PPM back UPM’s controversial referendum bill
(CNS): Opposition Leader Joey Hew offered his backing to the controversial Referendum Bill on Monday, making it almost certain that on Election Day, voters will be asked whether or not they support the concept of a cruise pier without any details of what type of berthing facilities the next government should develop, how much it would cost or even where it would be. The PPM’s stated position is that they would not support any controversial legislation during this lame-duck administration, but Hew said he did not think the bill was contentious.
Parliament was adjourned at 9pm on Monday night following the debate on the bill, made more controversial by the minority UPM government’s lack of a democratic mandate.
When they vote for their political representative in the April General Election, Cayman Islands voters will now also be asked referendum questions on three issues: whether the country should invest in cruise piers, whether there should be a national lottery, and if small quantities of ganja for personal use should be decriminalised.
After Deputy Premier Kenneth Bryan gave an impassioned speech, in which he berated his former PACT colleagues now sitting on the opposition benches but embraced the cooperation of the official PPM opposition, Hew made it clear that the Progressives would back the bill.
The party supported the referendum motion last October, and its leader said it would do so now as well, indicating that all five sitting members of the PPM will join with the UPM to guarantee the bill’s passage when it goes to a vote later this week.
In October, Hew had stated clearly that the referendum question on cruise berthing facilities would not really settle the issue. At the time, he described it as a smokescreen to deflect from the UPM’s failure to take any action to support Cayman’s tourism industry and said this government would be found wanting at the general election when held to account for their poor performance.
Nevertheless, on Monday, he suggested that the PPM might be on the same side as Bryan after the election, giving credence to mounting speculation that the PPM and several members of the UPM will form an alliance for the upcoming campaign. Bryan has also made heavy hints in recent radio broadcasts that he feels most aligned with the Progressives.
The decision to support the Referendum Bill appears to be in direct conflict with the Progressives’ earlier position that they would only support this UPM minority in passing urgent and necessary legislation, not to pass any controversial laws.
However, Hew argued that the Progressives had supported the motion in the first instance, and so they had all agreed to do so now, but he said that the referendum vote was not binding and would provide only a barometer. Voting ‘yes’ would not be a blank canvas for any administration to do as they please, he said. He also spoke about the need for any cruise projects to involve the cruise lines.
Hew did not indicate whether or not the Progressives would hold another more specific referendum on any future project if there was a ‘yes’ vote on the cruise berthing question and they were elected to office in April. He appeared to backtrack on the idea that the cruise referendum is controversial and implied that it was the members of the UPM who resigned in October who had made it controversial.
However, the issue has been a topic of public debate for many years, especially over the last six years after the Cruise Port Referendum Cayman (CPR) campaign secured more than 5,000 signatures needed to trigger a people-initiated referendum (PIR) on the PPM’s project in 2019, demonstrating how controversial the concept of a facility is.
This time, the CPR campaigners have argued that such a vote should only take place when a specific project is on the table. They also questioned how the short pro-port campaign led by the tourism ministry and financed by the public purse could be fair since the Referendum Bill does not include anything about campaign financing for the ‘no’ vote, given the multitude of issues surrounding any future project.
The debate on the referendum bill is expected to continue on Wednesday when parliament resumes, after which the members are expected to vote, and very likely pass, the contested bill.
See the debate on CIGTV below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Let the PEOPLE have their say. This referendum is non binding. DO you want cruise tourism or not? Its a simple choice
There is no point in decriminalizing weed, leave it as is but continue to accept the RCIPS etc looking the other way if someone is having a smoke on the beach or wherever. But if you’re committing more serious crime, then be prepared to be charged for possession.
As to the Port – FFS, no no no no no. Cruise business is dying anyhow. Just stop trying to make Cayman the same as everywhere else, its bad enough all the Miami-south development taking over inch by inch on SMB. just stop.
Gambling – ha! Let the culture alone. The numbers and dominoes and everything else is what makes the Caribbean the place it is. Stop trying to ruin it. Small potatoes, and nobody is ever building a casino resort here, the $#’s do not work, period.
And can someone #banleafblowers and introduce term limits (2 term maximum for anyone, please)
Dear Mr Who, nobody has heard from you for 4 years, F*** off back to your cleaning company and kitchen wares before you cause irreversible damage to our country. You are a disgrace as an mla. Thanks.
These referendum bills don’t solve anything. A cruise pier, stoned drivers, and gambling problems—Cayman deserves better planning, not more chaos.
every American I know who takes cruises looks down on the people at their ports of call. Our country is no different from any other Caribbean country to them. Cruise ships represent the lowest tourist dollar. The bigger the ship the more depersonalized it’s passengers and in turn the personalizing people their gang encounters in other countries. Individuals, couples, and families traveling to Cayman as a destination to enjoy the human and natural beauty is the long-term best insurance for future generations. But then again those who want to sell off the real estate and the island to become richer in the short term share the same Christian values as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and others. Cayman, the choice is yours
Whoever gets elected, please remember those Caymanian that work in the private sector too, when you plan to hand out money to those in civil service.
Weed – NO
Pier – NO
Gambling – YES
Weed – YES (although the church will never allow it)
Pier – HELL, NO
Gambling – Yes
and just for their info:
BT Port – HELL, NO
The PPM is reminding us why they can’t be trusted and why they lost the last election.
The last two, and the next one as well.
Is he starting to look like a younger McKeewa??
If you listened closely to Bryan and Hew, it is obvious that one is courting the PPM and the other is dangling the carrot. Listen to them. No &@$ shame from either side.
I think L’il Joey is da man and his years of accomplishments consistency are going to bring a new era of irrelevancy and flip flopping to our shores…with an occasional shower in Teflon spray just incase da stench be sticking…
i am pro development and pro port (assuming it can be done envirnomentally right).
however i will vote no on the referendum because it is a fraudulent dishonest question without all facts known.
Yes!
Why, oh why waste the money?
Waste what money? They are adding it to the election ballot.
$1.2 millions was the estimate approved in Parliament last August. See CNS.
I love election season. It’s when every politician says “we must put Caymanians first”
Then they get elected and put ONE GROUP of Caymanians first ahead of the rest. Everyone gets mad and blames the foreigners (who can’t run for office or vote).
And so it begins.
The signs in east end are hilarious! Pure nationalistic jingoism. Red meat for the waters!
and sometimes the use of the words “my people” is a danger sign, not a good sign. Look at control freaks JuJu, UPM, PPM, others, and the mess we’re in now as an example of where that gets us.
We are truly in the era of an idiocracy.
If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly!
This will be up there with the brexit debacle.
Brexit was what the people voted for. The EU was no longer about an economic union it was a political union forcing stupid trade rules including defining the acceptable shape of bananas and banning four slice toasters!
Who knows, with Trump’s new tariffs, Brexit might turn out to have been a good move! 🤣
Funny, as the PPM was not Ok with this, now they Are Ok with this?
So, we are now voting on [future] cruise berthing via a referendum, on a proposal that as of writing, lacks the following:
Costs, with Return.
Design features.
EIA.
Fill in other absent important info’ in blank space provided .I have left this short for Kenny > {_________} <
Premier Hew you are our hero
This is just so wrong. What kind of democracy are we living in that the voting populace is given a say?!
A democracy.
Tit for Tat.
UPM supported Joey’s ZERO Duty for Seven Mile Condo purchases by Status Holders, so it’s time to reciprocate.
A waste of Government income!
They should have made Luxury Property Taxes be paid instead.
I believe you got that wrong. Didnt his proposal reduce duty rates for Caymanians in those areas?
Define Caymanians.
oh. only Status Holders fit the legal definition!
Respectfully i didnt say Driftwood.
Becasue Status holders are Caymanians in case you were wondering…I swear Ossie is writing these comments.
😂
If they build it, I will come.
What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business
Joey is a dream for developers and realtors. Not one bit surprised.
joey and do-nothing-ppm already flip-flopping and not even in power.
any comment Mrs governor?
any comment chamber of commerce?
Chamber is the cancer on our workforce
Here we go again: Let us text, message, e-mail, WhatsApp, call our MP and tell them clearly that we do not support this Bill, and they must not pass it. They are our voice in Parliament, let us make sure they hear it loud and clear.
I watched it on CIGTV and found Bryan’s attack of his former colleagues downright shameful. It reminded me of how he used to go on against Mr. Alden when he first got elected — spiteful, disrespectful. You would think that their departure had a personal impact on him! I am not in his constituency, but I think his attitude leaves much to be desired. Totally unbecoming of a fellow Caymanian, and an MP. Grow up, man!
Clown in a nice suit is still a clown
I have a friend who was a voter in Bryan’s district, but after getting married he has now moved to his wife’s address. When Kenneth found out last week that the gentleman moved his vote to his new home, the sad (mad) politician called the gentleman and berated him!? Called him a traitor and yelled at him. How dare he intimidate voters and constantly reviewing the voters list and phoning the good people of Cayman at home? Just goes to show how rude and awful he is. Do not be swayed, he is only loyal to himself.
1.44pm Encouraging people to break the law too. Voters are supposed to register at their new address within 3 months.
If you listened to the debate – Wayne and the others are backing it as well – not just the PPM. Let the people decide on all 3 of these controversial things. The MPs job is to speak for the people and the people want the referendum.
We want a referendum, yes, but decisions like this should not be rushed. We need to know their plans and participate in the process too, or they’ll just take it as licence to do whatever they want, e.g. (had we been asked)
Q: Does Cayman Brac need a new school?
A: Yes
Outcome: $60 mill+ wasted on a school that nobody wants.
We need the NEXT government to engage the public in the process after the election so that questions are answered and an informed decision can be made.
We need the current government and the PPM to stop desperately wasting, throwing around and committing our money now, and focus on deliverables in the election campaign, because nothing but bad decisions being made right now.
The referendum is fine. It is a NON-BINDING referendum so it is just soliciting citizens’ opinion on the concept.
So rather than informal polls or monitoring people’s views on social media, we will get a pulse of the electorate through a structured, formal process on a controversial subject.
Governments everyone add non-binding (and binding) referenda to the election process.
(If its 70/30 NO, then that is the end of that. If 70/30 YES then it will be explored further).
Just get out and vote your preference.
so which is it? you cant claim its non binding and then claim that a no vote will be the end of it.
Also you are missing the entire objection, we don’t know what we are even voting for. No new plan has been presented, we are being asked to vote on a nebulous and broad statement that can mean next to anything depending on who interprets it.
Non binding also means that if the majority vote NO the government can ignore it.
When, not if
Someone wrote on the comments on Facebook that I feel needs to be here:
Option 1: Ref gets voted down but gets brought back later in a different version with more details and and the excuse is “well we didn’t vote on this particular option” so we vote again (or if at all. God forbid we have a PPM led government that would just do what they want)
Option 2: it gets approved and any version that gets rolled out in the future is claimed to have been supported by mandate from the people thanks to the vote.
When you have a political lobby group in the form of ACT, crying they are desperately poor but are spending an inordinate sum on delivering the people a paid agenda, it is very hard to see how any of this will be transparent or democratic.
There is no structure or formality to an uninformed vote and no info on the plans we are voting yes or no to. On the port, we already did this before and look where that got us, and what it ultimately cost the public purse.
“he said that the referendum vote was not binding and would provide only a barometer.”
Then why bother with it?
you need to learn how to read Cayman Politician, when translated to English it actually reads is; “if we get a yes vote we will claim its a mandate from the people and set in stone, if its a no vote… well hey its non binding so go cry about it.”
UPM and PPM are working together and seeking to form the next coalition government.
This would be disastrous for these islands. That group of sellouts as a government will accelerate the decline of for the Cayman Islands
I dont see any issue with it. Will get the bickering over and done with when the vote is clearly no.
Yet, none of them can lay out a case that supports their position. What is the number of Caymanians in cruise tourism? Number of WP holders? Fee revenues generated by CIG? What policies will they put in place to ensure Caymanians benefit from cruise tourism. Growing cruise numbers only to add more WP holders makes no sense. Sell it to me………
Wow, you are really asking for a lot of relevant information that would go in to making an informed decision. You must be new, that is not how CIG operates.
The wife of 3 kids said to the Husband we need a “House” there was no mention of size or location.
Anyone with half a brain understands that cruise tourism is far from vital. Its economic impact is negligible. Covid proved that. It could go away completely and we’d largely be better off as there would be less congestion and environmental damage.
If cruise ship tourism went away all at once, immediately, some people would undoubtedly lose their jobs. But it won’t, it will simply decrease over time. In the meantime, while that’s happening, affected people can transition to servicing stay-over visitors, which we should spend time and effort on trying to increase.
There may be fewer tours to run but those that are run will be far more profitable as the cruise companies won’t keep any of the revenue.
Let’s be clear – the only people who benefit from cruise tourism are tour operators, a few retail employees and schlocky T-shirt and jewelry business owners, taxis and bus drivers. Even the high-end jewelry store owners who are all constantly maligned on these message boards as being the ones who want cruise tourism will tell you that they make more money selling to locals and stay-over tourists than they do cruise shippers. You think Carnival cruisers are buying $30,000 Rolexes and Patek Philippe watches in any material number?
Some of those big-name downtown duty free shops aren’t even Caymanian-owned. You would be surprised at which ones have LCCLs – look it up on DCI’s website.
If you think these arguments are wrong please, by all means, explain it to me.
Joey Hew goes against logic and staying true to positions he has publicly taken in public and in Parliament.
In October 2004 he surprised us all by showing objectivity and asking questions about the referendum and cruise berthing question which lacks substance and any details which would assist voters to make an informed decision.
Yesterday, he proved that Joey Hew and PPM will do and say anything including going against logic principled positions they have taken.
This is the latest example why the Hew and PPM can never be trusted to run the country ever again.
Look at PPM’s position in Q4 2024
https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/10/hew-referendum-on-cruise-wont-settle-the-issue/
Hew criticised the government for holding a vote in the absence of any facts or defined infrastructure proposal. Echoing comments by those campaigning for a ‘no’ vote, Hew said the referendum does not address where the pier would be, the costs, any long-term benefits or the environmental impact.
“We are being asked to support a question that is at best vague and at worst incomplete,” he said. With no project for voters to properly consider, they don’t have the information needed to weigh the pros and cons and cannot make an informed decision on the proposed question.
Hew also warned that if there is a ‘yes’ vote and a future government goes ahead with a project, it may well still encounter fierce opposition, especially as the minister has downplayed the possible size of any cruise pier that might be proposed.
Those who may have voted ‘yes’ may still not support a specific future project because of the location, scale, costs, ownership, environmental damage or other factors that could emerge in the future, especially given the evolution of cruise tourism away from ports of call to the onboard experience and private islands.
Hew said Bryan’s public statements about a future cruise project, likely to be in George Town, with one pier and no upland development, financed through a Caymanian-only investment fund could have already constrained what might be possible in future.
“This referendum will not resolve the issue, and a referendum that fails to settle matters is largely pointless,” he said. “A lack of clarity undermines the referendum process, creating confusion and uncertainty rather than providing real solutions to the challenges facing Cayman’s tourism sector.”
He accused the government of shirking its responsibility by shifting the burden of such a major decision onto the people instead of developing a comprehensive plan to address the cruise industry decline without doing the necessary groundwork. He said the government should lead with a clear plan, indicating that if the PPM is reelected, they will probably pursue a project regardless of the outcome of the referendum, which is non-binding and merely advisory.“
What changed for Joey and PPM in a few short months?
Of course they’ll try and get this past the great unwashed.
Government and ppm using the referendum as a scape goat. If they can’t make a decision on what is best for our Caymanians then vote in new leadership on April 30th who will
What are you talking about? A referendum shows the voting public’s views of these issues. People moan that government makes decisions without public input and then they moan when they try to obtain public input.
It’s not just a case of yes or no, I want to know the plans behind the proposals before I am expected to vote on it. Without this it’s not a referendum, it’s Squid Games.
Just like Elon Musk under DOGE in America to audit and remove government waste… Cayman should also have the best and brightest address all these issues. Dwayne the Rock Seymour take the torch take the wheel like iron sharpens iron lead the way score that touchdown prime time. Thanks Rock
Elon Musk is an expat from South Africa naturalized US citizen. In Grand Cayman he would still be stuck with PR applications. Like it or not, the best and brightest normally come from abroad
Excuse!?! Have you been living under a rock cause last time I checked big daddy Mack McKeeva and the Rock Seymour are not from abroad so you’re theory is toast like so toast it got not even wit butter just toast
If you think Elon Musk fits in to either ‘best’ or ‘brightest’ I have a tower in Paris to sell you
Oh yeah so how many rockets 🚀 have you launched into space, create an electric car company from scratch, working on neuralink and co-founder of Open A.I. You’re a dork!
Imagine if he tried to make Tesla in the Cayman Islands, with the Caymanians pretending to own 60% of it… 😂
And PPM show their true colours once again! After the response from the first referendum, Joey wants to commit political suicide before even being re-elected?
Joey shows leadership and lets the people have their say!!