Car import figures soaring
(CNS): Statistics revealed in the Legislative Assembly earlier this month show that car imports to Cayman have been increasing steadily since 2009. Over the last decade more than 31,000 cars have been brought to Cayman, according to figures from customs, and well over half of those vehicles were imported since the beginning of 2016. Last year alone 4,457 cars, trucks and motorcycles arrived in Cayman.
Answering a question from opposition member Kenneth Bryan (GTC), Premier Alden McLaughlin, who took over responsibility for customs with the formation of the new Customs and Border Control Agency, revealed the import numbers. He said that in 2009 a total of 2,298 vehicles, not including industrial and heavy equipment, were imported. Between then and February this year 31,292 vehicles were imported and are now on Cayman’s roads. In the first two months of this year 886 cars had already been imported.
The premier said it was a reflection of the growing population and was why government has commissioned a traffic study.
“There are major concerns you have just got to sit in traffic every morning to understand,” he said, as he explained that the study would help government decide how to manage the traffic issue. He said government had to provide adequate transportation without having to build more and more roads, offering options so that not everyone would need a car.
“Grand Cayman… is so small that even if government had all the money in the world we will run out of places to build roads. So we have to have a better way, a better transport system, some other alternatives to everybody having to own a car,” he said, noting that government was looking at a comprehensive plan for the long term.
He said there were no indications that the population growth was going to slow anytime soon and so government had to prepare for that.
During his Strategic Policy Statement, delivered in the LA in April, the premier said a “radical new approach to public transport” was needed. He announced that the East-West Arterial extension was going to be fast-tracked to tackle the immediate traffic woes for commuters from the eastern districts, ahead of plans for a mass transportation study to help shape future traffic and transport policy.
At the same meeting Planning Minister Joey Hew, who has responsibility for roads, revealed that government was also finally looking at setting emission standards for vehicles and a crackdown on unlicensed dealers importing cars.
Vehicle import figures revealed by premier earlier this month:
Category: Business, Local News, Politics, Transport
They shouldn’t allow 1 person (business) to import 10 cars to Cayman with intention of selling them for double the price. Just set it up that an individual can order a car from Japan for personal use and not allowed to re-sell it for 5 years. It’s hard to get around on the bus system, worse when it’s raining or your stop is 1 mile inland off the main road. Currently have 1 car for our household, which makes for 1 gas tank to fill and 1 license and insurance so not complaining over here. 🙂
It’s an unfortunate mess. Sometimes we forget how small this place is. Go on google maps and zoom out. Now that you remember we live on a tiny rock in the middle of the sea, pictures hundreds of thousands of vehicles coming in and none leaving.
As of now, even with a good public transportation system it won’t make a significant difference in traffic. It’s too little too late. But it will help. With a new greener government these changes would have to be made to allow tourists entry into cayman without wearing a pollution mask:
An “actual” public transportation system – hybrid buses not diesel
Emissions testing for all vehicles
Limiting the amount of cars imported
Increasing the amount of cars exported
and thinking outside of the box like giving more incentives for electric vehicles or carpooling.
We are in a unique situation and since we do not have an environment focused government, we are well on our we to become one huge junk yard.
I’m not sure how nobody seems to understand why this is happening..
At least one of the major reasons is that people want to buy something that is affordable and everyone overprices their used vehicles here. They get it super cheap from Japan and then sell it for the average going rate for one NOT from Japan.
If you were not so greedy and would sell your used vehicle at a reasonable cost, even slightly less than you got from Japan, more people wouldn’t be bringing more cars from Japan!! It is WAY cheaper to get one in landed from a Japanese dealer than to buy one already here.
My colleague got a 4 door BMW for CHEAP!! Brought in from Japan… But I guarantee you that when she is ready to upgrade, she will sell it for the going market price and even after having it for 3 years will MAKE A PROFIT!!
There.
Change my mind.
Couple that with the RIDICULOUS price of buying a new or even well-used car on Cayman, it’s no wonder people want to import. Greed stops people buying local. Cayman makes things difficult for itself by hiking prices on EVERYTHING.
It is called indirect tax
Businesses should be encouraged to let people work from home. In this internet connected age this is very possible for a very high percentage
Everything comes down to money. If you want less cars on the road immediately, all you have to do is double the price of gas. You could then use the extra funds to finance a proper public transport system. Taxi charges don’t affect the amount of cars on the road, nobody gets a taxi to work (although the taxi cartel really does need addressing). Public transport is the only fix, a bypass or overpass isn’t going to fix much. Public transport on land and water are the obvious medium term solutions, I’m sure the MLA’s would enjoy a trip to Venice to see how a water-borne public transport system works.
Better to double import duty and trblespeeding fines and use the income for road improvements.
I would like to know how many new vehicles Govt. and all it’s satellites and agencies purchase each year.
OfReg?
I don’t get why this is news, there is no reliable transport system, bus drivers have very poor standards and taxis rip you off. Of course people want cars.
The gasoline prices is sky high That’s one big reason why the Taxi prices is high, remember taxi drives a lot. So maintenance is also high. Do something about the high gasoline price and maybe the taxis could be.more reasonable . Of course Ofreg is to busy driving around burning up free gas to do anything about it.
there is no defending the taxi prices on this island.
UBER and LYFT introduced to Grand Cayman would soon lower taxi prices and provide far better service than the atrocious service and rip off prices we have here.
We want UBER and LYFT now.
Furthest thing from the truth. Explain your numbers and how you’d expect to maintain a vehicle used to run people all over the place. Smh. You havent had to repair a vehicle in Cayman I suppose.
Takes me an hour and a half to get from North Side to Smith road every morning. I’m sure I could be doing something more productive!
Where’s the stats on the cars destroyed and removed? How many vehicles are currently licensed and on the road?
Without this information these stats don’t present the whole picture. The number of cars my family owns has remained the same. One each for my spouse and I for the last 20 years.
This is a reflection of the population and the lack of reliable public transport, overpriced taxis and difficult or unsafe cycling as options.
One person can drive one car at a time even if you own 3 cars. So population is the problem.
Importation of car license and eastern bypass are PPM lobbying to favor merchants and specific land owners in eastern districts respectively.
The Hurley’s roundabout is the problem- which can be solved with an overpass to the horse farm by Fairbanks rd.
Agreed. There is an overpass near the Kaboo site which seems to have been fairly straight forward to build, and does not cause any issues when driving West. This would be a great solution, especially to the Hurleys roundabout problem. I know people don’t want to lose the “quaintness” of the island, but that part of the island is certainly not quaint as it is, and I can bet that tourists are way, way more turned off if they are stuck in bumper to bumper traffic due to the current situation.
Finally, someone with common sense, that doesn’t allow the rest of sheep to help formulate logic. You can own 10 cars.. only one drives at a time. The problem is not vehicles, it is poor planning of road-ways, hense, road authority aka government.
the issue will continue as long as economy grows and population increases.
solutions to traffic issues:
bring in uber type ride sharing schemes
make all electric bikes/scooters duty free
reduce duty on small cars under 1.5l
increase duty on large and 2nd vehicles
decentralise government departments to eastern districts
duty concessions to developers who build commercial property in the east
car-pool lanes for rush-hour traffic
Our Gov’t and the businesses it panders are too greedy and have been too short sighted to institute vehicle restrictions that Bermuda put in place decades ago.
Unless a limit of one car per household is phased in within the next three years, commuters will be gridlocked for an average of two to three hours per day. This will inevitably lead to less productivity in both public and private sectors and the tourism industry. Obviously a simultaneous phasing in of a modern, efficient and economical public transportation system will be required to take the load.
All this is far beyond the comprehension or will of our recent and present political regimes, so it seems it’s all going down hill from here.
A bus system that deals with the highh body order individuals, the sexual harrassment from construction and gardeners frim other countries. Eliminate that first. Let them ride a bicycle.
This article nor all the posts address the real issue, which is individuals with NO T&B license are bring in “cars” monthly and selling them off for additional income and that is what is flooding the market. Customs and CIG need to start POLICING this ISSUE and only T&B license holders should be able to bring in more than one car within a stated period of time or with proven need for more than one car.
This and other articles don’t address that as the real issue because it isn’t the real issue. It doesn’t matter if it is individuals who import them or T&B license holders if the cars are going to end up in Cayman in the end either way.
The market sorts itself out. Import too many cars and the cars will sit on the sellers’ hands until the inventory is cleared out. A person cannot drive more than one car at a time, so the number of drivers is the factor affecting traffic not the number of cars imported.
nonsense….even if someone was buying 4-5 cars they can only drive one at a time.
t&b licences for private importers is not the solution.
This licence concept is being pushed by the man who always asking for the “true position” and the other who use to sell cars with the incorrect manufacture date on the paper work… yeah.. banana republic at it’s best.
Part of the bigger problem. The real issue is absence of public transportation.
You note the Premier is fast tracking the east west arterial road prior to the study? One must ask, how is this going to fix the bottle neck at Lantern Point and Hurley’s round abouts? Appears to. E more destruction to the envorinment and money down the drain on a plan that is proven to fail from an economic, envorinmental and frustrations to the residents who resides in the Eastern districts. Looks like another referendum is required.
approx 100 cars per week coming in, average car standing in traffic takes up about 20 feet, that’s 2,000 feet per week, that’s around.37 of a mile per week. How many miles of road do we have ? I told Dart years ago they need to build a causeway across the North Sound from Camana Bay heading East ! Just need a draw bridge in the middle for the sailboats !
This is why gov should welcome and encourage all electric bicycles and not just pedal assist. this would definitely get some people out of cars and slightly free up congestion.
An elevated mono rail, from West Bay to East end
And passing an offshore mooring platform so cruise ship passengers can come ashore without the ridiculous expense and environmental degradation of the proposed dock.
Dedicated shaded bicycle trails through the woodland where possible and zero duty on electric bicycles.
“zero duty on electric bicycles.” 100%
Lovely idea but with the amount of effort you might as well hurry up with the newlands to east bypass extension
Short term, maybe, but I still like the idea of bicycle trails separate from the road. Electric bikes while still requiring effort are ideal for all ages
As I always say, someone somewhere isn’t doing their job,
For years now cars have been flooding into cayman and only now since we virtually have to walk to work someone decided to look at the figures for importation of vehicles. Hehe.
Another day in paradise island
govt/customs making money…we soon gonna have to walk to work…it probably be much faster!!!😉
How many cars go out of service each year?
CIG has commissioned traffic study? I hope that study discovers the a second route that by-passes the Hurley’s round-a-bout is the only solution to easing morning and evening traffic to and from the Eastern districts.
they have done it already few years ago. The report either was never produced or made public.
“iRAP will identify cost effective and often simple infrastructure improvements that will help improve Cayman’s roads for all users, motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.” January 16th, 2014
“A follow-up report, which will contain countermeasures for road safety, is estimated to be released in June. ” [2014]
https://www.caymancompass.com/2014/01/17/NRA-launches-new-road-safety-initiative/
https://www.irap.org/2014/08/preliminary-assessments-in-the-cayman-islands/
Lip service!
civil service!
Cayman is the easiest place in the world to own a car, why Govt.doesn’t put import duties on new cars at 75 % and second hand cars duties at 100 %. That would slow down the amount of cars imported. Understand in other Caribbean Islands import tax on cars are 100%
Can’t do that without giving people some choices: public bus transit system or a car. No need to invent a bicycle. Many would gladly take a full size air-conditioned bus that runs on schedule than spend money on buying a car, insurance, fuel and repairs.
Like in Bermuda.
Are you dumb? I bet your household has 2 vehicles and your not going to opt to take a bus ride a bike or walk
A visiting traffic professional that did a tour with us said that the road layouts are poor and couldn’t understand why there are roundabouts in the middle of “bypasses” which only slow down progress. I told her we a called the roundabout island for a reason. There is WAY TO MANY ROUNDABOUTS….
you lose the argument when you can’t understand the concept/benefits of roundabouts…
12:44, The only alternative is building into the water and that is cost prohibitive. Need to look at a modern bus system like in Bermuda.
Full size fully functioning bus transit system is the ONLY solution.
No way. Society is already too hooked on the car you drive. Just look around. Not one of those driving on the road would be willing to take a bus. No matter how fully functioning a bus transit system could be.
NO solution here.
The “Progressives” sure are reactive to our problems rather than proactive.
User Poll:
Upvote: moratorium on *second hand car* imports. New cars last longer before hitting a landfill..
Downvote: don’t restrict any motor vehicle imports going forward. Our roads can handle it..
prohibition never works. Besides it is too late.
How exactly do you think people would sneak cars onto the islands?
Private cargo ships and unchecked shipping containers
Prohibition never works because their is usually no way to completely cut off importation or smuggling
There is no reliable way to smuggle in cars
Same way they smuggle the stolen ones out probably.
WHERE WILL ALL THESE CARS GO IN 10/15 YEARS?!!?!!?!?
I AM driving a 20 year car because she runs and I care about the environment.
vehicles last forever.
Only Toyota’s and Honda’s live forever in the Caribbean.
Bezos drives a Honda. I drive one too.
Dissing me for driving a Honda because they’re cheap, reliable and easy to fix is like laughing at me for using a wooden fork because you own a golden fork.
By the time your jag shifts out of 2nd, you’ll put it through the middle of the next roundabout.
I’m not sure why you replied to this comment “Only Toyota’s and Honda’s live forever in the Caribbean”. Your comment is a very good comment but is a stand alone comment. Not a reply to the one above…
BTW, I have 2 cars. A ’91 which I love and have owned since ’91. (Getting her back on the road next week) And a ’06 with AMAZING A/C (Honda!)!
Have to decide which one to sell…
Sounds like the result of a booming economy.
Stop the economic growth, won’t you!
Aaaaah…… what a bunch of bellyachers.
Economic growth for who? Not a Caymanians!