Mac begs opposition to support the UPM’s bills

(CNS): McKeeva Bush MP has made an unabashed appeal to PPM Leader Joey Hew and other opposition members to attend the parliamentary Business Committee meetings ahead of the scheduled session this month and help get the referendum bill and changes to the conservation law on the order paper for debate.

Speaking at a meeting in his district of West Bay, Bush said that initially, he hadn’t agreed with the referendum because he believed the government should just go ahead and build the piers, but he now wants the opposition to support the bill because of that commitment to build a pier.

Bush was one of several current, former and hopeful MPs who attended the meeting hosted by the Association for Cruise Tourism (ACT), which went to West Bay on Tuesday night to promote the idea of a cruise berthing facility on Grand Cayman given that the district has the greatest number of Caymanian residents who are still working in the tourist sector.

Although relatively well-attended, it was a mixed crowd, with plenty of ACT supporters from across the islands as well as many West Bay residents who remain unconvinced that any sizeable cruise project in George Town is a positive step.

However, as he took the microphone, Bush said that a referendum was unlikely because the PPM was not willing to support the bill. He said there might not even be a meeting of parliament to debate the proposed referendum bill because the UPM administration no longer has a majority on the business committee and is dependent on the opposition benches to form a quorum for any meeting.

“I believe we need proper cruise facilities in this country,” he said, adding that he felt many young people were being misguided about the environmental damage such a project would cause. He said people were hurting and could not even afford food.

But Bush targeted much of his comments toward Opposition Leader Hew, who also attended the meeting. He even tried to tempt him with some kind of support in the upcoming election campaign, though he did not spell out what was on offer.

The veteran West Bay representative explained that the proposed parliamentary meeting scheduled for 30 January may not happen now because the opposition has the upper hand on the Business Committee. The PPM members, as well as those independent opposition members who recently departed parliament, have all said they won’t support the minority government in its attempts to introduce any contentious legislation.

“So it seems that they may not show up for the Business Committee, and if they do, they won’t support the referendum bill,” he said, even though “thousands of young people” had registered to vote because of the proposed decriminalisation of ganja, which is also a question on the draft bill. The third proposed question is on the introduction of a national lottery.

Bush told the audience that if the opposition members didn’t show up to plan the agenda, there would likely be no agenda or order paper and no meeting of parliament.

“So to the honourable leader of the opposition, my good friend Joey… I was thinking about giving him some support… but I don’t know, we’ll see how he behaves himself,” Bush said. “I don’t know what they are talking about with controversial legislation; I don’t know what they are afraid of,” he said.

He said the PPM had tried to develop a port even after “licking me to pieces” for his attempts during the 2009-2013 UPM administration to get a cruise port project off the ground. “Don’t buy the [Progressives’] fool-foolness,” he said and again urged Hew to attend the meeting.

“Come get your seat on the Business Committee. Come and make up the quorum. Come and put the order paper together, and come into parliament and do what you all know is right, and that is to get us the referendum and get us the vote,” Bush said.

Bush, who is still a backbench member of the minority government, said the UPM was “in a serious predicament”, and the campaign for the cruise port “might all be for naught if they don’t come and do their part”. He asked Hew to dismiss those who didn’t support it, indicating that even though many people did not support him throughout his political career, he still won.

Repeatedly begging Hew to attend the Business Committee meeting, Bush also urged Andre Ebanks to come as well, suggesting that they could all vote against the bill after the debate parliament if they still did not want to vote for it. “But I plead with you, change your mind!”

Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, who championed the referendum bill, told the meeting that the likelihood of it being passed through parliament was now remote. He said this was why the government had not begun the education and awareness campaign, explaining that he would not waste public funds if there was not going to be a referendum.

The meeting had been opened earlier in the evening by Ellio Solomon, who is now heading up the ACT Campaign in favour of a cruise project in George Town, even though no specific proposal has been put before the people.

Solomon repeatedly called those who don’t support the concept “unreasonable and heartless”. He even suggested that people who don’t support the concept of the facilities or a referendum were both ungodly and unjust because they didn’t back ACT’s position and had a callous disregard for those who depend on cruise tourism for their livelihoods.

However, many of those opposing this referendum believe that the vote should only take place once a project is outlined so that people will be able to properly consider the financial, environmental, social and infrastructure costs against any suggested benefits, especially given the changing shape of the cruise sector.

There is also still a lack of solid evidence that piers make a material difference to the earnings of those who work on the sector’s front line and that the trickle-down economic benefit is often outweighed by the massive impact such a project would have.

Although the current administration is attempting to pose this question as a simple ‘Do you support cruise tourism or not?’, in reality, this is a complex economic conundrum that has never been properly analysed. And as cruise ships turn their products into floating resorts designed to keep people aboard, ports of call are increasingly becoming nothing more than a backdrop for their massive profit margins.

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