EWA concerns are legitimate, says premier
(CNS): The East-West Arterial Road extension is an emotive issue and there are legitimate concerns about the potential impact of this road on the environment and cultural heritage, Premier Wayne Panton has said. He told CNS that his goal remains to preserve the integrity of the central wetlands, but many people living in the Eastern Districts whose quality of life is impacted by the traffic congestion have legitimate reasons to want to see it completed.
The road is polarizing the community because of fears it will open the area to development that will fragment and eventually destroy this critical habitat. Panton has said that he wants to protect the area, which is the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the Caribbean, and that the wetlands cannot be valued just on their potential for development.
“Historically, leaving land in its natural state didn’t have a significant attributed economic value,” he said this week in response to CNS questions. “Today, with nature capital accounts and carbon credit markets, it is possible to attribute significant economic value, which then allows an appropriate comparison of opportunity cost. We now have a clear and better understanding of the ecological value of land in its natural vegetated state.”
Those opposing the road are objecting to the direct threat it poses to the wetlands, as more than 174 acres are expected to be lost through the construction of the six-lane highway. But the real concern for many local environmentalists is the access it will give to the dry land scattered throughout the wetland interior, especially since it is unlikely to resolve growing congestion on the roads of Grand Cayman.
Planning Minister Jay Ebanks has stated on more than one occasion that building the road to Frank Sound will not eliminate the traffic congestion, which is largely fuelled by bottlenecks and pinch-points around George Town, and the real reason for the road is to allow new development, especially of less expensive homes and subdivisions.
The premier has also admitted that given the scale of Grand Cayman’s growing traffic jams, this highway is not a panacea.
“The road itself is not going to be the full solution,” he said. “We know that what is going to happen is that traffic is going to be able to move faster from the Eastern Districts and get down closer to town, but then it will pile up in the pinch-points from the Grand Harbour area… It is not a panacea or a full solution.”
Panton said he believes the traffic problem will only be resolved through the rollout of an integrated, comprehensive, efficient public transport system.
The PACT Government nevertheless remains committed to the road project. Panton said there are many Cayman Islands residents keen to see the road completed and that “sustainability is a balance between people, planet and prosperity”. He said that could be achieved through innovative design and public participation and through the environmental impact assessment process.
However, local activists believe that once the road goes through this sensitive and critically important habitat, the fragmentation will begin and will be hard to stop. With that will come the loss of the eco-services the area provides, from creating rain to sequestering carbon.
The potential for additional development in the Central Mangrove Wetlands is supported not just by the planning minister, the tourism minister Kenneth Bryan and the former deputy premier, Chris Saunders, but also by many of the islands’ influential and wealthy developers who have not yet embraced the value of land in its natural state.
But this week, Panton reaffirmed that his goal was still to protect the integrity of the central wetlands, saying that the area is invaluable. He told CNS that all future development here should be sustainable and “without a doubt” offer a long-term benefit to the Caymanian people.
“We need to be satisfied that the social implications, the economic impacts, and the environmental effects have been taken into consideration equally,” he said, adding that it would be a mistake not to plan properly in relation to any development in this area.
“Too many of the crises we are faced with today are the result of prioritising short-term economic gain over long-term prosperity. It would be a mistake to let history repeat itself by once again choosing a piecemeal, incremental and reactionary approach to our physical development,” he warned. “New paradigms exist where the natural environment can be preserved and still provide monetary value for landowners and the country as a whole.”
Panton said Cayman could be an ideal location to develop a platform for the creation of an exchange market where carbon credits and sequestering services could be traded. “We have the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the Caribbean, and we can put a value on that other than working out what the opportunity cost is for developing or not developing,” the premier added.
Panton’s sustainability ministry and the ministry of planning are working collaboratively to determine how best to expeditiously move forward on the National Development Plan, which will be an important governance tool over the potential of future development in the wetland area.
Work on revising the existing but outdated plan has been slow, and Panton recently stated that it had been delayed again. But once complete, the revised plan will lay out how, what and where development occurs.
Panton explained to CNS that it would need to ensure an integrated approach across the many policies it will coexist with, including the Climate Change Policy, the updated National Energy Policy, the Disability Policy, the Food Security Policy, and the National Tourism Policy.
He also recently stated that the work that has been done on PlanCayman by the previous administration was not as advanced as has often been claimed. “The opposition has consistently suggested that the PlanCayman work they had done… was something that could be easily adopted… The advice I have is that this is not the case,” he said when he appeared on Radio Cayman Monday.
He explained the work done so far would not make a material difference, so what is required is to take the best of it and then take a more “planned and thoughtful approach to development” that will be sustainable. “We got here through ad hoc decisions, and we have to be deliberate now on how we move forward,” the premier said.
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Category: development, Local News, Politics
How about we stop everyone who moves here, from importing a vehicle?! Let them take the “new public transport” when its functioning. This mess we find ourselves in all boils down to TOO MANY PEOPLE.
Pray tell, when will the “new public transport” be functioning?
When hell freezes over
You too, bobo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forked_tongue#:~:text=The%20phrase%20%22speaks%20with%20a,act%20in%20a%20duplicitous%20manner.
Who would want to be the Chairman of the NRA Board or even on the Board. They do not know what they are doing! A poison chalice if ever there was one!
Our Cabinets can’t seem to hire the urban designers, architects, engineers, and other infrastructure professionals, because they either seem unaware that these vocations exist, or simply want to hand their buddy the unmolested billing contract. Similarly, they can’t log onto SmartRecruiters and hire the same people that Dart HR will pay themselves double or triple to hire. It’s called ineptitude, and it needs to stop. Competent people of Cayman don’t have to necessarily sully themselves by running for office, but they do need to say something when they can see the decision tree being unnaturally or entirely de-limbed.
I only use my car for groceries, else I’m on an electric motorcycle. Up the fees for people driving massive SUVs/trucks alone in traffic, and drop fees on 2 wheel transport.
I legally filter right on by cars stuck at 2 mph, and I only use a ~2 cents of electricity per mile. I’ve saved almost $100 KYD in gas this month using the motorcycle instead of the car to get to work.
Bonus points? I can charge it at work !! 🙂 wa gas bill?
Thanks for being one less car in traffic that I have to sit behind, and more importantly, for reducing your pollution emissions.
Be safe.
Just because the RCIP doesn’t enforce the law doesn’t mean lane filtering is legal in Cayman
1) there is no law which prohibits reasonable filtering.
2) it is explicitly legal to in the UK.
3) I’ve filtered by countless police, countless times. It isn’t a one off case of them not being bothered to enforce.
4) if you jealous of watching bikers pass by you while you sit wasting gas, just say that.
Maybe Auntie can clear this up. Oh wait she already has.
https://cnslocallife.com/2018/07/motorcycles-should-stay-in-their-lane/
That’s simply an opinion.
Show me the law which states that *quote*.
You can argue doing it at high speeds for “an extended period of time” is dangerous driving, but not filtering by cars at a standstill or doing 10 kph at most.
The downside is you are going to die out there.
I’ve lost people who were in cars, and at no fault too.
Don’t act like you can’t or won’t either.
I hear Gilbert Mclean attended 1 NRA meeting and resigned as Chairman????!!!!
There is a piece of property along the highway to George Town from West Bay,
It’s got a sign that says it’s “sold out.”
It over a 100 acres.
Right after Ritz Carlton is a new filled in property.
It over 100 acres.
Next is a mangrove swamp that’s “sold out”
Please explain to me why no environmental activist or Government entity working for the Dept. of Environment has allowed the destruction of that swamp?
Well it hasn’t happen yet
Please stop the B# about we need to protect the swamp
The only swamp you all want to protect is the one going east.
Oh but that different 9:14! That’s on WB road, where “investors” abode. They have the right to make money!!!! Afterall, how do expect them to send their children to the best schools. Besides, they are cleansing their guilt by demanding that the “WETLANDS” be protected!!!
Easy to understand really.
So when you planning to tell Jay that Wayne?
It’s time to STOP sprawl – AND invest in public transport rather than ever-more mega roads.
Thoughts? 🤔
🟢Protect our environment
🟠Stop overdevelopment
🔴Stop duplicity
Voters need to amend the Election law to raise the minimum intelligence and character criteria for the house.
Yes, let’s check with the climate whether or not the road can go in
The road does not have to go all the way to Frank Sound; but we could certainly use a by-pass to Lookout Gardens, BT.
We need this road now!
We need to fix the bottlenecks first!!!
Imagine that PPM got caught in another lie by the their former member Premier Panton. It is evidence they cannot ever be trusted again to run the country and given another chance to waste millions based on subterfuge and misrepresentation of the facts.
“The opposition has consistently suggested that the PlanCayman work they had done… was something that could be easily adopted…The advice I have is that this is not the case,” seems like a polite way of calling former planning minister Joey Hew and PPM liars for allegedly embellishing the merits of a PlanCayman program that is incomplete.
Then why do the civil servants and the current planning department support The Plan Cayman Framework? Because it is a sensible approach to getting to a new development plan. Panton has done nothing for two years on a range of things and is now making excuses and blaming the Opposition for his own failures.
Do nothing Panton leading an imPACTLess government. He should be ashamed of himself.
more waffle from wayne and no-plan-pact.
pact-bot alert!
“But this week, Panton reaffirmed that his goal was still to protect the integrity of the central wetlands”. In other news the CPA just approved the Gun Club’s new facility on protected government owned wetlands on the North Sound. Wayne are you going to protect the environment or serve up more meaningless soundbites? Sustainability, nature capital accounts, carbon credit markets, opportunity cost – totally meaningless when you look at what is happening to the environment now.
Wayne is pretty good at talking out of all three sides of his mouth. I’ll give him that.
In accordance with Section 7 (4) of the National Roads Authority Law (2006 Revision), the Governor-in-Cabinet has appointed the following persons to the National Roads Authority, who shall hold office from 2 July 2021 until 2 July 2024:
https://www.caymanroads.com/national-roads-authority-board
Knock off the nonsensical carbon credits Wayne.
Anyone who lives in the east of the island knows this is needed.
While I am personally not pro-development, due to the fact that planning / gov have equally allowed massive residential development / immigration, the traffic going out east is totally unsustainable.
Last week, for example, a cox lumber truck dropped items after countryside and it took an hour to drive from town to countryside at 6pm.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that there are now so many people living out east and more people are still moving out here (mostly due to the fact that it has more affordable land), it is crystal clear that a 1 lane road is totally inadequate.
Yes, our environment is important, but when it has a negative impact on anyone who lives out here, unfortunatly it must take heed.
Digging your heels is now, after you have allowed development willy-nilly for decades is pointless – it is pointless to debate the impact to the environment after tearing it all down for decades past.
Also an EE resident who commutes to town.
Road doesn’t need to come to Frank Sound Rd. Only to Lookout Gardens.
Traffic doesn’t start in morning until Bodden Town, and is clear in the evening after BT.
Extend to Lookout first, and then see what that does.
I live East. Its not needed. A fix to the bottleneck at Hurleys IS needed a lot more.
Mandatory work from home days for all office staff that can, both public and private sectors at least 2-3 days per week, especially on multiple cruise ship days.
This could be accomplished at minimal costs, and for those who are in doubt, consider how much better traffic flows on school holidays.
Make it happen now.
I wish I could, our company have been raising awareness/promoting this since before COVID but most senior managers lack trust in their teams. Large businesses and CIG should also consider satellite offices to reduce impact on the roads and improve work-life balance of exhausted staff in the East.
All of these words and no actual plan as usual…
The only thing this new road will be good for, is to relieve the current main road that’s way past its shelf life in the common event that something happens (accidents, “misplaced” cargo, telecom works, etc…) to block it off completely. This is 102% more about property than the road itself.
Literally just add about ~10 massive busses that have a/c, wifi and are trackable via an app to circle the entire island for most of the day/night; then convert the current mini busses into shuttles in and out of the districts to the main road and watch how much of a difference it makes. Not just going to/from work but with drunk driving and general traffic offenses as well.
Otherwise proper bicycle lanes throughout the island, a tram, something? anything???
Cayman isn’t that big relatively, something must be fundamentally wrong when people who live in West Bay won’t make the trip to East End more than once per year and vice versa; or when people who work in town (normally a 30 minute drive from East) wouldn’t even consider living further than Bodden Town.
Also for Christ’s sake how much cost and effort would it take to at least just cart the contents of the current dump out of here so we can take a breather (no pun intended) and start fresh? (also, no pun intended)
We’ll take your dump, for $2.1 Billion
Wayne had a pretty good nuanced opinion on this.
Why won’t Health City accept Emergencies, could lives have been save from EE and NS accidents and medical emergencies if they did?
Because they agreed not to from the beginning when governmen didn’t want the competition.
Coming from the east, there is no traffic until you reach Bodden Town. So they can do the Hirst Road extension. But there is absolutely no need to go any further east. Unless you are really opening up interior land for ulterior motives.
Now we have a 5pm blockage out front Newlands as people try to come out of Hirst. Yesterday two Police officers took it upon themselves to direct traffic and managed to snarl everything to a standstill down to the Tomlinson roundabout.
More roads does not result in less traffic.
EXCELLENT POINT!
Has this been taken into consideration, this is the first time I heard about this…
We need police on our roads enforcing laws! We don’t need this new road until we can safely weed out the bad drivers. Another fatality another day. This is sad.
If all the bad driver’s were taking off the existing roads we wouldn’t even need this new one!
How many more residents and visitors will need to die before our missing bicycle lanes re-enter the transportation discussion? Implementing the core safety corridors of a 15 minute city is not even an expensive hurdle. What is the source of resistance on that Mr Premier?
Lots of bicyclists NEVER use the bike lanes!
Those are food delivery lanes.
Bike lanes kill. See ETH example.
Stencilling a bicycle on to a highway shoulder does not magically convert that area into a safe bike lane. Not even close. Designated cycling corridors should be along the roads with speed limits no higher than 35mph. Lanes need to be adequate width, painted for clarity, continuous, and protected from vehicle intrusion. If PACT are honest about sustainability objectives, they will need to amend the Traffic Law & regulations to incorporate cycling infrastructure. Pubic Works and NRA need to regularly clean and maintain those surfaces.
To quote Steven Tyler, “Dream on, dream on”