Bryan uses fear of job losses to promote cruise piers
(CNS): Addressing parliament on Monday, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan left MPs and the people of Cayman in no doubt that the Cayman Islands Government will be using all of its power and influence to persuade the electorate to vote in favour of developing cruise berthing facilities. Although there is no specific project, Bryan is equating support for a cruise port with support for the cruise sector as a whole, claiming that it will dwindle to nothing if the government doesn’t act.
The minister put fear of job losses and economic downturn at the heart of his presentation and claimed there is no alternative to a dock to save the sector.
“The future of our nation’s tourism industry is at stake,” he said, describing cruise tourism as a “key pillar” of the economy, even though it is normally the whole of tourism, including the lucrative overnight business, that is considered an economic pillar.
He said the people should have their say in a fair and democratic process and claimed that while the CIG supports the issue, it will not impose its views without the people’s consent. “We trust the people of the Cayman Islands to make an informed choice based on facts, realities and the long-term interests of all three Cayman Islands,” Bryan added.
He said that one of the “most compelling reasons” the government supports the idea of building one or more piers is that it will protect Caymanian jobs. He claimed that “thousands of Caymanians rely on the cruise sector”.
But even based on the vague figures presented by the CIG last week, no one except the tender owners currently depends solely on cruise passengers for their livelihoods. Well under 2,000 Caymanians are employed in retail or by tour operators that cater to cruise visitors as well as overnight guests and residents.
Using many of the arguments touted by the cruise lines, such as the limited time that passengers spend on shore when they have to use tender boats and how much more money they would spend if they don’t need to catch a boat, Bryan even suggested that building a cruise ship would also help the Cayman Turtle Centre and save the more than 100 jobs held by Caymanians at the West Bay facility.
Exaggerating the impact of cruise tourism on the economy and government revenue, Bryan said hundreds of businesses would close if it were lost and implied that fees paid to the government from cruise calls support everything, from education to border control, even though the sector only brings in a small percentage of the $1 billion that the CIG collects annually.
As Bryan spoke about his personal journey, which Speaker Sir Alden McLaughlin called his “road to Damascus”, he said he had changed his mind about the need for a cruise dock when he became a minister. He said he had spent many months trying over and over again, without success, to convince the cruise lines not to reduce their calls and to tender their mega-ships.
Bryan argued that overnight and cruise tourism complement each other. However, there are very real concerns that this is far from the case. The two are increasingly in conflict as huge numbers of cruise passengers here for a few hours put heavy strains on local attractions and push out stay-over visitors. In 2019, the last full year for cruise calls before the pandemic, there was extreme overcrowding at Grand Cayman’s two main attractions, Stingray City and Seven Mile Beach.
As he concluded his debate contribution, the minister took aim at Opposition Leader Joey Hew, who had berated the UPM government for holding a referendum without a specific project. Hew had suggested that the proposed question, “Should Cayman build cruise berthing facilities?” will not settle the matter because the size, location, ownership, costs and environmental impact cannot be evaluated.
McKeeva Bush MP, who sits on government benches and caucuses with the current administration, said he did not really support having a referendum at all and that the government should simply go ahead and build the piers. He appeared deeply concerned that the vote would be a “no” and asked what the government would do then.
Nevertheless, the motion carried, with all MPs present voting in favour of adding the question to next year’s referendum, which is now scheduled to take place sometime in April or May.
Former premier Wayne Panton, who supported the Cruise Port Referendum (CPR) campaign in 2019 that opposed the project that the PPM administration was pursuing, was absent from the sitting.
Watch the debate on CIGTV below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Can I PLEASE get a viable candidate to run against this clown? honestly, his competition could walk out and say, “my only policy so to hold up a no sign every time the government tries to spend any large amount of money” and i would crawl of 10 miles of broken glass to vote for them.
This is why we need a cruise ship pier.
https://www.royalgazette.com/local-business/business/article/20241011/cruise-ship-passenger-numbers-a-great-illusion/
saving that article for kenys next town hall. I know he wont have an answer but I want to record what he rambles on in response.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/business/royal-caribbean-perfect-day-mahahual/
An extract from today’s Cayman Compass online regarding government purchasing pieces of land used by fishermen:
‘Bryan said that he backed the motion with “every atom in my body, every inch of my soul and every drop of blood in my body”.
He added, “And I hope to God that this piece of land doesn’t cause anybody else’s blood to drop”.’
These are the people Cayman wants to lead Cayman Islands???
Ever heard of Jon-Jon? Kenneths words pale in comparison to the sh*te that comes out that guys mouth.
What a cretin he is – he will say anything in the hope there are sufficient voters like him so he stays an MP and he doesn’t lose his ridiculous salary.
Fix the Damn beach!
Fix the Damn Dump
Fix Our Immigration Problems
Fix Our Education System
Fix Our Transportation System
Fix Our Labor Law
Say NO to the Cruise Port
Say No to the $50M Brac High School
Say No to the $12M Brac Construction Worker Building
Say NO to any Politician that supports any of the above.
We need TRUMP!!!
What we need is the UK to step in and take us back to an era of caring leaders and responsible fiscal behavior.
And say no to spending $160,000,000. We don’t have on a new Resort prison that we don’t need.
CNS: Comment deleted because it was written in all caps.
Re-Thinking our precious Tourism Industry
https://www.caymaniantimes.ky/news/seven-miles-but-less-beach
When Henry Ford invented the automoble that changed the historical way that transported people, services and products, it transformed the way we lived in the past and brought us into the future by creating new jobs of making aotomobiles, painting automobiles, car automobile repairs, etc…………………… creation of new colleges and universities, university housing developments, shopping centers, restaurants and other sources of leisure and recreational entertainment
Fastfoward those inventions to the modern day of Climate Change and the warming of the ocean waters where Ice Bergs are breaking away from Antarctica the size of the United Kingdom.
Causing alarming Beach Erosion, rising of the Oceans Sea Waters and the lost of our Famous Seven Mile Beach that is requiring Caymanians to Re-Think our precious Tourism Industry
If we wish to remain relivant regionally and internationally in the Tourism Industry, we will have to start offering Condo/Hotels with attractive secnic Underwater Salt Water Water Attraction Parks in undeveloped parts of the the island with leisure and recreational activities to ease the aquatic underwater preserve on Seven Mile Beach, while keeping our Tourism Product in tact for the future, if we wish to continue to offer our people honest and gainful employment as well as to continue offering our visiting tourist guest enjoyable aquatic underwater scenic activities
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/01/25/world/antarctica-brunt-iceberg-climate/index.html
Can anyone say, or advise whether or not there is any plans to re-zone the Interior Lands in North Side, High Rock East End and the Cayman Brac Bluff to Hotel/ Commercial Zones for local property owners to consider developing there land with developments like an underwater secnic hotel/condo aqua development???
Correction: Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile.
He did however made them affordable with his Model-T. Read on the learn more.
There’s not an actual, concrete fact attributed to any one person(s) as the de facto inventor of the automobile and subsequently its internal combustion engine.
However; “Most authorities are inclined to honour Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler of Germany as the most important pioneer contributors to the gasoline-engine automobile. Benz ran his first car in 1885, Daimler in 1886.”
In 1896, Ford built his first car and took it for a spin around Detroit. In 1908, his Model-T made its debut.
NO, NO, NO to a cruise port.
Can we put please the Jolly Chimp back in its dusty box and back onto its shelf ?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbal-banging_monkey_toy
I still vividly remember seeing as a kid the advertising campaign where this toy was used to warn kids about the dangers of heroine.
But yes the resort to scare tactics is just another blow at the credibility of the present bunch of staffers of the Grand Circus Sideshow of the Cayman Islands, where a premier can be voted into office with only 226 votes in her constituency .
As stated previously the sapping efforts of The Ambassador of Absurdistan still go on unabated and continue to bear fruit in many forms, making any overt move to take over the island look like salvation (especially given the Armed Forces of above mentioned nation)
I encourage you to read the letter referenced below:
https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/09/minister-stands-by-consultation-on-new-fees/#comments
The headlines just keep on writing themselves at this stage and do keep in mind the laws that would make the Referendum legally binding keep on being pushed into the tall grass !
Our form of governance isn’t a “Fridgeocracy” but a kleptocracy where the primary industry happens to be Financial Services fed by the proceeds of questionable activities.
The boom in Real Estate on the island also greatly benefits from those proceeds and an investigation into what is accepted here would make “the laundromat” look like a child fairytale story .
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Laundromat_(2019_film)
Caymanians, those politicians would like nothing better than to take away your voice to install an even more corrupt system than the one in place only you can address the problem by refusing to vote for them and by refusing to accept them as an authority.
OMOV and present constituencies only lead to the garrison politics the present bunch are a proud product of !
Ah, the old fear ploy. It has been the tried and tested for thieving politicians and lawmakers for years
The whole system is corrupt and stinks to high heaven.
A big pile of turd attracts flies.
I have never voted in my life for any of these people.
Hmm, a waste of space but will have his record expunged. Cayman politics!
KB when las you visited our famous 3 mile beach? Imagine piling up three full cruise ship passengers on West Bay public beach??
Dear God, please hear my prayer. Please raise a sensible Caymanian up to run against Mr. Bryan and defeat him soundly.
I know I don’t talk with you enough, dear Lord, and mostly when I’m in trouble, but we really need this God. Please. Give us a choice which will make us bloom.
Anon @12:46 pm be careful what you say that crack pipe might end up in the hands of one of your loved
ones , however regarding the cruise ships many other people rely on cruise tourism only not just the tenders
the piers will be built eventually regardless of who likes it or doesn’t, not too many people are up in arms regarding the out of control construction that’s happening, but so many people want to stop a project of national importance and put thousands of people out of a way to make a decent honest living
# won’t happen build the piers .
@7:01..I think your head is buried in the what little of sand we have left if you believe that not too many people are up in arms about the out of control construction.
How about we focus on changing the planning laws to curtail some of the unchallenged development by the CPA and by Cabinet? How about we spend less to build a $50M high school on the Brac for less than 150 students? How about we do something about the massive erosion of our Seven Mile Beach? How about we do something to fix our immigration laws to stop marriages of convenience and the handing out of Permanent Residence and Status like candy? Why don’t we do a round up of all Permanent Residents that haven’t paid their annual fees and revoke their residency?
What platforms will the next candidates be campaigning on? The Dump and Education again? We know they will never do anything about those two..
Cant even take a pish in town but we want to build this? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 he already killed of the town with this beautification 5 year build it’s taken forever, shop owners are all loosing weight they cant even afford to eat. Good lawd
I wish this was South Park and someone yelled out about Kenny
yall know this man is an idiot right ? I mean seriously check out the root of the word Idiot…
Middle English (denoting a person of low intelligence): via Old French from Latin idiota ‘ignorant person’, from Greek idiōtēs ‘private person, layman, ignorant person’, from idios ‘own, private’.
Hear, hear!
“No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot” —Mark Twain
Mr Scare Tactics
If all else fails, they can always resort to selling crack.
Jesus help us rid our government of this idiotic wolf in sheep’s clothing.
He HAS TO GO!
so on one hand tourism is a key pillar but on the other hand, we allow developers to destroy the main attraction which is the beach. make it make sense.
So true!
Hey Kenneth Bryan, try this tactic for us; Want in one hand and shit in the other hand and see which one gets filled first.
Job losses could feasibly occur … if we did nothing. The problem for Bryan the PPM and the rest of the Port supporting clowns is that no one who is against the port is advocating for doing nothing. In the same way that our financial services could have feasibly been impacted by blacklists and international organisations – and then the CIG went out of their way to adjust FS to ensure its survival.
We think that the smarter alternative is to reconfigure and refocus Cayman’s tourism to stayover tourists who spend more and are incentivised to visit more than a few tourist trap shops on the waterfront for duty free goods while reducing the feeling that Town is a congested mess in the middle of the day that most residents want to go nowhere near. Will it be a perfect transition? No likely not people would be effected and where that does occur they should receive support and encouragement to try to shift their businesses and or enter new fields just as was provided during COVID when the borders were closed. Its a process that will not happen overnight whether we build the port or not and anyone pretending otherwise is lying.
I believe most Caymanians understand mass tourism is not sustainable, most Caymanians do not desire the continued cramming in of thousands of people to meander around like confused cattle so that they can spend a few bucks getting knick knacks.
The argument that its a hundred+ million dollar port project or bust is an outright lie and anyone who proposes it thinks that the people hearing it are dumb enough to believe it.
No one mentions the fact cruise ships are a month the biggest polluters on the planet. Combined with the Cayman Islands being among the most vulnerable nations in the world to rising sea levels and more hurricanes this alliance with the cruise industry makes no sense at all. None!
CNS: Comment deleted because it was written in all caps.
KB should join Joey to finish destroying ppm because they are same delusional personalities almost like twins that will sell out for a fist full of dollars
Think that is a typo CNS. $100 billion? Or is McKeewa holding out on us. 😂
CNS: Yes. Typo. Sorry!
If people had any sense the only one in danger of unemployment would be Kenny
Trouble is that his voters DON’T have any sense, which is why they keep voting for him.
Most of our MP’s are either bought off or for sale just follow who funds who while they are MP’s or Cabinet members. The pay special attention on the campaign funding and all the cash handouts at election time. Those cash gifts and grocery store cards, cuc vouchers and other gifts are paid for by the owners of the politicians.
The PPM and the minister that are seeking to sell out our country and incur significant debt for the cruise port are doing so to satisfy the GT merchants plus real estate barons in GT and the cruise lines that will control Cayman tourism and have all the leverage.
We have so many more important priorities for the country than cruise piers.
Kenny the Cruise Line Puppet needs to lose his job.
‘As Bryan spoke about his personal journey, which Speaker Sir Alden McLaughlin called his “road to Damascus”,…’
LMAO
“We trust the people of the Cayman Islands to make an informed choice based on facts, realities …’
You do not trust the people of Cayman otherwise you would not be out on the road blubbering.
People of Cayman do not trust any if you!
What are the facts and realities…?
A vote yes to the cruise port is a vote for a blank cheque to Kenny and the government.
That’s all anyone really needs to appreciate.
Those placards must have taken a lot of time to make! If the quality of the placards are proportionate to the need for a cruise port, it’s a good omen.
Utter clowns, with one of the chief leaders of clowns.
Lyle Lanely: I give you the Springfield Monorail!
[crowd gasps]
Lyle Lanely: I’ve sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, and by gum I’ve put them on the map!
We’re basically beyond parody. Some of our politicians make Mayor Quimby look selfless.
Sideshow Kenny the clown
Why is Wayne Panton absent from Parliament, especially after being ousted as Premier?
$4.50 an hour, for 6.5 hours a day, 3 days a week, with no pension and no health insurance is NOT a job!
CNS: Comment deleted because it was written in all caps.
Add no valid Trade and Business license and it is an offense and constitutes the proceeds of crime.
Yes, profits/gains/reward for services without a trade and business licence are criminal property derived from criminal conduct: s.144(2)-(3) Proceeds of Crime Act and s.17(2) Trade and Business Licensing Act.
💥
Venice, Amsterdam, Barcelona so far are banning/reducing cruise ships. More and more will follow.
As usual, Cayman is interested in one thing only – brown envelope s filled with money.
It is remarkably odd how such a push for continued large scale cruise tourism is being made in tandem with the current expressed concerns by the same folk regarding environmental health and even climate change.
the latest cruise ships are running on LNG, and we’re told this is an amazing introduction, reducing the toxic footprint the mega ships leave behind. What fails to be explained is that LNG creates more green house gas/heat than regular burning of engines.
Mega cruise tourism is finsihed, it is a dying breed with a last hurrah effort by all those involved.
In Cayman we should be looking to smaller ships, luxury, tailored cruise calls. The mega mass tourism benefits nobody medium or long term in Cayman….and it certainly doesn’t extend to stay over tourists, i have never met a typical cruise family walking around the Kimpton saying how they first came here on a Carnival boat!
give me a break.
Carnival = cheap tourists, but Walmart is the number one shopping destination for Cayman travelers.
Why isnt Wayne Panton attending Parliament ? Why is he absent so often? Why is he not doing his damn job as self-proclaimed saviour of the environment?
He voted against the East West Arterial EIA
He killed the Regen project
He has remained silent on Heathers dredging project in the North Sound
He failed to show up to debate the Cruise Berthing Referendum motion
Wayne is a lot of things, honest is not one of them.
Let’s make sure it’s the job of GT MP…
The sad thing is, these fools will vote this fool back in 🙁
he is the new Mac of GTC, we have many years of hearing and seeing him wheel and deal to line his pockets.
Kenny is indeed the new Mac being hugged and kissed up by people who look forward to Kenny replacing Mac as the new source of favors.
The only Job loss Bryan fears is his own.
Cruise tourism only provides jobs for work permit holders on minimum wage, overburdens our infrastructure, and makes the islands a less attractive destination for trhe high-end stayover tourists who do in fact contribute.
Kenneth holds up the possibility of the end of cruise as a bad thing, for me it’s a desirable outcome.
And Kenneth hates expats aka work permit holders so why is he worried about loss of jobs!
Hates them so much he married one. Ive been around Kenny when he was in the presence of English people and his accent suddenly sounded more english than Caymanian. He is a chameleon and changes his mindset at the click of a finger.
Less than half of cruise and related activities employees are Caymanian, and contribution to GDP is 1.9% according to government’s own statistics.
Mac has obviously told his protege how generous the Chinese can be, hence the urgency of building piers.
Campaign through spreading fear, the sign of a weak person.
Follow the $$$$
Vote NO and put this clown back in his place, the circus here in Cayman Kenny, go join up.
This whole concept is ridiculous.
Government- we value the people’s opinion and will do what they decide.
Also the government- let’s influence the people so we can achieve our predetermined outcome.
Vote No.
Vote them out.
There isn’t even a public restroom in town. But they want to spend half a billion on a cruise port….
We don’t need shopping malls for these people.
There is one, it is kept locked.
8:00, Jump in the sea.
GTC PLEASE do us a favor and fire this buffoon next year. We can’t another term of Kenny G!