Archive for June 19th, 2020
Public sector front-line workers to get bonus
(CNS): Government employees who have been working on the front line since the COVID-19 pandemic curfews were put in place will be getting a bonus. Premier Alden McLaughlin announced Friday that public sector workers will get a one-off payment of at least $1,000 for the extra work during the lockdowns, with those who were at […]
1,034 samples turn up 2 COVID-19 positives
(CNS): Governor Martyn Roper said the Cayman Islands is one of the safest places in the world just now because “we have effectively created a safe bubble” from COVID-19. With 1,034 test results on Friday and just two asymptomatic positives samples, the country appears well placed to move towards Suppression Level 2 without causing a […]
Tourism fuels 2019 economic boom
(CNS): The Cayman Islands’ gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 3.4% in the first nine months of 2019, according to a report from the Economics and Statistics office released this week. Based on data collected between January and October, well before the COVID-19 pandemic shattered Cayman’s economic fortunes, the report showed […]
Population had grown to nearly 70,000
(CNS): Cayman’s unemployment rate increased in October last year, even when the population and workforce were both at an all-time high, according to the 2019 Fall Labour Force Survey (LFS). The report, undertaken before the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything, reveals that the population was just short of 70,000 and the workforce had reached almost 50,000. […]
New fund dishes out $346k in grants
(CNS): R3 Cayman Foundation has given out its first series of grants and Literacy for Life is the biggest recipient, receiving CI$150,000 to buy laptops for over 350 local kids. In addition, five charities focused on feeding families in need will share CI$110,000, a vocational scholarship progamme was given $56,000 and the YMCA summer camp […]
The real problems of stay-over tourism
The problem is that monopolistic operations are allowed to set miserly wages across the entire Seven Mile Beach area. Nobody can expect to survive long in the local economy at the meagre wage offered for most positions. Expats are brought in from poor countries and exploited to create wealth for the owners (who are often […]
Premier: Stay-over tourism a massive failure
(CNS): Despite record-breaking overnight visitor numbers in recent years that fuelled a massive boom in tourism, Premier Alden McLaughlin has described stay-over tourism as a “massive failure” when it comes to creating jobs for local people. McLaughlin said that 70% of tourism workers are expatriates, and while he accepted there “was an ugly side to […]
