Bryan calls for full immigration reform
(CNS): Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan MP (GTC) is calling for immigration reform and for his colleagues in Cabinet to agree on a policy to tackle what he has said are the significant problems the current situation is causing. Following the attention his new billboard poster with this message has attracted, Bryan told CNS that there is no Cabinet rift and that he had spoken with his colleagues about how important this issue is to his George Town constituents and across the country.
Just before he left for a meeting in New York, Bryan told CNS that currently, there is no policy because Cabinet has been waiting for the completion of a report by the Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board, under the leadership of Steve McField, which is expected to be published this month. Bryan said his worry is that this is focused only on the management of the permanent residency points system while public concern about immigration goes far wider, and the government needs to listen.
He said that the public is also concerned about the number of people coming into Cayman every day on work permits, which is fuelling further social problems, from rising housing costs to the impact on infrastructure.
The minister said he was in full support of his leader, Premier Wayne Panton, and he was not breaching the collective responsibility of Cabinet because no policy has been adopted yet for members to discuss and agree or even disagree about. He said he had ideas about a new policy that he would be outlining in public soon to get the discussion going.
Bryan stressed that he was not trying to divide the government or challenge any existing collective agreement in Cabinet, as everyone agrees that the country needs immigration reform. He said his goal was to get his colleagues to think about much broader reforms than are currently under review.
Calling in to a local radio station on Friday morning, Border Control and Labour Minister Dwayne Seymour, who is now responsible for immigration policy, told the audience he was surprised by Bryan’s posters, which were erected last week in several locations in his constituency. Seymour said that people need to be patient about immigration reform as it was under review.
But Seymour has long been an advocate of significant immigration reform. During his campaign for re-election in 2017, he promised voters that if he was elected, he would introduce a freeze on work permits.
“On day one, the first thing is to put a freeze on permits and sort out the unemployed,” he had said during a meeting hosted by the Chamber of Commerce in Bodden Town. Seymour was elected and went on to serve in the PPM-led coalition government, in which he held a seat at the Cabinet table. However, very little change was made to immigration policy during that time and there was no work permit freeze.
Despite being part of several Cabinets and in a position to influence policy during his time in office and is now the actual minister responsible for immigration, he has still not presided over any significant changes to the ever-increasing number of permit holders coming into the Cayman Islands.
Nick Joseph, a local attorney with HSM, which is dealing with a significant number of clients seeking permanent residency or Caymanian status, has been a vocal advocate for reform. In his latest commentary on the matter, he said that many of the problems in the law are a result of the mass status grant of 2003 and because we have failed to properly enforce the laws.
For many years, it has been clear that both workers and employers want to see reform, but successive governments have faced the hurdle of accommodating both sides. While the voters may back the idea of a moratorium on work permits, those who fund political campaigns do not, which is the elected members’ dilemma.
- Fascinated
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Thank you, single member constituencies! More fun to come …
Need to call for stiffer laws against hard Drug pushers, at least 3 times more longer jail sentences that are the law here now. Drugs are A very serious threat to Cayman and especially its young people. Government need to take Drug Pushers seriously and put a stop to it ASAP.
Married to an expat and calling for immigration reform
shut the door behind you
She is no longer an ‘expat’ when she is married to a Caymanian. She is now a person of foreign origin who is married to a Caymanian with Caymanian children.
Think you will find she now has status.
So? Who you fall in love with does not change the blatant need for immigration reform. Bit of a stretch trying to relate the two points don’t you think? In any case, I believe he is married to someone who would be classified as a settled immigrant. Perhaps someone cleverer than me can correct me, but my understanding is that an expat is someone who comes to a country to work for a certain number of years with every intention of returning to their home country.
I have heard multiple times from different PACT members that it was Kenneth who led them to Wayne Panton. When asked about his alliance with Alva Suckoo he made it clear that “money talks”. Now those same PACT members are learning the hard way that this dysfunctional, void of any sense of loyalty, ignorant, ego driven little man, will cut anybodys throat to survive and will do and say anything to fool people into supporting him. If thereis one person who needs to be driven out of politics it is Kenneth Bryan.
I am sure that Mr. Suckoo has already figured out that every disappointment is not a misfortune. We in Newlands are the losers.
It is another day of doing God knows what in the Office of our elected officials.
Once they are elected out goes their manifesto and in comes the GREED and Corruption.
No doubt every single MoP should be jumping on this band wagon.
However, none of them have the strength and willingness to stand up for what will ultimately benefit Caymanians.
Here is your reform way forward.
1. Increase the Minimum Wage to an amount that Caymanians could survive on which would not result in us having to live the way a large portion of the work permit holders do. If the minimum wage is increased to say $12 – $15 KYD, then I can guarantee that Caymanians will take certain jobs and thus lead to less reliance on work permits.
2. Establish a system that separates work permit time that clearly states that having numerous permits over time doesn’t mean that they are going to be allowed to stay in the country. I can bet that a large portion of work permit holders have the idea that once here they are never leaving these shores.
3. Grant only PR and Caymanian Status to persons who are married to Caymanians and/or have generational Caymanian ties. No Exceptions. Irregardless of length of time here, net worth, nationality or race and ethnicity.
4. Create a law that foreign investors can only develop or purchase ONE piece of property. If not, then create a Law that states that all investors who do not have PR or Caymanian Status will be charged, annually, Property Tax. Too many of these foreign investors laugh their ass off everytime they deposit large sums of monies into their bank accounts that the CIG should be taxing them on. Stop the huge amount of economic leakage that is happening in our country.
5. Finally, Caymanians let us start holding our Members of Parliament accountable.
Remember, it is not the wealthy foreign investors, the work permit holders, or any other group who have come here to make money is at fault. It is our elected Members of Parliament who create the laws and policíes that are allowing too much of the BS that is happening in the country that seem to be helping others and undoubtedly hurting Caymanians.
Far too many of our elected officials make far too much, and do absolutely nothing to justify their existence in Parliament.
All of these people also laugh their ass off to the bank and think how foolish we are as a people who say nothing, and do nothing to hold them accountable for their lack of action while holding office.
point 3… Will tip the immigration balance wildly from professional expats who can pay for themselves to mango tree marriages who can’t. This is a catastrophically terrible idea, unless you’re an MP who needs voters dependent on CIG largesse? Cayman must be the only place on the planet anyone thinks importing poverty is a solution to their economic and social woes.
The Caymanian public needs changes to the Elections Law to ban those with criminal records from candidacy for positions of trust and high office in the government. Which MP will sponsor that Bill to Parliament?
Only thing bigger than his billboards is his ego.
He better do his own job and stay out of things that don’t involve him.
I’m so sick and tired of people calling for government to “provide” “affordable housing” for Caymanians. Why are we always asking for the standard to be lowered so Caymanians can reach it? What needs to happen is that more Caymanians must have access to a high-quality education! What we need is better public schools! We need to educate our people to a level that qualifies them for the best jobs available in our country, so they can earn the same incomes that allow expats to purchase property here. With property values in Cayman rising, we need to prepare our people so that they too can take part in the wealth that generational home ownership brings, rather than calling for government to provide us with cheaper alternatives. Its a defeatist’s mentality!
Everyone cannot be a white-collar worker at the same time. People are rightly upset at the rising housing costs. How can a blue-collar worker afford to find a home and support themselves on $2000 a month when the average cost of a 1-bedroom apartment is $1200 a month, or the average home costs over $300,000? It is seemingly an impossibility for the average person to ever be able to afford themselves their own home, much less save a deposit for one with how high the cost of living is. The middle and lower class have minimal options when it comes to housing. Something needs to be done, especially to stop the predatory foreign investors and landlords from driving up the property values to extortionate levels.
You are against government providing affordable housing for locals?
I’m sure you are for not havingvto pay income, property or capital gains taxes.
Is it because these all benefit you as you freeload off the general populace?
Get off your high horse.
Freeload of the general populace? In a country with very high levels of indirect taxation.
Manchester calling. We want our bee logo back. Now!
Seriously though, say what you like about Kenny B, he and his handlers clearly understand a thing or two about creating a (minor) cult of personality and an associated voting base for re-election.
No other politician is engaging in ongoing electioneering like this guy. The billboard campaign is part of a larger picture than most realise.
Smart comment, thanks for posting. It’s just nice when someone writes something while engaging their brain at the same time. More please!
Simple solution which should be effectively immediately. Tax the offshore recruitment contracts.
We have an import duty regime, right? We pay it on all of our consumption. We are importing labour. If you don’t like the word tax, call it duty. 25%.
We already do that. It’s called a work permit.
Frankly, if i wanted to refer to work permits I would have done so.
But since you raised your head, then load the permits. You know the types I am referring to.
Kenny wants to be Premier with every ounce of his fragile ego. please stop giving this man a spotlight every time he says or does something stupid. the only way to silence the egomaniac is to ignore him.
So, they’re in a lather about new Caymanians being created and their possible political influence — and yet they stall and stall with significant ethics reform which would root out who’s buying political influence and for how much? Seems hypocritical and self-serving, doesn’t it?
What an idiot!
Trying to distance himself from his Government just in time to start his campaigning for the next elections!
It’s a bit of a fake argument, who exactly are all these new Caymanians going to vote for and exert their influence on? Do all expats have the same ideologies, do they all have different views to the existing voters and politicians? Would they absorb nothing about Cayman in 15 years of living and working here?
As more expats are granted PR and Status, the electorate as a whole, will become more intelligent, educated and informed. This is obviously a threat to the likes of Kenny B as he and his cronies will be held to higher standards of accountability.
You think the only people being granted status are the educated and informed? You seen the number of points you get in the PR test for having a child – even out of wedlock – with a Caymanian? For being a domestic helper? And the quick route through marriage?
Hasn’t worked for us in the past. If anything recent status recipients have a tendency to dumb down and degrade us.
Wishful thinking at best. If that happens the Cayman Islands will ultimately resemble the places where all of these Intelligent, Educated and Informed expats fled from initially. And that is not a good look.
Nepotism, Cronyism, corruption, poverty and nonaccountability would increase tenfold.
Hey, heres a wild idea. Let’s fix immigration by actually addressing and reforming the root cause… a failed education system. Kids used to leave school fit for work many moons ago. Education system and most MLAs mindsets, are Paleolithic.
Kenny and his PACT government are a joke! This guy puts up in-your-face billboards that are not approved by planning – no once, but 3 times. He clearly believes he is above the Law! Anything to sensationalize a false headline for votes. He must think his constituents are stupid! I will never be that stupid!
Now that Wayne got him a US visa you can’t stop the jet setting from conference to conference. Can you imagine him speaking to savvy global investors – it makes my head spin?
He has now dug Cayman Airways even deeper in debt. Before they even start the Barbados route the taxpayers of this country are paying $30 Million in subsidies to keep it afloat. Those down-islanders saw that rookie minister with his inflated ego, they gave it to him up the A** – and at our expense.
Between Kenny posting signs and Jon-Jon getting all dramatic on us because Wayne won’t agree the funding for a bunch more roads – if the PACT are a team its sure hard to tell.
The people of this country deserve better!
#EarlyElection
The amount of trips he takes should have voters screaming. Put his flight manifest up against any other Minister of Tourism – the guy is gone every week!
No doubt he and his entourage fly economy in accordance with official civil service policy 😉
Covid really sparked a property price boom. In the end, perhaps we need a property classification system determining which properties are available for purchase by investors, work permit holders and Caymanians. In addition, AirBnB should be restricted to 7MB condos only. AirBnB / short term lets should be banned for designated general residential abodes.
Some states are taking this stance to control long-term residential rent prices. For example, in Dallas, if your property is not in the city you cannot list your property as s short-term vacation rental.
Native reservation scaled
Sadly that is the life ‘locals’ are living for the ‘most part’
Some get off the res and some own different parts of the ‘res’ sort of like casino owners on native land
But we know their names and you can count them on your hands and toes
Change who can be caymanian and who can run for office and this will naturally correct
Imagine how different Cayman would look if we removed every current politician and let the best qualified run….I can almost smell the roses and can hear the birds again
What is KB telling the Caymanian business owners that are applying for the thousands of permits?
“Wote for me an ya gone clear” or something to that effect.
That they mustn’t worry, they goin get a bly.
Hey Kenny, on your next billboard please post the business case for and the load factor for the next 6 months on the Barbados flight!
Just post the names of those using the flight – will be a small billboard.
Of people using free tickets.
Why is he in New York? More waste!
Any opportunity to take a ego trip instead of focusing on fixing the real problems here. where is the transit plan he promised? And for someone pushing so hard for tourism, who gunna do all the jobs? absolutely caymanians first, but lets face it, the whole system has been built on importing labour. think man, think!
How come they even let him in with his record?
Visa. Guess he got it because he is a government minister.
since he got his Visa back he doing lots of travel on tax payers money.
Doesn’t his portfolio, Toursim, employ a very large number of immigrants (hospitality)? Despite the constant job fairs to find more Caymanian’s? Where would the tourism product be without foreign workers? The answer is much, much smaller. They searched and searched for Caymanians to work in tourism, and they still had 1000’s of jobs to fill.
What a buffoon.
if the 5 star hotels and restaurants would pay a decent wage and get rid of gratuities more caymanians would be in the tourism industry. $6 dollars an hour do not benefit caymanians. The minimum wage is designed to keep caymanians from wanting to work.
God bless the Cayman islands.It may never save many souls but it definitely saved many lives.
Many of you should thank God some Caymanians are lazy.It is way save your life.
Yes. 25 years ago, almost all hospitality/bartender/custodial/housekeeping/dive/tourism staff were Caymanian. What changed?
One thing that changed is that businesses — as long as they were 51% Caymanian were allowed to pay low wages that only expats could afford to live on. Those expats still are only able to survive by great sacrifice and the exchange rate with their native country’s money. Caymanians cannot raise a family on $6/hour. They cannot even raise themselves on that, so some of them — who don’t get into the government gravy train — default to being NAU dependent.
First the construction industry was allowed to underpay employees and mostly Jamaicans and some Honduranians were hired. Then the hospitality industries and the dive/tourism. It isn’t the fault of the expats; they are not the enemy. We need expats. They are just trying to make their way like the rest of us. No, we did this to ourselves.
Then we started this inane process of granting concessions to foreign developers, which allowed them to unfairly compete with Caymanian businesses and allowed the construction of unnecessary boutique hotels under the guise of the errant trickle-down economics. Well, guess what. The drops that fall upon the bottom dry before they can be used.
So, young Caymanians either get into CIG, or politics, or flee the islands entirely. The rest just flounder, with the very few starting their own businesses.
When are we going to grant inducements and concessions for Caymanian youth? When are we going to invest in capital projects which benefit the people, such as meaningful transportation. Does the CIG really believe that forcing us to pay four times as much for a newer car will make any difference whatsoever to the struggling people?
/endrant
this is spot on
Bryan plans to ‘transform’ public transport
Cayman News | 11/05/2021 | 135 Comments
“It is my goal to transform our approach to public transportation and I am committed to making the necessary amendments to regulations and legislation that will empower the Ministry of Transport to operate more effectively, with respect to traffic and public transportation in general,”
https://caymannewsservice.com/2021/05/bryan-plans-to-transform-public-transport/
Public transport reform planned as traffic woes mount. MARCH, 2022
https://www.caymancompass.com/2022/03/08/public-transport-system-considered-as-traffic-woes-mount/
IS HE WORKING ON HIS PROMISE? 🤥🤥🤥
Kenny passed the buck on this to his honorable minister of labour control AND transportation Jon Jon.
Jon Jon said he only been on the job for 4 months and is still catching up. The same Jon Jon who rails about traffic and how early he has to drag his arse out of bed to commute to his cushy CIG post.
People may not like the messenger, but his message is right.
The whole immigration regime has come off the rails. It is a #worlclass#shitshow. Unsustainable and destructive. The Caymanian people do not stand a chance if it is allowed to continue.
I’m shocked that you can’t see that this is merely a talking point to stir up his base as it’s almost election time.
Come on folks, PLEASE THINK!
Whatever his motivation, facts are facts. The immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed, now!
If you truly believe the people coming in on work permits are what’s driving up the cost of living and cost of house… boy I have some ocean front property in Arizona you should check out.
This is a smoke screen and is always has been. They beat the drums of immigration whenever things get tough for average person, spoiler alert its not the Jamaican cutting grass on a work permit that causing a 1 bedroom apartment to sell for 450K. Its off island investors and private companies buying it up and hording it. Stop falling for the BS propaganda to designed to make the lower class fight each other, that’s what they want. They want you mad at the low income work permit holder or the uneducated Caymanian on NAU. Don’t fall for it, you are better than that. We need solidarity and to stand together, all of us common folk are the ones who cant buy a home, who cant afford groceries or to school supplies for our kids, who are having to go into debt to get buy another day. Kenneth, Roy, Alden, Mac, Wayne and the others are in the same boat as the other rich cronies and will do whatever it takes to keep you from turning you anger where it belongs.
Pure political theatre. Keep your voter base angry about “others”. A great vote getter but not much good for nation building.
Why should every Caymanian be able to afford to buy a home in Cayman? This isn’t the case anywhere in the world.
OTOH, if you believe housing should be more affordable to Caymanians than I agree with you.
One way to accomplish this is to charge all high and mid rise development infrastructure fees for such things as roads, schools and affordable housing.
In several cities in the USA, developers receive bonus densities for providing affordable housing.
I believe the rezoning of downtown George Town is both a great example of wealth transfer to the landowners and a great slap in the face to poor Caymanians as the landowners received tremendous extra value for their land while the non-landholding Caymanians got left holding the bag.
This was a travesty and missed opportunity to provide significant amounts of affordable housing for Caymanians.
The politicos gave their wealthy developer/landowner patrons a HUGE GIFT. One wonders if they got anything in return. Non-landowning Caymanians surely did not.
Work permit fees, ePats, and new Cayanians provide much of the revenue to the island. The “anti outsider” rhetoric was tried by McKeeva Bush in 2008, 20% of the population left, and many Caymanian businesses closed up. He got killed in the next election.
Did he? He’s not showing any signs of having gotten killed.
Either way, the fact remains this place is far too small for the pace at which it has grown and continues to grow. There is certain to be a feeling disenfranchisement by certain local classes and a sense of those lower and lower-middle classes having been left behind. That’s not anti-outsider, it’s simply “this is my home so what about me?”. When you have no options to leave to another country it’s all the more crucial and you worry about the future. This isn’t unique to Cayman it’s everywhere. Pick up any American or UK newspaper, you’re sure to see a related story within pages 1 to 3. The problem is once your beak is getting wet you have no issue with it. When you’ve come to terms with it later down the road that the faucet has dried up and the damage has been done, then it’s a case of “someone should have done something” and you’re right where those people complaining today are, just took you longer to get there. Meanwhile, everyone else, has gone on to the next big tropical paradise to rinse and repeat or were able to go back home. Immigration reform is necessary, it’s due and should not be shied aware from. There are countless examples out there as to why countries need this, just go have a look, they’re not hiding it.
[citation needed]
Kenneth is Right.
Nick is Right.
The whole immigration system has come off the rails.
Someone has to have the fortitude to fix it.
If Kenneth has the strength to do it, and the solution is fair and makes sense for Cayman and Caymanians for decades into the future – embracing and welcoming those who contribute, while shunning and excluding those who would undermine us, then I am all for it.
It must be sustainable. It must help Cayman reach its potential. It must protect these Islands and their people.
The status quo (no pun intended) is literally destroying us.
It will take much more than strength. First thing on the list should be a world class education system like we had in the 70s,80s 90s with highly qualified British teachers and parents and students willing to put in the hard work.
Please do not be sucked into Keneths cunning plan to get reelcted, he has no clue how to fix the problem, he is just pandering for votes
These systems such as Immigration must have objective processes otherwise they are open to malfeasance. How do you propose to objectively weed out those who would undermine us?
Very easily. You can start with – are they breaking our laws? Are they costing us money? Are they inappropriately depriving local persons of opportunity?
It was messed up from the start in… was it 2007? We went from a system that kinda worked to losing many old friends (to rollover) while new fodder rolls in en-masse perpetually. The politicians used it to fuel hateful anti-expat campaigns in the communities ahead of every election. It completely changed the dynamics of the island. Temp work permits are too easy to get and their attempts to diversify through nationality limits resulted in an almost 50% Jamaican population and a massive influx of unskilled labour from third world countries to earn and send home money so their families could eat/afford an education/build a home/stand a chance in life. And who can blame them for that?
Don’t get me wrong here, my point is it didn’t work, and has caused irreparable damage. It annoys the hell outa me when all of this could be better addressed by reforming the broken education system, and separating Church from state so government can run itself without bias or influence from the church.
The reason/problem housing has become so expensive is because the country allows the purchase of any property to foreign investors. After a one-off property tax they pay nothing in taxes and for the most part leave to properties empty for 50 weeks of the year. Charge them an annual property tax and tax them on capital gains when the property is flipped. Every other country in the world does this!
If I was to erect a bill board calling for MP reform to ‘protect our people and country’. I wonder how long it would be before planning makes me take it down?
No1. Kenneth hasn’t met a billboard he didn’t owned
No. 2 this dysfunctional PACK really needs to be rubbished
No. 3 please do not let serve mcfield provide any report on anything
No4. This dysfunctional PACK needs to be rubbished.
‘Disqualify drug dealers from elected office’. That should go down a treat.
Disqualify anyone with a criminal record from being awarded Government contracts with millions in fees.
Probably should have been taken down shortly after the last election, but the rules don’t apply to Kenny.
KB getting an early start on the propaganda machine to drum up votes in advance of the elections.
Lets all be honest – the 2.5% of unemployed Caymanians will not be coaxed into the workforce by focusing on work permit/PR reform. Rather throw your resources towards improving education, work ethic and social standards.
Or take away the handouts.
The problem is not unemployed Caymanians but rather underemployed. There should be no reason for Caymanians (other than those who are unable to work for whatever reason) to have to rely on financial assistance, food banks or charity just to survive. Every Caymanian should be able to afford to buy a home in their own country. Fix the education system, train Caymanians for positions employed by foreigners, create a trade school, create prosperity for Caymanians first and respect Caymanian culture and heritage rather than selling the island off piece by piece to the highest bidder.
A lot of caymanian choose to be what they call “wasteman” and live from smoking ganja and whatever money they can find or get from NAU.
Even if you provide them with every tool to get a proper job and get a salary, they prefer to smoke weed all day and have a competition about who has the most “baby mommas” and who is the baddest “bad boy”.
I smoke ganja daily and have a master’s degree.
Stop generalizing. Alcohol is legal to purchase 7 days a week, yet causes significantly more road deaths, and makes you 1000x more lazy.
Masters degree in what subject, from where.?
There’s a woman keeps saying she has a “masters”…it turns out it’s from California coastal university..on line..!
Best one is a local master of Deception, pretends he has a Harvard MBA…
Went there for a two week Summer course..!
and there’s 100x time more people that have a master’s degree and drink everyday…
Well, comparing it to alcohol doesn’t make it any better. I know a few people that can’t be still for more than 5 minutes unless they high.
If you have a master’s degree, you should be smart enough to know that any addition is bad.
But then again, book smart doesn’t make you smarter 😉
Subtraction is far worse.
Pray tell what else you do with your master’s degree besides float around all day.
This is true in many cases. Not all of course. But I know so many Caymanians who fit the bill of being poor, badly educated and left behind in the property market. But these are the same people who eat at Peppers 5 days a week. So there’s truth to what you say, but of course every Caymanian is different. I know so many amazing, intelligent, hard-working ones.
I’m just going to come out and say it, Ellio was a better choice.
Elio is and was a better choice than David Wight.
In all my time following Cayman politics, I have only ever come across one MP deserving of a vote. Marco Archer. He didn’t last long. Honesty, integrity and competence are not the qualities for which our MPs are chosen, it seems.
Marco is one of the smartest MLA’s there was.
Was it Marco who said ” I can run and win in any of the constituencies, he ran in GT central and lost! Imagine, he lost! There are/were others who were as deserving of being elected. It all depends on how much money one has, how much one can afford to spend,honesty, integrity, and less ego. It is hard for honest persons to win up against those who are ruthless, and would stoop to any depth to do so..
Winston Conolly deserves to be on you list, which I acknowledge is pretty short.
Andre deserves to be on the list too.
Andre “lets open an office in Singapore so Gene can get his beak wet ” Ebanks?
Him too arrogant, bobo.
he got a honeypot settlement tho.
I’m putting up my billboards too, they will say “Enforce Planning and Election Laws Now!”
“To Protect our integrity, to protect our beauty”
This all looks a bit Trumpy.
Build the wall…Immigration reform now.
Hmmmm. I’m thinking an issue this crucial to Cayman really requires our finest brains, then I see who is involved. Ah well, I could always go live under the sea, it cannot be less ridiculous than this!
Kenneths requests will set Cayman back. The demand for work permits and residency correlates to a growing economy. The unemployment rate in Cayman is minimal with a good percentage of these people either not willing to work or being unemployable. A large problem with the unemployed population here is entitlement. They want a managers starting salary with a high school education (or less). Also the lack of understanding and cultural assumption that working in the hospitality industry is something to be looked down on and not understanding that they can make a good living doing it. Also, no I am not an expat.
what are you talking about? If we just enforced the immigration laws already on the books, we’d be money and miles ahead.
We did it to ourselves; we allowed the laws to become lax and not enforced in the name of “Caymanian owned businesses”, which were allowed to hire anyone they wanted from wherever the wanted. THAT is what is screwing Caymanians.
wonder if Kenneths proposed reforms extend to restrictions on expat realtors obtaining work permits ?
Never been a better time for a moratorium.
Simple solution. Raise the GOL fee for a realtor to be the same as for a partner/CEO in a law/financial firm, say CI$100K. As the renumeration potential is the same. We do not need any of these as the job is quite simple to do.
I’ve never understood why there aren’t way more Caymanian realtors. Selling real estate requires no formal education, and unlike in some other industries, local knowledge is actually quite valuable.
Plenty of expats in the service industry and from elsewhere have gone on to make substantial money.
Yes, it’s commission based, but the rewards compared to the work you put in are worth it. Way better gig than accountant or lawyer.
Yes but you have to
Turn up to meetings on time
Work at weekends
Spend wasted time waiting for clients
Read contracts and write agreements
Make proper arrangements for deposits and accounting.
Prepare sale and purchase agreements
Closing statements
Deal with attorneys
Negotiate and so on ..
….get it…?
Because that too is a cartel system. I know someone who had to pass some kind of rinky-dink test to get a license a few years ago. This person is smart, educated, honest with all of the qualities that would make a
They should!
Indeed. I’ve never understood this quirk in the labour market where we have expats doing real estate work. These jobs are highly lucrative and require minimal talent, education or intellect – so why are work permits in this field justified?
Fundamentally, the Points System is skewed towards only the educated (Factors 1, 2, 6), rich (Factors 3, 4, 5), white (Factor 8), young (Factor 9) applicants who are settled or otherwise connected (Factor 7).
Ironically only one of the above … connections applies to us Caymanians, and one wonders why we are the minority on this small dot.
Our leaders in the last 100 years have done us a great disservice. We cuss Jamaica, but their government put structure in place for all persons who want to be educated to get an education in whatever they want, academic (UWI/UTech/NCU/UCC etc..); Vocational (HEART Trust,JAGAS, Hotel Training School, Nursing School, Teacher’s colleges); Technical …
This is why we have to import qualified persons for these jobs:
Construction Workers
Plumbers
Electricians
Masons
Heating and Cooling Techs
Teachers
Doctors
Lawyers
Nurses
Pharmacists
Judges
Mechanics
Engineers
Hotel Workers
Physiotherapists
Bankers
Accountants
Auditors
Priests
Military/uniformed group leaders
From Jamaica, the rest of the Caribbean, the wider Commonwealth and the rest of the world.
Plus we Caymanians look down on “unskilled” jobs such as
Nail Technician
Barbers
Gardeners
Waste Management
Pump Attendant ets
As being beneath us, that why we have to import expats, all of us who are employable (not a drug user, not a criminal, hard-working, physically fit, mentally fit, able to do the particular job) are employed!
Caymanians don’t need points though … ?
“Fundamentally, the Points System is skewed towards only the educated (Factors 1, 2, 6), rich (Factors 3, 4, 5), white (Factor 8), young (Factor 9) applicants who are settled or otherwise connected (Factor 7).”
Why would you not want to attract young, rich and educated immigrants to Cayman? Would you prefer old, sickly, poor and stupid PR applicants?
Also, Factor 8 is obviously not about being white. Its about nationality – e.g. an applicant from most African countries would likely be awarded full points for this category.
no rift my A$$
Caymanian unemployment isn’t really a thing. Every population on the planet has a small number of people either unable or unwilling to work. Work permits are still greatly needed and it is important that housing infrastructure for work permit holders is improved. I’ve seen houses with foreign workers sleeping in the kitchens of houses on bunk beds.
The 1997 development plan needs to be amended to allow for more areas to have high density housing that would appeal to foreign workers. This would in turn bring the cost of housing down to a more reasonable level while also improving the living conditions for these foreign workers.
We don’t need rezoning for high density slums or in swamp land. What businesses need to do is actually build affordable housing around their business sites rather than reserving all prime locations for high end luxury. The realtors are partly to blame with their crazy sales pitches- even property built as affordable is no longer meeting that criteria. Planning has legislation for parking so perhaps they need to exchange parking lots for housing. THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX. Find solutions not more problems.
Ignorance is bliss. High density slums? LOL.
Why does Bryan not stay at home and finish the projects he started. A prime ais the Smatts property he acquired for Government almost two years for $6m. This tiny piece of land on North Church Street once had small cottages rented out to the public. They were demolished months ago whereas the rental income could have gone to CIG. Instead it lies covered in bush and looks terrible. At least it could be opened to the public for their use. There is no application for planning. It is just an unmitigated waste of Government money.
There also remains the incomplete road from Eastern Avenue to North Church Street. This was started 3/4 years ago.
Procrastination is the thief of time.
Finally where are our Barbados buses? Are they being put on the new Cayman Airways flight from Barbados. By the way I look forward to reading the feasibility study justifying the logic for this flight.
What happened to the Smatts property is a travesty. Agree with everything you say. Chopped down decades old trees which they said were a threat to the small cottages which they bulldozed anyway. No-one held accountable for the fiasco and it seems that Bryan has been hoodwinked.
The awful grand tourist proposal for a restaurant /rent a chair pool on the ironshore looks to have little to do with this being a public amenity for George Town or an improvement of the public docking area but seems driven by the cruise industry calling for more ‘culinary experiences’. How’s about a simple toes in the sand fish fry, music and dominoes to match the catboat building.
The GT revitalisation project is the laughing stock of everyone with all the hardscaping and scorched artificial environment and clashing signage everywhere. We can’t even incorporate urban solar lighting.
The approval of structures on the ironshore which are out of scale and block sunlight and harbour views with no local architectural details is a crime against GTwners.
The intention maybe there but the civil service lacks knowledge and competence. We don’t need to reimagine- just stop killing all that is natural and unique about the islands and just say NO to outside influencers.
The purchase was always return on political favor.
I don’t understand 2.22..
Are you saying that Smatt and Kenny knew each other..?
Asking for a friend.
Well said.
KB comes out with his headlines with no substance, no plans because his constituents will read the headlines and think that means that he is really doing something for them. Every now and then he will hand them a few dollars for an emergency and they are content until the next headline.
His constituents look at the pretty pictures
AIUI the Barbados flight opens up the chance to link up with Virgin to continue on the the UK. Any competition for BA is a good thing IMO. IDK if it makes business sense or not but I hate BA so I’m all for it!
Virgin currently flies to TCI twice a week, not via Barbados, but via Nassau, on nice, newer 787s. If Virgin were looking at Cayman (I’ve heard rumours) wouldn’t you think they would look to do something similar to that with TCI, replicating and directly competing against BA?
The Barbados route for CAL is a joke, I’ve not heard one proper justification for it. I may be wrong but there you have it.
There IS no proper explanation, not one that would withstand scrutiny in any case.
Try Miami a lot closer than Barbados
This is for people who can’t get US visas AKA undesirables.
Undesirable to most, but to crack dealers…not so much.
KB Just show us the feasibility study.
Sort out the unemployed???
These people realize that many unemployed here are that way because they’re unemployable, or just don’t want to work!
They’ll never get 100% employment.
From what I can see, there are a lot of unemployable expat work permit holders also. But when you can employ an expat for ‘slave labor’, then he/she becomes employable.
so, this is an interesting argument. if we try to hire Caymanians for these so called “slave labor” roles, we will have to pay more, but the Caymanian business owner says they can’t afford to pay more. The real question is why then are we stopping Caymanian owned business to succeed by trying to stop the hiring of slave labor? Surely if people choose to come here, then the conditions can’t be that bad?
It is an interesting argument. If you are saying that the conditions in Cayman can’t be that bad, you are absolutely right, however, wherever they are from is so bad that they are willing to come here and accept ‘slave labor’, which is better than back home. I know a lot of expats that is taken advantage of because of this; working long hours without extra pay, taking weeks to get paid, having to accept abusive language while at work, signing one contract then finding out that the salary is a lot lower when they arrive, etc.. This is just some examples of ‘slave labor’ that I am talking about. They cannot report these incidents, as they are afraid of being dismissed unfairly. By the way, how many businesses is really 100% Caymanian owned? Also, if you have read the latest information on minimum wage, it can be increased to KYD $9 per hour, without a price increase for businesses, which a lot of businesses now pay KYD $4.50 per hour!! On another point, all lending institutions, do not consider gratuity when reviewing applications for mortgages, which is how the minimum wage is now structured. What will this do for the young, intelligent, hardworking Caymanian, in a tourism employed sector, making KYD $4.50 per hour plus gratuities, to obtain a mortgage for his own house? I could list a lot more interesting points, but I do hope that this helps a bit for your understanding.
thank you for the comment. so the conditions in Cayman are better than home countries, so that is why people come. Of the situations you list, how many wp holders are actually affected? Is 10, 200, or thousands? that makes a big difference. the point that businesses are not really 100% Caymanian owned, well 60% still is majority, so they would have say over these slave conditions. The token Caymanian ownership is what government needs to look at- where a Caymanian is paid thousands a month to be paper owner. I am not saying that I agree that $4.50 is accceptable, but the companies that said $9 would be ok, I thought they were already paying their staff closer to the $9 than the $4.50?
How about a reform on the elected representatives now because they do not seem to know what the hell is going on.
Hey Kenneth, why are people coming into the country? Why are companies willing to go through the difficult and expensive process of work permits? Will development and construction be cut back? Less development maybe be a good idea but it will need to be planned. Will there be a massive anti-drug program and crackdown to help that sector of Cayman to obtain jobs? Will there be a drive in Cayman’s education teaching young people that one does not begin their career at the top? Will government stop wasting money to lessen the need for the revenue of work permits?
Work permits have become a charade. An expensive infrastructure of people pulling levers – and businesses skirting rules with near absolute impunity.
PACT is a charade.
Dwayne’s a joke – a nothing doer if there ever was such a thing. All the prosperous countries around the world that were once a jewel to be admired are turning into a nightmare! This is when too many have it too easy, we had to go through our struggles, great depressions etc, we didn’t go running off to seek saviors, close down this rampany immigration and WP industrial machine taking hold here. If New York can see the writing on the wall why cant Cayman.