CITA: Cayman needs summer opening plan now
(CNS): Tourism sector stakeholders say they need time to remobilize the sector well ahead of the high season and so the borders must reopen and begin welcoming albeit limited numbers of guests by the summer. This will enable the hospitality industry to be ready to receive more significant numbers later in the year and start the real recovery of the tourism sector. During a Cayman Islands Tourism Association meeting on Thursday, stakeholders heard about the executive’s latest meeting with government, the time it is going to take to reopen, as well as the challenges the sector faces to be ready and the pressing need for a planned., progressive, pathway to reopening tourism.
CITA President Marc Langevin, the general manager of the Ritz where the meeting was held, said there was a lot to do and a lot to deal with ahead of the 2021 high season. He said the Cayman Islands would likely fail in its aim to get overnight tourism back on track for this year’s high season unless it prepared properly. The need for recruiting, training, dealing with supply chains and shortages, as well as all of the additional requirements surrounding the pandemic means that the borders need to open this summer so that the hospitality industry can begin to remobilize in a planned fashion.
He said that across the sector, as well as testing pandemic safety protocols, they will need to recruit and train around 2,500 people, which will include trying to encourage people who are now working in other jobs to return to tourism. And even if the sector can recruit as many as a 1,000 people locally, they will still need another 1,500 overseas workers. Langevin said a plan is required to help the industry secure the work permits it needs and get the staff here.
Representatives from the larger hotels also said that their bookings for the high season are starting to decline again because no open date has been scheduled. In addition, there are still no confirmed flights available to get people here, and as a result travel agents and hotel chains are redirecting holidaymakers to other islands because they are not confident that people will be able to come to Cayman. Hotel managers believe that unless Cayman reopens officially to commercial airlines again, this will undermine any chance the sector might have to start the recovery during the 2021/22 high season.
“We are all suffering right now,” Langvine said, adding that unless things change, they would continue to do so.
He told the CITA members that the association had an open, honest and lively discussion with the government but they will not open the borders for any reason other than the recommendations of medical professionals, based on the science relating to the spread of the virus. This entails reaching the herd immunity level of at least 70% of the community getting vaccinated. That goal is still possible within the next month or so and CITA has secured money from Dart’s R3 Foundation to offer a US$10,000 raffle to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Langevin said the vaccination drive remains a priority for CITA but they are also urging a progressive reopening plan through this summer to allow for training and development, and provide some hope and prevent smaller business from closing for good. The sooner the borders open, the sooner the challenges of remobilizing can be tackled, easing the phased return of the second pillar of Cayman’s economy, he said.
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5 related points.
1)Opening the borders is obviously very contentious and individual positions are not likely to change.
2)The electoral pluralities enjoyed by most of our politicians are very small.
3)One avoidable death or serious illness in any
one voting family could undo a politician’s career.
4)No sane politician is going to make any decision that would put people’s lives at risk without clear evidence that that is what the vast majority of the electorate want.
Therefore, the only realistic path to re-opening, absent the discovery of some miracle pill that cures all forms of Covid, is via a referendum in which the electorate tell the politicians what they want.
If a clear majority of the electorate, having weighed the pros and cons, vote in favour of opening then that is what the politicians will likely do.
What is your equation? x deaths is better than y hours spent outside Dadeland mall? Please provide your metrics if you understand that word.
You can always leave, not one person here is holding you against your will I am sure.
CITA= Cayman international Tourist Agency. It ain’t for Caymanians i can tell you that!
True. Caymanians can’t even get a front desk job.
It would be if they could be bothered to show up and work in hospitality jobs, and don’t give the 5 bucks an hour excuse, the gratuities are huge.,, caymanians could easily earn 60,000 a year p,us as a waiter in a seven mile beach restaurant or hotel if they had the work ethic,
You and your ignorant biases are free to leave any time.
And yet CITA successfully lobbied Alden to exempt waiter positions from advertising – SO CAYMANIANS DO NOT EVEN KNOW THEY EXIST!!!
and in the rare instances there is advertising the remuneration and benefits are not accurately reflected.
Don’t waste your time arguing. It is clear that this whole Ex-pat vs. Caymanian thing is an attempt from the Ex-pat to protect their lifestyle and inflated income that they couldn’t make back home. Not to mention the entitlement mentality that jobs should be theirs because they are somehow better than ALL Caymanians and we should be grateful that they are even here because they are doing us a favour.
So when will people start holding China/Fauci accountable?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9629563/Chinese-scientists-created-COVID-19-lab-tried-cover-tracks-new-study-claims.html
EXCLUSIVE: COVID-19 ‘has NO credible natural ancestor’ and WAS created by Chinese scientists who then tried to cover their tracks with ‘retro-engineering’ to make it seem like it naturally arose from bats, explosive new study claims
An explosive new study claims researchers found ‘unique fingerprints’ in COVID-19 samples that they say could only have arisen from manipulation in a laboratory
DailyMail.com exclusively obtained the new 22-page paper authored by British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr. Birger Sørensen set to be published in the Quarterly Review of Biophysics Discovery
The study showed there’s evidence to suggest Chinese scientists created the virus while working on a Gain of Function project in a Wuhan lab Gain of Function research, which was temporarily outlawed in the US, involves altering naturally-occurring viruses to make them more infectious in order to study their potential effects on humans
Quarterly Review of Biophysics Discovery – right
Read the study from the two professors.
Dalgleish is a professor of oncology at St George’s University, London, and is best known for his breakthrough creating the first working ‘HIV vaccine’, to treat diagnosed patients and allow them to go off medication for months.
Sørensen, a virologist, is chair of pharmaceutical company, Immunor, which developeda coronavirus vaccine candidate called Biovacc-19. Dalgleish also has share options in the firm.
Typical… discount something just because it’s published in a forum they don’t like.
Does not discount the study or that they may be right.
I remember when Facebook et al where censoring the wuhan lab theory and now all of a sudden they’ve backtracked their “debunked” articles…
Use independent thought for a change.
If you bothered to read the article you would note that the report has not been published at all.
in the process of being published
Having trouble with the peer review part of the process perhaps ???
speculation perhaps?
The Cayman Islands cannot continue to borrow money and get deeper and deeper in debt by handing out checks to their passive people. The Government is building a false sense of security. Government cannot keep anyone safe. Why not have people tested before leaving Miami or London? We keep hearing that folks are arriving on BA and have Covid!!! Why? Why were they not tested before they left London and denied entry to Cayman? It seems like Americans, Canadians and other foreigners that want to come and spend money in Cayman are discriminated against. Fine. Other places are open we can go there. Cayman can keep their high and mighty attitudes. Service not servitude. Service to others can be lucrative for YOU!!
Daily mail. Lol
Daily Mail – never any sensationalism there
Report of a paper that has not been published – right
If anyone is interested here is the actual journal
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=quarterly+review+of+biophysics+discovery&ia=web
Do you also think the earth is flat? Just asking.
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/former-cdc-chief-redfield-says-he-thinks-covid-19-originated-chinese-lab-2021-03-26/
I guess the former head of the CDC also thinks the earth is flat?
The former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said he believes the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 likely escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, embracing a theory rejected by many global epidemiologists that has contributed to tensions between China and the West.
It is bizarre that people are clinging to the idea that the virus passed through pangolins or another animal when there is no evidence for it and never was any. Why are people carrying water for the CCP. It’s mystifying.
This is a lab experiment gone wrong…or worse.
Just answer the question instead of deflecting. Do you think the earth is flat? A simple yes or no will suffice.
Stop shilling for the CCP. Even Fauci is back tracking at light speed because it’s becoming undeniable as there is no link to any animal other than the bats studied in the WIV, which is something many scientists have been saying for 12 months or longer.
As Ron paul pointed out in senate testimony with Fauci, every single animal tested in the wet market in Wuhan was NEGATIVE for covid.
Smell BS anyone?
Can Cayman survive without tourism?
Cayman has been surviving.
We need to look at the tourism industry differently as there are no benefits for the majority locals. The tourism industry is not sustainable and the experience of the past year, should have made this clearer.
Tourism is the reason for the locking down because the virus spreads and mutate through humans who created it and who you all are putting your trust in, the scientists.
The government should focus on other industries such as the marijuana industry, release the innocents that are locked up for possession of this innocent plant and allow the recreational use of the drugs for those over the age of 21, and allow households to grow for their own consumption as this will eliminate the underground market.
The marijuana industry is the industry to be in right now and should not be control by just the big players, whose modus operandi, is greed.
Another industry that is viable is agriculture, it’s time for cayman to grow its own food and stop the importation of food that has been modified again by the humans which is causing so many illnesses, which they (scientists) only treat but not cure.
Cayman this is our chance to fix that or eliminate that which is broken or have become obsolete. The virus is not here on the islands, we should not have to be worrying about taking a vaccine. Cayman you are or will become the envy of the world when we start to think and act intelligently.
Allow the people who want to come off the rock to go then close it back. This is the time to enact change. The Devine energy is here amongst us, for those who believe.
I recommend that you take a basic economics class so that you can realize how insanely wrong you are. Tourism helps thousands of Caymanians earn a living.
We are now almost into June with no advertising or planned reopening. let’s face it tourism needs work permits and their are no flights. cayman had quartine even with vaccine. maybe we can plan for high season for the winter. people have made their summer plans already. that ship has sailed. we voted for a new government but they went ghost on us. no update nothing…
A claim with neither evidence nor credibility.
I recommend you stop being arrogant to opinions of others. Cost/benefits analysis would tell you that tourism in Cayman is not sustainable and few out of “thousands of Caymanians” actually make a living.
While Cayman can’t fully eliminate dependency on import of food, growing food locally is a must. Thousands were spent on visiting agricultural shows in Jamaica, yet nothing has ever changed. https://www.caymancompass.com/2019/08/07/cayman-officials-visit-agriculture-and-food-show-in-jamaica/ Alden, Juliana…just read what they said and see what they did …nothing, but I bet the trips were entertaining.
8:52 offers different solutions, you on the other hand is stuck in your thought process…old same, old same…
I recommend you re-read MillerShaw report: ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE OF FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE
CAYMAN ISLANDS:
FINAL REPORT
OF
THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION
February 26, 2010
James C. Miller III, Chairman David Shaw
Kenneth Jefferson http://www.dlp.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/7978053.PDF
Page 86:
“ The revenue base of the Cayman Islands is unusually narrow — not only in its dependence on tourism and financial services, but the nature of the taxes it levies… This leaves it especially vulnerable to swings in the fortunes of the two major sectors of the economy.
Not surprisingly, both sectors at issue are very dependent on economic activity beyond the Islands. Tourism, especially, is dependent on the state of the U.S. economy. When the U.S. economy does well — especially when disposable income is high or rising — the Caymans’ tourism industry experiences record activity. But when the U.S. economy — and especially when the global economy — is in a downturn, tourism on the Islands suffers.”
You understand the difference between earning a living, and earning an existence? And as for your “thousands” of Caymanians. Where did most of them come from? Many are simply the industries’ last generation of work permit holders.
8:52? It is divine and your ideas are crazy. Marijuana is a drug!!!!
Marijuana causes schizophrenia and other mental issues!!!!!!!
Are you Elvis? This is the horrible platform he ran on.
Say no to drugs!!!!!
Cayman will reopen at some point because not everyone has a Government job!!!!
There seems to be enough death & mayhem on Cayman’s roads at the moment without having more people driving around stoned. There’s no way to be sure when it’s out of your system.
“Think and act intelligently…” I would suggest the first person to follow this is you.
https://onemileatatime.com/australia-borders-closed-2022/
The article also states that they are also looking for a way for vaccinated Australians to travel with no quarantine on return – as requested by the Prime Minister
One thing you can say about Australia is that the government has a firm plan to look ahead on managing the problem being faced , like it or not.
For all those posters advocating continued closed borders, what is your end game? We can’t open because there are variants, the vaccines are not guaranteed 100% effective, covid is 100% lethal, everyone gets covid. All these arguments are being made to keep borders closed, so please explain when could the borders open. It appears to be never given the logic of these posters. Is it these posters want to be both a geographic and functional island of the world. Please explain how this will be of benefit to Caymanians. Reality is reality and it is time for Cayman to accept this and move forward.
It is a cost:benefit equation.
Caymanians disproportionately bear the risk (including to their parents and grandparents, and in relation to the ability of their children to go to school).
Foreign nationals disproportionately gain the benefit in terms of ownership of and employment in the businesses.
The “let’s open” camp are not helped by a small number of vocal posters who want to risk our Covid free status not for employment or business reasons, but so they can go on vacation without the inconvenience of quarantine.
Thank you!
Would Cayman kindly publish its 2020 deaths compared to prior years? We know 2 deaths are attributed to Covid. But what if we have excess deaths? If we do could that be attributed to additional stress?
Swing and a miss
The mere fact that you think Caymans Covid free status is going to help us longer term is scary. Covid is here to stay and is not going anywhere anytime soon. You need to get use to living with as you do car crashes, cancers from chemicals, and other death causes agents of the modern world.
Open up for Who.?? So foreign devil can get back to his life destroying our little islands. This has been the only little reprieve Caymanians have had and we Love it . Tourism needs to get back to our flavour That what we vote for ! Not this overwhelming flood of economic refugees and greedy individuals who want to turn Cayman into the garbage dump they come from!
I hear the government is broke?? Now need the tourists to start arriving.
Shouldn’t this be public information?
I hear that the moon is made of green cheese so no need for tourists just yet or for a few years to come.
7.25pm Please go back to the swamp you came from.
“who want to turn Cayman into the garbage dump they come from”…ooh, that’s nice.
On TripAdvisor under “Travel in August” someone posted that their end of August- beginning of Sept. holiday plans were just cancelled by the Westin. A few posts further down the same person posted that a rep from Westin said the new opening date would be Sept. 1, but that was not confirmed.
So ridiculous. Open up to vaccinated tourists. There is No reason to keep borders closed any longer. Haven’t seen family and friends for 1 1/2 years. AND….do not have the “luxury” to quarantine for 14 days before starting a holiday which is totally ludicrous as we are all vaccinated.
7:25 pm Now, that’s cayman kind!
Some wonderful posters on CNS.
No to tourism
No to any development
No to financial services
Will be interesting to see how the government balance the budget without any of it… but I guess it doesn’t matter, since none of those industries do anything to benefit Caymanians apparently.
Maybe some wish Cayman would be more like Bermuda with it’s zero sum thinking and US$3bn of national debt?
Maybe Cayman should just go independent as so ungrateful for free vaccines, free testing, think BA is only for their students nobody else has family, complain about foreigners, complain about tourists and….
Caymanians are grateful for the vaccines and the testing facilities we have.
BA is for repatriation and essential travel.
Most tourists and foreigners are wonderful people. The ones who try to run our country – not so much. They are the focus of any complaints that might be out there.
Like it or not, non-Caymanians who live here will likely have an opinion on how the place they live (and contribute to financially) is run. They are entitled to that opinion in the same way a Caymanian living in the US would be entitled to theirs.
Telling anyone with an opinion that differs “leave if you don’t like it” is hostile and wrong headed; particularly when there are numerous Caymanians who share the view expressed.
Better to dispute the issue, rather than focusing on the person’s passport.
But then how would people feel superior?
All fair points, but everyone is entitled to reasonably expect some deference for their hosts, along with respect for their guests.
When Ex-pats stop labelling all Caymanians as lazy idiots we will stop telling you all to leave. It is just our opinion that those who complain about things here and fight down the locals for employment, should pack up and go back to where they came from.
BA is for anyone who can pay the inflated ticket price, don’t kid yourself. They’ll probably pull the route altogether (as with Seychelles) if there continues to be no tourist demand.
The foreigners on here are so obvious! “Open up! Open up! No matter what!” I genuinely hope that this government is not following all of the idiotic cries on here demanding reopening, without a proper plan to protect everyone in these islands. That includes those who have chosen not to be vaccinated, regardless of their reasons. It is their right to choose whether or not take the vaccine. At least the previous administration refused to be pushed by the same people shouting “Open up!” They did what was right and kept us safe. This government was elected by a cross section of this society and will need every voter to retain their seats in less than 4 years. Letting the virus in to run rampant in these islands is not what we need and being vaccinated will not prevent that from happening. The vaccines do not create immunity as the ignorant seem to think. In some it will help to reduce the effects of the virus but there are also variants and no one really knows how effective the vaccines will be against those. We are still in uncharted territory folks, like it or not.
Caymanian here from the first inhabitants and I say open up the borders
Go independent then!
It is not the British that are causing the problem! For the most part they work with Caymanians and provide meaningful well paid employment and opportunity. They tend to have more of a sense of propriety, and respect for rules, than others.
Pretty impressive coming from Colonialism.
And yet CITA successfully lobbied Alden to exempt waiter positions from advertising – SO CAYMANIANS DO NOT EVEN KNOW THEY EXIST!!!
and in the rare instances there is advertising the remuneration and benefits are not accurately reflected.
Ummm, we were never colonised.
Cayman was never colonized, just settled, so check your chip at the door.
Non-sequitur (That is an old Caymanian expression frequently made in the context of idiotic statements)
Antivax, isolationist alert.
Get a vaccine or you take the risk. Period.
Unfortunately you really are the ignorant one.
I’m sorry, those who chose not to get vaccinated (this does not include those that can’t take it) have made their choice (as is their right) but will need to take their chances with Covid when they inevitable come face to face with it. They should not get any special protection more than those who have been vaccinated.
Hope they are right in their decision, whether it was based on trusting their immune system, or based on the (misguided) opinion that they will never encounter Covid in their lifetime.
“ This government was elected by a cross section of this society”. No it wasn’t. It was elected by less than 50% of the adult population of residents. Not going to argue that PR and expats should have the vote, but at the same time you cannot say that government represents a cross section of society. It simply doesn’t. And the government is a coalition of independents – you cannot even point at a manifesto they campaigned on and say that is what your cross section of society voted for. You can believe what you want to believe – saying there is a societal consensus on the point is just BS.
5:25 And choosing to open the borders is the right of those who want to make a living. If you choose not to get vaccinated, that’s your problem and you can deal with the consequences. The majority want to open up the islands in a controlled manner to minimize the risk of an outbreak. Other British Territories have implemented a plan and executed. Cayman needs a plan…and possibly some leadership.
I think that you are very wrong about but what the majority wants but I accept that we should probably have a formal referendum to find out.
Attention: The PACT Government
There is no time like the present time to push for the CAYMANIZATION of the Tourism Industry. Failing to do so now means that it will never ever happen in the future.
Minster Bryan, do your part to see this through as it is vital that the tourism industry is rebranded and that includes the workers in the industry.
This particular group, CITA, needs a push in that direction because left to their own decisions and policies they would ensure that Caymanians would be the last persons they would want to enter/reenter the industry.
4:24 YESSSS! Preach
With a ‘Z’ LMAO
TAB full non born Caymanian
The lack of diversity in these forums is symptomatic of the culture of exclusion similar to the real estate business dominated by the same people. Sad, total domination of the economy while pushing others to the curb.
I don’t know about diversity as it applies to Covid and reopening, but I do know stupid people. And a ton of them are here. Jesus just require vaccination for permits, duh!
You read the part about how they are short 2500 people – and we don’t have that many unemployed, right?
Is it true that all the people on the podium have volunteered to give their jobs to Caymanians in order to re-start tourism?
Which would restart tourism how? Guy in New York – I want to go on a Caribbean holiday but I am not going to go to Cayman because the general managers of the 5 star hotels there are foreigners”- right. I suspect what you mean is that expats shouldn’t have the right to lecture a Caymanian government on how to restart the tourism industry – even though they are tourism professionals with decades of experience, whereas our government’s experience in the sector is precisely zero.
Which would re-start tourism? Caymanian – ‘I would like to see tourism re-started but it would create risks for the Caymanian people without any commensurate benefit’ – right. I suspect what you mean to say is that Caymanians should stand meekly by when uppity foreigners speak as they ought to have no say in the risks imposed on them if the overseas tourism bosses stand to make a dollar.
4:23 No, they absolutely do not want to see it crash and burn
Question for the Cabinet and Public Health – how many Caymanians have co-morbidities that put them at risk even if vaccinated. Armed with that information – is now the time to open?
Answer: more than 3,000 persons
Good point – we should start on the co-morbidities associated with voluntary choices around lifestyle and diet first.
Why? Do those people deserve to die in order to all tourists to have a vacation?
Do people deserve to die so people can drive at 40mph?
the government should lower the speed limit to 5pmh!
The sick and weak are always the first to go. No change their, it is called nature.
What happens when we have a breakout in the schools, another lock down?
Breakout of what, education?
Unlikely.
Schools in the US that were open during the entire pandemic only quarantined the individual w/ Covid and the few who came in close contact and not the entire school. No need to lockdown for Covid cases. Even when there were clusters, it was only those who came in close contact.
There is absolutely a need for total lockdown if your aim is to rid your community of the virus and not have it in circulation.
Pfizer and Moderna have been approved for students. Proven to 100% effective. Get your kids vaccinated and please read the latest vaccine news. You can Google it.
A pro vaxxer spreading mis-information. It is absolutely not 100% effective
Yeah. It’s only 95%. As opposed to 0% of not having the vaccination.
Wish I could like this a million times! Only uneducated people are not getting vaccinated. Unfortunately for us as a country there are many. Anyone with half a brain has already been vaccinated. Let’s look at the scenarios…Get the jab, if exposed to Covid mild case, or asymptotic. No vaccination…death.
Frankly our population has had enough time to choose side. State a date, and reopen.
Is that why so many unvaccinated positive cases recovered here in Cayman? Asking for a friend…
Money going mainly to foreigners vs our people – we know where CITA is on that issue. Hopefully the new government will continue to put our people first.
Money that came from where exactly?
Tourists. People who come from all over the world to seek and enjoy the unique attributes that Cayman provides, all existing on a foundation built by the Caymanian people for their benefit, but hijacked by a group of relative newcomers many of whom changed the rules of the game and a smaller number of which acted to consciously exclude Caymanians from active and meaningful participation. Unless you have failed to notice the actions of the industry have caused the inevitable. The Caymanian people are rolling up the welcome mat. Without that your blessed tourism industry has nothing. Damn you CITA. You have been warned for decades. You can take your derisory minimum wage jobs, and … (use your imagination).
Huh?
Opening at this time would be the most anti-Caymanian thing any government has done this century.
Worse than the Cabinet status grants?
Hey police, when are you going to investigate that?
OK – second worst then
Or fighting against the wishes of the people to build a cruise port which have produced an unforgivable level of environmental and economic damage.
Opening to tourism at this time will help very few Caymanians and will endanger many. Get the number of vaccinated persons up to a level that will prevent local people getting infected and then think about opening.
So to achieve 110% vaccination rate (because that is the only level that will be acceptable) we Caymanians have to bribe the ignorant who dont want the vaccine? Sounds about right for some Caymanians….its all about money not about concern for fellow Caymanians. Always has been and always will be. Don’t trust the vaccine unless there are a few dollars in it!
Which would be easy if local people would get vaccinated.
And how do you get the level up to a point where locals won’t get infected when so many locals won’t get vaccinated? Forced vaccination? Or do you mean 100% vaccination of foreigners? And presumably any Caymanians who leave and then come back?
It is clear that CITA board are people that DON’T care for the overall mental health and wellbeing of Caymanians. The CITA board make tons of money from tourism so want it to resume regardless of the risk to Caymanian residents, and their front line employees. These people can sit in their ivory towers (ocean front mansions) when covid returns to the community and stay safe. Unlike the rest of us. NO to open tourism without quarantine.
There is clearly a lot of division on this subject. Let the people decide when to open. Hold a formal referendum and allow the voters to decide. That way the people speak and the government can have a clear mandate that will stand up when people die as Covid returns.
So – no to democracy then?
Tisk tisk🙄
Good to see so many multi-generational Caymanians on the panel demanding immediate opening of the borders for their benefit.
sarcasm..methinks! 🙂
Multi generational “paper” Caymanians
We do need to prepare to open in a phased way some point this Fall, too many apartments are coming online to rent that will directly affect Caymanians pocket books when they are empty. WORC must stop rubber stamping permits for Servers and bartenders, Caymanians can be trained to do these jobs and please don’t be fooled, those positions make plenty of money people! Caymanians need to get over their distaste of the service or hospitality industry, clearly the GM at the Ritz is making coin, so you can too! It is time to stand up and have our frontline tourism workers and managers be Caymanian.
Once all the senior management in all the major hotels are Caymanian we should definitely open up.
Maybe persons should stop building so many apts especially since they’re being built for P/R applicants to qualify. Why are we responsible for ensuring they ‘re not empty? No young multi-generational Caymanian can afford them.
Anonymous @ 3:38 pm. Well said, it is what I have been saying. We need our Caymanians on the front line. Enough of saying no to us you tourism and hospitality owners. We are not dumb and stupid. Thank you.
Why should an employer go to all the trouble of employing foreign workers instead of Caymanians. Simple, foreigners not only turn up to work but work for their money! And before you spout the usual nonsense about cheap labor I know a few foreign bar staff who were clearing around a $1000 per week with their tips. In my experience as a Caymanian employer a lot of young and some not so young multigenerational Caymanians believe they should be in an air conditioned office working short hours for large salaries with no training or qualifications at all except that of being born Caymanian.
Funny how the jobs are never advertised at $1,000/week.
11:45, you just made 8:22’s point.
I am afraid you are the one that missed the point. The benefits that come with the positions are often intentionally kept from local applicants. They have been for decades.
Best way to deal with the too many apartments problem is to completely replace the members of the CPA and to put in place people who care about Cayman. Opening to tourism and spreading Covid is not the answer to that problem.
No one knows the magical number that equates to herd immunity. That number varies from one disease to another – no one knows what that number is for COVID-19 and it’s primarily an academic concept.
The most vulnerable have had the opportunity to be vaccinated. Vaccines are highly effective at preventing infection and transmission. A staged reopening of the border can be done safely without overwhelming hospital systems or public health capacity for case monitoring and contact tracing. Closed borders are keeping families apart. It’s time to plan for reopening.
EXACTLY! We see from other nations a steady decline in covid despite less than 70% vaccinaction. It is up to trustworthy scientists to give objective, honest, nonpoliticized opinions on the best pathways to navigate through covid. Unfortunately Cayman has completely ignored this approach. Alden has made up “science” on multiple occasions. “Dr. Lee” is supposed to be our medical science input, but he has demonstrated, as truly one would expect given his medical history, to be completely unqualified to objectively analyze covid data.
It is time to open the border in a progressive fashion, period.
We need to keep the border CLOSED in a progressive fashion, period.
So says another civil servant on full pay for half days work
Alden and Dr. Lee kept have handled matters in a “progressive fashion” and kept us all safe, including you 28/05/2021 at 4:28 pm. They are not perfect but I respect their caring about us all. Thankfully they were able to prevent community spread here by their quick action! Don’t forget that. The fact is, our borders have been cautiously open for quite some time and it is clear that even so travelers are bringing the virus here. If this government changes that and causes community spread it will be on them and a part of their political history. Regardless of the almighty vaccination, if the flood gates are opened these islands will be in deep trouble. Those screaming to reopen will flee and we the Caymanian people will be left to suffer it through.
Yeah, Alden cares so much about people… except for former friends of his who dare challenge him politically.
In the mean time, double the resources dedicated to Travel Time so they can deal with with a higher number of people in quarantine so we can get some more flights going.
All flights being fully booked for a month in advance is not acceptable.
People please understand these are not flights for people to go on vacation..They are repatriation flights for essentials services and including moving our students back and forth. It’s an “air bridge” not scheduled airline flights..I don’t know how to get that to sink in.
If the Governor says it again will it make a difference..Once we reopen, all the flights in world can come in but for now let’s listen to the GOvernor and stop thinking about your summer vacations.
Rubbish- they are flights for anyone who will pay the inflated ticket price. BA is a Spanish-owned, profit-oriented business, not some obliging favour-provider to the U.K. government.
Screw CITA, their only motive is money making. I have kids that cannot be vaccinated, keep the borders closed until they can be protected. Hardly anyone on this forum seems to care about kids, they are in school and safe from Covid.
Try looking at actual facts. The excess death rate per 100,000 from Covid in children aged 0-14 in the U.S. is negative 2.41. In the UK its negative 1.67. https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1137
Out of the 568,053 covid deaths in the U.S. as of 12May2021, 287 were in the age range of 0-17. That’s 0.05% (one twentieth of 1 percent) or 1 out of 2,000 deaths. That’s deaths, not cases. Out of the 34 million confirmed cases that means the death rate among children is 0.00084%.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1191568/reported-deaths-from-covid-by-age-us/
Assuming that 20% of the population here is under 16, then 20% x 65,000=13,000 x a death rate of 0.00084% = .109. One tenth of one child. I kind of like those odds. Your kids are already protected.
Play with stats all you like while the Indian variant is killing kids.. Love how you say ‘actual facts’ and toss in a couple of websites and the to cap it all throw in ‘assumptions’! The media is not reliable, just look how facebook banned comments about the virus originated in a lab. It is precisely this that is causing a very divided opinion. Some even posted on this very site that the vaccine (which it isn’t) is 100% safe! For goodness sake!
This is so stupid. We know that Pfizer and AstraZeneca offer great protection, including against the Kent variant and new Indian variant. The data and studies prove it, sometimes I think caymanians don’t read international news or watch bbc news etc and keep up. It’s so simple… open the borders to vaccinated people in and out showing a negative test on arrival and departure, just like European countries are doing, those who refused the vaccine won’t be able to travel anyway as no country or airline would ever let them in/on, and just make it policy that unvaccinated have to socially distance, where masks, and are not allowed to drive taxis or work in tourist or residents facing front line jobs, we know the vaccines massively reduce transmission or any chance of being ill in hospital from any variants, so just open to vaccinated. There is no risk. We are all going to go mad if we can’t get away to Europe or the us this summer on holiday and the government have no health risk based reasons to not open up regular flights for vaccinated caymanians and residents to fly in and out,
Karen, is that you? A summer without a trip to the US or Europe in the middle of a global health crisis? Oh, the humanity!
Play with stats all you like because I prefer to deal with stuff I have read on internet forums or just made up. How dare you confront my prejudices, assumptions and bias with a=facts.
You knew what you were getting into when you had sex
Not really, I was drunk at the time.
Couldn’t be any more obvious if it hit you in the head. Open the doors before we lose all of our loyal tourists to other Caribbean islands. No business would he content sending their clients to a competitor and hoping they might be able to win them back in the future. If this reopening is mishandled (like it is right now) our tourism sector could experience long term negative consequences.
Rubbish. Our tourism product is not fungible (look it up).
Certainly it’s “fungible”. There are innumerable carribean islands with beaches, tourist attractions, and lots of great vacation activities, most for a lower cost.
You are deluded if you think tourists can’t replace their cayman vacation with a vacation on Aruba, Barbados, curaçao, grand Turk, Anguilla, and on and on.
Most already have. Cayman has been closed for over a year and these other islands have been open since last July. People have travelled to different places. My extended family who always travelled to Cayman branched out this past winter and went to Aruba, Turks and this summer are headed to St. John. I have not had holiday time yet, but planning a trip to Bermuda early summer and waiting to see if Cayman opens to hopefully get there late summer.
Probably a good thing if those who do not appreciate Cayman’s unique qualities don’t come back.
What unique qualities?
A beautiful beach? Hot weather? Out of control traffic? Concrete everywhere w/ construction? Outrageously high prices?
Have you been to some of the other “competing” islands? I seriously doubt they will do more than one trip to some of them..
PACT change the CITA board immediately !..Marc Langevin only goal is to make money and hire expats.
Don’t give in to their pressure/demands .
Open when our health professionals advises you / stay with the proven plan.
Kurt Christian
You do know they can’t. Right?
The Ritz has offered a job fair for Caymanians to apply for a variety of jobs, a lot of them don’t require experience. Only 50 people applied for an interview. They are trying to hire locally, but 50 people isn’t going to cut it. So all these people screaming about how they are unemployed….where were they for these jobs being offered?? I’m sick of hearing about the unemployed Caymanians when they do absolutely nothing about actually looking for a job.
Only 50 applied and the majority who did not applied before and although more than capable were not even called for an interview! What the government needs to do is ensure that all of the lip-service coming from CITA is backed by tangible evidence. Start refusing work permits and require them to find and train able Caymanians instead. When I say Caymanians, I also mean those with Caymanian Status who are also marginalized for Work Permits. Why? It’s a control thing baby.
for $5 per hour – amazing people did not show up.
So don’t complain when foreigners come from thousands of miles away and take these $5 jobs and still seem to thrive in Cayman.
They “thrive” below the poverty line, living in unlawful conditions, and without any possibility of having children, or getting a mortgage.
They make a boatload of tips. Why can’t you understand?
I understand perfectly.
I understand that there are no tips earned when you are on vacation or maternity leave.
I understand that banks do not take tips into account when undertaking mortgage or student loan affordability calculations.
I understand that no tips are earned during the slower months.
I understand that the amounts of tips available are not advertised to Caymanian applicants.
How much in tips?
Irrelevant. Not counted by banks if you need a mortgage, and not payable every month or for example, when you are on vacation.
Wrong. Just deposit your tips in your bank account and they will be counted. If you just blow the cash in a club it will not b counted.
You are wrong you XXXX idiot. The bank requires your MONTHLY PAYSLIP. Your tips made on the side is not counted towards to getting a mortgage or any type of loan.
Actually, if the employer is running a proper gratuity distribution scheme (as required by law) then the amount paid in tips should absolutely appear on wage slips.
It’s been like that for at least thirty years. I don’t see it changing. The jobs are there but no Caymanians will take them. I hear a lot of whinging but nothing ever changes.
Don’t waste your time. They will complain regardless of the pay. The problem is that it requires work. Some people are not happy if they don’t have something to complain about and that’s why they are left behind.
You do know this job fair is a sham set up by the Ritz to say they tried hiring Caymanians and couldn’t find any. any for the few that they hire they will let them go right before season starts and bring in the expat workers on temporary permits. They are here within days and on the front lines.
Please don’t let these people fool you with their job fairs. It costs them nothing to set a few tables and waste a few of their job application for one day..It’s a SHAM!
How about PACT replacing the boards that the government does actually appoint and which directly affect Caymanians lives
I don’t want the vaccine and I don’t want the borders to open. I’m rich and old and don’t care about anything other than what I want.
My wife is vaccinated and travels and comes back and quarantines in our beach house. She doesn’t want the border to open either because she gets inconvenienced when too many people are here.
Keep the borders closed.
I have never read such a self-centred, selfish, comment on any medium. It has got to be a joke right? Nobody can be that insular.
3.38pm Almost every Caymanian who can read and write has joined the Civil Service, so where will you get them from?.
Troll
We cannot be held hostage by the Selfish, the Stupid and the Superstitious. The opportunity to have the vaccinations was there and if some didn’t take it that’s their risk. Why wouldn’t we let vaccinated tourists onto the island?
If we did that, we’d have to stop paying idle tourism workers for sitting at home watching tv and playing video games.
28/05/2021 at 1:06 pm Not everyone is Selfish, Stupid and/or Superstitious dumb ass. In fact, those labels would apply perfectly to you! Some people cannot take the vaccine because of their health. I guess those people do not matter to you.
Very few in that “ineligible” category! Mostly it’s conspiracy theorists.
I took the second pfizer shot over 2 months ago and I’m still alive kicking. So what do the witch doctors have to say about that? Open the borders to the vaccinated! The risk of an outbreak is zero as it relates to the vaccinated.
Err – what health issues? Can you name some? Because being frightened of getting vaccinated or having a health condition that means you are far more likely to die if you do get Covid are not valid reasons not to get the jab.
I am an under 30 who has had severe reactions to vaccines in the past. I am not eligible to take this vaccine and have spoken to several doctors who have discouraged me from doing so. Stating that it is too new and the potential risk of me having a severe reaction again is too great at this time. So no, I am not a conspiracy theorist, I am not uneducated, nor am I just “frightened”. The vaccine information sheet itself stated that if you have had reactions to vaccines, medications, and foods you should not take the vaccine or should wait to do so. When the information sheet is stating that, why are any of you shaming people when you have NO IDEA about their medical history??
For your reference: https://www.hsa.ky/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/COVID-19-Vaccine-Consent-Form-2020-2021-FINAL-APRIL-2021.pdf
Because we are the selfish ones. They want us to risk our health and lives for their reopening “The Greater Good”…. laughable. They are the selfish bullies.
Exactly! So ,many Caymanians are out of a job. Ritz Carlton is all about recruiting foreigners. Ritz Carlton treat locals the worst. Locals never get management or become a guidance team member at the Ritz.
Not just them, either. I haven’t been to every hotel, but most of them. Two years ago, we were happily surprised to see a Caymanian working at Ave at the Kimpton Seafire. That shouldn’t be so rare an event, but it is, at least according to my anecdotal experiences.
I don’t object to a measured and regulated gradual reopening. I don’t think the directors and board of CITA have the same goals as the rest of us. If they did, there would have always been more Caymanians working in their various businesses.
20 years ago, almost all hospitality/restaurant/bartender/waiter jobs were held by Caymanians. Then, Caymanian business owners discovered that they could hire expats that were far more controllable, who would work for a paltry wage that no Caymanian could live on. THIS is what is wrong with the system.
Mr. Marc wants us to think that he cares a whit about locals, and just wants to do his part to get the imaginary thousands of Caymanians employed. Where were these Caymanian employees before Covid-19, Mr. Marc? Where? I don’t believe you, Sir. I don’t think you have our best interests at heart.
Thank you Beaumont Zodecloun!! You hit it right on the head! I don’t know who you are but thank you!
Comfort Suites , when they were open, seemed to have a high number of Caymanians working there.
They are bringing in expats right now for the Hampton Inn (former Comfort Suites). They didn’t even try to look for Caymanians or rehire some of those that were let go..
Change of ownership got anything to do with that, you think?
Amazing how some hotels can do it, and others claim it impossible. The latter category be damned!
TAB don’t have Caymanian at heart! Zero chance you will get a good job you need to be a TRINI or JAM
Has anyone made a connection between “So many Caymanians are out of a job” and “Our borders are closed”? If the financial industry is going well, then it’s not a part of the equation!
All white panel – deciding Caymans tourism, that’s all I’m going to say
You want Jamaicans to decide as well.?
You’re right. The Sandals group have no clue what they’re doing.
No. They are already in charge of the police and prison. Each are a shit show (as is their homeland), and like tourism, prefer to recruit outside of Caymanians.
12:56, you can find your non white “panel” any day all day sitting around at Coe Wood beach in Bodden Town ( and elsewhere) discussing how foreigners are taking their jobs. That’s all I’m going to say.
Funny. All their parents had jobs at Holiday Inn, Royal Palms, Tortuga Club, and Seaview. Tourists loved them and were very happy with the service and overall experience. Their uncles took tourists diving and fishing, and other Caymanians drove taxis. It was heaven. Someone took their jobs. Who was it? What made an entire community of people unemployable within a generation? Or do you think a number were perfectly employable, and have been denied opportunity?
“What made an entire community of people unemployable within a generation”? Answer: unrealistic entitlement mentality inculcated by parents in the late 70s and 80s telling their kids certain jobs were for Jamaicans and “Honduranians” while the “bank jobs” were for Caymanians ( with or without qualifications). Then later the Filipinos and Indians came in doing the jobs our Caymanians were still scorning. When did you last have a Caymanian do your car service or body work, home air condition service, plumbing or electrical work? Did you EVER have a Caymanian do these jobs? No, I thought not.
A Teacher.
I have Caymanians doing all the jobs you describe. You are tragically misinformed and your attitude is perfectly capable of destroying Cayman.
I call bullshit on that, 12:06. It’s so obviously not true. I suspect you are a foreigner trying to make the case that all is well for Caymanians in these areas of work when in fact there are next to none of them in reality.
Meme? Florida is booming. You cannot eat rocks and sand. It takes money to buy groceries and pay bills. Cayman’s government is deluding their people and they are hurting and all in denial!!!!
Leave your Cayman people!!! Leave when you can. It is a crazy, deluded place. They think they can keep people safe by lock downs. They cannot keep this up. Mental health issues will be a problem.
Race is irrelevant. The fact they were all expats when they came here is however highly relevant. Where is the disconnect? Where are all the long promised opportunities for local talent?
Color doesn’t matter, competence is what gets you a seat at the table.
You use be white?Right? The right color
Color gets you a seat first, they check for competence after. If no competence is found just kiss a lil a** and you will get by.
Join the Association, put yourself forward and vote.
I don’t agree with the term ” All white panel” but it could be more diverse.
Hell, it could even have some Caymanians on it.
It already does.
Former work permit holders seeking more work permit holders to join existing work permit holders while they too become former work permit holders, is a more accurate description of what is happening.
All aon the panel do more for the community as new Caymanians than you have ever done, in fact more for people in need in our community than alot of Caymanians, who b@tch and complain about expats.
Caymanians are not just black, they are all colours!! Do some research you ignorant, bigoted idiot
Shame the new minister of tourism Kenneth Bryant didn’t attend his First CITA meeting ? That’s mind boggling
Hoping the new Caymanian employees everyone wants in the tourism sector don’t take a leaf out of his book and not turn up for work !!
He is not qualified.
Should get someone who is more competent with relevant experience and education.
Israel reached herd immunity with 68% of their population vaccinated. Herd immunity meant that cases dropped not only in vaccinated people, but even in those who were not vaccinated (e.g. children). When enough people are vaccinated, the virus, even variants simply die out because there are not enough unprotected people available to infect. Vaccines are highly effective at stopping transmission.
Letting in vaccinated tourists with proof of negative tests and without quarantine is extremely low risk for Cayman Islands once their population is vaccinated to a high enough level. Opening up by summer to vaccinated tourists seems reasonable. Nothing is no risk, including driving your car to work today.
Depends on the vaccine as Seychelles found out.
Yea. And we have Pfizer, not the Chinese one. So your point is…..
CITA. Tourism is not a pillar of Cayman’s economy. It has not been for years. The harm the industry causes, environmental , cultural and economic, is proving not to be worth the benefit, especially given the derisory treatment and very limited employment of Caymanians. You have chased me from the beach too many times. Your cruise passengers have created to much refuse and crowding for me to tolerate. You continue to employ foreign nationals in face of thousands of unemployed locals. You need to change your tune. Dramatically.
28/05/2021 at 12:05 pm I completely agree with you! What the government needs to do is put more focus on our financial services and seek other ways to grow our economy. An example is to continue keeping our islands safe and lure more of the film industry here. That’s a great start!
I know. We can start a turtle farm. Oh wait …
66 is close enough to 70. Open the doors!
But nowhere near the 90% required to have herd immunity given the new variants. Wake up.
There isn’t going to be herd immunity. Everyone understands that. Even if we don’t open the borders to the degree these people want we can’t be held hostage here while the rest of the world resumes close to normal operations. “Wake up”
By June 9th 100% of the people that intend to be vaccinated will have done so.
Umm no one is being held hostage here…
You are a hostage if all of the flights are booked and you can’t get out. By not allowing regular air traffic we are indeed being held hostage.
Sure, leave the quarantine rules in place – but if you can’t travel because you can’t get a seat, you are indeed stuck here. Not everyone can afford to charter a private plane.
Only some of the BA flights are full..and if you need to get back to jolly old England for your summer vacation..Cayman Airways has two flights a week to Miami with plenty seats. There are flights to London from there and many other US airports…If you want to get out you could…just speak the truth and say you can’t get out because you were hoping for a cheap BA seat and all of those are gone now…
You are being held a hostage if every time you travel you then need to quarantine at home or in a government facility for 10-14 days while being monitored.
At least we let foreigners in. Canada, for example, does not.
So then what is the magic in 70 in the first place?
Full courses of Pfizer, Moderna, J&J or AZ offer strong immunity defence against all variants. Billions served. There is a percentage spread that seems to prefer to get society over the herd immunity threshold by experiencing the virus lineages firsthand in some form. We should respect their choice, reckless and foolhardy as that may seem. Yesterday, several key USA states announced they are dismantling their vaccination pop-up clinics, since demand had tapered to nearly nothing. You can force a donkey to water, but you can’t make him drink.
Do you think Cayman can stay closed like this indefinitely? If you are worried, get the vaccine.
And if you are worried and 10 years old?
You are in the 0.00084% of vulnerable under 16’s. Sit down, the adults have got this.
Crawl back in your hole.
Their problem. End quarantine for the vaccinated!
It is now insanity to quarantine people who are fully vaccinated.
We really are a stupid people.
You again??
66 is the new 80
People have had their chance to get the vaccine, it is time to move on and allow everyone to take responsibility for their own health.
I have taken responsibility and choose not to be unnecessarily exposed to the Covid virus. Quarantine provides excellent protection. Safety first kids!
…sooo you’re saying you will continue to quarantine for 15 days on your own expense every time you decide to go on vacation and come back? And will also pay for your own hospital bills if you get the virus?
July open the borders to vaccinated people going in and out. No quarantine.
Yes
Who cares about people’s lives when you can make money ?
People need to make money to live
I wonder if 11:05 thinks the rising costs in Cayman are merely coincidence and irrelevant?
Any cash prize should also be made eligible to ALL of those who completed the full vaccination course in Cayman, and opt-in, not just late comer hold-outs that are impairing our collective ability to resume normality. The prize should be posted from the profit-seeking CITA menbers, not depleting a charitable recovery fund. Administering the raffle could bring its own set of headaches and the C3 Fund shouldn’t be using its resources to administer that. There’s also GDPR issues…
Gdpr doesn’t apply here
I see Ferrari’s on the horizon if we hold out for a bit a longer!
HODL!! 🙂
Agree. The first people to step up should be fully eligible for any compensations/lotteries for taking the shots.
For those that were paying attention:
BVI, Anguilla, and Barbados have data driven plans that Cayman can look to in order to create a reopening plan. Proof of vaccination plus 14 days, PCR test within 5 days of the flight, registration for permission to enter, PCR test at the airport.
The chances of a us vaccinated traveller with asymptomatic covid gets reduces to lees than 1 in a million in this scenario. If Frontline workers are vaccinated, the risk gets reduces further.
Those jurisdictions all have Covid. We do not. We would rather remain Covid-free. Anyone who can afford to be here can be welcomed in, through quarantine!
Unless we remain closed for eternity we cannot remain covid free. It’s endemic now.
We are not going to remain COVID free. Even with 100% of our residents vaccinated it will come back, but at a level that can be handled by our medical facilities. We need two parallel plans – open our borders safely and how to manage COVID when it is back in our community.
If you are waiting to be Covid free you will waiting forever
The whole world will never be Covid free nor will Cayman . We all have to learnt to live with this disease forever. The new governments silence is deafening ? Make a damn decision and at least reduce the quarantine for starters
So when the cost of living rises so high that the average person cannot afford to live here. And there are no more jobs because Tourism and the Financial sector close because of closed borders. And the number of homeless people increases exponentially because they cant afford the mortgages or rent. And income from WPs and customs drys up. Then we will all be happy because we have a Covid free island. Brilliant strategy, wonder why no one else is doing it?
You do have Covid people in quarantine. You just don’t count those people. If other jurisdictions didn’t count those in quarantine with Covid, their numbers would be less, too. Look at the real data and Cayman has had Covid all along.
Follow the Turks and Caicos plan. Negative PCR test within 5 days of travel, and no quarantine, whether you are vaxxed or unvaxxed. There are too many families with young children who can’t get the vaccine, so to impose a quarantine for unvaxxed would mean all the families with young children would be unfairly discriminated against. Cayman is a family friendly place and a lot of tourists, especially overnight tourists, bring their children with them on vacation.
Once Cayman reaches the 70% vaccination rate we will have achieved herd immunity, so no reason to worry about unvaccinated individuals.
No thanks. Unvaxxed can stay their azz home.
Then don’t expect other countries to open their arms to your unvaxxed. Get vaccinated if you want off the rock
The government is silent on the issue. They will likely not open this year, and not next year either. They haven’t promised anything even if we reach the 70% vaccination rate, other that to “consider,” which mean nothing at all. Get used to paying a couple of thousand dollars for an airline ticket, and having to wait months at a time to get a seat. Not to mention quarantining for almost 2 weeks even if you are vaccinated, I think this is the future of cayman. This new premier and government makes Alden look absolutely liberal, at least he was willing to communicate openly with the people, set goals and then keep his word
You can thank China
Prior to COVID the last government did not openly communicate at all, COVID forced their hamd. This government has been in place since mid-April and it is now the end of May. They have had one press conference so far – so far so good.
Sheesh holy dooms day over here at 10:49! PACT are working on the plan. It’s only been 6 weeks since the election. Give them a minute please.
Unlike some dictatorships we know of, PACT actually cares about listening to everyone before jumping into action. Patience at this time will ensure an informed decision they can all stand behind vs a few people deciding and everyone else silenced into submission.
I think we’re in a far greater position having fresh minds who CARE about ALL the considerations – economy, public safety, tourism industry, etc.
Announce border openings with no quarantine for vaccinated folks now. At least try to get the few stalkers to take the jab.
Still should make wp holders HAVE to vax!
Especially since they paid for it in the UK only for the muppets here to refuse to take it. I say if you haven’t taken it and you catch it you have to pay for your own health care or get none. I can’t see an insurer paying when the negligent idiot failed to get jabbed
Agreed. A definite reopening date Is what it’s going to take to get the reluctant over the line.
“And even if the sector can recruit as many as a 1,000 people locally, they will still need another 1,500 overseas workers.” I’m sorry – are there not 2,500 Caymanians that are out of jobs?!?!
2,500 Caymanians that will work in the industry?
Likely not!
There are at most 20,000 Caymanians in the labour force.
Even if 10% are currently unemployed, which I doubt there are not enough people to staff these positions and rightly or wrongly a large % of Caymanians have little to no interest in these jobs, especially the entry level ones.
You might want to double or triple work permit fees to see if that has any effect on wages and workforce composition but that is another argument.
I don’t know too many Caymanians prepared to work a job for less than $10/hr.
Since $10/hour is the poverty line, no foreign national should be permitted here to earn less than that anyway!
AND to be fair, Caymanians “should” always be given priority, but with the prices we charge in Cayman, we also HAVE to ensure first rate customer service and Caymanians aren’t there yet and can’t be in such a short time.
CITA has only had 30 years to provide the relevant training and opportunity. They have chosen not to.
The question of the day is: Are you personally willing to work a job for less than $10/hr and for how long?
You clearly seem to have all the answers. Work permit holders “roughing it” for 5+ years vs. Caymanians and long-time locals struggling for 10, 15, and 20+ years are not the same things, so don’t get it twisted.
Foreign work permit holders ALWAYS have a Plan B, period. Locals are struggling to make Plan A work, while being forced out of their only realistic option to survive.
Hire Caymanians plan before ANY border opening plan, then we can talk.
Don’t dish out what you can’t take back!
No, because I’m educated. But if I wasn’t educated and was unemployed I would take the $10/hr job and start there. Too many people think they can just get any job just because they are Caymanian. Start from the bottom and work your way up! Nothing in life is just handed to you on a silver platter unfortunately.
We should not employ expats at a rate in which Caymanians cannot survive and grow. This is the crux of the employment problem. 20 years ago when Caymanians could make a living wage, they could start out at the bottom and, with good performance, rise up to managerial levels. This was true in the dive/water sports industries and the hospitality/restaurants.
What happens when we find expats from a country so disenfranchised that they are willing to work for $4/hour? Do the business owners hire them and rejoice? You can bet your ass they would.
We MUST establish a minimum wage that is also a living wage for locals. This is the only thing that will WORC for employing Caymanians.
There will be no tourism as long as 11 to 15 day quarantining is a requirement. If it can be down to 3 to 5 days for vaccinated folks with a pre test & interim test pass results, possibly foreign tourism may be allowed to limp in . Vaccinated flight crews & pilots exempted from quarantine.
Vaccinated residents here allowed to leave a return with no quarantine requirement ( by all means test us as you want CIG, you are paying for it ).
Should a Covid positive vaccinated resident be allowed into your home and office without having quarantined and cleared the virus first?Just testing your thought process.
What are the odds of that happening? As opposed to say dying on our roads?
OK, should drunk drivers in big trucks be allowed on our roads? Chances are they wont hit you, right?
No quarantine for vaccinated people is the ONLY answer. Who wants to holiday in Cayman with a quarantine when every other island is open without a quarantine? Let’s be honest!!
Every other island has Covid in their community. Every other island has large numbers of locals benefiting from tourism. Every other island is a relative economic wasteland.
It is clear that CITA board are good people that care for the overall mental health and wellbeing of Caymanians.
They have worked hard to propose sound reopening plans based on science and real world data from other islands.
They have kept Cayman afloat during the last difficult 15 months by hiring Native Caymanians and offering the best possible staycations and restaurant experiences.
We all owe them a big debt of gratitude. The PACT Government is lucky to have them as partners in the safe reopening of our borders and healing of our economy.
Horse droppings on steroids!
What a troll… and definitely a foreigner
Cayman needs to protect its citizens especially children now.
Are children impacted by the virus
No. Only 55% of the estimated population have been fully vaccinated. That is far from heard immunity. So, no. We need to wait at least until the census has been completed in order to have accurate numbers in Oder to determine if heard immunity has been reached before we reopen borders.
Herd immunity is something that happens naturally, not through mass vaccinations.
The reason people like you should not post is that you know with absolute certainty that 55% is not herd immunity but have no clue what % is needed. You are clearly unqualified and a microphone for the current government.
You’re a fool. You would risk not having reached herd immunity based on you want to travel freely with no consideration to the vulnerable persons in our community (that includes ALL unvaccinated). It should be admired and applauded that the Caymanian people by and large have maintained covid free status and are not willing to let it ravage their people whatever their reasons for not being vaccinated. If you don’t like it you can go elsewhere.
One insult. No answer. Further proving 2:15’s point.
We do not have enough vaccine to reach 70% of the estimated population.
So what is the CIG plan and when will we get more vaccine so we can get to the 70% level?
SMH these guys are the worst…
They have no plan. Electing a new government in the middle of a pandemic, especially with one with almost zero experience was a huge mistake. Have you heard a peep from them since they got it? They have no idea what they are doing.
I would say less than no idea as what they are doing makes no sense and is actually harmful to Cayman in the long run.
It wouldn’t have to be a “new” government if the (one or two) “experienced” and qualified opposition members let go of their egos.
It would not have to be a ‘new’ government if the 2 experienced Members in Cabinet let go of their egos.