Route of redress opened for 7M public beach vendors
(CNS): Cabinet has approved amendments to the Seven Mile Public Beach Park Vendor Policy that introduce a review process and provide an appeal mechanism for all vendor applicants. Officials said the revision aims to enhance transparency and fairness in the vendor permit application process. It allows applicants to request the reasons behind the decisions made on their permit applications and to seek a review of those decisions. Nine long-time vendors applied for a judicial review after they were refused licenses without explanation.
According to officials from the Ministry of Lands, the reviews will be conducted by a committee comprising a minimum of three ex-officio Public Lands Commission (PLC) members. The process will be based on submitted documents only and will not involve in-person hearings. All decisions made by the Review Committee will be final.
The revised policy emphasises strict enforcement of regulations regarding unauthorised commercial activities on public lands and the immediate vacating of unauthorised vendors.
Any vendor who did not apply for or was not granted a vendor permit for Seven Mile Public Beach must now vacate public land immediately, officials said. It is not clear if the nine vendors who applied for the judicial review will also have to vacate the beach, given that the court had granted an interim stay on the original enforcement notices they received after they were refused licences.
Officials stated in a release that vendors who applied for a permit in 2023 and who now request a review within the designated timeline may continue trading on-site until a determination of those reviews is made.
Vendors will be contacted directly with details of the review process, but the ministry also wants to inform the public of the PLC’s efforts to effectively regulate and protect the use of public beaches, the release said.
For several years, the unauthorised, unregulated and unlicensed vending at Seven Mile Public Beach has been of broad concern to the public, but the government has struggled to address the problem. When the policy was rolled out last year without a review process, around 120 applications to trade on the famous beach were made to the PLC, but only 38 merchants were given licences.
Several applicants who had been refused complained that the process was not clear, subjective in its language and open to interpretation. In the lawsuit, the nine vendors said that the PLC had given the impression that, as existing vendors, they would get the necessary licences, but they were all sent letters saying that this had been denied and telling them to cease trading.
Under the new policy, anyone who fails to cease trading when ordered to do so is liable to a fine of up to CI$5,000 or up to six months imprisonment upon summary conviction.
To contact the PLC, email plc@gov.ky
See here more about public lands.
See the amended Seven Mile Public Beach Park Vendor Policy here.
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Category: Business, Small Business
Compass recently ran a story about the Manager of the old Royal Palms Hotel in the 70s. And it included a picture of him at a recent gathering with his staff from those days.
You could easily see the quality of those 100% Caymanian ladies and understand what made the early tourism sector so successful for locals and visitors alike.
The new beach higgler side gig model that CIG has allowed to develop is not representative of what Cayman used to be or should be.
Thr higglers do need to go, they ruin what’s left of the beach.
But, you see the cost of a bucket of beers? $20 USD. Thanks to govt policies, and the utterly commercialized approach to hotel building, do we have any beachfront bars where you can buy beer for that kind of price? nope, it’s all $15> cocktails and $8 beers. So, the solution is just get rid of these ‘entrepreneurs’, but they’re just a symptom of typical Cayman politics.
NOBODY WANTS THIS
It seems blatantly clear to me that nobody except the politicians and the higglers themselves want vending on ANY beach. It used to be and should remain illegal. Alongside uncontrollable development, higglers have completely ruined the entire beach experience for families who live here… and all at our expense.
Seems to me and issue like this ought to get sufficient votes to make a difference via referendum perhaps. Shall we start a public petition?
All our politicians who allowed this mess to form and materialise, should receive a public flogging in Heroes Square with a cow cod! Maddening.
….can they put in place an appeals process for CIMA’s illogical, illinformed and idotic stances as well, while they are at it …?
But yes, in the meantime, kick the higglers off OUR, the public’s, beach…
It is NOT the higglers’ beach…
If the government doesn’t get this under control soon it will become another Mexico and Jamaica. You won’t be able to move without being harassed to purchase something.
The one thing i have always loved about Cayman is the fact people respect your privacy and No thanks means i am not interested don’t hassle me.
What about training the vendors to clean up and remove the garbage they generate from their business?
What about getting rid of them completely?
Never will happen as they have huge supporters in the elected representatives like Seymour, Sunders, Hew and Bryant. Face it, Cayman is on the road to being little Jamaica.
Need to be trained do that? Need to go!
Since when did Cayman accept the higgler culture on our public beaches?
This is just an amendment to allow these moonlighters a bly so they can continue to ply their disgusting hustle.
Take a look at a selection of our ministers and you’ll see that they too come from the Higgler culture..
Well when you have Jon-Jon and Chris in charge and 95% of their constituents are “higglas” or from the lands thereof…..
All need to go .
well done on cig making public beach a no-go area for its residents.
just another day in wonderland.
Can the public please re-dress the whole misplaced notion of beach vending – ie vanquish all of them from these public spaces where hustling has never been permitted – and for good reason? It’s the very absence of beach hustlers that adds perceived market value, safety, and enjoyment to Seven Mile Beach’s waterfront property. Why doesn’t our government know and appreciate this? Are we actually trying to apply a regional 3rd world discount to our own home equity value?
If the government wanted to get rid of all of the drug dealers and unlicensed alcohol sellers at Public Beach they just need to send in 2 plain clothes police officers for about 30 mins. It’s not hard to fix… You just have to want to fix it.
If the government wanted to get rid of all of the drug dealers and unlicensed alcohol sellers…and illegal number dens and crack house etc etc across the island they could….we are the size if a small village! Everyone knows everybody’s business in Cayman!
But they don’t; and that in itself should make you wonder why?
that would take common sense. not much of that going around in cig or rcips.
The police are jamacian and their family’s are in the vending business.
“Vending” is a very sugar-coated way of putting it, that’s for sure.
Our overpaid unemployable MOs are so hungry for votes that they have completely lost interest in what’s good for Cayman, only in what’s good for them.
We are talking about “Public Beach” which means an access for family and community pleasure. The vendors have been operating on Public land for years, no lease, no rent, no licence, mainly not Caymanian, it is a major joke! They have no rights! Just say NO!
Why is our brave and mighty Cabinet so terrified of a rag tag bunch of beach hagglers?
There should be no beach vendors. Why does everything have to be Jamaicanized?
You answered your own question.
Vendor Permit Review process? No mention of the necessity of a Trade & Business License.
*That every other business in Cayman is required to apply for & be granted.
With minimum 60:40 ownership, a location, pensions and health, a premises to operate from, properly applied for work permits with accommodation forms, bank accounts… and all the other laws that are selectively enforced to the ultimate detriment of our entire community.
We’re becoming more and more like Jamaica Jamaica.
Way better to become more like Jamaica than become more like América
which unfortunately is the road we’re headed down
Ha. Your accent is showing there.
Guess that’s why Jamaica has such an illegal immigrant and asylum seeker problem when compared with the USS – the quality of life being so much better in Jam and all.
USS..?
Nex ting wi hav a bobsled team to bumbo!
FFS – Just get them all out of there already.