ACT accuses CPR of bias and scare tactics
(CNS): The Association for the Advancement of Cruise Tourism in the Cayman Islands (ACT), which is pushing hard for a ‘yes’ in the government’s planned referendum on whether or not Cayman should build cruise berthing facilities, has taken aim at the non-profit campaigners who oppose a pier project. In a statement, the ACT accused the Cruise Port Referendum Cayman (CPR) of bias and scaring people ahead of the vote. However, the pro-port group has made inaccurate claims about the cruise industry.
The ACT, which has the support of the tourism ministry and wealthy merchants, claimed that cruise tourism supports over 3,000 Caymanians, including tour operators, taxi drivers, retail workers and water sports operators, many of them small business owners who rely on cruise passengers for their livelihoods. However, it is evident that these workers and small businesses are not dependent on cruises alone but also cater to Cayman’s overnight guests.
It is also a fact that a huge number of those working in tourism are not local people but work permit holders. There are far more expatriates than locals driving taxis and buses, piloting boats, and working in shops, restaurants and bars.
Operators and merchants hoping the broader public will support their desire for a pier say the questions in the survey compiled by the CPR activists are skewed. They said it was not an objective attempt to gauge public sentiment but a “propaganda tool meant to push respondents towards opposing the cruise berthing facility”.
“The survey’s misleading questions fail to consider sustainable development methods, like the use of pilings for piers, which allow the sea to flow freely and protect marine environments,” the ACT stated, despite the clear dangers of any development in a marine environment as sensitive and unique as the George Town Harbour.
The extreme environmental damage surrounding any potential cruise project is one of the major reasons so many ordinary people oppose the idea. Many believe the economic and environmental cost of developing piers is not worth the risk, especially since there has been very little evidence to show the true extent of the impact on a limited number of merchants and operators if cruise tourism continues to decline in the absence of piers.
For many, reducing Cayman’s dependency on cruise ships by transitioning those businesses and operators towards overnight visitors is not seen as a negative thing. It would lead to a reduction in permit holders, ease the pressure on the infrastructure, reduce overcrowding at Cayman’s leading attractions and beaches, and protect the environment. And given the small number of people likely to be impacted, other policies, such as changes to the immigration law, could help them pivot towards overnight business or other opportunities.
While admitting that there will be environmental risks, the ACT has accused CPR of exaggerating them. The group claimed the proposed piers would be built using “modern, sustainable techniques that minimise disruption”, even though there is no current plan or project on the table for a pier in George Town or anywhere else.
In a further misleading claim, the ACT said the question of any impact of a cruise berthing project in George Town on Seven Mile Beach is settled, implying that studies and scientific reports found “no apparent sediment transport linkage between George Town Harbour and Seven Mile Beach”.
This is simply not true. Studies done so far have been limited in scope, and in the face of climate change, rising sea levels, coastal overdevelopment and natural fluctuations, any development in the harbour could further erode Seven Mile Beach or disrupt the flow of sand, depending on the type of project proposed.
The ACT claimed a berthing facility would eliminate the daily discharge of emissions from ships while arguing that without a pier, the number of ships calling here would fall dramatically.
The ACT also ignored the changing global attitude towards the cruise sector, especially from residents in destinations overwhelmed by the huge mega-ships sailing the sea from the Arctic Circle to the Greek Islands. The pro-cruise lobby claimed regional competitors like the Bahamas and Jamaica have “invested in modern port facilities”, but in both countries, there have been numerous problems with their cruise sector, and the trickle-down economics of this business have not trickled very far.
Nevertheless, the group believes that because the major cruise lines will eventually stop calling at Grand Cayman, we must have a dock, even as they admit this is a rapidly changing industry “with cruise lines investing in private islands and onboard experiences”. This means calls could still decrease even if Cayman takes the financial and environmental risk of engaging in the disruptive and costly project.
As the battle heats up between those who want to see Cayman develop berthing facilities and those who see it as a potential catastrophe for everyone here, the government has yet to offer any clear facts or evidence to justify taking this risk that will be almost impossible to undo if things go wrong.
Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan had suggested the vote could take place in late October or early November, though no date has been set, no question posed and no legislation has been drafted to pave the way for the national poll, which was approved by the Cabinet some six weeks ago.
See the full statement from the ACT below:
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Category: Business, development, Local News, Tourism
why is nobody talking about all the places that have been getting the megaships and are now banning them or restricting the number of ships allowed!
[ ] French polynesia
[ ] Bar Harbour maine
[ ] Juneau alaska
[ ] Isafyorda
[ ] Iceland
[ ] Bruges Belgium
[ ] Svalbard Norway
[ ] Fjords Norway
[ ] Dubrovnik Croatia
[ ] Venice
[ ] Greece
[ ] Canary islands
[ ] Palma de Mallorca
[ ] Valencia
[ ] Barcelona
[ ] Key west
[ ] Alaska Venice
France
[ ] Amsterdam
sounds like we dodged a bullet if you ask me!
let’s learn from thier mistakes!
we don’t need a vote on cruise docks. we need a vote on banning cruise ships completely.
“The ACT, which has the support of the tourism ministry and wealthy merchants, claimed that cruise tourism supports over 3,000 Caymanians, including tour operators, taxi drivers, retail workers and water sports operators, many of them small business owners who rely on cruise passengers for their livelihoods.”
Umm, last time I walked through town (two weeks ago), I didn’t see that manu Caymanians working in the multitude of stores in town.
Neither side has taken the time to show graohically what the economic impact, dollars and cents truly is with or without piers. By impact I am referring to the Passenger tax paid to government for each boarded passenger ; for the Merchants and their staff downtown that cater specifically and mainly to the Cruise market, to the Tour operator and their staff , for them taxi drivers, and all others who provide a service.,
With pertinent data the economic benefits to all should be clearly visible and allow much clearer discussion. Data also must be portrayed of the possible negative impact of dredging on the environment and the monetary cost/value if proper mitigation processes are not applied , and the cost for the application thereof.
We keep shooting in the dark with this issue , with only emotions at play and with no sensible portrayal of facts and pros and cons; yet we want people to say yes or no to the building of piers.
It is also worthy of mention that neither side of this pugnacious and egregious divide has chosen to examine and portray to the public the experience other Islands have had who have built piers in the recent past and what issues have they had as an added element of education of the general public.
It is truly evident that we are not ready to have a final dialogue or Yeah or Nayh on this matter.
So the people all went and placed their vote in and the over whelming number of us, myself included, voted NO! The people have spoken. ACT.. DROP IT! No then, no today, no tomorrow. We do NOT need a cruise pier, a better cargo dock yes but NOT a cruise pier. We had record numbers of cheap ass tourist coming in, concentrate on the real bread and butter tourism, the over nighters. You know, the ones fewer in number who spend two the 3 times more money here.
CPR doesn’t scare me, but I’m still voting no.
Wow, we voted no but ‘the will of the people’ doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to pocket lining.
It is amazing that, with all the economic data available to it, CIG continues to funnel vast public resources at the narrow self interest of the handful of millionaire families that benefit from the cruise sector.
The taxi drivers and their families form a large voting block to some of these Ministers…
Artificial economy, they should just go home or find a more meaningful way to provide for themselves & contribute to the island
Pot, meet kettle.
Same s#$% different day. How about ask a question? If you want to know something just ask. We are Caymanians and you might be Caymanian stock.
“The Association for the Advancement of Cruise Tourism in the Cayman Islands (ACT), which is pushing hard for a ‘yes’ ”
Of course it is. On the flip side I’d vote for a total or near total ban on cruise ships.
Locals and visitors will recall a time when we had no cruise berthing facilities or shameful beachside vending. (Most of them aren’t even caymanian and they are selling alcohol without a license and drugs)
Yet tourism still developed just fine and the Cayman Islands carved out its own special niche compared to other destinations who focused on different models. Respectable people were involved in tourism and the guest’s appreciated that. This island and everyone in it will eventually consume themselves for the love of money.
“Locals and visitors will recall a time when we had no cruise berthing facilities or shameful beachside vending.”
I believe they were “record” years for cruise tourism according to all reports? How did that happen with no pier or mega ship?
ACT butthurt they are the opposite of CPR, and sorry that we see it so clearly.
Look at downtown George Town when there are but two cruise ships in port. It’s a nightmare. Streets completely clogged, tourists wandering around, no services for them, just biding time until they get back on de big ship.
… and you people want MEGA ships? Are you insane? Just for the government headcount? What does that do to our country, and what benefit will the people realise? None, that’s what. Trim your budgets, government. Trim the fat, as we’ve had to do. Don’t make your money on the backs of our sacrifice, because that’s what it is. Everybody knows it.
it’s a penny anti-business for sure not worthy of a developed economy. We are destroying our natural resources forever for a few pieces of silver in hand
And what dart doing for the island.. slowly turning cayman into this false image of us being this luxurious bs then afterwards it will be a lot harder for us natives to live.
Like it or not we need cruise tourism “vote yes” my family got out of being homeless because cruise tourism. Whether it means a birth in town or in another district we need one. Look at for the normal average person it will save time in logistics when it comes to importing goods to the island as well Imagine pricing going down in the supermarkets cause they saving money in the logistics part of things
We do this right we can all eat. Over night guests ain’t doing squat its a famine atm with no ships in port this week. we small operators at dying out here. With dart having all the hotels and red sail ain’t nothing for us.
Supermarkets are saving money right now. There are no longer shortages for the products they sell at hyper-inflated prices a whole haven’t those savings been passed down to us?
Not in history has pricing ever gone down and with inflation set to rise everything is going up and up. Lucky you have run cakes to feed the starving. Rather than hatin on success how bout you provide some positive ideas to get rid of the trash in town.
Zero Consumer Protection.
Zero F’s given.
Upskill, find a job in financial services. It’s biased in favor of expats I know but still a better proposition than providing for your menial existence at the expense of my ability to enjoy my home
The learn to code guy has entered the chat.
In response I say changing the meaning of your association to “Abolish Cruise Tourism in the Cayman Islands” and you have a deal that the majority will vote yes on. Otherwise quit spouting exploitative propaganda that only serves the interests of a certain few jewellery, trinket and cheesy tourist charter peddlers and beach higglers. Time to pack up and ship out as all others apart from previous mentioned don’t want or need you here anymore.
Can we add banning beach vendors on Public Beach to the referendum?
There (still) isn’t a Referendum Act, or Gazetted Law on the books. See judicial review circa Alden McLaughlin.
The Court of Appeal held that a general referendum framework law is not required unfortunately. Meaning that each referendum whether government initiated, or people initiated is to be dealt with via a bespoke law. That ruling gives the government of the day total control over all referendum questions, rules and framing and basically neuters the power given to the people under sec 70.
The two articles below discuss the matter
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/07/appeal-judges-criticise-gov-port-vote-law/
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/08/ag-govt-has-no-plans-for-referendum-law/
Hypothetically even if the Constitution did state that there should be a general referendum law – in all likelihood that section would join the list of sections that successive governments simply choose to ignore – like the District Advisory Councils which still have never been put into effect in 15 years despite being required by the constitution.
It still amazes me that there are vendors on public beach since, when it was made, it was given to Gov’t on the premise there would be NO vendors on it.
DART owns Public Beach and will soon lock it off to everyone but for his hotel guests.
Build it in the Brac or Little Cayman. They are desperate for investment.
Stick your cruise piers and you beach higglers up yer arse. 7 Mile now a disaster.
Wonder why… “dart” when poured concrete for Example water mark I sat in my truck saying this island really letting these wind Breakers so close to the shore. 10 feet more I be pass the gate and able to drive my truck on the beach…
Without a “Referendum Act 2024” tabled, even in Consultation draft form, we are still months away from having any legal framework to support any interim voting on any topic and at any price. It’s almost as though our legislators don’t actually know what their job is, even after 4 years.
The Privy Council ruled in 2021 that there is no need for a general referendum law and the current rules for a referendum is constitutional. CPR lost that arguement long ago.
But they need a specific referendum law if there is no general one, right? – Hence the OP point of ‘Referendum Act 20204’. (Or ‘Cruise Referendum 2024 Act’.)
And since 20+ days notice is required for legislation that means no Bill before sometime in October, plus a few weeks for campaigning & Elections Office organising, and we’re “still months away” from a vote.
Unless the Parliament are going to claim that a cruise dock referendum is somehow a national emergency and they can bring the bill without the public consultation period. But that would just be a ridiculous assertion to call it an emergency.
The same self-interested, for profit at any and all costs ghouls who think the project will personally benefit them and their bottom line
Make no mistake the only thing they care about is money
If they have to clog the streets and beaches with thousands of people to make a few bucks they will advocate for it – regardless of the environmental impact, regardless of the effect on traffic and our attractions, regardless of the fact that stayover tourism presents itself as a much more considered, reasonable and balanced outcome for all parties.
These are the sorts of people who form anonymous interest groups use their money to gain access to backrooms and donate to influence certain politicians to support ridiculous projects.
A question and a statement in closing:
Why should the government develop and pay for a decades long capital project solely to benefit and to artificially prop up the outdated business model of a tiny shred of self-interested merchants at the cost of everyone else?
‘I fear the Achaeans, even when bearing gifts’
for whatever it’s worth, has anyone looked to determine how (not if) such a pier could be built with minimal to zero environmental impact?
We put people on the moon 50 years ago, surely there is a way to make something that won’t be such an environmental problem. Maybe it’ll be more expense, so what? Maybe it’ll be harder or take more engineers to figure out, so what?
Have we not looked at some of the incredible infrastructure solutions around the world? I’m sure with enough brains and cash all the boxes could be ticked and someone can figure out the win-win for this.
While we are using the power of make believe can you magic up a perfect no risks, no impacts, no drawbacks, cost is no issue solution for the dump?
Two birds, one stone etc etc
sure. how about we ship our waste off island to a much larger country with the means to dispose of it? we send empty containers back to Jamaica and the USA every single week.
Conservation of mass suggests that the mass of our waste should be less than the mass of our imports, so therefor each ship should have more than enough room to backhaul our garbage.
Then the only question is the cost. And since we were looking at over a billion for Regen, and we spend God-only-knows-how-much each year on the landfill it couldn’t be that bad.
There you go…find me the drawback.
Next.
ps. nobody said zero drawbacks. how about just friggin minimal drawbacks instead of such a close minded, polarized, idiotic view of just about every damned issue we ever discuss in this country?
Stop whining and do your own survey.
They really ACT bloody stupid. That press release from ACT demonstrates they lack professionalism , demonstrate a willingness to lie about everything and are becoming emotionally unhinged over a potential project no one has any details about.
To make an informed decision voters need facts regarding the full scope of the project, true costs, terms, location, environmental impact based on an EIA and all relevant details to make an informed decision.
If the Ministry of Tourism cannot provide this information then the 1.5m to be spent on the government’s referendum is a waste of money and should be delayed until the General Elections in 2025.
Says it all: ‘The ACT, which has the support of the tourism ministry and wealthy merchants, claimed…’
Claim all you want, claim NO.
Claim you are not listening!
ACT is all about $$$$ not about what is best for the Cayman Islands
We cannot ruin Cayman for a few rich spoilt families that can always go back home anywhere after they helped to ruin these islands
They are locals.
Kirkconnells are spoilt Caymanians all others in that group can lose their status and go back to where they come from
Spoilt Caymanians?? Sounds like you are a jealous, badmind crab in the bucket person. I wouldn’t even call you a Caymanian. People with your mentality is our biggest problem. THEY ARE BORN CAYMANIANS!
That’s questionable. Sure, they have been here longer than most & arrived on the top deck (rather than in the cargo hold) but the constant drive to keep the bloodline “pure” by marrying white foreigners makes me wonder. As well, pushing the cruise pier agenda for their own selfish reasons while ignoring the vast majority of locals who want to quietly enjoy their home in peace is anti-Caymanian
Greed is a sin. ACT are jokers all multimillionaires using the tour operators as their mouth piece.
How come Tortuga and the rest don’t make the same demands in Jamaica or the other places they operate in and come from?
In Cayman it seems to ubiquitous and a greatly envied and admired trait.
ACT are the big retailers or businesses that are acting the fool. This campaign is driven by Tortuga group, Kirk Freeport, Dart, Diamonds Direct, Sean of Sand Bar, Shillin with help from ppm operatives like Roy Tatum and Joseph Woods both hoping to run in next elections working together with Mr Bryant.
How many Caymanians do those businesses and restaurants employ? If they want to partner with the cruise lines to control numbers and cruise tourism in cayman they should all put skin in the game and help finance any cruise piers they claim they need.
The release talks about methods of construction like piling and other “modern sustainable methods”… that’s nice and all but again at this point CIG has not presented a design or and kind of plan to detail how they will build these piers.
I will not vote yes on giving CIG cart blanche to build whatever project they wish, to do so would be irresponsible and naive.
Until such time as CIG publishes a cohesive design and plan for construction detailing how they will mitigate environmental risks, maintain port operations during construction, fund the project WITHOUT indebting themselves to overseas cruise companies and most importantly can make a convincing case for why we need them in the first place I will vote NO and i will encourage all my friends and family to do the same.
People are smart enough to look around and see that those floating toilets does more harm than good for any Island that they frequent and the sheer cost for the berthing facility compared to the revenue generated is just not good business.
Any group offering their option on this subject should be clear about who makes up the group.
Exactly.
So, who exactly are all the people that make up the CPR group, who is leading them, and who is backing them?
And who makes up the stuff that CPR says? Are they any more trustworthy than whichever geniuses made up that “crap” (as Anonymous 12/09/2024 at 8:51 am put it) propoaganda-posing-as-a-survey that they put out?
Same goes for ACT? CPR is a NPO organisation you can search the directors and view their website. Does ACT have a website? Who is behind them?
The CPR survey was crap, there’s no arguing that, but I’m still voting “no” against the cruise ship pier.
Vote yes please I like my job at this company as a captain. A-lot of our customers are cruise passengers which are first time visitors. After we show them a good time here, when they return they always fly down the rest of the family afterwards
Cruise tourism is the seed which sparks the interest in our island there are more cruise passengers than people flying in….
taxi operators and bus owners have to be Caymanian
Real estate agents too.
Brokers.
Wow the yoga guru -> bartender -> real estate agent pipeline support mafia coming in hot with the downvotes on this one 😂😂
in addition, taxi operators must be illiterate and innumerate.
And have graduated from higgler school
with Filipino and Jamaican drivers on WP’s
And even the Caymanians are Jamaican.