Two more questions to be added to 2025 referendum
(CNS): Officials have confirmed that the government will hold a referendum on the same day as the General Election, and there will be two more questions in addition to the one asking if Cayman should build a cruise pier. According to the Ministry of Tourism and Ports, Cabinet has approved the change of date, revealed by McKeeva Bush on social media this week, and officials have implied that voters will also be asked about gambling and ganja.
While the additional questions have not been specified, a short statement from the ministry released on Thursday night read: “In addition to this critical infrastructure issue, Cabinet has also granted its approval for the referendum to include two additional questions which have been the subjects of ongoing national debate.”
This means the government will need to draft a revised motion that includes a question about the decriminalisation of cannabis use. This could see an end to people being jailed for consumption or simple possession and eliminate criminal records for such offences, though they could still be fined. The third question will be on gambling, which is likely to ask if people support a national lottery.
The government has called for a meeting of parliament on 7 October, which means it must submit a new motion to debate by Monday, 30 September. Once passed, the government will then draft the legislation for the vote, setting the new questions and the date of the vote, as well as addressing issues relating to the financing of the campaigns for each of the questions.
Although the vote will take place on Election Day, whoever is voted into office and then forms a government will not be held by the referendum results. Unlike a people-initiated referendum, a government-initiated national poll is not binding and is considered only advisory.
A press conference to provide the public with further details and announcements is planned for next Wednesday, 2 October, at 11:00am.
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Category: 2025 General Elections, Elections, Politics
USVI Fish farming program set to launch
https://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/fish-farming-programme-to-launch-in-usvi
The sustainable Fishery Farming Program that is set to launch in the US Virgin Islands if successful will create and generate a tremedous amount of wealth (90m in Lobster) if it is structured and organized properly for local and international sales and consumptionlike the Bahamas Agriculture Minister tried to do
https://www.myvuenews.com/agriculture-minister-focused-on-doubling-seafood-exports/
Further more, it will create the following permanent jobs & employment opportunities in:
• Sales
• Packaging
• Accounting
• Fishery Farming
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/rock-lobster-farm-could-soon-be-coming-menu-near-you-180965064/
Therefore, if the US Virgin Islands can make plans to provide sustainable and a reliable source of food supply
Why aren’t the Cayman Islands Government encouraged to expand our Turtle Center to also start faming
• Shrimp
• Lobsters
• Snappers
• Parrot Fish
for sustainable and reliable local and international consumption, while creating employment opportunities to generate additional income
New flash. Governments don’t make money from gambling. The casinos do.
Governments have to establish and staff gaming commissions and regulate all which costs money.
CIG will be lucky if they can net a few million in revenue after costs.
NOT WORTH IT!
And before all you locals get excited about gambling realize you probably won’t be allowed inside the casinos. Just like Bahamas.
how about we add a question about the dump??
1- proceed with high cost project ReGen or similar at existing
2- move dump to another location such as Bodden Town
this is ACTUALLY of national importance! especially if planning to build a pier and attract more trash monster tourists.
No No and No.
But.. the Status Grant issue will explode within a year.. with 25,000+grants.
So the decision must be made NOW to change future criteria.
eg. Rollover after 5 years, for 3 years!
CASH payment of half- scholarships to fill the permit holder’s post in 5 years. CIG pays the rest.
NO more Land Investments = PR n Status Grants!!!
NO more land sales. Leases only to non NATIVES..generational.
LESS Government and MPs.
No More SMCs or OMOV.
Allow 2 year Issues Referenda and allow PR holders to vote in these every 2 years.
(Yes, I’m a common CI native..or uncommon, mayhaps).
Public opinion on marijuana may be divided, but the research is clear: today’s marijuana is nothing like the 2% THC potency Woodstock weed of the 1970s. With legalization, marijuana’s potency has skyrocketed to upwards of 99% THC. My greatest concern is marijuana’s effects on the developing brains of young people. Landmark studies have demonstrated that marijuana is associated with psychosis, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, worsening PTSD symptoms and even suicidality. The impact on youth is drastic. Research published in 2023 found that teenagers with a marijuana addiction are upwards of 450% more likely to have negative mental health and behavioral outcomes. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), today’s marijuana has an addiction rate of 30%, far higher than the 9% addiction rate of just a decade ago. Legalization increases the prevalence of marijuana addiction among youth to an even greater degree. In fact, a study conducted by NYU researchers shows marijuana addiction rates among teens aged 12-17 increase at a 25% higher rate after U.S. states legalize recreational marijuana. We can only expect marijuana’s negative impact on our kids to worsen if legalization spreads. Marijuana poses physical health problems, too. Marijuana use is correlated with a three-to eight-fold increase in head and neck cancers. Daily marijuana use results in a 25% and 42% increase in the odds of having a heart attack and stroke, respectively. The comparison to Big Tobacco isn’t metaphorical, it’s literal. When Canada legalized marijuana in 2018, Altria (the owner of Marlboro and Phillip Morris), invested $1.8 billion in marijuana. Now, Altria is lobbying to legalize marijuana in the United States. Big Tobacco wants to trick the American public again by pushing for marijuana legalization. Don’t be fooled in Cayman.
https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/article293034334.html#storylink=cpy
Oh puhlease. Teens aged 12-17 shouldn’t even be drinking alcohol yet that’s fully legal.
Dr miserable.
TAX FREE Cayman Islands Treasury Bonds
https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/09/two-more-questions-to-be-added-to-2025-referendum/
With the Cayman Islands Moodys Triple A Rating, why doesn’t the Cayman Islands issue an IPO Initial Public Offering TAX FREE Cayman Islands Digital Treasury Infrastructure Development Bond Certificates on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange and deposit the money invested from investors in the Cayman Islands Treasury Bonds in the Cayman Islands Development Bank to encourage cheaper long term debt or mortgages with lower interest rates for locals to be able to afford an Affordable Home,
These TAX FREE Cayman Islands Treasury Bonds could pay Quarterly Interest or Dividends at 5% and attract Quarterly Interest Earned at 8%
CI Treasury Bonds Interest/Dividends Paid
10 Yeay Treasury Certificates 2.00%
20 Year Treasury Certificates 3.00%
30 Year Treasury Certificates 4.00%
40 Year Treasury Certificates 5.00%
Cayman Development Bank Auto & Home Mortgage APR Interest Earned
10 Yeay Mortgage 8.00%
20 Year Mortgage 8.00%
30 Year Mortgage 8.00%
40 Year Mortgage 8.00%
And use the funds invested in our Cayman Islands Treasury Bonds or loaned to our government over a longer term to build a proper Coast Guard, Cadet Core and Regiment Stations.
Add bigger and better new Police Stations in each district, expand the Turtle Center to start farming Lobster, Shrimp, Snappers and Parrott Fish and pay our Cadet Core, Coast Guard and Regiment Members a decent wage
Purchase larger and better Ocean Patrol Coast Guard Boats for our Coast Guard to properly patrol our oceans and purchase smaller Patrol Vessels for Customs & Border Control to patrol our shorelines
This would certainly create lots of long term law enforcement employment and long term sustainable Aquatic Fishery Farming employment at our Turtle Center
If you spoke to every local mortgage lender to recount tales of customers being quoted astonishingly low rates by their bank.
You wouldn’t guess there’s a rate war based on what’s being advertised.
For example,
The local banks are only paying Interest Rates on Savings Accounts around 1.25% to 1.75% per annum the last time i checked and if you survey every local lender at the moment, the average conventional published mortgage rate charged on a twenty five-year fixed mortgage is 12%.
At Barclays Bank, someone securing this five-year fix interest rate on a £200,000 mortgage could expect to pay £1,024 a month for the first five years if they are repaying a mortgage over a 25-year term.
However, the Barclays Bank Fixed Mortgage 3.71% per cent interest rate comes with a £899 banking product fee.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-13889833/Barclays-cuts-mortgage-rates-Lender-cheapest-five-year-fix.html
And the reason our local Home Mortgage Interest Rates are so high, at 12%, is because our Bankers Association allows our local banks to charge 8% above the Prime Interest Rates or the Interest Rates that the UK, the US and Canada charge, to cover a guaranteed Operational Cost like Rent, Wages, Pensions and Health Insurance etc….. as well as to earn a gurantee Corporate Profit
Prime Interest Rate 3.71 %
Local Banks Interest Mark-up + 8.00%
Local Mortgage Interest Rate = 12.71%
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sees Housing Cost Coming down
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/yellen-sees-us-housing-costs-coming-down-enabling-2-inflation
So why aren’t our leaders being financially prudent and responsible to introduce a Long Term Cayman Islands Treasury Bond to encourage our locals to build and purchase more affordable homes with a Lower Fixed Mortgage Rates
https://www.google.com/search?q=google+mortgage+calculator&oq=google+mortgage+calculator&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTE0OTQwajBqN6gCALACAA&client=ms-android-samsung-gj-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
You can do the math for yourself
In early January, Mexico, Indonesia, and several other developing economies easily raised more than $50 billion from bond investors.
https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/silent-debt-crisis-engulfing-developing-economies-weak-credit-ratings
Appoint you to run these Islands and Chancellor of the Exchequer for cayman Islands, Someone with a brain, so refreshing!
Why issue bonds when the government is running a huge budget surplus. The problem is spending not revenue. Please don’t encourage them to borrow more to spend more!
What is BondSys?
https://bondsys-software.com/
BondSys is software for efficient and effective bond management.
In other words, BondSys is a programme that looks after all your bonds administration, including payment processing.
With BondSys you are 100% in charge and have control over everything.
It doesn’t matter whether you are dealing with the issuance of Bonds for a first time or if you have been managing bonds for a number of years.
A great system for the Cayman Islands Treasury to consider if they decide to issue TAX FREE Cayman Islands Treasury Bonds
When will this madness stop!!!
When is our government going to start making Employee Back Ground Checks and Screening that include individual Financial Assets Reporting Manditory for the granting of Work Permit Holders, Permanent Residency Grants and the Granting of Caymanian Status????
This is absolute madness……………….
People are hurting, families are being thorn apart, people are financially strained and cannot survive on a minimum wage, people are losing ther homes our kids are lpsing hope and going astray
When will this madness stop……………..
Of course we wanting gambling and ganjga but we don’t want your fking stupid port shopping mall.
How about we add another question?
Do you want more or less people to be granted permanent residence?
Less permanent residency, but no more status grants for now.
Whatch ~Barbados PM Does Historic Humiliation of Israel & US at UN Live~! On YT. Where does Cayman stand?
She’s a real leader (the Bajan PM).
She’s an angry woman with a massive chip on her shoulder.
Overseas Territories have no role in international matters.
old boy glad ya call yaself that, and to it should be added”old fool’.
Wherever the Uk tells it to. None of the BOTC have representation in the UN, because they are dependent territories and not independent.
#Vote NO
Marijuana should be legalized and not simply decriminalized.
Legalization would mean licensed and regulated stores could sell properly packaged and labeled safe products, not who-knows-what from the streets. This works in Canada and several US states.
Except greedy government taxes here will likely make the prices like buying houses here!
Yes. Government is missing the boat by not certifying local farmers, processing, and production folk. CIG could do all those things and tax the ganja and make a LOT of money, as well as employ many people.
They could copy Colorado’s protocols for measuring DUI/ganja and adopt their manner of dealing with it. Easy.
1. Gambling – YES, but with ALL PROCEEDS going to fund the port project until paid off! This plus the passenger fees should get it paid in record time!
2. Weed ~ decriminalized, but retain driving while impaired and allow employers to test for impaired in the workplace!
3. Pier project – YES, subject to above stipulations.
4. Term limits – 2 terms ONLY so no need for a PENSION, as they will be WORKING again, once that limit is reached!
5. BINDING REFERENDUM
6. Lifetime ban on election for ANY CRIMINAL CONVICTION, ‘RECORDED’ OR NOT! No exceptions!
7. Code of Conduct for all elected and civil service positions. Sauce for the goose . . .
Agree with everything but #3, but we need to add EW Arterial and cargo port (no to both).
So the politician’s cannot make up their own minds? Can’t do a manifesto to show the voter what they support? just sitting on the fence and blaming others if nothing happens or goes wrong.
Ban leaf blowers now!
Fix the damn dump!
I put forward two questions
Should Ministers who misbehave in office be subject to dismissal from public office?
Should All political candidates be required to declare every campaign contribution, the amount and the donor?
I dare recommend a 3rd
Should MP’s who turn out to be a total waste of money time and effort be banned from public office? Oops there goes the UPM Government.
Should people who have a criminal conviction be awarded multi million dollar government contracts.
Nobody cares, nobody checks the credentials of government house cocktail party wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Knock knock anyone with a brain in UPM, seems not. People please close the entrance/doors whatever on these UPM members they are the worst. Also pray that WBW finally grys rid of that Bush that cant seem to be able to stop growing sideways.
seriously now, what have these UPM gal/fellas done for this country. First they got their power through ineptitude on the part of voters who are so used to begging and they know the silly season brings dem goodies. Second they maintained their status though a Coup and then they they went ding bat to hell, and started to pull from developers, spend our money like it was theirs, and now spending on a referendum that will be totally meaningless, if they dont get reelected, which I hope to the Lord Almighty they dont. AMEN, so MOTE IT BE.
Change UPM to PPM, or add PPM to your comment and the result is the same. PPM are just more eloquent at keeping stuff on the DL. We’re doomed until we have a better alternative.
GET EAR MUFFS AND STOP EATING AND S……G
How about “Should Ministers be limited toa maximum of 2 terms in Govt”?
Convicted criminals should never qualify for eligibility as public officers.
and following off that, should we remove lifelong pension and insurance benefits? (because if you have this kind of turnover, that cost to the public purse is going to escalate!)
The ‘honouarable’ titles need removing too until they do something to actually deserve it. Either that or change their title to ‘Dishonourable’ by order of the people!
“. . . Although the vote will take place on Election Day, whoever is voted into office and then forms a government will not be held by the referendum results. Unlike a people-initiated referendum, a government-initiated national poll is not binding and is considered only advisory”.
So let me get this clear in my head. So, if results are not what the new government favours then to hell with what the voters want. This being the case, according to the paragraph above, then why is this government wasting OUR TIME AND OUR MONEY on a Referendum whose results are not binding?
Can someone, in the current Government, explain this to the voting populace?
I vote against the new cruise port will allow politicians who are willing to build it anyway to demand larger corrupt payments to push it through
The only option is to vote out those who have shown themselves willing to sell out the Cayman Islands for their own profit
Expand the Port and Cruise berthing facility. Legalize gambling. Legalize Marijuana and allow a true free market without government intervention. Free the inmates that have been victimized by a backwards policy since forever ago. Do it now!
Abortion.
My body. My choice.
So you support murdering innocents. Cool.
no, only religous nut jobs
But that doesn’t seem to apply to the baby, how convenient! Strange how all the proponents of executing the unborn were the result of NOT be aborted.
Are you even a woman?
Good luck with that one in Cayman…
If you only know how many Caymanian women have had abortions and who they are, you’d lose your mind.
Decriminalization of cannabis needed.
That would be a big step in the right direction along with Sunday shopping, dancing, holding hands.
Cayman is going down the wrong road here. Making Ganja and Gambling more legal has not reduced illegal drugs or gambling in other countries. Nor has it reduced drug related problems or gambling addictions. If a government is primarily elected to keeps its population safe and healthy, can someone please explain why these questions are even on a referendum?
Watch them to vote it down only to go home to consume.
MP’s do not consume.
Go check Amsterdam, see how well it worked there .
Go check Jamaica see how it has resulted in a lazy wutless criminal society.
Cayman became a success because it was a society built on solid values of hard work and European social and education ethics.
Our politician’s hunger for Jamaican votes is dismantling the foundations of an ordered society.
Decriminalization of this drug will be the final act in the ruin of Cayman.
And like Amsterdam, we will be inviting low life druggies as tourists who will be seduced by cocaine pushers.
Good luck trying to foster a generation of young Caymanians who will have ambition and strive to improve their community.
We need to legalize weed not just decriminalize it, and charge heavy fees for a marijuana business license, require it to be 80% Caymanian owned, and let’s replace that cruise money with clean, regulated, “taxed” weed money.
I am voting now- NO,NO,NO !
We need to definitively stop the flow of boats carrying guns, ammo, crooks, and contraband from Jamaica, allowing our Coast Guard the authority to sink them with the 50 cal. If that also means locally produced weed taxes to pay for that effort, then that’s fine with me. We need to stop this illicit traffic immediately. All our Coast Guard and RCIPS support helicopters aren’t doing the job, even with 100nm radar. We need to ask, why?
12.56pm Do you realise that 75% of Caymaians are now From Jamaica. That is why nothing works for real Caymanians any longer.
You are assuming that the tax will be paid… how cute, how naiive.
The biggest choice to vote that day for Caymanians, is whether or not we continue down this paralytic road of business as usual corruption, preferred developer/lobby influence, foregone transparency, dishonest accounting, missing services, non-performance, and blanket indemnity from criminal prosecution. It’s a road that leads to FATF sanctions and redomicile of the Financial Sector, our GDP life blood. Pot and gambling are side shows.
All relevant questions BUT a complete cop out
For this current government to be able to make any decisions by themselves.
Any MP will just revert to the default position
That the electorate made the decision. And keep them off the hook
They are all spineless and I wonder what they are getting paid to do
Do we now have a referendum party in charge?
Question Number Four
Please write in the space below the name(s) of any politicians who should be banned for life from holding any elected office in the Cayman Islands.
Any politician whose name is recorded more times than there are registered voters in his/her Electoral District will be forever banned from holding elected office.
Speak up during the nomination period, not at the ballot box.
If the results of any questions are not binding, then it is not a referendum it’s simply a poll. Therefore I do not see why there is a need to go through the parliament process.
That said, I do think it is worthwhile polling voters on a few topics to assist in guiding decisions.
The non-binding aspect of this referendum makes the results useless. Make it binding and final so we can move on to other important issues.
This is just another costly / wasted opportunity. While it does consider the people’s opinion, those opinions mean nothing if the government wants the exact opposite.
There is no Referendum Law to provide that necessary Constitutional framework. Our legislators are too lazy to present this missing Draft Bill.
Why would they? A Referendum Law would provide a framework for the people to vote and that vote to direct government. That’s the LAST thing they want; can’t have the people collectively speaking their mind and muddying up things.
one small step for man…one giant leap for caymankind….zzzzzzz
Politicians afraid to make any decision that will affect the average voter(55 and up) grow some…
Chris lost his long time; that’s why you never hear him spouting “testicular fortitude” anymore.
Pure wasteman.
Bullet.
He’s plotting .
Well, well, well. Mac is going for the West Bay voter dream trifecta!
Plus ça change.
May as well start construction on our new cruise berthing facility then! Great, good job destroying the environment. You know with the level of corruption in the CIG that Kenny will get his port.
Go back to mommy’s basement in a foreign land since you want to run things here and not in your own country.
It’s people from foreign lands that made Cayman the success it is.
New Caymanians from our neighboring “foreign land” are now unraveling the fabric of Cayman as politicians sell us all out for their votes.
Thanks Mac, Saunders , Seymour and Kenneth.
Wow how y’all so quickly forget that the UDP and PPM have had control for the years leading up to now. BlameMac yeah he’s been around for four decades, but where is Alden, Moses, Julie, Kurt and Antony Eden in all this? The last two sat back and did nothing when the others ran amuck in “OUR” house?! Unna nah fah real man! SMH
If the referendum is not binding if held on election day, you know what’s coming.
No to weed. Yes to a national lottery.
Live footage of ^this clown^: https://youtu.be/ZtyxJSGM3x0?feature=shared
I guess my ban beach vendors didnt make the cut!
NO on cruise port. YES on cannabis. YES on gambling — but with a limitation on who is allowed to gamble. Namely, follow the smart policy of Monaco, where gambling is allowed ONLY for non-citizens. The reason for this policy is obvious.
Yes to gambling on the cruise ship with a spliff!
They did it successfully in Bahamas with “Atlantis” for at least a decade before opening it up to locals being able to gamble; and have always had 95% of the employees being Bahamian. No need to look as far as Monaco. Just another living example but a stone’s throw away; yet our Leaders need to reinvent the book on all “their” ideas. Like the pier; have they heard of Falmouth, Jamaica and how it’s going over there?
Locals still can’t gamble in the Bahamas. It has never been opened up to locals.
Built by the Chinese now holding Jamaica hostage.
Bahamians don’t have the “this is my Island” entitlement mentality.
Just try to stop a Caymanian from entering a casino here….you’ll start a riot.
So you were happy when cruise ship passengers were allowed to wander around freely, unmasked, whilst residents were still under strict outdated Covid regulations? That is what will happen again if you have one rule for them and one for those of us that actually live here. Either legalise gambling or don’t – but make it the same rule for everyone.
And what will you say when more than a few of local people (Caymanian) inevitably gamble away all of their money and end up on welfare, with the public then responsible for them? This is exactly why locals should NOT be allowed to gamble.
Silly you, implying that hasn’t already happened with several people.