passengers. Let me ask this, if you have a bus driver switch his 20 seater to a 75 seater and still charge the same rate. Does that mean those with Mercedes and Jaguars will stop driving them to take the bus because it’s bigger and looks more glamorous? I think we know the answer to that. All those megaships mean is more of a crowd to contend with, something a wealthy travel will avoid like the plague. F’n muppets.
– Muppet “head” Hunter
The main attraction on the mega liners in the Caribbean is apparently the low cost of the vacation, the passengers bluntly don’t seem to care where they go.
Anonymous 9:05 pm , PPM coolade drinker , if you had lots of money , would you want to be packed on a cruise ship with 5,000 other people , no , the big spenders would probably charter your own little cruise ship or private yacht.. Why these cruise lines are going to mega ships is because they would be able to operate on large volumes of people .
But they don’t care what you have to do/happens to YOUR ENVIRONMENT to accommodate them , nor do they care about what happens to the destinations enforestructor when they dump that many people for you to take care off and accommodate .
Do you think that putting many people on Stingray City every day is causing any harm ? Yes lots that is not good for the stingrays and the Environment. But I know you don’t care because you only see those $$$ signs.
Has anyone actually answered the big question yet? What exactly are we going to do with all these extra visitors?
Pack them into over crowded beaches and scare away the over nighters that contribute and ton more money into our economy.
All hell going to break loose.
CIG never plan effectively for the entire country, once they can personally line their pockets with cash, they’re good!
Yup! I already posted my story several weeks ago saying that even in March of this year when we were there, the crowding along the parts of the beach that allow the cruisers was ridiculous. We stay at Lacovia for 7-10 days every year and spend what I consider to be a LOT of money while we are there. Last year, the beach near the Kimpton reminded my daughters and me of the movie WALL-E, where there are rows and rows of people packed together in their reclining chairs. Not a pretty picture. We are looking into different places to spend our $$.
9:27 in the world we live today could you not find something else to complain besides reclining chairs ?
@11:46… 9:27 was just making a point that with more tourists coming in that that is what our beaches are going to look like. Over crowded and discouraging overnight stayers from coming here.
Assumes that 4 ships would bring in more than 6-7 with 150k GT liners already on the calendar tendering happily. Restricting to 4 ships wouldn’t help the arrivals to go up that much, or at all necessarily. Last year, if you are to believe CI Port stats at face value, we had 1.5mln visitors that generated a paltry $3mln in CIG landing fees. These are the silly baseline numbers we are using to wager the future stayover appeal for the Cayman Islands and amortize whatever our share of pier costs would be over 100 years! If those aren’t the metrics, let’s demand to see them…sign the petition!
They will go to places like Royal Palms, Calicos, Tiki and any other spot on SMB or the island that is bought up by DART.
Have you not noticed all the public access signs that are now popping up? Those will be the ONLY points of access to our coastline in the near future.
Wouldn’t surprise me either if places like Smith’s Cove are suddenly sold and we are banned from there as well.
To 12:56 how you so smart .? Just watch it ,cause I’m thinking the sameeeee thing .
ssm345 don’t you give thanks for seeing another day
or what can I find to grumble about today ?
@11:54 – Ever heard the term speak the truth and shame the devil? SSM345 is only speaking the truth of the situation.
Ha! Dart got you guys good and it’s already about 15 years too late.
Reasons for a referendum:
Statements that most Caymanians are in favorr of the pier. A referendum will prove this.
Those who are against the pier are not Caymanians. As only Caymanians will be able to vote this will show us if indeed the anti’s are none-Caymanian.
Nobody seems to have a clear understanding of the risks and benefits associated with the pier; referendum will provide both sides the opportunity to have their say.
Once the pier is built there will be no way back. The costs will be on the heads of future generations for years to come. We owe it to them to have considered all aspects of the pier before marching ahead.
Environmental impact; does anyone Know for sure what that will be? Lets see what both sides have to say before we make such a big move.
Costs : What are the costs going to be and who will be paying for them? Is there any way of taxing those who will benefit from the construction until it is paid for? How many years before it has paid for itself.
Who will be building the pier? Has China Harbor already been awarded the contract? Do we really want a company that has been blacklisted by the World Bank for the underhand way it obtains contracts by bribery.
Will we have to build a similar pier on the Brac; you know we can’t leave them out.?
If most Caymanians do want the pier and there are clear benefits to the Islands for building it then there should be nothing to fear from a referendum. The only reason I see for not holding one is if you think it is going to show that people are really not in favor.
Anybody notice that the negative responses are all the same and all lack substance? The anti-port propaganda machine goes into high gear but lack facts and rely on insults and false information. Anytime this has been debated in the public the anti-port people end up conceding because they cannot argue against the facts and professional reports and opinions conducted on this project. The professionals have said the project should go forward, I’m with the experts.
What debates in the public? There have been zero debates
What professional reports? An almost 6 year old Business Case Outline? A 3 year old EIA? A 3 year old passenger spending report?
Which anti-port people are conceding?
The government ad campaign, Sitting MLAs and the private Pro Port Facebook groups have been shown using false and misleading information to attempt to get this project through with as little oversight as possible
The public commenting period was almost entirely in opposition
The petition has almost 3000 signatures in 3 weeks
Your comment proves the very point the Opposition and those opposed to the project are making
Your comment is not based or tethered in reality
The people have a right to a say on a project as large as government expenditure for a calendar year
6:25 pm: the EIA was produced in 2013–five years ago. It is also not to be relied upon as the govt says the pier has been re-designed. A new EIA needs to be commissioned based on the new plans.
And a new business case.
And then the public needs to be informed.
We also need a comprehensive engineering study – I’m not sure if any human endeavour like this has ever been contemplated anywhere else. Drilling and detonating blindly into highly fractured limestone at the top of a mountain pinnacle in bluewater open ocean…which drops off in a shear cliff to 1000ft, just beyond the end of the new proposal. What is the contingency plan if drilling and detonating holes for dock pilings cleaves off a section of this ironpan plateau? Who pays for the landslide and tidal wave damage from a 1000 ft displacement event…or a 6000 ft knock-on event into the Cayman Trench? Good one Cayman.
Engage your brain. Who paid for your ‘experts’
The now-obsolete Baird EIA Report was very cautionary. Maybe you should read it? There is no valid business case, only hundreds of millions of dollars dancing around like sugar plums in the heads of our politicians that refuse to enact the Standards in Public Life Law.
The other thing to factor in is the fact that the ‘mega’ ships are being built as self-contained floating resorts, which make most of their money while on the move. There are already Caribbean cruise itineraries where 70%-80% of the trip is spent at sea and I suspect that’s the way things are moving in general at the top end of the industry. The harsh reality is that unless the stopover is at a cruise-line owned resort the owners will make more money, and the ship will operate most economically, at sea. I’m not particularly convinced one way or the other on this but trying to sell the project on the basis that it will automatically attract the mega liners is stretching reality a bit too far for my comfort.
Easy to think this but look at the main reason why people choose cruises and the #1 reason is for the ports that are visited. Cayman is well liked as a destination but the main gripe is the 2 hour wait to get off the ship!
Some talk of waits and others say it is nonsense. Has anyone actually seen the feedback given to the companies by their tourists. It would actually be helpful.
Isn’t going ashore by tender part of the adventure?
6:21 “The #1 reason is for the ports that are visited.” In which case why are the itineraries that spend most of the time at sea and what are referred to as ‘cruise to nowhere’ so popular?
In fact if you a bit of research you’ll find that things like cost, convenience (the all-inclusive nature of the ships) and access to activities like gambling seem to rate higher than the destinations visited in most polls. That’s the problem with this debate – too many people posting comments without doing any research.
5:09 In fairness to 6:21 he’s posting the results of polls for the European and Mediterranean cruise business where destinations are the key factor.
It’s a completely different ballgame over here. Most passengers in this region go on cruises for the same reason they go to Disneyland – simple, cheap no-brainer vacations. In fact one of the big selling points for US cruise shippers with families is apparently the fact that their kids can be dumped with the child minding service while they enjoy themselves.
Have you ever been on a ship that comes here? There’s never a 2 hour wait….same amount of wait for tendering as there is for a walkway to a dock. Massive amounts of bodies trying to get out at the same time creates queues.
7:33am – Yes I have and I had no problem getting off. Barely a wait. The only waiting is when you try to get off early for a excursion. And even that wasn’t a 2 hour wait! Numbskull.
Long walks on Piers especially in the heat, then waiting on line to go through Security to board the ship – tendering is less of a hassle actually.
Tenders with AC and FREE WiFi = IDEAL!
*Most passengers seek FREE WiFi because Internet is expensive on the ships, and very slow.
The embarkation/disembarkation bottleneck is at the door of the ship regardless of whether the ramp ends with a pier or a tender boat in calm seas. Been there, done that. All of the studies have echoed this.
Not true, Tendered Passengers flow through Security when embarking.
I have taken 30+ cruises.
There are no bigger ships contemplated by humanity than the ones already here tendering happily for over a year (as they do in ports all around the world).
It is crazy that the Kirk’s and the Briggs/Bodden’s are being pitted against each other in this project. They have all been friends for countless years and continue to be friends to this day. And will continue to be friends dock or no dock.
I think that what is best for the country looking forward is we need enhanced piers and cargo facilities. As long as they mitigate environmental damage as much as possible, then the island has a clear choice to go forward with the dock. We need to let the process continue and then comment once the plans have all been revealed after the process gets to that stage.
Once the process gets to the preferred bidder and the project is revealed the CIG will do what they always do routinely ignore the will of the people in favor of business interests and their donors
Sure, forgetting that the CI Port is only operating at only 80% of capacity…
I hear one of the tender owners is actually in support or the piers, granted they mitigate environmental effects as much as economically possible. He sees the bigger picture and knows it is best for Cayman and Caymanians, as long as they look at the whole picture and also revitalize GT in the correct manner.
If you believe that then I’ve got beach front property in Colorado to sell you.
Truth or rumour or alternative facts?
We will not know unless this person puts his name to a post.
5:26 pm: “I hear one of the tender owners”: how self-sacrificing. For God and country, no doubt.
Anybody notice that when something negative is said about the cruise terminal the comments section rapidly fills with a neatly planned set of PR comments for it, all slightly different, but all around 4-5 lines long. Me thinks it is a PR scam to influence opinion. For instance, who was ever ‘just speaking’ to 2 different Caribbean governments (apart from the Speaker, that is).
Except over 3500 Caymanians employed due to the cruise industry. How many employed by the monopoly ferry company? 15?
No one cares about the tenders, nationalise them for all I care… you miss the point by, oh, 7 miles.
Only 5.5 these days.
What utter nonsense.
3500 Caymanians employed due to the cruise industry? Umm in what capacity that doesn’t involve over night stayers in any way.
Over 3500 Caymanian jobs are at risk that are directly related to the cruise industry. Let that sink in. That’s a lot of families whose livelihoods are at stake. The government must ignore the noise and protect Caymanians not expats that are hell bent on stopping this port and they have nothing invested in the island and send all their money out the country. Pathetic.
Where is this 3500 number coming from I would love to see the documents or studies relating to that large of a number of Caymanians employed directly in cruise related jobs
We already know where most of the Caymanian jobs are located the CIG and Financial Industry, both of which have real tracked numbers
I have seen no such reports for jobs related to the cruise industry and the jobs themselves seem very vague (I.e. who determines whether a job is “related to the cruise industry”)
If I have a business in Northside and I want tourists to come does that mean I have a job relating to the “cruise industry”? Does every Tom, Dick and Harry trying to sell something out of a storefront count as a “cruse related job”?
Its really very simple and I’m surprised you didn’t hear it before. The amount includes the entire family not just the individual. Everyone has someone to support, your mother, your grandparents, your children, your wife in some cases your girlfriend plus your extra girlfriend plus your extra children. Come on you know, we live in the Caribbean. It is actually more like 6000 people. We were taught to help people its the religion we were born with. Like another school we going to build for free schooling.
@6:08 I agree and we all know not all these jobs are cruise passengers only. More than likely overnight stayers also use their services. Name me one dedicated cruise passenger only service other than the tenders.
Talking points
Drivel.
How do we get to over 3500 Caymanians?. If the cruise visitors increase after the piers (if we get them), we will have to import more Philipinos to handle them as most of our unemployed would not be suitable.
Anonymous 5:12 pm , that last word in your comment describes the whole comment.
The mostly silent MAJORITY support this dock and recognize the large amount of jobs it provides. they just choose to stay quiet and hope that sanity and common sense will prevail and the government will press on. They don’t want any of the hired and paid for attack dogs pushing the petition to bother them while they drop kids to school or go shopping. These hired servants are getting nasty and confrontational if you don’t do as they say and sign. Calling people stupid and worse.
Then what is the issue with having a referendum, the “silent majority” should then easily be able to go vote in affirmation of the project and this discussion will be over
Don’t kid yourself, there is no silent majority on this issue
otherwise the government would have utilized them already
Given the comments opposing the dock project are always upvoted and supporting comments downvoted the only conclusion is that the SILENT MAJORITY oppose the project. But the only way to be sure is a vote.
Just have a referendum.
You mean the jobs it will take away!
You got it backward, just the way Moses wants to have ya!
This project has just screwed us all up the rear-end for the next 5-8 generations.
Your kids, and their kids will pay, big-time!
Cruise ship passengers do NOT spend a lot of money. They mostly sight-see, grab a bite to eat (maybe), and buy a few cheap souvenirs (5-10 bucks). The money has always been with the stay-over tourists, who spend on accommodation, transport, food, alcohol etc.
CIG like talking trash and filling-up the voting populous with hot air, only to deflate you in due time.
Surely a referendum is the safest and fairest way to resolve the issue – a ‘for’ campaign and an ‘against’ campaign, each present their evidence and allow the public to decide. It must be remembered that this is not a government project – it is a public one – because public money is going to be used and it will alter our island forever. Public should have the last say. No honest politician, on either side of the debate, should worry about a referendum because if they are right, and doing things for the right reasons, they should be confident they will also win.
It is strange that one group wants a referendum, which they could lose but the other seems to want to avoid it at all cost. So, one says lets have an open debate and public choice and the other says just let us decide and trust us. Politicians don’t have a good history with the last version – we should all be suspicious. Remember, the group thinking they should just decide were not voted in with a clear majority. Why should they just decide???
since the money belongs to the people, why don’t we just give all the money to the people, stand back and sees what happens!
No GT companies will reinvest in the town without piers due to the lack of high end customers that piers allow. Can you all imagine how awesome George Town could become when it gets revitalized? The bistros and the bars all open at night. Build the cruise port so we can get another area to hang out at night. I’m tired of only Camana Bay. George Town has so much potential, with the right plan and cruise piers to support the businesses and taxis it would be a huge asset to the island. People need to start looking at the bigger picture.
If the revitalization of GT is real they would address the cargo situation first. No restaurants or bars can survive when big trucks with containers are being hauled thru the central GT overlooking the gorgeous views of hogstye bay
And there is zero parking for anyone to go there easy. There’s a reason no one goes there.
And with mega-ships towering higher than a large hotel over central GT there will be no view of any bay left.
Be a nice view of the dump from the top of them ships.
Yeah we could put a statue on the top of it with the words “Mount Trashmore” in lit up letters.
Excursions to Mt. Trashmore
The entire island can be seen from there…including Dart’s Concrete Jungle
Exactly @ 8:44 am
Point in case; let’s showcase our TRASH.
Can we house the members of the LA on the top of it all!?
This shows what rubbish is being talked. Just how many cruise ships are here at night? They all leave around sunset so they can get their own casinos open and travel to the next place AT NIGHT.
Put the country in over $200Million worth of debt so you can have a nice evening out on the pier? Really?
No debt being taken on by the government. More misinformation. Get our facts straight. It is being funded solely by the head fee that goes to the ferry company. The government does not lose any revenue.
Yet they will have to pay for it prior to collecting the head fee from utilizing it
Meaning debt
Thats like saying “I’m going to build a house and rent it out after its built so I can pay for it with the rent”
In order to collect the rent you have to have the capital to construct it in the first place
Show us the plans
IF the EXTRA people come. The cost of the capital alone is around $12m annually before repayment. Over 10 years with a linear repayment, the project cost is $260m. That equates to 430,000 NEW cruisers per annum at $60pp or a 25% increase on the record 2017 year. It’s worse that that because it won’t contribute new numbers at all during construction.
THEN there is the cost of infrastructure upgrade to cope. Could GT cope with that increase? Could our natural attractions cope?
What happens if the overwhelming numbers of few-hour-visitors reverses the increase numbers in high end, high spend, longer stay visitors who think Cayman is becoming like an island version of Orlando?
So are you telling us anonymous at 5:34 pm that Mr. Mose will stand outside the disembarking gangplank with pan in hand and collect the fee from each tourist then the next week the port will progress according to how much he collects. Government will pay for the port and ” hope to get enough revenue” to pay back the funds after 25 years or so they say. That means that the money they collect now from disembarkment fees will be gobbled up by this “unnecessary destroying everything in its wake ” port . Why is the government so hell-bent on doing this when there are so many glaring reasons not to. Their story has more holes than a sieve!,
1.5mln cruise arrivals last year (a record, aided by terrible misfortune elsewhere) yielded a paltry $3mln in landing fees. Who is going to build this for a best-case 100 year break-even? How much crack is actually being smoked by our population?
@ 5: 34 pm
Do tell us all-star, about YOUR economics class 101.
There is no way that we will spend 200 Million, it will be MUCH MORE.
How you can say we WON’t be in debt is a blatant reflection of your special type of thinking…..one of those limited editions.
Thank you for pointing out what should be an absolute absurdity to all. Footnote to that: CIG are already in far deeper, unable (and not planning) to retire any more than half the outstanding $312MM bond principal due 24 Nov. 2019. CIG are going to have to refinance the remainder at new terms, almost certainly more expensive than the last round. Add to that, CIG also have inferred unaccounted pensions and healthcare liabilities of close to a Billion dollars that no regime has yet had the balls to admit – probably because it would disqualify our loan agreement, put us into insolvency, and sever FCO support…with the immediate credit downgrade, the bonds would go zero bid and enter vultures stage right…I wonder if we know anyone in that business?
High end customers on all inclusive cruise ship budgets? Are you delusional?
More like budget cruise ships. High end customers usually FLY to where they want to go instead of dealing with the sardine cans that float the Caribbean.
1. You do realise that there are bars and restaurants in GT which are open in the evenings?
2. And that the nature of the customer on the ships we get doesn’t change? The high end ships are not the mega-ships.
3. Why would bistros and bars open at night? The ships won’t be in port at that time and hotel guests don’t tend to come to GT when there are ships in port anyway so what changes here?
These type of finger piers that allow water to flow underneath them are a fairly simple construction and actually provide shelter for fish. I am an avid diver and just visited Turks and Caicos and dove their pier. It was unbelievable. Big game fish to the smallest snappers. It was a sight to behold. On non cruise ship days the dive operators are lined up to dive under it.
Just why is that a reason when we already have so many awesome natural dive sites? A $200m shore fishing pier for locals and the odd crazy visitor who would prefer to swim under concrete instead of over coral – what an investment
4:56 If you’re talking about Grand Turk I was out there when that pier was being built and it’s a relatively small project compared with what they’re proposing at GT. There was minimal disruption and we only lost two shallow dive sites so it’s not like for like.
As for diving under the pier? It’s always going to be good if the structure is on pilings (I’ve done it many times including several places that were technically off-limits) but that isn’t the proposal here – based on what’s been said so far it will be a solid concrete structure and I bet you won’t be allowed to dive anywhere near it.
I spoke to government officials in Bahamas and Jamaica recently. They are laughing at the drama and think it is ridiculous the future prosperity of the country is being held hostage by a well funded campaign against the dock. They said whoever is undoing them must have deep pockets. Every smells the smoke, the fire is coming from the monopoly running the tenders. I hear one owner in particular is throwing the kitchen sink to save his cash cow. He has complete disregard for the rest of the country.
Feels like politicians posting propoganda nonsense here
It’s civil servants, directed by politicians
$25 says it’s the same person.
Don’t forget that gambling is illegal here.
If government officials from Bahamas and Jamaica were approached, I doubt they would be in favor of the pier. Competition.
We should also ask the Bahamians what the Chinese did to them.
I understand thst Falmouth’s cruse port is not doing so well either, can anyone shed any light on that?
The taxi drivers were immediately driven out by liner-owned or partnered bus companies….same in Cozumel, Belize…you can’t make this stuff up.
ummm name them.
My main concern is where will those jobs displaced by dwindling cruise visits be replaced? The tender company only employs a few low skilled mates and captains to go back and forth, they can’t hire all those who will ultimately be laid off when GT continues its decay into a ghost town. Government is already too big to hire more. How will they survive??
Everyone talks about GT becoming a ghost town because of dwindling cruise ships..
1. The number of cruise ships will NOT dwindle. They need port options to keep people interested.
2. If GT is becoming a ghost town it is because of certain developers whose name starts with D, ends in T and rhythms with fart is building these little self contained towns and archipelagos drawing visitors away from GT.
Want GT to continue meaning George Town and not Ghost Town? Stop Dart and his shit.
Sorry bud-e; I take DART and his shite anyday over STINK and nasty GT.
The capital stinks, literally….who wants to hang-out there?
Why didn’t the CIG relocate the Port Authority and utilize that space instead for the pier. Saves so much money and makes sense….just a thought.
DART doesn’t do things like CIG, his organization actually plans effectively and the results are always 100% spot on.
Tell me, what did people do BEFORE Camana Bay?????
Hung out in GT?
I disagree that it is Dart that is causing GT to become a Ghost Town. Government has had a number of opportunities to turn GT into a very attractive place to be, but they screwed it up. When they developed Hero’s Square, they could have turned it into an attractive park with lots of shade and park benches for people to sit in the shade etc, instead they tore down any trees which were already there (and the other side of the court house) and laid down concrete with no shade. They should have pedestrianised Cardinal Avenue years ago.
All Dart has done is what Govt should have done – no fault of his if he can see what will bring the people in and keep them there.
Tender bots are in full force. I’ve heard they spent in excess of 150k to fund campaigns against the dock to protect their monopoly. Talk about living in the past, we have to evolve with the times and protect our future generations and give them opportunities to work and make a living. These are two simple finger piers, not a floating hotel or a sky scraper. Come on give me a break, build these two finger piers and we will all laugh at those who claimed Armageddon would happen.
Heard from who? Rumors in one hand crap in the other, see which one weighs more.
This news story is very unfortunate because it doesn’t reflect the reality of how the cruise industry works in the Caribbean and what has happened in the past 8 years since the Oasis class from RCI came into service. This lack of understanding means that the conclusions that are drawn are plain wrong and it is feeding into the emotional debate which is destructive and ultimately creating a false narrative.
Since the 1980’s cruise ships have been getting bigger and when a new class is introduced they most often replace what was then the largest and this nearly always happens in the 7 day market out of South Florida. In the 1990’s for RCI we had the Sovereign class ships here every week and these were replaced by Voyager class ships. When the Voyager class were superseded in size by the Freedom class these then came to Cayman every week instead. However when the Oasis class were introduced in 2010 we didn’t receive these ships into Cayman at all because they were too big to tender. When there were two of these ships doing the east / west Caribbean routes this meant a loss of about 300,000 premium guests every year. How there are 4 Oasis class ships this will mean a loss of over 600,000 premium guests per year. This is the consequence of not having a dock.
I say premium because the higher spending guests pay more for the newer, bigger ships. Therefore the ships in secondary markets (Like the RCI Liberty which is a freedom class and comes out of Galveston) achieve lower per diems and guests with less $$.
There are more of the Oasis class coming and if history repeats itself then the next class after Oasis will be even bigger and again will not call here.
At that time the Oasis class ships will begin to leave their south Florida homeports and begin to move into ports like Galveston and Tampa which do send ships here now but which will then move into other markets. Cayman will then be overlooked by more and more ships because they are too big to call here.
So yes there are many ships being built but the story ignores reality that the year round market in the Caribbean is served by the biggest newest ships like Oasis class and not by these other vessels. The other ships will go into regional and seasonal markets like Alaska, Europe, Asia and Australia which are seeing significant growth trends.
Boy oh boy the PPM PR Machine is working today
Nothing to do with either side on this. Have worked with the industry for many years and know it well.
Sounds like you know what you’re talking about, but let’s get real. Those with money, do not buy mega-ship cruises. If you want high end cruisers….small, upscale cruise lines that charge real money is the way to go.
Quality over quantity.
If you want to look at the money side of the business then these big ships have many high spending guests in high end suites. Can’t talk specifics but I know that the Oasis class ships outspent pretty much all others when visiting locations and not just because they were the biggest!
1 suite per 100 cheap rooms.. Not as many as you think.
Premium guests?
The diving companies employ almost no Caymanians. Yet the cruise industry employs over 3500 CAYMANIAN jobs. How are we letting foreigners dictate the direction this island goes. Just like they tried to close down OUR turtle farm and run our country for us. No suh people need to realize we live on an island and our lifeline is a port. How do we expect to survive with an inadequate port, both cruise and cargo???
4.44pm The dive companies cannot get Caymanians to work for them because 1. it’s hard work and 2. you have to get up early and get wet.
The turtle farm would not exist if it had not been founded and run for many years, by expats.
There’s no definitive evidence that cruise ship arrivals will decline absent piers and even if they do, the Civil Service will always take up the slack.
Again I ask.. name me one cruise industry specific job other than tenders.
This entire “gossip” article is full of mistruths. As Mark Twain eloquently put it, it is full of “lies, damned lies and statistics”. The majority of the Royal Caribbean, Carnival and MSC Caribbean cruise ships will be Oasis Class or larger in the next 5-7 years. The highest ticket cruisers will continue to sail past Grand Cayman and we will be stuck with the low end budget cruise passengers.
What also is missing from this article is that even if the cruise ships all stayed the same size, the benefits of people disembarking more quickly are massive. We would turn into a two-tour port and the government/DOE could put a structure to Stingray City and the sand bar tours and spread them over more time, instead of them all cramming here at the same time as it is now due to the very short visit time they have due to he need of tendering.
CNS is very quick to pounce on other amenities that cater to people with disabilities, the mobi-mats, criticizing the government on why they did not spend 30 Million extra on the airport to include jetways etc. They obviously have not seen the large amount of tourists who are handicapped and watched them trying to get on and off the tenders in mild weather. It is dangerous and not CaymanKind. Just last week a lady fainted in the line to get on the tender and ended up stuck in the hospital recouperating and missing the ship. Injuries on the tenders go unreported due to the government not wanting to scare tourists from visiting, however soon enough someone will get seriously injured or killed and the pie will be in all our faces.
Passengers currently spend about 4 hours on shore in Cayman
First of all increasing time on shore does not increase the amount of money the tourists spend, it is simply a fact of life when your money is done your money is done, and you go back to the cruise ship with wifi, free food and entertainment
The maximum amount of time on shore for any jurisdiction in the Caribbean is just over 5 hours are we really meant to believe that an extra hour on shore justifies 200 million dollars and the potential ruining of the waterfront?
Put a structure at Stingray City? Check the dosage of your stupid pills Bobo. Not even going to reply to that it’s so stupid.
The whole idea of because a cruise ticket is more expensive equating to more money being spend on the island is as ridiculous as the notion that building all inclusive resorts here will see more money being spent around the island. We learned from painful experience when the Galleon and the Holiday Inn closed and the Hyatt and the 5 star resorts opened that the type of tourist we need here that actually spends a LOT of money here disappeared.
Wait I stand corrected, the wealthy tourists will spend more here, they will buy a single $1,000 diamond ring from Kirks instead of buying $100 worth of t-shirts and trinkets from the various smaller vendors because that is their versions of purchasing memories. Oh yes, that will spread the wealth in the economy so much better, what the hell was I thinking.
How are Moses Kirkconnell, Alden McLaughlin and the newest party mouth piece Austin Harris going to address the fact that they have been misrepresenting the facts to suite their agenda? They are willing to destroy the marine environment while driving Cayman into significant long term debt with CHEC or Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise lines?
Why won’t they hold public meetings and give the people all the updated information to become informed? Any MLA that supports the lies and the port project will be voted in 2021.
Again, they are only pushing this because the deal that a particular business owner in GT has to sell their property to Dart depends on it.
The tender companies are on high gear emptying their wallets to try save their monopoly. Greed at it’s finest. Holding the entire country back for one company.
Don’t do drugs kids.
The Kirkconnell’s are no different from the tender boat company both want all the money and somebody to pay for it the definition of rich Caymanian entitlement culture.
I run tours and my last name is not Kirkconnell. I am desperately begging the government to push ahead so I can continue to scrape food onto my family table and buy a purple red stripe to relax.
If you can’t get tourists now, with record high numbers arriving, how will piers help you to compete better in the future? The tour companies with full buses/boats now will simply add another bus/boat to handle the ‘extra’ tourists. – Piers are not the solution you need from the Government. (Small business technical skills support is.)
What’s wrong with your tour?
Lucky we are in the offseason right now. Come down tomorrow and watch and talk to the guests who are going to have to wait in a long long line to get back. Please tell me how 4-6 ships are not still going to have to stand in long lines to get back onboard when the season starts?
If this is Caymankind or good service then why do we not wait in long lines? Is it not good service to get older and physically challenged people onboard. There are a small percentage of local residents that are physically handicapped on this island and we have more handicapped areas here then we have for 30-50 people coming off on a daily basis. But you’re trying to tell me we don’t need a pier built out of pilings? A cargo dock and cruise ship facility for US$ 200 million? Thats cheap and will be paid for by tender fees.
Why don’t we do an audit on the high school? Triple c cost 5 million and hold 520 student. Clifton hunter cost $110 million? Where is the petition? We are going to increase salaries for teachers? Where are the students that can walk on jobs or go to college?
I think we need to get our priorities straight . We need to have built this dock 30 years ago just like the East-West arteriel roads.
Everyday more lies and no shame from politicians
Just Another Day in Absurdistan
Blatantly lying to the public should be due cause for removal from office. It gets more and more obvious, that with each passing day, there is something amiss going on.
It was my understanding that this project would be self financing (financed by the cruise lines) using the increased port and passenger fees.From what I can see, and I travel along Harbour Drive daily, possibly 75% of the ships calling here are from the Carnival Line. They cater to the lower end of the cruise market, and I cannot see them making a generous offer to assist in the financing.Surely the first priority in this project is to arrange for the funding up front and so far we have heard nothing definite at all.
Did you really think the cruiselines would pay for the dock? Ask British Airways or American if they would pay to expand the runway so they can bring in the larger planes.
It’s the Megalodon they should be worried about, not some silly megaship.
Looking to line up their pockets. We are teuly sick and also tired of the lies. Its not even about being successful anymore its all about transparency mate get with it. The ci govt has gone bonkers!
Yes. Tendering is a very lucrative business.
Ridiculous that it hasn’t been publicly owned.
Government should buy the business instead of trying to spend 200-400m on the cruise pier project. It would be far cheaper and not damage the environment
We have been fed a pack of lies right from the get go just so a select few can fill their already full pockets!!! Greedy corrupt bastards!!
Politician tactics 101. I don’t understand why we vote these crabs in.
Time and time again.