Plans for bigger cargo port call for dredging or relocation
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has taken the first step in the process to either expand the existing cargo port, which would involve dredging George Town Harbour, or create a new facility elsewhere. Minister Kenneth Bryan revealed Monday that a strategic outline case on the issue had been accepted by Cabinet. He said the current port is stretched and within ten years it will not be able to handle the expected level of imports, given the growing population, and the increasing size of cargo ships that will no longer be able to berth at the current dock.
Speaking at a press conference, where he also announced Cayman Airways’ relaunch of the Panama route and plans for the government to pull out of the beauty pageant business, Bryan said the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands was about to embark on a request for proposals for financial consultants to do the outline business case, which is the next step in the process to advise the government on the best options.
After outlining the capacity problems the port authority is facing and the reasons for the expansion or relocation, Bryan said the issues had already been identified during the last administration’s discussions on cruise berthing.
The previous port authority director had also consistently sounded the alarm about the difficulties with cargo, given the size of the dock and the increasing amount of imports. The PPM administration used this as one of the justifications for the development of cruise berthing.
However, campaigners who were opposed to those facilities had argued that cargo facilities did not have to be tied to cruise facilities. The activists behind the campaign secured enough signatures for a constitutionally mandated people’s referendum, but there was a legal battle over how the government had attempted to manipulate the national vote, which was followed by the COVID pandemic. As a result, the ballot has still not taken place.
The PACT government has said that it does not intend to hold a national vote because it does not intend to build a cruise dock. But if this project requires dredging and a new dock, which were the main objections to the cruise facility, this administration could find itself required to put the question of this proposed project to the people.
“Even though the country has decided not to move forward with the cruise facility, we still have the pending capacity problems with the cargo port that will become more acute over time,” Bryan said. “By starting this process now, the government is proactively attempting to gather all of the necessary information so that informed decisions can be made to resolve this pending problem.”
He said the strategic case had identified the main options and calls for an expansion or an alternate location which he said were included in the report that was expected to be made public on Tuesday. He also said that once the outline business case is underway, there will be a public consultation process.
Bryan recognised the likely controversy to come, but said it was about future food security. “We have got to feed our people,” he said.
The strategic outline case described the need to expand the dock outward into the water and dredge inside the harbour or to move it to an entirely new location, the minister explained. “I know this is going to be a very sensitive topic,” he said. “But the right thing to do is talk about it now so we understand this is no longer about cruise passengers; this is now about being able to feed our children, ourselves, our people.”
According to the minister, the public will have an opportunity to contribute to the discussion about this proposed facility. However, he said that the CIG needed to start the process now because it could take as long as ten years. Bryan said he did not want to be the minister who identified the problem but didn’t do anything about finding ways to address it.
Check back to CNS tomorrow for details of the strategic outline case.
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Category: development, Local News, Politics
The need for cruise ships and cargo ships is more than enough reason to build new facilities. Just do it already
Food security comes from the heartland. Not from importation. Can someone escort KB to Beacon Farms please?
Adding an additional cargo run remains inconceivable.
How about obtaining a few more barges like the ones that take cargo to the brac, offload containers from the larger cargo ships that come equipped with their own Crane to the barges while the dock is being utilized with other cargo vessels that normally come, after those vessels are discharged the remaining bulk can dock by barge. just a thought
It’s really too bad Cayman Islands can only do things third world still. Many developed countries and islands have solved these problems a long time ago.
Government has too many square pegs in round holes starting at the top of the Civil Service. It becomes very personal when those in top positions feel threatened by their progressive underlings, many of whom have worldwide experience and have been at the top of their game. Instead of showing leadership and valuing such persons and the talent they bring to the Civil Service, they undermine them and stymie them at the expense of the country.
Everyone wants their name as the leader of the latest white elephant, instead of being satisfied as a strategic stakeholder, and appointing the best qualified and experienced person to manage such an endeavour, they experiment by trying to do it themselves without the required skills and fail the country. Good example is the CCTV Project. What safeguards are being put in place to ensure there are no more white elephants by properly resourcing projects with the right expertise.?
Dear Anonymous at 2:22:
Take a look around you and take stock of the situation we’re all in. The wheels have fallen off and the car has gone over the cliff – not likely there are any survivors.
This ain’t my country by birth but please, I hope the good people of Cayman and GT in particular, have the sense to get rid of this clown at the next available opportunity. It must be apparent to 99% of the population that this guy is a chancer.
Kenny is a man of the people. He believes the people should be consulted on matters of national importance. In fact he usually asks for evidence that a controversial decision is supported by the public.
This seems a prime opportunity for the public to demand that Kenny and PACT add one more question to the upcoming Referendum before spending piles of money on a business case.
So Kenny please make some space on your billboard for the following-
“Do you support the relocation of the cargo port or the expansion of the cargo port?”
That should give you all the cover and authority to proceed either way and keep you in good standing with both the people and your handlers.
Yes to putting it to a referendum, no to proposing a binary option of relocation or expansion.
There should be other options, such as:
1. Radically reduce – or entirely stop – cruise tourism.
2. Double the minimum wage, and in so doing remove the low-end jobs in which the incumbents primarily create congestion while not contributing to the key industry which funds Cayman (financial services).
3. Build a monorail/light rail system across the island, with a view to replacing car use entirely in the long term.
WASTIN DAYS AND WASTIN NIGHTS…………..Kenny must be stopped at all cost. what an embarrassment!
Kenny is the next Mac. Sadly, with his majority, he’ll be with us until he retires, or goes to prison, again.
How about we put the brakes on growing the population!? Too many people on the island!
Don’t worry. The imminent collapse of the construction industry will empty our apartments and roads quicker than Covid.
Sadly, work permit holders do not return home when the industry they came to serve collapses. They just move on to another industry, at much lower pay if necessary, because they are still earning more here (even if by illegal means) than they would by returning home.
I sense no evidence to support your statement. I for one think you are 100% incorrect. But, if you are correct it would catastrophic for Cayman, while good for the environment.
What’s the basis for the belief that the construction industry will collapse? Thanks!
Easy. The native workforce.
Sorry but can’t wait.
Another sound bite from Kenny G, that ain’t going anywhere! Every few weeks they come out with some foolishness to try to remain relevant. They will be Voted out before this and all the other dream up stuff gets off the ground.
Singapore is the model country for managing population and infrastructure. Why not hire consultants from a country that is excelling with a growing population?
Imagine logical roads and modern public transit, effective punishment for littering and beautiful night lighting.
Dream big, and aim high.
Japan
Cayman is not Singapore! They have tremendous resources, investment, and most importantly a government that actually functions. Cayman cannot in any shape or form think it’s way out of a paper bag.
Yes, this point is well made. See also:
“Plenty of comparisons have been done with Bermuda. What can be learned from Singapore? They have a significantly greater population density and continue to grow rapidly. What is their success formula?
Cayman Population- 78,554 (2021 Wikipedia)
Total area- 264 km sq
Density- 244/km sq
Singapore Population- 5,637,000 (2022 est Wikipedia)
Total area- 733.1 km sq
Density- 7804/km sq !
If we do what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always got.
It was about 100 years ago when the population density of Singapore was similar to what it is in Cayman today.
What has Singapore done to maintain a functioning and efficient society in the past 100 years as it has grown to the incredible density it is today.
What can one learn from the island nation?
What blocks (inner and outer) did they have to work through to open up the creative and enduring solutions?
Did they become masters of road building?
Were they astute master planners of neighborhoods and districts?
Were they visionary in their public transportation initiatives?
Who were their leaders? What were their backgrounds?
Where along their journey did they learn and practise radical acceptance of what is and what will be?
What is the long term vision for Cayman? Thinking beyond the election cycle. 1, 2, 3 generations out.”
https://caymannewsservice.com/2023/02/report-shows-traffic-volume-doesnt-justify-ewa/comment-page-1/#comment-581682
Excellent point re. Singapore criminal justice. It is an exemplar to the world. For example:
“Singapore’s crime rate is so low that many shops don’t even lock up. …In 2016, the island nation’s police reported 135 total days without any crimes including snatch-theft, house break-ins and robbery.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/16/singapores-crime-rate-is-so-low-that-many-shops-dont-even-lock-up.html
Singapore is what happens when smart, ethical, and unpolitically correct technocrats are given power. A nation is not great by it’s size alone. Through education and discipline, some tiny nations can punch well above their weight. Singapore is a fantastic place, safe, clean, based on rule of law, and I really wish my country was more like it.
Recently, both British businessman Richard Branson (Virgin) and the European Union harshly criticized Singapore for executing several drug dealers. The answer from the Singaporean Government were splendid:
“Response to Sir Richard Branson (Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Mr Branson is entitled to his opinions.
These opinions may be widely held in the UK, but we do not accept that Mr Branson or others in the West are entitled to impose their values on other societies. Nor do we believe that a country that prosecuted two wars in China in the 19th century to force the Chinese to accept opium imports has any moral right to lecture Asians on drugs.
Our policies on drugs and the death penalty derive from our own experience. We are satisfied – as are the overwhelming majority of Singaporeans – that they work for us.
Nothing we have seen in the UK or in the West persuades us that adopting a permissive attitude towards drugs and a tolerant position on drug trafficking will increase human happiness. Where drug addiction is concerned, things have steadily worsened in the UK, while things have steadily improved in Singapore.”
https://www.mha.gov.sg/mediaroom/press-releases/ministry-of-home-affairs-response-to-sir-richard-branson-blog-post-on-10-october-2022/
“Interview with Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law
The European Union has an ideological focus on the death penalty, but I would like to ask them if they have a better solution. The chief of the largest police union in Netherlands says that Netherlands is effectively a narco state. What about the people who die of drugs? The gang violence in Sweden is such that it has become a major elections issue. 257 bombings. Nobody talks about this. What about the victims of the crime?
So, when the European Union is able to tell us there is a better solution, we will listen. (…)
If we had a policy where we said that there will be no execution if a country campaigned, the policy won’t work, and the only people who would be executed would be Singaporeans. No country can apply its laws in that way. So, we make it absolutely clear to everyone that lobbying and pressure does not work with the Singapore Government. The law applies equally whether you are rich or poor, or whether you are a foreigner or local. The law applies, and that is the only way that it can work.
And for a concrete example of that, we are now going back to the Clinton Presidency – an 18-year-old was sentenced to caning for vandalism. Tremendous media interest in the United States. Pressure by President Clinton, request by the US Government on Singapore.
We said no, the sentence would be carried out. It is not workable to have our laws apply differently for different people.
Malaysia knows that. Every country has a political duty to appeal on behalf of its citizens. As long as the law, and they receive fair trial – the sentence whether it’s caning, or imprisonment, or anything else, would be carried out.
That is our position.
Coming back, I do want to make this point. It may be a matter of interest for you, it may not be an article, but we make a distinction in our drug policy between drug abusers and drug traffickers. Drug abusers – it’s a crime but they’re not treated as criminals anymore. They are put into a rehabilitation centre, and they are given intense, focused assistance, psychological as well as psychiatric. They are treated as people who need medical help, the family, the community, religious organisations are brought in. So it’s a very intense effort for each individual, and they are given education if they are halfway through their schooling. They are given training if they are in the job market.
When they come out, we try and find them jobs. So that applies to all who abuse and have not committed any other crime. So, we have moved from treating it solely as a crime to placing a lot more emphasis on rehabilitation.
But we are very tough on traffickers, simply because we consider it as cynical crime, and we want the message out very clearly, that we don’t want to become like Western Europe.
We don’t want to become like most of the Western cities.
We certainly don’t want to become like many cities in Southeast Asia.
Singapore is clean, crime-free effectively, safe, and the only way it can remain that way is that we are tough on drug traffickers.”
https://www.mha.gov.sg/mediaroom/speeches/transcript-of-sydney-morning-herald-interview-with-mr-k-shanmugam-on-15-september-2022/
BRAVO!
This ^^^^^^
So they don’t have any Jamaicans there..?
I agree that the population has grown without the necessary infrastructure in place to sustain such growth, whilst Caymanians seem to benefit the least overall.
The drawback to exponential growth is that there will be less government fees collected. This is not a bad thing, depending how it’s managed.
We need to provide for what we have before further expansion hits us like a runaway freight train.
Those who benefit the most here are those who work and sacrifice the most which includes most Caymanians. The Caymanians that are not benefited by this society are those who would not do good anywhere and all areas of the earth has their fair share. Right now all those who work hard are paying for those who do not and without our help they would not survive. If your one of those give thanks for those who pay the taxes, work permit fees, and duties that CIG uses to keep you alive. Without that what do you have?
Premier Wayne has lost all control over Kenny. The whole PACT administration is a sham. A bunch of independents with no Cabinet experience (except for Wayne and now John John, Lord help us), and here we have Kenny talking about food security to scare monger? What a mess. I wonder how much longer we are going to have to entertain this mess and watch the Cayman Islands be destroyed by people who are so power hungry that they put their own interests before the good of the country and its people.
This cobbled together government is Wayne’s biggest nightmare. By now I guess he has realized that keeping this bunch of big egos together is harder than recruiting them. I suppose they all benefitted from his money and now they have no respect for him. They are not interested in working as a group, instead each one is doing their own thing. It’s not about Wayne, not about we the people, not about our Beloved aisles Cayman – just about them. So sad.
ISLES
Problem is the PPM ain’t any better and they are sharpening their tools and inking their pens- don’t be foooled
i beg to differ,
Beg all you want. PPM are not for we the people but themselves only.
How is talking about food scarcity or food security trying “scare monger”?
Would you prefer we keep in our head in the sand and don’t plan for growth and hard times? I’m confused.
Food security has nothing to do with needing to move the port or do more dredging. You are trying to put the two together when there is barely any connection. Don’t try to fool us. If food scarcity was really an issue we would once and for all put focus on sustainably developing our agriculture base instead of continuing to ignore our farmers.
lol exactly. Food security is incredibly important for Cayman.nWe are screwed if other countries decide to redirect their resources in a crisis.
‘Bryan recognised the likely controversy to come, but said it was about future food security.’
“We have got to feed our people,” ‘he said.’
What horseshit you trying to shovel down our thrusts, boy? Such a scare tactic isn’t how you go about getting support for such projects.
No one here is going to be starving. Drowning one day, sure (but not during our lifetime, so don’t be scared about that) .
Anyway Kenneth, try to keep from making such grifty type comments.
Thank you very much.
feeding our people Thats a good one. Most of what was farmland and pasture is now under cement and more being covered up every day.
He should worry about food security now that the price of food is so high that we cannot afford to eat healthy. I wish he would stop with his scaremongering and hyped up bylines. He should also collaborate with his Minister of Agriculture to enhance growing local food to help alleviate “food scarcity”. Oh sorry that would take more than two brain cells – guess that won’t help either.
Fix the damn dump!
You mean GTC..?
Please, please will a young, educated Caymanian start a politic movement here based on integrity and forward thinking so the corrupt, criminal, disingenuous idiots can be ousted from their possession of power which seemingly only exist right now to serve their puppet masters.
To save the future of these beautiful, wonderful islands there has to be a positive change soon. At present the car is hurtling towards the edge of the cliff with no one who truly cares about the Caymanian community as a whole at the wheel.
The corrupt business community will simply pick them off by bribing and enticing them with cash… one by one! That’s what happens with every political group that is formed here.
Please bear in mind, if you are of good character, intelligent, brilliant and honest there is no place for you in politics in the Cayman Islands. Those of influence and wealth wants you to do their bidding and the downtrodden, illiterate and uninformed only want a lil handout. The rest of us have the shackles of a civil service job or other such restraints that deem us unable to speak out. However please bear in mind that voting is still a personal exercise that we must avail ourselves of every four years. It is a long wait but worth waiting for.
A select group of wealthy families and business people call the shots. I suspect anyone that tries to remain true to the country and doesn’t play ball will simply blocked from getting anywhere near the trough.
8.17am And the Jaymanians who now have the majority vote will not want them as there will be no more “wha me can get”.
Dredging. If absolutely required, the volume and thus environmental damage will be the least at the current location of the cargo dock. Anywhere else would be monumentally catastrophic to the reef and lagoon at proposed sites, where far greater volumes would need to be dredged. Better still, slow down the population growth instead. (that’s really the topic we should be working on as hard or harder than any other right now). Population growth may be how we currently increase income, but the need it creates for expensive infrastructure (and environmental loss) seems to be more than off-setting the gains, requiring more expats, requiring more infrastructure and so this dirty snowball gains momentum as it races downhill to our eventual environmental and Caymankind demise. Please look 20, 40, 60 years ahead to see the folly of our current growth strategy and find the offramp now while we still have half an island and half of our sanity left to save. Traffic is only the most obvious symptom of the many woes that rapid population growth has already brought us, but the worst is yet to come. It doesn’t require Arthur C. Clark to predict what this future has in store for us. We now have data and computers to help us do that. See Hong Kong for an example of where this is going. At least tell us that you (CIG) are aware of the problem and looking for solutions rather than hitting the gas pedal on growth, please! So far all we hear is that you’ve acquiesced to runaway growth and have accepted it as our only option. Find any way other than taxing Caymanians please.
Andre Ebanks and Chris Saunders want the population to keep growing (just like Alden McLaughlin did too).
This is the wrong government (just like the last) to talk any sense to, but Caymanians will suffer for it.
Wait until the next election when there will be a real alternative with a new crop candidates. The same old, same old same old just won’t do.
We never get what we thought we voted for. New boss same as the old boss
You do need a plan to control growth and develop infrastructure. There just doesn’t seem to be any way to achieve that while your politicians are drawn from such a shallow pool, and are therefore almost without exception useless.
Allow expats to run for office. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to vote for them – what are you afraid of? Competence?
What are you so eager for?
Eradication of ‘Caymanian as of right’ representatives in Parliament?
Is transplanting status grantees, who are in continuously rising numbers, in strategically placed constituencies your end goal ?
Except Alden was not trying to turn us into Jamaica like Saunders is .
No. He was trying to turn us into the Dubai of the Caribbean.
we also need to be much more selective on whose work permit gets renewed over and over until we are bound by the laws to grant PR and status. PR and Status should never be the natural evolution of any /all work permits but should be Intentionally based on merit and worthy criteria.
George Town dock to the Cargo Centre is less than one mile in a straight line. A small, elevated, and automated, monorail track between the two would cost much less than a new dock built anywhere else in Cayman.
If this proof of concept works to move containers between the two locations, then it could be expanded to move people around heavily congested areas as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metromover
@2:11 what are you smoking?
The port is underutilized and will be so for the forseeable future. He is just making stuff up.
Has anyone asked the Port Director his opinion?
I would seek and value Joey Wood, the former Port director’s opinion.
Current port director would have to seek his UDPact masters view on the matter.
Suffice it to say that yes, we have been here before.
Suffice it to say that once again the illicitly bought and illegitimately paid for ulterior motives of those who wield both power and/or influence is at play and is once again being surreptitiously used as a weapon to force an agenda of highly suspect motivations.
Suffice it to say that if the ill-conceived concept of moving the port’s location is allowed to go ahead that said move will incur far more dredging and habitat destruction than improving the port at its present location ever could and/or would. It is said that wisdom is to work with what you have, and Hog Sty Bay is what we have to work with.
There is a valid reason why the port is situated where it is, and that is because it is the most sensible location, and the logic of that knowledge has been gained by the lessons of experience. Those lessons were learned the hard way centuries ago, as is elucidated for instance by the history of Old Prospect.
The port is on the lee side of the island, as it should be and remain so.
There are those who must either be suffering from some form of a self-serving greed induced lunacy or are wallowing in an abundance of ignorance so pervasive that it allows them to continue to seek to push for a new port to be placed on various locations on the Southern coast of Grand Cayman or even the North Sound. It is quite simply asinine and idiotic to even entertain these ideas, all things considered, as viable alternatives.
Hog Sty Bay is and has been sited as the major port in Grand Cayman because it makes sense.
Unless and/or until the wind and weather patterns in our region do a complete 180% shift, this simple fact shall remain reality into perpetuity.
As it pertains to the need to improve Grand Cayman’s coastal port facilities in situ, well, there is a valid argument which is worthy to be investigated as potentially beneficial and/or necessary as it pertains to Cayman’s trajectory in the medium and long term future.
However, and as it is now, there are questions and concerns regarding not only the present day trajectory of but also the future trajectory of the Cayman Island’s in its and our collective entirety which thus far have not been approached in a holistic, collectively beneficial and/or realistic manner.
There are cause and effect factors which are not now, nor have they been in the past, recognized nor addressed in any meaningful way. The very pertinent question of who actually controls the trajectory of the Cayman Islands, and whether or not they have a legitimate right to wield that influence in the first place, is one which is the proverbial can kicked down the road for the political and privatized expediencies of a few at the expense of all and sundry. It is exactly this, and the inevitable negative consequences which arise as a result, which is the reason why these issues are now so acute, disruptive and divisive.
Beyond this constant back and forth of one lobbyist group constantly and consistently at each other’s throats in a process of complete and utter discombobulation which sees good sense and the truth itself being thrown off of the metaphorical cliff along with the baby in the bath water in order for this agenda and/or that agenda to be fulfilled, all within a successive system of governmental maladministration/s which regardless of hollow rhetoric to the contrary is now and has been as transparent as a bucket of moist marl, the wellbeing and the interests of the Cayman Islands and all of her people are not now, nor have they been, served either adequately or acceptably.
The question is not whether or not Grand Cayman’s port facilities will need to be improved now or in the future. That is a given and one does not need the disingenuous self-aggrandizing pontification of others to recognize that reality. The question is can and/or will there come a time when the collective wellbeing and interests of the Cayman Islands and all of her people is the real and actual cornerstone of consideration for any and/or all decision making processes, and whether or not those decision making processes need to changed in order to reflect and to speak for the will of the people themselves/ourselves.
As it stands in the Cayman of today, one can see the need for these questions to be recognized, addressed and rectified first and foremost. Otherwise, one cannot expect anything other than a continuation of debacles, fiascos and scandals as the status quo.
Kenny will announce the cargo route with Haiti next. The product is not going to move itself.
Move the dock, the town infrastructure can support a port there and semis going in and out. Don’t make the same mistake as the airport
Agreed! Move the dock. This will also help with the revitalisation efforts.
low blow. Stating this will impact the food supply? Let’s look at the reality here. It will impact the development supply chain the most. Okay. let’s leave all domestic product and toiletry supply at Hog Sty Bay and move any building supplies and development to another port location. Then the public will see the truth. No Dredging.
The North Sound is the only place that makes sense.
sounds like the real problem is the out of control population growth. Now we are to destroy the very essence of Cayman to accommodate expats who feel entitled to this land through a work permit! trim the population, get a handle on all this out of control development and insane traffic. what is to become of the children born here? this is not Jamaica where we export our people to send back financial assistance or anywhere else for that matter! most of the people here never even drove a car before they got here, so sick of hearing negativity about Cayman. Go back to your moms basement!
Imagine this mindset was followed years ago. Its antiquated and an impediment to improvement and modernization.
“most of the people here never even drove a car before they got here, ”
LOL
Expats built Cayman. The truth may hurt, but it’s still the truth.
See Freyer, Tony, and Andrew P. Morriss. “Creating Cayman as an offshore financial center: structure & strategy since 1960.” Ariz. St. LJ 45 (2013): 1297. https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/23.
That said, you do need a plan to control growth and develop infrastructure. There just doesn’t seem to be any way to achieve that while your politicians are drawn from such a shallow pool, and are therefore almost without exception useless.
Allow expats to run for office? If you don’t like them, you don’t have to vote for them – what are you afraid of? Competence?
Well, well if it isn’t a cruise port it’s a cargo port. Some people seem bizarrely over invested in the idea. I wonder why.
10.12 Kenny’s mentor will have told him all about how generous the Chinese can be if you do business with them.
I can smell CHEC waiting to pounce and be our “saviors” as soon as UDPact set the stage.
It’s always been about the dredging in the Marine Park. Every government seems to want to try to accept irreversible damage for some undisclosed business case and payout, so that FCCA cruise liners can explain that dredging has precedent, and that harbour is already at depth for their pier extension. Nothing new here, just a different conflicted blowhole.
The PPM government changed the rules in this area, it is no longer a Marine Park but under the Port Authority’s jurisdiction. It was a very interesting move right around the time that all of the cruise port debate was happening.
2.38 Look at the Port authority board and be afraid.
Alden’s rules. Alden needs to hibernate at his EE farm and not show himself again in public.
Didn’t we just go through the whole contentious debate about a new port in GT, with the majority of citizens and residents concluding that the environmental costs of doing so would be too much for the country to bare? Did we not just debate this foolishness a few short years ago? Didn’t we conclude that any dredging in Hog Sty Bay would result in silt and debris that would kill any coral life in the harbor, and potentially kill coral and marine life throughout the western and southern sides of the island? Didn’t we determine that a new port in town would be the death knell for the diving industry? Did we not just narrowly avoid becoming indebted to the cruise lines, taking on massive debt to build a port just before COVID put an almost 3 year halt to cruise ship travel? Did we not just conclude that building a port in GT to accommodate bigger and bigger ships was not sustainable, too expensive, unwanted, unnecessary, and the environmental impact too severe? Did we not just listen to the cruise lines lie to us about being able to regrow coral (HA!) and that Seven Mile Beach would not suffer from more erosion as a result of the project? Did we not just watch government try to intimidate our Caymanian public servants so they would not take sides in the debate over the referendum or the port project? That Caymanians should not comment on major issues that would significantly impact their own country for generations to come?? Did we not just put this garbage to bed? Well, I tell you what, if you think the public are too stupid or too afraid to fight this fight again, bring it on.
No we didn’t. Hold the referendum or start dredging.
Same thing just worded differently to confuse the sheep.
I think the phrase is p*ssing on the people and telling us it’s raining.
Besides, we have to be mindful of the profits of the tender business. Expanding the dock could treaten that.
Adapt and overcome, bobo
Amen! well said… dredging for a cruise port is NO different than dredging for a cruise port PERIOD!! clearly the $$$ are flowing again😡
Repeat, repeat…
Give Kenny another 8 to 10 trips overseas and I bet he will come back with ideas on how cargo can be moved more efficiently from ship to shore.
Saw him at the airport a short time ago, funnily enough.
It’s ironic that we have been saddled with Kenneth because the voters rejected Marco – who was the only elected politician I can remember who was both competent and honest.
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold”.
Prov. 22:1 NIV
Please bring back Marco! Brains, class and intelligence.
8.40am U forgot Ezzard.
Neither of the above.
Wow! Kenny the high-school dropout, former drug dealer who has never had a real job except as a brief “reporter” certainly has some major national issues on his plate….
E/W Arterial highway, horiffic transport and traffic problems, Miss Cayman fiasco and now he’s taking on a new port??
Let’s see how these all work out! Go Kenny!
Just look at who is behind him pulling all his strings and check out who is on the port board and it all leads to ???.
Who? There is no better disinfectant than sunlight.
CMR/ Sandy certainly exposed the goings on of one particular port board member, but nothing done about it.
Don’t hold your breath, these same people and even worse will be running for office in the next elections to Jamaican us all.
A former MLA.
How exactly are local road transport, cargo ports or Miss Cayman even within the Ministry of Tourisms remit?
Plainly in it for himself and at the same time destroying the heartland. What has he done for ‘his people’ except keep them paid off 😡.
What is he doing about the social issues he campaigned for…
-To build or acquire 50 two-bedroom apartments to address the needs of people requiring temporary housing assistance.
-Provide free basic healthcare service for children.
-Increase the benefits provided for seafarers to $1,000 per month.
-Introduce legislation that stipulates that the positions of Chief Immigration Officer and Chief Fire Officer be only filled by Caymanians.
-Increase the amount that people can withdraw from pensions to pay off their mortgages from $35,000 to $50,000.
-Create a National Flood Management Plan.
-Implement a five-year strategic plan to select and train young Caymanians to take up certain senior positions in the Civil Service, Statutory Authorities, and Government-owned companies.
-Establish a Select Parliamentary Committee to review the Advisory District Councils Law, 2011 to ensure compliance with the Cayman Islands Constitution.
Increase the amount that people can withdraw from pensions to pay off their mortgages from $35,000 to $50,000.
People with $50K left in their pensions are not the ones with problems.
Implement a five-year strategic plan to select and train young Caymanians to take up certain senior positions in the Civil Service, Statutory Authorities, and Government-owned companies.
The key here is the word “select”. Once you take control of the selection process there is really no need for training. Unless, by “training” you mean overseas trips.
Wait to see the alternate location and then you will know who is the money behind this brainstorm.
Breakers has been floated for a long time, nothing new.
Breakers is a terrible idea, extremely exposed and would require massive engineering and monumental environmental destruction.
I mean the clue is right there in the name, but stupid is as stupid does.
Yep that’s why they want the EWA extension so the coastal road can be cut by the new channel going into the quarries.
Doubt that. Where are you getting your information from? That idea was shot down a long time ago. If that were to have gone forward, it would have brought storm surge far inland, which would have been self-sabotage.
Somewhere in the eastern districts might be a better place for a cargo port. There is no need to have the cargo port in GT.
Let the Breakers land owner partner with a marine engineering company and do the port.
Come to a lease to buy arrangement with government who will calculate cargo and port duty to cover the lease cost.
Import and transport costs will of course go up, and so will the cost of living, but the environmentalists will have solved one problem at a great cost to the rest of us.
Not on the same terms as previously proposed, but it could be set out differently to work.
Such silliness and corruption!
Why market after penny pushing cruise line passengers instead of marketing to stay over hotel stay tourists.
If Cayman wants high volume high value clientele then build a quality 5 star casino on the Kaboo grounds.
Make far more money and don’t destroy the island natural beauty.
Completely agree. Cruise ships ain’t where it’s at.
*Cracks knuckles* Ok, so these fools seem to think we are the ones who are stupid and have short memories. Time to dust of the old referendum me thinks. PACT I voted for you because I thought you would put and end to this foolishness. But you are just as bad as those who were in power before you. The people of Cayman don’t want this. I highly doubt the cargo port is really at full capacity. More likely its working efficiently. Clean out ya yard before suggesting such foolishness.
Nobody voted for PACT. You voted for an independent who later formed PACT with some others to form Government. And took onboard Mac Bush to make it happen. No cohesive plan. No cohesive team. How is that working out for Cayman?
As long as you remember that was also the case for PPM for their two terms prior as well.
Because I recall PPM making that point over and over that they were elected on the platform to build the cruise port.
This comment is SPOT ON. Power by any means necessary, even to the detriment of the people.
8:23 Ohh I am fully aware I had to vote for an individual but I voted in the hope that the individual i voted for would be able to form part of a coalition that was more environmentally minded. I was left disappointed.
Baird Report on the Port relayed CI Port was operating at 80% of peak capacity until 2040. Under utilisation means there’s room to go, and growth is not limitless or even desirable. There were some concrete repairs that were suggested, that’s about it. Renewed attempts to suggest there is a capacity crisis now is motivated by something other than facts.
How about forgetting about increasing the population, building more hotels and inviting more and more cruise ships and start with building the infrastructure. Cayman cannot take any more traffic and adding another stretch out east won’t help because at the end of the day everyone is heading for GT and the WB Road. It’s already a b…..
nightmare getting to work and home again and we don’t need any more people clogging up the system.
I would hazard a guess that not one of the shipping lines that advice here have intentions of increasing the size of future vessels.
The idea is that Cayman cuts out the Jamaican ports altogether and becomes a host for the larger ships running from Miami to Colombia, but mainly the profitable Colombia–>Dominican Republic route than terminates just short of the USA customs agents. Twisted Cayman politicians have been dreaming of this for years. It has nothing to do with capacity at the port. It’s about port depth to qualify for the contraband trade route.
‘Bryan recognised the likely controversy to come, but said it was about future food security.’
“We have got to feed our people,” ‘he said.’
🤣
What horseshit you trying to shovel down our thrusts, boy? Such a scare tactic isn’t how you go about getting support for such projects.
No one here is going to be starving. Drowning one day, sure (but not during our lifetime, so don’t be scared about that) .
Anyway Kenneth, try to keep from making such grifty type comments. Thanks.
Easy solution to this one: finish the dredging in the North Sound and move the cargo port to Industrial Park. Move the fuel terminals from South Church Street at the same time. Then turn the existing cargo dock in town into a mega yacht marina.
You want cargo and bulk ships going through the cut?
After Kenny has solved the local transportation problems, which should be completed in a couple more days, he can turn his focus to international transportation.
With air transport already resolved with the Panama flights, he can now turn his attention to purchasing a fleet of ships (electric perhaps?) so that government will no longer be dependent on the private sector to bring food in for “his” people.
🤣
How dare he ,” this is about feeding our children,our people”. We see through your BS. You think everyone fool fool or wha. Igit.
Maybe Portsmouth Football Club will build it for us.
Food security???? If government was so worried about food security why did they paved the farm land in East End? The mental facility could have went somewhere where good farm land didn’t to be paved over. We said no to cruise ships due to the damages it would create to the environment. If the new bigger cargo ships are going to do the same damages, what difference it will make? When the beaches, reefs and fish are all gone do you think cayman will be attractive place to visit?
“But the right thing to do is talk about it now so we understand this is no longer about cruise passengers; this is now about being able to feed our children, ourselves, our people.”
So Kenny removed himself from the quasi role of Moses and now assuming that of the Messiah to feed the 5,000, – pretty much on brand for our Tourism Minister 🐟🍞
When does CIG ever plan 10 years into the future? More likely that the pro cruise port contractors are expecting to see a return on the money that got put into somebody’s pocket.
Would cutting back cruise tourism help the cargo port operations? Most probably….
“He said the current port is stretched and within ten years it will not be able to handle the expected level of imports, given the growing population”. Perhaps we should curtail growth as opposed to expand the port. I guess greed takes that option off the table.
Perhaps stop having children?
And stop bringing in people with kids who pack up our schools, get Status and then most of the Scholarships.
Prove it.
Maybe those children actually study, work hard, are willing to learn and deserve scholarships.
The Chinese govt tried that strategy and now are paying for it, literally. We should learn from their mistake.
Uh.. you do realize that humans, well, multiply and all?
Happy Walentines day – make sure you pull out according to 7:31 pm.
No Mr Bryan it’s not about feeding our people it’s about feeding all the expats who have come here by the thousands and now we have to dig up our Harbour to account
Irate then while they pay no income tax or property tax and life the life of Riley. Perhaps it’s time to implement policies that will reduce our population to a reasonable manageable level. Case in point TRAFFIC! Time
To decide what we want to become and stick with the plan. Our plans moving forward must be to educate and upskill Caymanians so we have a solid reliable local Labour pool. Many won’t like this but … that’s life
Actually, many would love what you say. I believe Alden’s colossal schools were going to solve the problem.
9.45, you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
Schools are fine, but parental guidance and encouragement is what’s missing.
👏
you realize that all the work permit fees pay for your welfare…i mean government job you probably have
Too many simpletons pushing to FAFO again. Is economics not taught in public schools here?
The expats who come here do so because Caymanians allow them to in accordance with laws written by Caymanians voted for by Caymanians and for the most part to work for Caymanians. We’ll just ignore the fact that every single Caymanian is or is descended from expats themselves. You could deal with a large swathe of the traffic like every single developed or developing place on earth; with public transport, but this apparently is too hard for the criminals and dimwits Caymanians regularly and repeatedly elect. As for education, well yes you’d think you’d get some return by now for what is already the most expensive education budget per pupil on the planet (bar Luxembourg).
Dear lord please send us someone else to run in GT Central
Y’all had Marco but you wanted the clown show instead
Alden chickened out running against KB in GTC. That’s why Marco lost. It should have been Alden.
Remember Alden was to run against Marco but he switched with Kenny as as he knew he would lose. Yep Sir Alden’s move.
You are wrong. Alden and Marco were in the PPM together between 2013 to 2017, and were never going to run against each other for GTC in 2017. You are so off base, it’s embarrassing.
Then, in the 2017 election, when single member constituencies were introduced, Alden, who was supposed to run against Kenneth in GTC, did a “switcharoo” where with Marco.
Watch this space, I hear they are falling over themselves to run against our little Lord Fauntleroy in GTC!
Going to be a lot of top-ups handled out in GTC between now and the next election then…