More design images emerge of proposed port
Cruise and cargo dock plan recently leaked to CNS (click to enlarge)
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government appears to have made a decision on the proposed design for the cruise and cargo project, despite recent claims from the tourism ministry that the CIG had not entered into any premature deals ahead of the tendering process. More images of both the cruise piers and the enhanced cargo facility have been leaked, but there is still no more new information in the public domain about the project.
Local activists campaigning for a people-initiated referendum made a final call for petition sheets this week, as they seek to verify the last few hundred signatures required to force government to hold a national vote on the project.
CNS received several images this week that sources tell us relate to the final design for the proposed cruise berthing and cargo facilities. It is not clear which bidder’s proposal has been accepted but government appears to have made some decisions that it does not want to discuss with the public.
Cargo port plan (click to enlarge)
The current status of the tender process remains an open question but it is understood now that China Harbour Engineering Company and the locally led consortium, Verdant Isle, are the only bidders left in the running. However, the ministry remains silent on the process after last week’s statement that no deal has been made with any developer.
But government has ramped up the promotion of the port, reverting to the position that signing the referendum petition is a ‘no’ vote for the project rather than an appeal to allow the people of the Cayman Islands, and not just the seven members of Cabinet, decide whether this project should go ahead.
Government is continuing to press home the message that building piers will mean more visitors spending more time and more money in Grand Cayman.
However, a recent report from the cruise industry sector shows just how much focus the cruise sector now gives to getting the passengers to spend more on board the ships rather than in the ports they visit.
Cruise port and cargo design (click to enlarge)
Royal Caribbean, one of the cruise lines that has signed a financing deal with government to fund the project, saw onboard revenue grow in the first quarter of this year from $602 million in 2018 to $729 million. Passengers spent an average of $69 per day on board ship.
Despite the challenges campaigners have faced, including the publicly funded pro-port PR campaign, they now expect to confirm that they have the numbers required to trigger the referendum in the coming days.
They are nevertheless continuing with the final push. Bodden Town opposition MLAs Chris Saunders and Alva Suckoo will be joining the activists this weekend going door to door with the petition in their constituencies.
Volunteers who have been helping collect signatures and who have sheets or books are now asked to submit them as campaigners begin the verification of the last few names.
For more information call 328 8187, visit the CPR Facebook page or email cprcayman@gmail.com.
Category: development, Local News, Politics
There are those that progress, build and achieve great things in life, and those that protest and obstruct those that do.
If CHEC is going to be main contractor, that means bribes have been or will be paid. Any recipients should take note of the fact that CHEC keep detailed records (and no doubt evidence) of who they bribe and how much, as they find it “useful” later on down the line.
9.18am I guess you know that from personal experience?
by the way where has all the objectors to Dart tunneis gone have they moved to the docks?
We still hate them. Just because people adapt does not mean a downward trend over time does not eventually have all shaking their heads at what has been done.
Quite a few people here like to take aim at long standing Caymanian families that developed businesses over generations. They forget that DART owns almost all of the hotels, most of the land in town and 7mb and half of little Cayman. there should really be a referendum on anti trust laws not a cruise dock.
Kimpton, Ritz, Paradise Villas annnd????
Beach Suites. So almost all then.
It’s a shame. The clarity of our beautiful water will be ruined for years and years from town all the way West. Making a critical mistake to the tourism industry. You will regret it.
This ship has sailed!!! The building of a cruise ship dock has been discussed for at least 20 years (or more?). Cayman is way late to this party.
I remember in the 1990’s the amount of cruise ship passengers that would come and spend their money in downtown George Town, more specific Cardinal Avenue. Duty-free back then actually was a thing. Gone are those days! Back then, people would drop some serious cash in the perfume stores and even the Gucci store when it used to be there. Now, taking a cruise is one of the cheapest ways to travel. Most people on those ships barely have enough money to pay for their cruise, let alone the unnecessary extras on shore.
There is no advantage to tourists spending their money on duty-free items anymore where in reality they can get it cheaper back home and most likely includes a gift with purchase. There is nothing unique about the shopping experience and that is why tourists are not spending their money. Every Christmas Eve the downtown area gets more and more dismal. It is quite a sad sight to see.
People shop on Ebay & Amazon now , with savings on retail a giant margin over main street store front prices & free shipping . Duty Free is a con these days. But the stores here are still plugging away at it . Hanging on to a by-gone era , by a fine thread. I guess the Kirkconnell’s & Hamatys at least aim for their annual F150 or Mercedes.
Why don’t the Kirkconnell’s and Hamaty’s just get a concession booth on board the cruise ships instead trying to ruin Georgetown Harbor with a ridiculous, unneeded cruise ship dock. That way they could be making money at every port in the Caribbean every day of a cruise instead of the one day a week the big spenders show up here. These guys need some business advice.
@3.00pm Could it be that you want what the Kirkconnells have? Then work for it like they have for many years. Jealousy can kill, let it go.
They work for it all right, really hard pointing at millions of dollars of desired stock in catalogues, having it come in and putting it in cases…yawn…
Looks great, hope they soon start.
Why does “independent” Cayman want to be part of the Chinese Belt & Road? Is the almighty dollar that important that you would sell your souls? The Dart Group already owns at least fifty percent of the island and a few families own about thirty percent of what is left. Is there really an honest, native Caymanians left that truly cares about the native population? Native born Caymanians are nearly outnumbered by foreigners and those natives and their decendents, that have not had the good fortune to become wealthy, will be lost to history.
If Cayman partners with a Chinese company, I would encourage Brits and all other EU countries as well as the U.S., the Philippines, and other freedom loving countries to boycott Cayman. These countries have been the contributors to making Cayman great and you can’t turn your back on them and now take Chines money. China Harbour Engineering is a part of the Chinese government and not an independent company.
Don’t fall into the trap of believing CHEC are building the port. Anyone who says so, tell them to prove it.
Dart will financing the project along with CHEC who do the construction
7.40 pm The cruise lines are financing the project. Watch the news.
I think the cruise lines are helping finance the project. Not doing the whole financing deal
Government made a deal already with CHEC as they will do the port plus extend the runway at ORIA. We have been sold out for the almighty dollar folks. Bringing them in will kill off any local companies as since they are a communist controlled company they will just low ball everything so they can complete control of everything. Thanks for nothing to our government.
And how do you know this!??!
6.26pm Been taking lessons from Miss Cleo the psychic eh?This is all made up. How do I know this? Because you didn’t show any proof. If you had proof and didn’t publish it then you are part of the problem.
Made up; well why in the world would your government even allow CHEC to be bidding? The big picture is to have CHEC do everything and that way Dart will get a lower cost on his projects.
Not THIS government. You’re all worked up about Elio’s deal with CHEC from years ago.
Macs deal not Elio’s. Same Mac that is the current Speaker and whose votes Alden relies on. .
They also are involved with the dump remediation, complete JGHS and all new Dart projects. Why do you think Alden is holding up the dump project? Just before the election they will announce how they made a great deal with CHEC and Dart to handle all outstanding government projects at a fantastic savings to the government; then it is wide open for CHEC to control the show. And as for the government trolls, prove all these things false. The country has been sold out!
To 9.57 You are the one making the accusations. It is your responsibility to supply proof or admit that you simply made them up.
For reasons too much for y’all to comprehend Trump cannot and will not get rid of the Chinese!
I say they save the $15-$20 million they are thinking to waste on coral relocation and put it in the schools. DOE and the petition people already said they don’t think coral relocation works. Waste of money, just build it without that.
I see that suddenly Chris Saunders and Alva Suckoo are going door to door. I suppose better late than never.
Obviously you do not have a clue! I cannot speak for Chris because I do not live in his constituency but Alva Suckoo has always visited his constituents. Stop spreading fake news!
4:47 pm: changing the subject: this is about getting signatures. Since you are so clued in, ask Alva how many signatures he had turned in thus far!! Or better yet, ask the team leading the campaign. You would be shocked.
To the poster @4.47pm Not all of them.. Mr Suckoo has not visited my home since the election.
4:47 pm:
The records for the organizers show receipt of 1 (one) book from Suckoo with 2 (two) signatures. None from Saunders. This is easily verifiable by checking with the organizing committee.
Of course both Suckoo and Saunders now has to go door to door in their constituencies to gather signatures, as obviously they had not done so before.
One must be thankful that they are at least now making an effort, but I think that it is a shame that they did not do their part when in a timely way so that the organizers could have reached their target a long time ago.
7:24 am: let’s hear from
Alva whether that is correct or not. Alva? How about Chris?
They’ll do anything to keep their names in the news.
Schools don’t seem to be doing too well either. Perhaps we should just give it to the churches.
CAYMANIANS!! WAKE UP!! WHY ARE YOUR POLITICIANS PUSHING SO HARD FOR THIS PORT?? WHY ARE THEY DOING BUSINESS WITH CHINA HARBOR???
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-port.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5280767/Bangladesh-blacklists-Chinese-firm-alleged-bribe.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-09-19/a-chinese-company-reshaping-the-world-leaves-a-troubled-trail
https://www.independent.co.ug/railway-officials-take-750bn-in-bribes/
WAKE UP!!!
Hello all u n Pro Port Activists why don’t you stop trying to stay in the ,limelight. Focus on this so called verification process and stop the skylarking . You ain’t gaining no brownie points by these “near.y through” sound bite, you just look weak and hope.ess. Do yourselves a favor put out or shut the fart up. Let the egoes go bwoys.
Uh… What the Hell are you trying to say? Oh, who cares… From what I can decipher, it doesn’t make any sense anyway.
Those articles are frightening. I think it’s pretty damn obvious from those articles why they are doing business with CHEC and trying their hardest to push this through. Horrifying
Don’t be misled by those articles. Not a grain of truth to them.
Plenty of articles form different parts of the world from independent journalists. But we we should assume they’re all untrue according to you. Without any evidence to refute them, you sound pathetic.
2:44, You are simply stupid and cannot read. Suppose you don’t believe that climate change is happening too. I can assure you from first hand experience with CHEC, everything said in those articles is true.
London knows all about CHEC and their activities. Due to the huge cost of the project believe the Governor and Mother in London will block CHEC involvement in one of her colonies.
And the fact that big Mac is in tow with them, given his ethical standards, says it all.
#WOKE
Maybe its YOU that needs to wake up? The China Harbour ‘deal’ that has got you so riled up is from the days when Elio was negotiating. It has NOTHING to do with the current pier project. Ask the talk show host that keeps referring to it to show it to you and check the date of the document for yourself.
@5:04PM read the CNS article above genius. “but it is understood now that China Harbour Engineering Company and the locally led consortium….”. Regardless of the percentage of CHEC’s involvement here in Cayman, IT IS CLEAR THAT CHEC’s involvement with ANY public/private partnership everywhere else in the world has been riddled with bribery, corruption, environmental destruction and FAILURE! Is that what you want for CAYMAN? For your children? Regardless of what side you support, doing business with CHEC has PROVEN to be detrimental to the country involved!! CAN YOU NOT READ??? If so, then read the articles in the links above from reputable news sources, rather than getting your decision making information from FACEBOOK!!
Hi CNS..how can someone sign petition that doesn’t happen to be in bodden town?
CNS: If you call the number at the end of the article or email the campaign, they can let you know.
Cruise passengers will have a much better experience now with this new pier design. No more waiting in long lines in the heat to board tender boats.
They will still standing in lines, the ship board security requires passengers to board in a single file line and have there ids checked. In fact the lines will be longer now as the oasis class carries more passenger and will only be able to load and offload these passenger though the doors (of which there are only 2) on the side they happen to be docked on.
That still disregards the 20 mins it takes to load and off load the tender on each side adding almost an hour
of course now it will take 20 minutes to walk down the piers, or 20 mins each way to load and unload coaches to transport them, adding almost an hour
How about you start thinking about Cayman residents? Cruise passengers know where they are going and what to expect. They would swim to the shore to experience “an adventure”
As far as I can tell the piers will only take a maximum of four ships, so ‘some passengers’ will benefit from being able to walk vs a boat ride.
“most passengers”
yes but that will be a lot less than 7 to 8 ships besides the smaller ships will soon head for the scrap yard!
I disagree- the walk is going to be longer, hotter and inaccessible to anyone except cruiseline customers. We’ve been calling on the port to put up a shade canopy for years. If this is all about making the customer more appreciated then there are a lot more cheaper options out there than saddling the country with a massive +$300million debt. This proposed project satisfies no-one except the cruise operators and it’s damaging our relationship with the tourist. Check put this video: https://youtu.be/2hgZrxZgnPs
Did anybody actually pay attention to the revenue chart in the CNS article?
https://caymannewsservice.com/2019/05/government-coffers-overflowing/
So what are the major sources of revenue? Other company fees- 23%, Banks, Mutual funds, Security investments business licenses-21%.
Tourist accommodation fees -3% !!!!!!!
And who is the major contributor to the environment destruction?
duh.. hotels and the tourism industry are a major contributor to negative environmental impact. Resource depletion, waste, car rentals and taxis, added energy use etc etc.
I think that was the original poster’s point.
Tourist accommodation fees are 13% not 3%.
If the country didn’t want the new port this referendum would have had plenty enough signatures months ago. It’s clear we want our new port.
CPR have reached the 25% verified Registered Voter threshold required to trigger a people’s initiated referendum under S.70 of the Cayman Constitution Order 2009
The government cannot ignore the will of the people if they want to remain as MLA’s. Over 5000 Registered Voters are clearly saying they want all the information. They want to exercise their democratic rights. It would be foolish to ignore the people. The FCO and Governor’s Office know this is a matter of Good Governance that fails under their remit.
Government cannot stop the power of the people. Thank you CPR
Oh setira more man de Alden gonna surprise all a dem.
The government does not want a referendum because they’ve been bought and are rubbing their hands at the kick-backs.
Thats what you’d like to believe but doesn’t make it true.
cool, show us the proof it isn’t true?
@12.09pm You are making the charges . Now YOU need to show the proof.
The referendum is to allow All people in Cayman to say if they are against or for the “new port”.
This is not about people this is about MONEY who has the most money in the pot will have the last say!
The referendum is designed to stop the piers not get more information.
They got the signatures now as volunteers with zero funding from CIG to pay for PR campaigns riddled with lies and deliberate inaccuracies but claim fake news when it is exposed. LOL
CPR were funded – and cruise tender business did certainly fight back financially. CPR also had a lot of help from CNS and Rooster Radio so in effect had lots and lots of free PR. They also had their own very negative campaigns and fake news. Come on- lets be honest at least.
Dear Mr/Mrs. Anonymous
It would be irresponsible if I did not attempt to correct you for stating incorrect information via this platform. I am sorry to disappoint you but you are not correct or being truthful in your assertions. I cannot say if it is deliberate or malicious but certainly incorrect and misguided. Perhaps you are trolling but I think it’s best to set the record straight.
I would encourage you to contact CPR if you would like to have a reasonable discussion. To do so please do not hide behind anonymity. I do not believe it is necessary or helps drive open and transparent dialogue.
Cprcayman@gmail.com
FYI – CPR have not been funded by the tender business or received any donations from any business connected to the tender business or parts of corporate Cayman. As a grassroots initiative made up of a diverse group of Caymanians and long term residents, the volunteers achieved and funded CPR’s efforts. I have like many other volunteers in the group contributed by using our own resources because we believe in exercising our democratic rights afforded to us under S.70 of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009 on this issue of national importance.
We believe that this project is too important to the future of our islands to get wrong and have asked legitimate questions to our government officials both publicly and privately addressing various concerns including the environmental, financial and socio-economic impact on current and future generations. To date no answers or responses have been forthcoming from our leaders and their technical teams and FOI requests have been denied.
Like many persons in society our group understands that “there is no such thing as a free lunch” in business and no charity given by bidders or financiers in a project of this size, costs and magnitude. I would encourage our government to be transparent with all the relevant and updated information in their possession and share it with the public. Democracy allows for debate and I believe we should all strive to respectfully agree to disagree if we cannot find consensus or compromise.
Ultimately, we all want and deserve a clean, safe, prosperous successful Cayman Islands for all not just a select few.
Have a good day.
Johann Moxam
On behalf of CPR
Kirkbots, Chinese or Russians in full hack mode. LOL
The hard truth kills them Johan.
Stay the course we stand with you and CPR all the way to the finish line
Please leave the Government alone the Great Grand Cayman was built without referendum!
Could somebody please warn the Governor that he will be heading into an anti government talk show setup tomorrow!
Johann: We should all be glad you weren’t around when the decision was made to build ORIA and stop using seaplanes in North Sound.
You don’t speak for me. So please don’t use the word “we”.
There you go, showing your true color. You are not about the people, you are all about yourself!
Big rhyme
TRUE WORDS!! The same sex petition got thousands of signatures in less than a week. This referendum thing been going on since last year and still cant make the numbers.
Kudos to Bodden Town opposition MLAs Chris Saunders and Alva Suckoo for joining forces with the majority of our people who have the best interests of our Islands at heart, unlike those few selfish local business owners and the handful of very dishonourable politicians who are trying to build this port primarily to benefit a small minority including themselves at the expense of our country and cost to our people. Time to eradicate such practices.
What majority of our people are you talking about? The petition people are still struggling to get 25% of voters to join their three wheeled bandwagon.
Brilliant, lets encourage more nickel and dime tourists to trash our beaches with their single use plastics. Sooooooooooo short sighted CIG.
To have a short sight you have to have a vision. A mole, who is completely blind, has more vision and wisdom than CIG.
This is the Government that will make Cayman Great again!
I’d say that this port should have been built years ago, as it should have, but this government is actually getting the design right. Chec, dart and Atlantic star wanted to create and entire town out there on the water and would have been developing it just for their profit not the betterment of our islands. This time we are actually getting it right, even if it is a bit late.
If the design posted here is there final choice its the most destructive option they could have picked. it does not place the stern of the vessels over the drop off so they will be disturbing massive amounts of sediment every time to berth and they will have to berth under there own power as our tugs are not powerful enough to maneuver even the ships that come here now. Even if the tugs were upgraded with more powerful engines they are not rated for push tug operations.
8:30 these are not the days of Columbus we are in the computer world modern
ships don’t even need tugs
No cruise ship that calls at PortMiami requires tugs they have sufficient maneuvering capabilities, bow/stern thrusters and azipods which make tugs unnecessary!
You read the bit about the sediment stirring from thrusters use right? Which was the OPs point.
Better late than never.
Why would they put this smack dab in the middle of town? I just can’t imagine, aside from killing the views, what this will mean for traffic! Or is this step 1 in turning GT into an”walking community”? What a total mess.
Exactly and traffic models have already assessed you can’t close Harbour Drive to traffic as it will bring the island to a stand still. Plans to make it one-way I believe is what is planned. They have started adding pedestrian crossings.
Just a wild guess but maybe it’s in the middle of town because that’s where the harbour is.
For months I’ve been posting comments pointing out that the latest generations of cruise ships (and the industry in general) are being optimised for onboard activities – in effect they’re self-contained floating resorts – but self-styled ‘experts’ have responded trying to rubbish this. Now we have official figures confirming it will they finally wake up to reality?
A simple check on the internet shows numerous cruise itineraries in this region where the ships spend 70% or more of the trip at sea. That doesn’t leave much revenue earning potential for destinations like Grand Cayman does it?
The other thing that’s becoming apparent is that several destinations in this area are becoming rather less than happy with the way deals they’ve cut with cruise lines are panning out. The standard criticism seems to be that the big winners are always the cruise lines and the promised benefits for the locals, much like the ones being touted by CIG right now, fail to materialise. I’m not saying that some people on these islands won’t benefit from building the cruise dock but it won’t be the general population, it’ll be a select few.
And NO ONE is paying attention to this part!!
“becoming apparent is that several destinations in this area are becoming rather less than happy with the way deals they’ve cut with cruise lines ” This is the reason they are purchasing land and building their own “private” islands/resorts.
Check out the plans in Bahamas (Eleuthera specifically) for the 2nd private island for cruise shippers only. Why do they need to build this? So that ALL the money remains in their pockets. No more arguing $$ with the local government.
This is not for the benefit nor betterment of the people of the Bahamas. Plenty jobs though. Just not the higher paid ones. Only service industry and F&B.
https://therealdeal.com/miami/2018/10/28/disney-cruise-line-plans-to-develop-its-2nd-private-destination-in-the-bahamas/
Sounds so exciting… Not.
9:56 education will get us the higher paid ones.
don’t forget the dock will be in Grand Cayman it will be for Grand Cayman.
As a young Caymanian who cares for Cayman’s future, I emplore you to sign the petition… Whether or not you support the project or not. A decision this big needs to be made by the country. Not the few persons currently making questionable decisions, at best, on our behalf currently.
Too much is at stake.
Why don’t we wait for the official release of drawings instead of being stirred up by ‘leaked ‘ drawings that may or may not be genuine.What if some mischievous person had access to a particular drawing which they are now altering to create mischief. These drawings being leaked might not represent what is being presented to Govt. If the are fakes boy won’t someone be embarrassed.
The government should be transparent but have no interests in doing so. That is unacceptable and how corruption starts? What do they have to hide if all of this is good for the country? They are shooting themselves in the foot and harming the islands today and for the future.
15/5/@ 2:31 am – You are missing the point here.
Why is it being kept quiet? They are SWEARING up and down that they haven’t gotten his far yet here we are with leaked details.
YOU are part of the problem because you do not see anything wrong with this. It is called corruption and is why it is so prevalent here. You do not know how to recognize it. None of you lot know how to recognize it. And that is how those boys in the club like to keep it.
Go to bed.
Totally agree.
Sorry people, this dock is definitely going to be built with financial help from the cruise lines and the CIG. You don’t pay the taxes other countries pay to have much say in what’s going to happen however much you may protest. This is how it is unfortunately. I stayed at the Comfort Suites next to the Marriott a few months ago and the beach has literally been eaten away by corrosion. This is going to put tourists off staying at these hotels for sure! I won’t stay there again. So I don’t think the dock is going to stop tourists coming. I remember a time when living here no building was allowed to be built higher than the coconut trees……beautiful!! Look at it now. Getting more like Miami every day, including the ever escalating crime. We have to move on with the times people, and yes, I know it’s not all good. I can understand your frustration but if you want the money from tourists you have to cater for their needs. These islands have grown because of tourism don’t forget. It was truly lovely in the good old days with hardly any crime and it was safe to walk the roads, to leave your doors and cars open. Now, it’s a different story. The lack of education and poor upbringing of children has ruined this island. It’s not all down to expats from neighbouring islands, a lot of crime has been committed by home grown individuals. If you want high rise hotels and condos and wealthy people investing here creating jobs for you, which they have, you cannot protest over this dock. You can’t have it all ways. The CIG also has the money to invest into education and to build a trade school and into the RCIPS. This is what you need to protest for. Keeping these Islands virtually crime free is what is more important and what you should be aiming for.
A dock that can only accommodate 4 ships and is completely exposed to the elements with no natural break or protection. Brilliant. But hey, we can sell more Rolex’s.
GT duty free merchants have been driving this from behind the scenes from the beginning. It helps to be family and financing the sitting government or party at election time.
Hear me now and trust me on this one.. The major merchant in town IS Dart. DO NOT forget this. Everyone keeps talking about the KirkBots but have you paid any attention to how many of the shops in town are a part of Dart’s portfolio? Eh!?
Kirks own the majority of the buildings around the port.
Dart is not on the Port Authority, Civila Aviation or Cahmber board. We are a small population, but not that small- just sayin.
This is not true. 12:11pm Kirk’s do NOT own the majority of the buildings. See, that’s the rub. Nobody is paying attention.
Besides that the comment stated ‘The major merchant in town is Dart’ THIS is verifiable. Do your homework.
stupid people don’t blame Dart for having and spending money that’s what our Daddy should have done then we would not have time to notice Dart.
To 834a This is an evil and malicious statement aimed at the Eldon Kirkconnell family since Dart does not have family in the Govt. Obviously you do not know Capt Eldon who is the matriarch of the Kirk Freeport family.who is an outstanding, respectful and respected gentleman. Stop the hating it is going to eat you up.
More fundamentally, consumer demand has irreversibly moved into the future and building a port won’t fix that. Few under 30 wear analog watches anymore, or collect crystal figurines. Richemont and other luxury goods makers have bought back stock from jewellers to stop them being sold at knockdown prices. They have recalled and destroyed more than £400m of watches in last two years, a trend that is unlikely to reverse with the existence or non-existence of a cruise dock in the Cayman Islands.
child talk
The pro-port WhatsApp group spring into action ‘quick, get on the website and hit thumbs down to any anti-port post.’ As if it’s not obvious. The only people interested in this monumental disaster are the corrupt Politicians and their cronies who will make stacks of cash by it going ahead..whether it be from back-handers or otherwise.
How can anyone not see there are hardly any tourist in town? We have only three days of business per week for the next six months. We need docks just like they have in every other tourist destination where Cruise ships go. Show me a country without docking facilities and you’ll see a third world country suffering. Do you want to see homeless people living in front of your house or business crapping on the streets? Well how can this industry keep up with the cost of living?
Downturn is normal as they send their ships to other jurisdictions for the summer as well as our infamous hurricane season! Sorry, but having piers makes no difference to what you are sayin. I wouldn’t call the Mediterranean third-world, the mega ships can’t go to rhe picturesque ports there either.
Referendum.
That alone will reveal the wishes of the people.
Why is the government so terrified of the collective voice of its boss – the electorate?
They have lost whatever was left of their respectability with their mishandling of this crucial issue.
– Whodatis
If the referendum proceeds, the vote to stop the dock will be significantly bigger than the pro-dock vote. But it will still fail, as the anti-dock majority won’t amass more than 50% of the total electorate. Govt holds all the cards including making the rules for the referendum.
Actually, the constitution makes the rules for the referendum but I understand where you’re coming from.
Nevertheless, let us not pre-judge the outcome.
– Who
If you compare this design to every other design before you will quickly see that this government is doing only what is absolutely the minimum amount of port development necessary to serve the Caymanian people. All others took way more land reclaiming and dredging. For the people by the people.
nonsense- the reports that show the design options are readily available on the various government sites, suggest you go educate yourself.
It’s all about lining their pockets. They made the agreement before they got in office. It is all apart of the package.
I pray to the heavens that we can stop this train.
But be ready for WAY more propaganda from the government.
You are correct.
The agreement has been made and the envelopes exchanged. To go back on their ‘word’ now (which means absolutely nothing anymore) as a result of no vote would be too embarrassing for them.
… or dangerous if the envelopes received are now empty and no means to refill them before the enforcers come to town.
Kirkbots will need to win the 👎🏻👍🏻 wars at all costs so watch the shift. Poor things
8.57pm I think you meant Dartbots.
This it for the island. I’ve already start packing my bags!
This looks like even less dredging and less filling than before, that is awesome news for the coral and environment!
Mate, your trolling comments stick out like a sore thumb. Don’t give up the day job.
Show me a cruise port in the caribbean that the local population, the local environment, and the downtown merchants are thrilled with being a huge success and I’ll vote for this….but you won’t, because there isn’t one…this is as chrony capitalist short sighted questionably ethical as it gets and it’s happening right in front of a massive public outcry of opposition….we’re going down the tubes faster than the leeching into the north sound from the ticking time bomb that will bring an end to cayman tourism with or without this damn port
Looks like one big channel from the drop off to flood our financial center in northwesters and in hurricanes. Let me guess the consultants suggested these 2 piers. SMH.
The sheer number of downvotes you received disproves you.
using your own logic disproves you
People we can stop this. We can stop this. This is a shame and disgrace. All that beautiful coral will soon be gone.
when last did y’all eat some beautiful coral.
If you eat fish like grouper, parrot fish, snapper, etc, then you are eating the animals that would NOT be there if it were not for a healthy marine environment that depends on coral. No one can eat coral, so rephrase your comment to “when last did y’all eat some beautiful fish?” Conversely, it is the peeing and pooping from the fish that fertilizes the corals and makes them grow. That is how a complex ecosystem thrives.
We need CHEC and Dart to get this done. Be grateful that they want to work with us.
Hey! How does it feel to be a troll?
Did you get a fridge or a stove to write you comment?
What a complete a——you are! A real brown-noser you are.
I heard from a good source that some material and equipment is on the way
Ahh, thats for the illegal beach vendor project , which government allows to continue without compliance with laws. They are also crucial for tourism.
@7.01pm I heard from a better sourrce that no material has been shipped.
Why is Moses and ministry staff denying what is now clear for all to see? This project has been a joke from day 1 just like the clowns in the ministry running it
Why can’t you wait for the official announcements? That’s when everything will be clear for all to see.
Everyday there is more evidence that the unity team are a bunch of sellouts and liars
Mose Kirkconnell, Alden McLaughlin and the members of Cabinet and the Unity government backbench that support this madness must be voted out of office. None of them can be trusted.
They are trying to ram this port down our throats when the port is not needed. Why is the government lying to the people do they think we are stupid?There will be consequences for their actions in 2021.
Oh trouble maker, better yet your kind needs to leave our country as this is our government and they have been making Cayman Great Again.
Unity Team forever!
Because they aren’t divers. Do any of them even know how to swim? Did any of them ever go in the water and see the beauty themselves?
It is easy to destroy something you know nothing about.
Because they aren’t rich enough.
WTF?
English language has more letters in its alphabet. May be it is time to learn since you want to express your opinion.
@8:08am “maybe”