Minister prices port around $200M
Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell and Education Minister Juliana O’Connor-Connolly outside the Aston Rutty Civic Centre at the Opening of the Legislative Assembly on Cayman Brac
(CNS): The proposed port development will cost around $200 million, Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell told the Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Speaking during the debate on the opposition leader’s private member’s motion to put the proposed project to a national ballot, Kirkconnell did not mention the request for a referendum — the key part of the motion — but said government was not accepting it. He refuted accusations that the process regarding the cruise port development had not been transparent, but in a relatively long address revealed almost nothing new and failed to address some of the main concerns that have been dominating the recent debate.
Although he has been reluctant in the past to quote a price for the project, he told the LA that he estimated the cruise pier development will cost around $150 million, while the cargo enhancement will add another $40 million or more. While much bigger figures have been thrown around in the public domain, he said that he had “no reason to doubt the valuations”, which he said were done by experts.
Kirkconnell did not indicate what additional costs may be involved in order to adapt the George Town infrastructure to meet the needs of the new facilities.
During his response to the motion calling for a referendum, he challenged allegations that he has any kind of conflict regarding the development. Kirkconnell said that he does not own or have any interest in any George Town businesses.
The tourism minister related the history of the process he claimed his ministry had followed regarding the project since he took over the tourism portfolio in 2013. He repeatedly pointed to the findings in the environmental impact assessment that there was no significant risk to Seven Mile Beach, but suggested the rest of the environmental challenges were part of the balance the government had to strike between protecting natural resources and growing the economy.
He said he was aware that the local tourism sector was directly supported by the natural beauty of the Cayman Islands’ environment but said the “balance is our burden”. And he stuck to the line, despite questions about the veracity of the claim, that the economic benefits will outweigh the loss of marine habitat.
Kirkconnell claimed that thousands of Caymanian families depended directly on cruise tourism and said taxi drivers frequently tell him that they don’t care what those who are objecting to the project think because they “need the piers to put their kids through school”.
A repeated theme was that the government had contracted or employed the absolute best experts in the world to do the reports, business cases and assessments relating to the project, although that was challenged by opposition members during the debate. The minister insisted that all along decisions were made based on the very best economic and scientific advice.
He failed to address questions about why a new EIA has not been completed since the design change. He also suggested that the Department of Environment had been removed from the steering committee because the process was now dealing with different issues, but if advice about the environment was needed, they could still call on the department.
The minister made some confusing comments about Grand Cayman’s capacity for visitors when he spoke about the arrival of 20,000 people in one day. He suggested that they would be transported by different means of transport, but with the piers they would be here for double the time, so they would have more time to spread out to the eastern attractions.
He also spoke about the Cayman Turtle Centre not being at capacity, despite claims to the contrary in the National Tourism Plan by the Department of Tourism. One of the main issues that emerged from the plan was the management of guests, especially on mid-week busy cruise days, but the minster seemed unable to reconcile that challenge with his commitment to the berthing project.
Kirkconnell repeatedly claimed that the mega cruise ships that will be plying the Caribbean routs in the future cannot be serviced by the tender boats. The issue, however, seems to be a matter of election by the cruise lines not to tender, rather than because the ships cannot be tendered.
The minister said that if the government does not pursue this project then the sector will shrink significantly and he asked how he would explain to 300 taxi drivers that only half of them are going to keep their jobs.
He said that the only reason why cruise numbers were as high as they are at the moment was because of the impact of the 2017 hurricane season on competitor destinations. Kirkconnell said that he was sure of the potential decline because the cruise lines had told the government that would be the case.
The minister also made the claim that he had been transparent about the process and had “communicated with the public at every major milestone”. He said he had responded to questions and articles, held numerous public meetings, had given updates in budget speeches, and gone on talk radio shows.
However, CNS can confirm that our requests for specifics regarding the port project have consistently been ignored.
The minister stated that the design-build-finance model that government was pursuing would not cost the public purse anything. He said that it was a typical type of financing model for a public-private partnership used to fund large-scale infrastructure projects but it also ensured that the people of Cayman would still manage the facility, to protect jobs, and would eventually be the owners.
He revealed that the final bids for the tender were due by November and at that point he would be much better informed about the financial model as well as the final design. He admitted that he really could not say what that ultimate design will be but said professionals had been hired to deal with it.
As he stated that the government was not accepting the referendum motion, he said, “We cannot be scared of doing things,” adding that members had been elected to put infrastructure in place and give people an opportunity.
Category: Local News
1. The cost of the port will be at least 3x the quoted cost. In this case, the quoted cost is $200 million – so expect to pay at least $600 million. When has this or any other past government in this country or another ever stuck to the “quoted” cost. So let’s not kid ourselves that it’s going to be ONLY $200 million, which is a huge sum in itself.
2. Mr. Kirk keeps talking about taxi drivers…sure, taxi drivers need to be looked after… BUT, is it taxi drivers that the Cayman Islands want to continue to turn their future generations into, or do they want to turn them into accountants, teachers, computer programmers, professionals etc? If you were to spend $20,000 on each one of the present taxi drivers for retraining, you would only spend a total of $6 million dollars versus a total of $600 million dollars to build the port. Even if there were 300 Caymanian taxi drivers, this does not mean that you should spend $600 million dollars to keep them employed as drivers.
3. If the cruise ship companies decided that they no longer wish to send cruise ships to the Cayman Islands because of the lack of a pier, which is something that I highly doubt, that in itself may be a blessing in disguise. The argument that tourism and the country would fall apart as a result is simply fear mongering and condescending to the resourcefulness of the Caymanian people.
4. Overdevelopment is not and should not be the end goal of the Cayman Islands, especially when they come with an environmental cost.
5. For better or worse, the tender system is a “different” experience for tourists. Sure, it’s not as “convenient” as walking unto a pier, but it is different – and in today’s world, many people look for something that is “different”.
How about we just give the 300 taxi drivers a half mil each and save the country 50 mil?
$200,000,000. How is being financed?
This should be financed totally by the private sector, and I do not mean Chinese state owned banks.
Anonymous 9:47am , or anyone else . Why can’t you address your comment to the one intended to ? You said “your brain”, that could be meant for anyone without having it addressed to specific person, that’s cowardly . To me that just shows how scared and intimidated you are of everyone and everything . Be a man/woman , why don’t you address your comment to the intended person , or sign your name to it .
Ron Ebanks .
It will probably end up being double that.
The taxi drivers should just put their prices up. Yesterday I was only charged $30 to get to the airport from SMB. That cost our family of 4 $120.
Find that hard to believe. $120? For 10 minutes travelling at the most?
Thats just $144.00US for a 20 minute drive. What a deal. The breakdown of the value is 2 dollars for gas+ 142 dollars for the exclusive experience of being driven by a real authentic caymanian.
Question to government: what is the downside to referendum?
Answer: They know they would lose just like OMOV
The entire argument being made by the government to justify ignoring the will of the people cracks me up
They think their “mandate” comes from the 2017 election even though they lost the majority of their seats, could not form a majority government and lost 3 sitting ministers
In any other country leaders resign for less
But this is the Banana Republic (theocratic kingdom really) of the Cayman Islands where our leaders ignore us on a daily basis despite our national government being smaller than most municipalities
And the most overpaidaid in the world.
There will be referendum and that is the end of that nonsense. We have a wonderful deal already set with CHEC and Decco so just shut up and let the leaders get on with business. All you complainers are just sore losers.
Perhaps the 300 taxi drivers should think about diversifying their career path. $200,000,000 seems a high price to get their kids through school. Especially as they are elidgable fot a government scholarship.
Doctor Who: You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don’t alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views, which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.
How true!
“The minister stated that the design-build-finance model that government was pursuing would not cost the public purse anything. He said that it was a typical type of financing model for a public-private partnership used to fund large-scale infrastructure projects but it also ensured that the people of Cayman would still manage the facility, to protect jobs, and would eventually be the owners.”
Does the Minister really expect Caymanians with any common sense at all to believe that this project “would not cost the public purse anything” but “the people of Cayman would . . . . eventually be the owners”. Really Minister? It isn’t even December; have you turned Santa Claus in August?
We understand that you’re not proposing to take out a loan to build it which will then have to be paid back. Those loan payments would be seen by accountants as a cost. But have a little respect for the people that you represent – tell them that someone else will use their money to build it AND you will have to agree to let the revenues that you would have collected go to them until they recoup their money with whatever profit they are looking to earn. That is how public-private partnerships work. So of course, it is costing the public; it’s costing them the revenue that they would have otherwise have collected. And no; they couldn’t have spent all of that revenue; they would have had to use some of it to repay the loan had you gone that route.
Just stop telling the public falsehoods and show enough respect to explain how it will work. No one gets anything for free!
They are using the per head amount that the tender company, which is privately owned, and that is what the company who builds the port will get. That per head money has never been collected by government, so they are not giving up any future revenue that the government would’ve gained anyway. You’re falling for the politrickers against the port.
Why should the government collect that money? It doesn’t own, maintain, staff or operate the tenders or tender company. Who pays that money to the company now and how do those payments continue to be made once tendering is no longer taking place? It would seem once the dock is built and operational there is no $6 tender fee to put in different hands because there is no tendering happening. So where does this money come from?
Build it now but build it good.
“he said that he had “no reason to doubt the valuations”, ”
Do the public get to see these ‘valuations ‘ that the country’s future is riding on, or are they for his eyes only? I would like to know which experts were behind these, who they were prepared on behalf of and on what basis were they prepared. We need full transparency because at the moment the whole thing stinks as much as a basket of dead land crabs.
Witchery, weakening
Sees the sheep are gathering
Set the trap, hypnotize
Now you follow
can we give the CAYMAN ISLANDS a big KISS good bye
Well, I was on the fence about the cruise and cargo pier projects until this debate. Now I realize that government has been fighting for Caymanian jobs and what’s best for the island, while political wannabes are trying to fight it for personal political aspirations. When I sat back and thought about the main persons fighting against the port, I realized hey we’re full of conflicts, between the tender owners supporters and some people with clear political vendettas against the current government and also those that want to run for government and are just pretending to care about this subject to put their name in the news cycle. Like Austin said, they need to leave heir ego at the door and realize this is best for Cayman.
Anonymous 9 05am , since you know how to repeat what Austin told you to say , can explain factually everything that concerns this cruise ships pier . IF you or Austin can’t explain it , then you both have very little to say that make sense .
To think about how Austin went from being against the pier , to being in favor of the pier . Someone must-have filled his head up with BS , and now Austin is filling his constituents heads up with the same BS .
Austin is now joke and Alden’s puppet. Follow him at your own peril. He’ll change is his position again for more money and cabinet seat.
The referendum is not about democratic rights it’s a last ditch attempt to stop the dock for a monopoly tender business and millions of dollars
Please allow me to elaborate on democracy. If a referendum is held and the majority of people do not support a dock, the government who are responsible to the people have to respect the vote.
Businesses will benefit from streamlining the tourist experience. Yes, the Kirkonnell family will benefit, along with many, many others. Why do we begrudge their specific success so loudly? When so few were willing to take a chance on Cayman, some families invested heavily, and it paid off. If people overseas were reading the comments of late we would look like a bunch of Salem witch hunters. This is not about a few families, and over the past weeks the dialogue has been tragicallly clouded. I deeply, deeply resent the terminology “white aristocracy” being tossed about. I am white and am proud to be a status holding Caymanian. My children are caymanian and are of mixed race. When I see words like “white aristocracy” being used I am ashamed of those using them. I am ashamed of myself for my naïveté as I thought I was raising them in a more civilized country. My children deserve better. The country deserves better. The port is for tourism. Stay focused on the port project and a healthy debate. Whether we do or do not get the port the ideal would be to remain civilized along the way.
There is a white aristocracy here, sorry to tell you. It’s small and self-denying but very wealthy and influential. And by white aristocracy, all that is meant is the observation that the aristocracy tends to be white. We have some mixed aristocrats here too, but they don’t get to tell the government to spend $200-300M to enhance their private interests, apparently. Only the white ones. They could be another colour and you could swap that colour in for white and it wouldn’t change what you’re seeing being said except for the colour. There is an aristocracy which is mostly white merchant families and anytime you see something happening here without popular consent or against public views it is because their interests would be harmed otherwise. That is why we don’t have Sunday trading which has been supported by the average person for 20 years but we will have a new port which has not been supported by the average person ever since we learned of the environmental (and economic) damage it will cause.
do they not consider the ruination of our natural resources in the long run? dig Hog Sty Bay and over time you will see the destruction of the of the coastline.
And all we will have left for future generations is a memory or postcard of what the 7 mile beach looked like on postcards.
That’s all we have now, memories and cement.
You go girl, Tara! What a lick you gave the opposition, calling them out on their politricks. Ezzard did not like being called out I saw. Everyone knows at one point in their careers everyone on the opposition has supported and pushed for the cargo and cruise pier enhancements. Now they see an opportunity to try get some votes so are opposing it for self interests. What hypocrites. I hope the unity government, made up of PPM, UDP and independents do what’s best for the country and ignore the noise these hypocrites are making.
The design- build-finance model they explained sounds like a perfect way for us to both save all of our port jobs since CIG will manage it, and be able to build out our infrastructure to create new jobs without burdening the public purse.
Brilliant!
Now this is ridiculously scary when you have some people in the society that can’t see right from wrong , because they are in favor of project or person pushing the project . I am referring to thumbing down smart and intelligent/factual comments on the topic . I know we could go further on this subject .
“The esplanade” -they(not the cayman people) will need forkilfts to carry out the mountains of money.
That debate was the clearest showing of the unity team building for caymanians and the opposition just knocking down for opposition’s sake. Opposition had no argument whatsoever and was obliterated by the unity team
Did you noticed how the Speaker, who is in favor controlled the opposition in that debate ?
Get out while you still can. Unless your idea of Paradise is living next to the Dump and navigating through the hordes of Wall-Mart shoppers.
Nothing is ever going to get better. Whatever they touch turns into $hit, pardon my language.
They might cap the Dump, but will poison you with incinerator’s emissions, which are more toxic than the waste itself. They will continue building roads to nowhere instead of implementing a real world public transportation. They would develop every square inch of coastal area leaving you with the stamp size beach space overtaken by vendors.
They will continue creating new ministries and build new prisons. Inept people will continue running your school system. Your children will have no future. Dismal education, destroyed environment, overcrowding are not conducive to living happily ever after.
The epitome of stupidity is the now famous 1.5mil. boardwalk. (And I would add the approval of the international school expansion LITERALLY at the foot of the toxic dump.)
And you are told that the port will be priced at 200mil. Just 133 boardwalks! They are insulting your intelligence.
They say every country has the government it deserves. It might be true. But if you look at the world’s history, democracy is a myth. Each and every country is ruled by few people with money. Choose, if you can, the country where whose with money have some brains. Even Bermuda looks better. At least they have good public transportation and managed to manage their waste. But I wouldn’t chose it.
Good luck with the referendum.
when you have said all and done
Cayman is still a plum
Best comment so far. Thank you.
Boy, thses guys forcing this through are crooks. They must be stopped.
kirkbots…what are you afraid of????
To recap and make certain that the proposal for spending 200 million dollars, plus an undetermined sum that will for certain amount to millions of dollars more to keep 150 taxi drivers employed as only half of the 300 will be out of work is one of the main rationales for pushing forward with this?
Even to a man that cannot add up well that sounds funky.
Has any thought gone into where the money for the infrastructure will come from? Who will design this? Who will build it? With stay over tourism growing, 65000 people living her approximately, then another 20000 walking around for 12 hours? This could be close to 100000 people here for the better part of a day. This is another jump in head first deal. There has to be more to it
just give the Lord thanks if you wake to see another day
not every one will
Watching the debate last night cruises is the only way forward for our country
It seems everyone is forgetting the past warning from FCCA…our ships do not like using tenders ….unless Cayman makes the changes they could prejudice ships visiting. New ships have 4-5-6000 passengers +2000 crew…it is impractical to use tenders. Government might look at new technology of a floating port facility proven safe after WW2landings Dunkirk. Cayman you better awake and see what could happen.
LOL. It is financial sector that feeds you, not tourism. Tourism feeds taxi drivers.
So you should care less what ships like or don’t like. People on this island have rights not to breath down someone’s neck. For that they go to NYC.
G. Wirth
First of all you’re talking about the Mulberry Harbours at D-Day and second you need to take a look at what happened to them during the storm on June 19 1944 – my Uncle was there and they got trashed.
As for the FCCA? Waste of fresh air. They don’t contribute diddly to this debate.
I will follow Austin wherever he goes and he is for the dock. Build it and they will come
And Austin is just like you , the blind leading the blind . So don’t let Austin lead you because you might get lost .
blind devotion game…rotting your brain
You need your own segment in the next Rundown or at the Comedy Club; you are a natural comedian Lol
Build it and they will come? Is that supposed to be a good thing? Our beaches and attractions are already at bursting point.
@9:32 pm Build and those with money will leave.
Wish we could have been in the LA to cheer for Mr. Kirkconnell when he said we cannot be scared of doing things. He’s got that right. We gotta move forward and stop this talking talking talking
Do you understand how much 200,000,000 dollars is????
Do you understand the word debt?
I listened to the debate, apparently one of only ten until midnight and even though I was not sure, hearing Austin’s speech I would never vote against the dock in my lifetime
The unity government destroyed the opposition in all facets of the debate last night. Going forward with the dock is a no brainier.
You mean for no brainers
That’s because the Unity team are so intelligent and smart. They will get things done and make Cayman great! Cheers for the new port!
No brainier….the correct term in no brainer, but I guess you lack one based on your belief in the dock.
Please bear in mind the government a well oiled machine churning out their manufactured alternate facts that they wanted you to believe, the opposition has not been given any credible info by them. All the opposition has on their side, the truth, the interest of country, believes in democracy, common sense and the knowledge that the government is adept at misconception and fudging.
10 years later….no reliable costing…no eis…..still at stage 1……thanks for nothing ppm
The Clifton Hunter School, a high school in the suburbs cost CI dollars 110 million- and is now reported to be valued about 40 million less that it cost to bill. Do all of you dockites still believe the dock will be built for two hundred million? WE will see!!
hey moses…one question…how much is the airport costing?????
Or the famous boardwalk?
It is ok Mr. K as you and the rest of the Unity team are doing the right thing. Get our new port done, Decco & CHEC will work it thru with the team and we will have a tremendous port project. Bless you Unity Team!
wow….thank you moses… i will be signing the petition this weekend for sure.
Please please not CHEC.
Austin very nice for you to after years of talking about government transparency and accountability
I’m glad you voted your conscience on this issue
The worst part is that betraying every person who voted for him in Prospect won’t get him voted out in the long run, for every disenfranchised Prospect voter there are two mindless PPM drones that will vote for him in 2021 for propping up this sham of a government
I’m betting from now part of the arrangement was that come 2021 you won’t see a PPM candidate contesting his seat
aka “play good for this term and we will make sure you can be a career politician like us” – Alden and Mckeeva
Enjoy the time left Austin Harris is bought and paid for. What a sellout!
Sounds great let’s get this economic ball rolling, keep thousands in work and make some money for the country, god knows we don’t need a bigger needs assessment unit and this will be cheaper than feeding and providing housing for hundreds more, 300 taxi drivers I tough it was more , plus all the local boat operators coconut vendors, all of these people out of jobs will only lead to more idle hands to commit crime, it’s a big part of our economy so we have to make the sacrifice
8:25am , according to Alden , the economy / employment is in the best shape it has ever been in the history of Cayman islands . Why do you think that the pier would create jobs for you and the other 299 people Kirkconnell is talking about ? Do you know that IF this pier is started , I think that the winning bidder would want to bring in the cheapest labour as possible to do the job, and that would leave you out of the pier job . Did you forget how the government like to sell work permits . Do you have a job today ? If so then stop being so stupidly greedy , and try to take what politicians tell you with a grain of salt . If you want to support the economy and people, make sure that the Government is doing the right thing for EVERYONE including yourself, don’t support them and let them do everything they want to do .
Being a concerned Citizen , is better than being lackey Citizen .
They still haven’t finished the school… now they want to build a dock??
What if they piss off the contractors again and only half the dock gets built?
CNS , do you know anything about the Referendum been voted down in the LA ? That’s what the Compass has published today 07/09/2018 .
CNS: As noted here, the government rejected the motion for a referendum. We’ll link the full debate as soon as it’s online.
They can’t stop a people Iinitiated referendum.
I’m signing today
CNS , thanks for answering the question , more respect than what you’ve would’ve gotten over there Compass .
I hear you Ron. Compass is run by DoT and no comments can get through now. Their DoT agenda promoting editorials seem to be written by DoT staff, not professional journalists. Embarrassing for the readers and for the professional staff they employ.
Bargain
I think that the Minister is full of manure as a picked turkey . Where do he get 300 taxi driver from . And he has to get the pier done for taxi drivers so they can send their children to school , BS and more BS .
Let me tell you something about Caymanians taxis and charter boats getting business from the cruise ships , we all had to be fighting for years for the business , because government continued to let the big operation / companies to get everything from the cruise ships . What has changed the Government’s mind today , why they are so interested in helping the 300 taxi drivers ?
Then to finish , when IF this cruise ship pier be built , do we see what has happened at the Airport with the concessions there , NO little small Caymanian business is in there . So I think what will happen at the pier , is that concessions there are going to go to the highest bidders /money man , then that company brings in more bigger buses , and there goes the taxis business that Mr Kirkconnell talked about , and their children still won’t get the education . That’s how most politicians like it , keeping the People dumb and uneducated when they are able to control it .
Agree wholeheartedly. Moses cares about “300” taxi drivers but does not care about the rest of the country? As big a load of BS as I have heard in a long time. Sounds like McKeewa style defense tactics.
99.99999% of the taxi drivers are on work permits so their needs pale in comparison to the Caymanian owned businesses that will suffer if the dive sites are destroyed.
Looking out for the taxi drivers, give me a break. More like looking for big business! Sounds like he is taking a leaf out of the book of the great orange one up north with his numbers game.
That will be the day when MK is looking out for anyone like a lowly taxi driver..
When the piers are finally built ,( US$ 200,000,000.price) . They have money coming from passenger cost that will be able to pay for JGHS. ( US$137,000,000.price).
Anonymous 7:25, that is the dumbest troll statement I’ve ever seen or heard!!!
This feels rather slimey.
The way Moses references and claims to stand for our “300 taxi drivers” as basis for his support for the dock – yet doesn’t even mention the wealthy waterfront elite families poised to gain the most from the new dock.
Please don’t speak to me like I’m stupid, Mr Kirk.
This port debate is bringing the worst out of everyone.
Jsut one more reason why we need a referendum.
If landing fees pay for it, isn’t that money out of the public purse? If we give up the landing fees, who gets them? The ships or the dock operator. If its the dock operator who controls what they charge? at least we learned bids were due in two months.
No its money out of the tender monopoly pocket that why they put so much money to fund save cayman and had manager of sunset house (same owner as tenders) run a campaign against it
That explains why the tender operators are funding the opposition
Does anyone really believe we are getting a dock for “free”. Has anyone out there ever gotten 200 million dollars for “free”. Logic of fools trying to pull the wool over everyones eyes. Wake up people, we are all paying for this.
Read the PY and BIller Paw report and build the dock.
We need Choudary back, or similar, and some high level arrests made. Every voter should be signing the petition for a public disclosure period, enactment of Standards in Public Life Law, and a public Referendum. This is clearly a criminal feather-nesting exercise without any justification – it will bankrupt us in several different ways!
I’d say it’s more nest-feathering than feather-nesting…
If you believe the 200 million price tag then I’d like to sell you a bridge to Cayman Brac.
Half the taxi drivers are Jamaican so let them go back to Kingston, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay.
You can’t get a taxi license without status dummy
7:49 Really? You clearly know s***!
6:22pm , good point , see why they are here , their government pretty well chased them out, why they are here . Be careful your government might do the same thing , chase you out .
Plain and simple: we need a referendum that asks us whether we are for or against the berthing facilities, and also whether the Deputy Premier should be sacked.
I’m for this. I didn’t vote any of them in but, i’ll sure as hell will vote for them out.
Three hundred taxi drivers where on earth did he get that number from. And if so the cartel/monopoly needs serious investigation with the rip of tourist and attempts to rip off resident prices. They must be metered.
How many million did the 200 yard boardwalk to nowhere cost at the bottom of south Sound if you work out the comparison material size labour a bung here and there and the piers look like costing nearer $500 million give or take a few million.
And Moses (Kirk Freeport) Kirkconnell quite conveniently forgot about the non exist infrastructure in GT
Which will cost millions to upgrade, the only attraction in Grand Cayman stingray city which will be destroyed and the stay over big spending tourists ditching this island for other destinations when SMB is just rows and rows of broken bed chairs and being hassled by unlicensed vendors.
If I am not here in 10 years it is in my diary to come back for a week and see how the greedy what’s in it for me MLA’s have destroyed the island.
So if you add to that the customary over-runs what are we really talking about?
$300-$350 million?
And the most worrying thing is the absolute lack of any cruise line involvement. This statement, ‘The minister stated that the design-build-finance model that government was pursuing would not cost the public purse anything. He said that it was a typical type of financing model for a public-private partnership used to fund large-scale infrastructure projects but it also ensured that the people of Cayman would still manage the facility, to protect jobs, and would eventually be the owners,’ is just completely meaningless BS and I suspect the Minister knows it. We’re going to be paying for this ourselves.
The ink is already dry on the China Harbour finance build maintain dock project. Moses McKeeva and Alden know it. Congrats on selling out the country. Time to vote them all out
Decco & CHEC are the greatest companies and will get us the worlds best port. We need this so thank you Unity team!
All who do not like it should leave and lets get it going!
5:57 Is this the same CHEC that was blacklisted by the World Bank for fraud and corruption? Guess they fit in nicely here.
Is that you mr. Tenderbot?
Why countries might want out of China’s Belt and Road
[China’s] Belt and Road projects have sometimes made no economic sense.
In Sri Lanka, China poured money into an airport designed to handle 1 million passengers a year. Now it has been dubbed the world’s emptiest international airport. “Business is so slow that the airport has made more money from renting out the unused cargo terminals for rice storage than from flight-related activities,” wrote Bangkok-based writer Brook Larmer.
Another Belt and Road project in Sri Lanka, a deepwater port, is now in the hands of a state-owned Chinese company on a 99-year lease after it failed to attract enough business to make its loan payments. This could swell into a bigger problem: A study released by the Center for Global Development in March suggested that Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan and Tajikistan would also struggle to repay Chinese Belt and Road loans. https://wapo.st/2Mbe8mb
I have notice all the people who head the call for referendum
is afraid to publicly say if they are for or not for the port
you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know why.