Cabinet approves C$1.2M for cruise referendum
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has approved a CI$1.2 million increase in the budget of the Elections Office to cover the cost of holding a referendum later this year on the question of whether to develop cruise berthing facilities. Cabinet cleared the spending of the additional cash at its regular weekly meeting on 30 July.
If the CIG waited just a few months until the 2025 General Election, which is expected to be held in April, the additional cost would be far less. It would also give the government a chance to add further questions on ganja and gambling.
The date for this national poll has not yet been set, but Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, who is leading the charge to hold it, has suggested on several occasions that it could be in October or November, less than six months before the general election.
Holding the vote in the autumn will also mean that people who register to vote now will not be able to take part in the referendum because of the long administrative period between a person signing on to the Cayman Islands electoral roll and appearing on the register.
However, if the CIG conducted the referendum at the same time as the general elections, dozens more people, especially younger Caymanians who have recently become eligible to vote, would be able to take part. Given that younger voters will be more impacted by a costly and environmentally unsustainable project with broad socio-economic implications for future generations, critics of the decision to go for a stand-alone poll are arguing that the government should wait.
The concept of a vote is broadly welcomed, and the opposition has already offered its support. Before the pandemic, the PPM administration was planning to develop piers in the George Town Harbour without taking the idea to the people to vote on until it was presented with a petition for a people-initiated referendum, which, under the Constitution, forces the government’s hand to hold a poll.
But the PPM then attempted to manipulate the question and the timing, and were forced into court by the Cruise Port Referendum campaigners.
Critics are now accusing the tourism minister of also attempting to manipulate the vote, despite his claims that the current government does not hold a specific position on cruise berthing. Bryan has said the poll on the cruise issue is for the CIG to seek a directive from voters about whether or not the people want piers, but the UPM administration does not yet have a specific project in mind.
While there is no indication as to whether the question will be about developing piers in George Town Harbour or elsewhere, there has been mounting speculation that the cruise facility could be developed in tandem with the government’s latest controversial project, a cargo port in Breakers.
The decision to proceed with a referendum on a cruise dock could have also provided an opportunity for a vote on other matters, such as the decriminalisation of the use of marijuana and changing the gambling laws to legalize a lottery. However, it appears that the government is not going to ask these questions in the referendum, despite indications that it would do so earlier in the administration.
Government back-bench MP McKeeva Bush told CNS recently there is a feeling that holding an election and a referendum together or alongside additional questions could be “too confusing” for the electorate.
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Category: Politics
Why does public cash have to wasted by the Millions?!
On top of at least $25m paid for nothing already to Tom Jones, China Harbor, consultants etc.
Why can’t we have a referenda instead on National Voting, or on the rotten pillars eg education, health and security.
for what it’s worth, I ld like to see more investment from the government in upskilling our Caymanian youth so they have the opportunities to work in the legal, financial and tech sectors and maybe even reach a point where local people can fill these roles rather than looking overseas. A forlorn hope maybe but a worthy ambition.
Kenneth’s ambitions on the other hand are to raise his profile, line the pockets of himself and his privileged friends and fritter public money like water on what could be an environmental and financial disaster for the islands. I do understand that some local small businesses rely on tourism but cruise tourism catered to the lowest common denominator of visitor. Their net spend on island is dwarfed by stayover. Essentially a new cruise berthing facility would have the most benefit to multinationals outside of the Cayman Islands and a handful of shady rich folks here.
Tourism Development Insights
Investing in beautifying tourism attractions can create jobs and stimulate local economic growth. However, it’s essential to recognize that not all locals have had the same opportunities or experiences.
Nevertheless, many locals are eager to contribute to the development of their tourism product and fill the jobs that come with it.
Here are the ways investing in tourism attractions can create jobs and stimulate local economic growth:
Jobs Created: Construction, hospitality, tour guides, local artisans, management, and indirect jobs in transportation, retail, and agriculture.
Locals Are Willing: But they need investment and resources to fill these roles, including training, support, and access to capital.
The Missing Piece: Investment and leadership from governments, investors, and industry leaders are necessary to provide the necessary resources and support.
Let’s Make It Happen: By working together, we can unlock the potential for job creation and economic growth in local communities.
Assisted by AI
These insights were generated with the assistance of a language model AI, which provided suggestions and ideas to support the original thought.
I’m truly excited about the vision for our community’s tourism industry! The prospect of convenient parking and transportation, refreshing beverages, and pristine attractions is incredibly appealing. I have faith in our leaders’ ability to bring this vision to life and I’m eager to do my part in supporting their efforts.
Give Kenneth some credit please. He learnt how important cruise tourism is to the Caymanian people. It is not important to the greedy real estate brokers who get delayed a few of minutes when the take their clients around in their big SUV’s to buy multimillion dollar properties, or the rich lawyers who charge $0000’s per hour in fees or to the family and cousins and employees of the owners of the Cruise tenders. Kenneth now has firsthand knowledge of tourism, and he has more knowledge about the topic than the so-called educated Caymanians who went to some liberal university and now are struggling like a flee among roaches in a backhouse. He should not hold a referendum now, but during a General Election this topic will get diluted on the Ballot or either eclipse equally more important topics.
kenneth is this u? lmfaooo learning only while in the position is a wait of the public time and money and we can see here for the last 4 years bye
China funding the port and will take over the old dart Regen project. Kenneth lining his pocket. Cayman is better off without ships.
Why is the speaker of the house taking meetings with potential port developers?
So we’re going to have a cruise port referendum. Well, the most important question is, the question. Lets make it simple and fair:
Do you support cruise tourism WITH piers?
Do you support cruise tourism WITHOUT piers?
See? Simple. Everyone knows what yes to piers means (megaships as often as possible) and what no to piers means (current sized or smaller ships & fewer ships over time). Once we know this then we know how to transition our tourism product.
No, we cannot add ‘no cruise ships at all’ as an option. (a) it is not socio-economically viable in the short to medium term, and (b) it will split the cruise WITHOUT piers vote slightly thereby biasing the question & vote towards the WITH piers option. We want a fair referendum here people.
Do you support cruise tourism WITH piers?
Do you support cruise tourism WITHOUT piers?
No. I support an END to mass market cruise tourism generally. As I believe do many voters. It is economically, environmentally and culturally disastrous for us.
It supports masses of sub living wage imported workers, and a couple of near oligarchs that control all of the profits. It is not needed, and we would be literally better off without it. Indeed, our port would be sufficient for decades if it didn’t have to close when cruise ships came to town. That in itself would save us hundreds of millions.
There are plenty of jobs elsewhere in tourism for any Caymanians that are negatively effected.
Stick that concept in your pipe (no need to smoke it).
Then you vote “support cruise tourism WITHOUT piers”. Simple. See?
“mass tourism” is managed in theory by the Tourism Management Plan. (Stop laughing. They have one. Somewhere. They have just never followed it in relation to cruise ship numbers, hence the piers becoming a proxy for mass cruise tourism. I know.) We could put in 6 piers but make a plan that only one ship is allowed per week. It would be a waste of cement (bad plan) but it also would not be mass tourism. Or we could put in no piers but extend the runway and subsidise flights from all regions of the world in order to increase stay-over tourism to massive levels. It would be a waste of money (bad plan), but it would be mass tourism.
This is not a referendum on tourism type(s) that Cayman should pursue. – Much less a ‘Vision 2050’ for national development. – This is a referendum on cruise piers. (Which is related but not the same). Keep the question straightforward or you will lose. (You might lose anyway, but at least with the OP question you can’t blame the question for why you lost.)
Imagine this vote:
No Piers = 26%
Piers Please = 48%
an END to mass market cruise tourism generally = 26%
Piers wins with nearly double the number of votes of either of the other choices that barely a quarter of the voters want.
Without a simple & unbiased question the results will be open to interpretation (especially as it is a non-binding directive vote) which will leave us no better off than we were before (arguing over docks).
So until someone proposes a better question for the referendum:
Do you support cruise tourism WITH piers (on Grand Cayman)?
Do you support cruise tourism WITHOUT piers (on Grand Cayman)?
Anyone have a better, practical, formulation?
Yes, I have a better formulation, and it is quite a bit simpler also:
Cruise ships yes, or cruise ships no. Easy. It is the government that benefits from the ships, not us. We get a full share of the detriments and none of the benefits.
That is an easy poll.
But will you accept the results if the vote is ‘yes’? Or will we be right back to arguing over piers, now that we have voted yes to ships? In which case it really will have wasted money.
Remember cruise ships do not equal piers. Piers are needed for one type of cruise tourism, not all types. If you want to ban all cruise fair enough, but that’s not the referendum the Minister has offered. If they do a referendum on piers but ask the question like you have said (cruise-yes / no-cruise) and the people who want limited cruise tourism do not vote no and Cruise-Yes wins then the political parties (all parties apparently) will take that as Yes-Megaship-Docks-Please. – Your question got half of those voting yes-cruise what they do not actually want.
Unless you think you can get the government to change the referendum from piers to a tourism management plan (megatourism vs managed tourism, or whatever), keep the question simple, fair, and pier-focused.
Do you support cruise tourism WITH piers (on Grand Cayman)?
Do you support cruise tourism WITHOUT piers (on Grand Cayman)?
Because I am pragmatic, I see the sense of your proposal. Also, because I believe the Minister comes from the school of ‘better to ask forgiveness than permission’, I seriously doubt he would ever EVER give us the choice of no cruise ships.
No, that is a PIR we will have initiate on our own, if we have the collective sand to do it.
Kenneth and his inability to make a decision. Flip and Flop. First you trash the PPM for suggesting a new port and now that you are in power – a new port is the a #1 priority.
This country does not need to spend 1.2M on a referendum. They need to spend that money helping people who can’t but food for their children.
What we need to have a referendum for is to get rid of One Man One Vote!! Garrison politics has flourished because of it. Drunk MP’s getting off scott-free after 2 major crashes because they own the JA cops, enough is enough people.
These days the Cabinet has no accountability to the people – all they are doing is pushing through their own personal agendas.
Meanwhile these guys ae buying up all the land that these new projects will be built on. Ask yourself why they are pushing this.
VOTE EM OUT!!!
They purchased the Smatts land on North Church Street for six million, tore downthe income producing cottages and fenced off the land.
All down three years ago. What a total waste of money. Typical government. Vote these guys out.
The politicians were very confused the last time they did a referendum & an election at the same time. We voted yes in the referendum but against the party in support of the referendum question. (So we got a new constitution and McKeeva who campaigned against it became the first premiere while Alden & Kurt who campaigned for it lost the election though they kept their seats.)
So it was very confusing to the poor MLAs that the voters could have more than one independent (though related) opinion in our heads at one time.
Why do we need a referendum when a General Election is only eight months away??? This is a waste of public funds, we could vote for this at the same time of the Election and save money!!! Kenneth Bryan needs to find some sense as he must have lost his. Kmft.
why??because these losers know they are good for nothing and trying to get their hands dirty and pickets full before they are voted out
The more time passes, the more I find the amount of dysfunction happening on the island, our political leaders want nothing less than to turn Cayman into New Jamaica 🇯🇲, George Town in Little Kingston , and drool over their upcoming local version Tivoli Gardens !
Over the years cayman has entered an out of control inflationary cycle, its causes not only lie in increasing population but also due to the unabated greed reigning in the energy supply of the island 🏝️, as a reminder Cayman has 300 days of sunlight a year and yet our energy supply comes overwhelmingly for fossil fuels !
A second aspect of the dystopian dysfunction being te sheer amount of red tape one has to face to get something done on island ! That amount of governmental mission creep and overreach leads to corruption being prevalent throughout the island’s economy, here laws are voted but very seldom implemented and much less enforced !
A third aspect is the level of absurdity of our electoral process, who gets to vote, who gets to run for public office and for whom ? A pastor would lose his Latin reading through the electoral regulations !
Last but not least is as pointed out in previous articles, Cayman has turned into an experiment in social darwinism with predatory kleptocrats dragging the general population down the ladder !
One would think that in the present circumstances Direct Rule from the UK would be called for to restore a semblance of respect for the rule of law, shall include the wholesale dismissal of the presently encroached civil servants who only contribute to the inefficiency of our institutions.
Beyond the concern for the environment, it is high time reconsiders its leadership and what it wants as a future, we cannot stay rudderless as much as we have been during the previous administrations horse trading constantly to form capable cabinets promoting individuals whom repeatedly failed to deliver results during their tenure.
As to the referendum I would just like to add one more tick box as to invoke Direct Rule for whatever the results at the ballot box, you can be very certain that the result of the vote will be wholeheartedly ignored, it simply denotes how much our present representatives despises their voters and are only interested in driving their luxurious government vehicles around for their personal usage, driving them into (demon possessed ??) excavators and power lines that just so happen to cross the road just as frequently as the chickens 🐔 !
Voting for the incumbents suggests the same imagery as of chickens voting for KFC
These people asking for Direct Rule. Have you paid attention to the state of the UK outside of Sloane Square? It’s death by a million cuts over there, at all levels. Tried to operate a business or get planning permission for a home extension in the past 10 years? Its worse than here.
You have loads of good points, but Direct Rule is not the answer at all. New political candidates, privatization and/or outsourcing (Even locally_) of 50% of the Govt business are the answers.
We are not alone.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/fears-in-spanish-city-struggling-to-cope-as-13-000-cruise-ship-tourists-descend/ar-AA1oJALX?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=229c91e393384f14994dde599935cfdf&ei=20
Vote No !
No weed? No wote!
Another waste of public money. Epic
Vote No !
Should be an option of cruise port OR build a casino on Kaboo grounds 🎰 🎰 🎰 💃🏻 🕺🏽 that would attract overnight higher spending tourists than cruise ship tourists buying $10 t-shirts
Trouble is, we all know who’d inevitably also be involved… big daddy D got his fingers in every pie.
Big Daddy D owns the land of Kaboo but then leases the operating rights with the approved casino operator just like they do in Las Vegas.
How do I get his fingers in my pie?
You can start off by putting on some makeup and buying him a drink
Vote NO to mass tourism and Big cruise companies profiting from polluting our oceans and their monopolies. We need a new cargo port but not a cruise ship terminal that will cost us and future generations millions to repay. Instead build a Marina that will accommodate small luxury cruises such as Silverseas ( max 1,000 passengers) and large private yachts, they’ll moor and stay 2-3 nights while spending time and money.
Kenneth has wasted the tax payers hard earned $just to fill his, Dart, and those useless other politicians massive egos. Stop this nonsense NOW Cayman!
Again…”these” PPM/PACT/UDP etc…screwed up the dump deal…can you imagine what they would do in screwing up the port?
The islands will be broke and in financial ruin for generations to come (except for those “in the know”, of course..).
Keeps the Kleptos Out. Vote No To The Port.
It will not be screwed up because Dart/Decco are the best
These are the people we elected to governed us? Wish we can get some good talent in LA….country before self!
I remember the Hon. Kenneth Bryan, saying right after the elections, when he got the Ministry of Tourism; “this is one minister that they will not be able to bribe”!! XXXX If you all are going to forget your people, we will surely forget you!! We had a referendum before and the results surely spoke for itself!! Please do not be so selfish and greedy to bring this back, as it will be the end to your political career!! Cayman, let us make the elections next year, a changing point for the Cayman Islands to move forward in the future and get rid of most of these useless elected representatives!!
whats even more funny is that people actually believed mckeeva jr when he said that lmao
I smell a rat!
Surely the miasma you detect is not from a mischief of rats, and not just one.
There shouldn’t be any voting on whether the catalog of reasons not to do it, delivered from the subject matter experts, should apply on their own merit. If we have to pay an additional KYD$1.2mln not to listen to the government departments that do this for a living, then we should vote to disqualify MPs that fail in their duty of care to the public.
Yes give me a holiday for me to respond “NO”
If you do have your stupid referendum, for goodness sake DO NOT make it a public holiday. Thank you.
I don’t get the hold up with the gambling law. If we had a national lottery the government could tax the hell out of it. Then they wouldn’t solely rely on work permit fees. So many people are struggling financially it’s a win win. Let’s get the ball rolling and include this question!!!!
How about we prosecute the hell out of it, and treat the bastards that maintain it as the money-laundering criminals that they are?
Because the people they catch gambling are the same as the ones they catch with drugs, and those are never the ones running the show.
They don’t rely solely on WP fees. The vast majority of government income is from fees charged to the financial services industry. And when people are struggling financially you want to encourage gambling? There is a simple solution – they need to stop wasting mone, reduce duty on food and fuel and clamp down on the collusive price practices and price gouging by the fuel, grocery and CUC. More than enough revenue from financial services to sustain any reasonable government that doesn’t treat tax payer money like water and fritter it away on vanity projects and procurement designed more for their friends and personal pockets than need.
No end to their spending. Just ridiculous.
What a waste of government money.
What a waste of OUR money.
Exactly. That always gets me. In Cayman as there are no direct taxes, people refer to it as “Gowerment” money.
Wait untill the we loose the financial servies industry and the golden goose is no more.
Then, we will know about “OUR” (lack of) money.
Government is money is our money. Semantics.
An almost entirely useless poll
We as the public don’t have a plan to review, or even a set of proposals to consider, a proposed location, the scale of the project NOTHING – its a vote about hot air
It’s just a general open question that hasn’t even been published yet despite the fact that we have already entered a 2-month approach of the earliest of the proposed date(s) which in and of itself is outrageous. All that is without mentioning the fact that due to our archaic and undemocratic election laws people who have registered this year or who are interested in registering since the announcement will not be able to take part. Hundreds of young Caymanian university students will be overseas in the US and UK when the vote is held which serves the convenient purpose of disenfranchising some of the people who will be most affected by the decision and some of the voters who are most likely to care deeply about protecting the environment, funny how that works.
I am sure we will see active campaigns by the usual monied interested as they have done in years past who can forget the organised campaigns run previously including certain businesses getting their employees to all provide ‘public feedback’ all on the same day.
I have a sinking feeling that whatever form the next government coming out of the 2025 election takes it will likely disregard this vote due to the fact that it was never a concrete vote on anything – they will easily just be able to say ‘yes there was a vote in 2024 but our plan and our vision was never directly rejected at that vote and we are a government that is forward-looking, we will not bind our hands because of eventsprior to our taking office’.
My proposals for future referendums in Cayman:
Do you the public support good things being done by the Government and oppose bad things? – its about as useful as this referendum will be
Ultimately we have a referendum every 4/5 years. If we’d only be able to find new candidates that actually mean what they say, not seasoned career politicians looking to continue banking $150K+ and all the perks.
Stop the whining. I am looking forward to casting my vote on the new pier and there won’t be any other issues used to distract us.
you must have the attention span of a gnat
No the attention span of an elected representative or member of parliament!
STOP WASTING OUR MONEY!!! FFS!!!
Sorry for the all caps CNS.
A miilion here, a miilion there, a million everywhere!
Agreed
Ernesto is heading for Bermuda so we better get another million or two ready to take to them as it passes. Cayman Airways, get your fleet in order to take the Government and McBeater north with the cheque!
Confucius say, politicians confused saying electorate confused!
Believe them when they tell you what they feel out loud.
They’re telling you they think the electorate is too dumb to be able to handle multiple ideas in their head at once.
They’re willing to disenfranchise voters that aren’t currently registered and younger voters that will be eligible next year for an extra $1.2 million because it’s worth that much for those people not to matter.
They’re telling you the quiet part out loud. Believe them.
Why not have the referendum next year at the same time as the voting for MPs ? that would save the tax payers lots of money .
The multiple ideas are all connected.
This NEEDS to be on the general election ballot. Do not let them spend this money because they want to disenfranchise voters on the referendum. Let the people have their say on Cruise/Ganja/Gambling, we can all fill out a form with multiple questions on it. Are they really that scared to do as the people wish? Pathetic!
Scared? No, they’re not.
They’re simply unwilling to do as the people wish. Expect a manipulative question where a simple yes or no would suffice.
I have said it before and I will say it again. There are too many among the electorate who do not demand enough from our elected representatives, they only want a few dollars on Fridays, a load of fill if their yards if water settles in the rainy season and some plywood if they hear that a hurricane is approaching. They and their feeble representatives cannot think further than that. So I guess the rest of us who would like a protected well managed Pristine environment that encludes proper garbage disposal, a good education and medical service, top of the line public transport system etc. etc. will always be left out.
12:37 here. I understand what you’re saying, and agree that has been the narrative in the past, however, I don’t know a single person who has benefitted in those ways. I don’t think they even have to give us some plywood, or tanks or fill or water anymore. Nope. They. Don’t. Need. Us. At. All. Not any more. They have the mandate to do as they wish. I don’t know what our response will be, but it should be outrage.
another day in wonderland….
what about the referndums on gambling and ganja…or was that just another lie?
The big boys are anxious for money snd their político minions are starving for campaign funds, so how can anyone be questioning whether this year, next year or whenever. Wake up people things are really what they seem. Geeeze.
I completely realise that on this platform the following comment is going to be met with downvotes and critical responses, but I do feel that we need a cruise pier and upgraded port (appreciating that the two are separate, but can also be combined).
For all those that berate the cruise industry, it is still providing a valuable revenue stream to Cayman, the cruise visitors come during the day and are then on their merry way before most people are getting out of work. There is no reason, why (if properly managed!) cruise tourism can’t fit into Cayman.
I would say that any new cruise pier needs to be coupled with better traffic management and activities for visitors, but why not embrace the opportunity – albeit it with daily/monthly passenger limits in place to avoid overburdening Cayman’s infrastructure.
I know there’s too much to be said on the topic in a comment, but thought I’d put it out there!
Either way, I think it’s a good thing that we’re having a referendum on the subject.
Have a great day all!
Confusing to the electorate? Not for this elector- I can read more than one question so please try to speak on my behalf. Fellow Caymanians please refuse to go out to vote on this referendum unless it is a
Confusing for whom? I have no problem reading and understanding more than one question on a single ballot so please do not speak on my behalf. Fellow Caymanians please do not go out to vote for this referendum unless it is included in the general election next year. Please, I implore you, let us us least prevent these buffoons from wasting our money on this rediculous idea. PLEASE BOYCOTT this craziness. Future generations of Caymanians will thank you!
It’s the politicians who can’t grasp more than one concept at a time. Saying yes to the pier will inevitably lead to huge traffic issues because the two will not be connected in any way, shape or form! Massive expense for the pier + huge congestion issues and possible decimation of the stayover tourists who already feel that we have lost our charm, all for what? The few dollars the cruise tourists spend here, if at all?
A response from someone who takes the opposite view (at least on the cruise port)
You concede that any potential port would require better traffic management and infrastructure upgrades – which is good to see but fail to see that unless those are done BEFORE the finalising of any port or cruise berthing – it won’t be done at all. We always have people claiming that ideally, we would have these issues handled but if your cruise port deal doesn’t come with that done first – it is never going to pass the smell test to anyone with a lick of sense, its like putting the cart before the horse, your idea is let them come and we will maybe scramble to build enough resources to deal with it – our DEMAND is build it, prove it works , prove you have a plan that incorporates our concerns and then execute that plan
Also you also fail to grapple with the fact that there is an inherent issue with cruise tourism, the tour operators and the waterfront merchants don’t want a properly managed balance of guests – their model by design is built on mass consumption getting as many people off the ships and onto the island as possible because they need thousands of people per day disembarking so they can make a handful of sales or book a handful of tours, their model is fundamentally incompatible with the general view and desires of most Caymanians which is why were likely cruising toward a stunning rebuke of the 2019 PPM cruise port proposal and why they tried every trick in the book to avoid taking it to a vote
We can see it every time the Government or tour operators make statements on the current state of the industry we still have hundreds of thousands of tourists visiting every month and its not enough – they don’t care about sustaining numbers they only care about reaching an SURPASSING the record set in 2019 – they do not want controlled managed numbers – they want as many millions as they could feasibly get per year
Fundamentally your idea for sustainable numbers is in conflict with every indication we have seen from backers of the cruise ports in their various forms – which is an issue you will have to reconcile. Our demands are logical, forward looking and put Cayman first, not individual tour operators, waterfront merchants and prominent political families who have interests in tourism spend.
BOY/GAL SHUSH!
We’ll be $3 billion OVER budget and be left with something completely not fit for purpose!
So what happened to the cannabis poll?
We can allow a alcohol for recreational use 7 days a week but not a medically prescribed plant?
If cannabis was legalised then the profits would go to the government. That is the last thing drug dealers want, which is why legalisation will be a long time coming.
Excuse you, using common sense to call out gov BS is illegal here.
I heard civil servants could be hung for speaking out against their overlords (guaranteed to be re-elected by their family) in this so called democracy.
Doubtful the UK would have ever sanctioned recreational cannabis across the board, its still an open question as to whether the Governor would sign off on any bill that pushes Cayman past the drug policy of the UK itself which is still very much in favour of a nonsensical war on drugs which has completely and totally failed by any objective measure. decriminalisation is probably as far as we could go theoretically.
My guess would be that the Governor would quietly suggest that certain questions be put to one side
Also do any of your really think Her Holiness the Premier was ever going to champion or sanction a vote that she knows she would lose?
I for one am still shocked she hasn’t yet made a move to repeal the 2020 Civil Partnerships Act though again – that might because the Governor would not sign off on that.
why cruise? When tourism Minimun Wage is still $4.50 per hour, and mainly cheap imported workers can manage to exist at this Below Starvation Wage?
It would only make sense to have a Referendum on multiple questions (cruise berthing, decriminalization of cannabis, gambling) at the same time that the general election happens.
What give Bush the right to say that putting this on the ballot with the general election would be to confusing? Maybe for morons like him and his cohorts it might confuse them but I guess even getting out of bed may be a strain in their brain. What an asinine comment.
That is the whole idea, not get that many new voters, hope people just forget about it and do not vote, give everyone another paid holiday (hope it makes them want to vote for Sweet Kenny) just another way to blow more of our tax dollars on crap. But hey, this is the Cayman Islands so what else would you expect!
Yes! Newly registered voters aren’t allowed to vote on this issue
holding an election and a referendum together or alongside additional questions could be “too confusing” for the electorate.
Who exactly is this electorate? if that’s too confusing then they shouldn’t even have a drivers license.
Perhaps he is speaking on behalf of his electorateand himself,definitely not for me. What a dunce ! He should not be allowed within ten feet of a voting booth for fear he will screw up the ballot!
Bush along with his buddies are a bunch of uneducated dumb asses. Just look at the pictures of all of them, wants to make a person vomit.
It wouldn’t even be the first time we had a joint General Election and Referendum – we had one in 2009 on a much more complex question
Mckeeva as usual is talking out of something – and its not his mouth
We can boycott!. Show them that “we the people means business” also please do not support anyone for election going forward unless he/she possess at least a bachelor’s degree in something, anything! Please stop electing uneducated, unethical,inarticulate, unable to reason persons to represent us. Let us raise the bar
Confused Bush already done the bars!
caymanians are easily confused….although some east enders can walk with a limp and chew gum at the same time.
Go lay down in your sorrows, and let the adults talk.