Bryan: Referendum will be one simple question
(CNS): Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has said the referendum recently approved by Cabinet will be a very simple question asking the people whether or not they want the country to build cruise berthing facilities. The vote will not address where such a facility should be built, how it will be financed, whether or not it should include upland development or whether it should involve the cruise lines. These are issues that the next government will need to deal with, Bryan has said.
The current tourism minister said all other questions can begin to be discussed once the country has said yes or no to the development of a berthing facility of any kind. Bryan has implied the question is about whether or not this country continues to cater to cruise tourism because without a pier of some kind, larger ships will stop coming.
Speaking recently on Radio Cayman, he claimed this is already having a detrimental impact on the wider economy and government coffers. Bryan has promised that before the vote, expected to be in October or November, he will present the country with a proper economic analysis of what it means if Cayman decides it doesn’t want cruise dock facilities of any kind and what action future governments will need to take to help transition those dependent on the sector to cater to overnight guests.
It is clear, however, that the tourism minister is hoping that by asking such a simple question and implying that the project could be a very basic dock with no upland development and minimal environmental damage, people are more likely to vote ‘yes’. But if the voters do that, they will be doing so without any indication of what could happen after the vote.
If the people were to support the principle of a ‘basic dock’, if that even proves to be possible, a future government could, without a referendum, move toward a major elaborate project with partners that don’t have this jurisdiction’s best interests at heart. Such a project might only benefit a handful of harbourfront merchants and some larger tour operators, as was the case with the PPM administration’s proposal.
However, Bryan said he thinks the discussions around what comes next cannot happen before people answer a simple yes or no to the principle of cruise infrastructure.
“We need to have an answer about one thing. Let’s not get bogged down with the cost, the location, the design and all the other things. Let’s just find out from the people do you want a pier,” he said, explaining how he and his team and caucus concluded that a simple question is the best way forward in the first instance.
Bryan claimed that Grand Cayman could have just one simple pier because it does not need to have more than two mega ships at a time. So he wants to know how people feel about the basic idea first. If the people want it, then the next government can begin considering the other array of issues, especially the financing and the environment. He said a simple single pier could be financed through a Caymanian-only investment fund.
Bryan appears convinced now that the cruise lines are already dramatically reducing the calls here and that eventually the main lines will stop altogether and if that is the case and that’s what the people want government will need to make plans.
“One of the main things about this referendum is once you have a decision, whichever way it is, the government can plan,” he said. “It may be a sensitive area but we have to talk about it because if the answer is no, which is the people’s right to choose, then at least the next administration will know that the people don’t want that and what are you going to do when the numbers continue to decline.”
The tourism minister spoke about the need to review immigration policies and perhaps even a moratorium on work permits in the tourism sector until local people working in it and local small business owners servicing the cruise sector transition into the stay-over market if cruise is something Cayman is going to exit.
There are many people in Cayman already in the tourism industry who have said for some time that there is little benefit to the wider population from the cruise sector. Stay-over tourism also has its critics, given the changing shape of the market, with the rise of Airbnb, and the impact it can have on the environment and infrastructure.
However, it still has more to offer the local economy than the cruise sector, which is being driven more and more by mega ships and companies that are doing everything they can to make ports of call nothing more than changing backdrops to the ‘onboard destination’ they are selling.
Meanwhile, merchants with the most to gain from a pier have begun weighing in on the argument, trying to persuade the rest of the country to support berthing facilities to help their profits. In a press release on Monday, local liquor store and famous cake maker, Tortuga Rum Company, welcomed the decision by the government to hold the national ballot.
“The enhancement of our cruise port is not just about infrastructure; it is about securing the future of our economy and preserving the jobs and businesses that depend on cruise tourism,” said Eugene Nolan, CEO of Tortuga Rum Company, suggesting that many of those who work in tourism directly benefit from cruise — an issue that is hotly disputed.
“The significant decline in cruise passenger arrivals since the reopening of Cayman’s borders following the pandemic, with no signs of a full rebound, underscores the importance of this topic,” he said, claiming that the “benefits of a cruise berthing facility extend far beyond the immediate economic impact”.
However, those campaigning against the idea of a dock point out that the negative impacts of cruise far outweigh what is seen as a very limited benefit to Caymanians.
“Investment in the enhancement of our cruise tourism facilities would ensure that the Cayman Islands remain a premier destination for cruise tourists, which in turn supports local businesses, from watersports and tour operators to restaurants and retailers across the island,” Nolan said, adding that his bosses believe the development of a cruise port “is essential for the future prosperity of our islands”, a claim that is vehemently disputed.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Time and again, consistently, the Cayman Islands Government, its ministers and its minteries, its Civil & Public Service and those outside experts it contracts with have demonestrated, repeatedly over many deacdes, that they are incapable of executing on a/any construction project, big or small (but especially BIG) in an efficient, cost effective manner that delivers on time an on budget.
If the incompetent (and worse) “powers that be”, get their grubby hands on a $500 million+ dollar budget to build a port – they will blow it out of the water (as it were) and it will end up costing $2.5bln+ at least (that is what the OAG will be able to account for, after the fact – much more will not be verifiable…)….AND THEY WILL BANKRUPT THE ISLANDS – OFFICIALLY and FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
For that reason alone – we MUST “vote NO” to any pier/dock building, in any referendum – irrespective of teh merits.
Worse, the contempt shown TO the voters by the “key stake holders” – asking us to vote for a “pig in a poke” (no details of what is actually proposed – in a rushed referendum (we all learned from the OMOV debacle; they did not as it suits them to have a “West Kingston/Bay” garrison consituency), means I am REALLY PEE’D OFF with these people.
IF YOU DON’T KNOW (what the cost will actually be when/if completed) – VOTE NO!
i personally dont think i am going to vote for it not because i am necessarily against the cruise port but more because it would appear that the government could in theory build that port anywhere and to a lesser degree how its built.
Anybody know what the payout will be for a “yes” vote? And will it be the usual combo of drugs, food, drink, and cash?
I hope the people of George Town see this for what it is. Do you know how many mouths this $1.5m could have fed? How many roofs this could have placed on caymanians? How many retirees that are struggling financially to meet their bills that this could have settled, how many clothing this could have purchased for families or the homeless.
PLEASE WAKE UP,AND SEE THROUGH ALL THE SMOKE AND VOTE THIS MAN OUT!!!
Kenny is apparently as spineless as he is stupid. I’m assuming that everyone sees this for what it is but just in case the GTC voters don’t get it:
Kenny knows the tourism companies want the dock.
Kenny knows the rest of the population does not.
He can’t make a decision either way without upsetting either the electorate, or the tourism industry.
So, he’s going to spent $1.5M of OUR MONEY to make the voters do HIS JOB for him and make the decision.
Then he can still be re-elected and keep his ministry and if the port doesn’t go in favor of one group he gets to shift all the blame to the people and the referendum.
He will do it all in the name of “serving the Caymanian people and doing what they want”
Seriously…who is going to run in GTC to unseat this clown. Enough is a enough.
Amen!!!! I wish I could shake your hand!!!
$1.4 million to ask 1 question? Nope, not value for money. Here’s my answer – “NO cruise port for T-shirt and a bottled water visitors!” Do they buy anything else??
KFC.
Simple question, how can this Govt squander 1.5M on this referendum and how much more pursuing the last one to primarily cozy favour with a foreign industry and to satisfy local cronies yet there’s no interest in maintaining a facility for the youth that don’t tick the box for organised sport with the skatepark closing down…
Easy they are bent on increasing all fees due in the financial community. Check it out.
i can give you a simple snswer in 2 words.
the first starts with F and the second O
LMAO
I’m trying to figure out who benefits from mass cruise tourism.
Its not that many. The impact that mass cruise tourism has on our standard of living grossly outweighs the benefit to the nation as a whole. And not in a good way.
Yeah, we have higher than expected surpluses every year right now, without this excessive cruise tourism. Traffic has eased. Town can breathe. Our attractions do not have the capacity for mass tourism without degrading. Imagine if we lose Stingray City bringing too many people. We do not need cruise tourism, and the people who made their livings off of cruise line contracts, buses and boats bought with loans based on projections, whipping our politicians to juice up their industries, need to find something else to do with their lives. I get that it was easy money, but you aren’t entitled to earn easy money forever. The place changes and you must change with it.
Kirk Freeport and Dart duty free
Kenny is a simpleton, so any question he asks is a simple question.
Kenny’s a f***ing imbecile.
Kenny wants a referendum to form an opinion for the next Govt but won’t wait for potential voters who may vote for that Govt but won’t be eligible to vote for the referendum to influence a
Govt they may be choosing…
Without commenting on whether or not I support a new cruise port, put it to the people rather than commenters providing anonymous comments.
But we’ve already spoken once and said no! They are money hungry and will have no island when they are done. Idiots.
There was no “people initiated” binding national referendum held which would force the will of the electorate to be mandated upon the will of this, that and/or any other future bout of what will most probably just another amalgamation of political and/or governmental maladministration. Please, once and for all, grasp this simple reality.
Moreover, and that which is pertinent, is ask yourself why a government initiated referendum is not structured to deliver a binding mandate upon this and/or any other governmental administration’s decision making processes, including any and/or all MP’s and/or Cabinet itself.
There was no referendum because the Government, in a move of dubious legality, simply declared the referendum the population worked for and earned, something they would not hold because their underlying plan was scrapped. Please, once and for all, grasp this simple reality. A referendum was triggered, in spite of a massive Government-funded campaign of propaganda, and it should have been held, and its result would have been binding if over the necessary threshold.
Any other referendum is up to the government holding it to decide whether they are going to be bound by the result or not. That is just a matter of whether they make that commitment. But they have the choice to make it or not make it, they can ask us for input or a decision, it’s up to them. It’s ‘not structured to deliver a binding mandate by default’ deliberately, and there’s nothing nefarious about that.
A referendum cannot control the actions of MPs lol.
I’ll leave it there.
Therein lays the problem.
Dictatorship!
NO, we have not.
OK Anonymous.
Posted by ‘anonymous’
The Chinese just don’t quit.
Kirkconnells you mean.
You are right – they keep offering ‘inducements’ to certain politicians to keep the potential for a Chinese built cruise peer alive.
Mac must have told his boy how generous the Chinese can be.
Come back Taylor and stop this fool.
Confucius say: It wasn’t me!
A very astute Caymanian gentleman said to me some time ago – just go and look at the line of cruise shippers waiting to leave the island and see how many goods / bags of items they are taking back with them. This gives a great insight into what benefit the island gets from these tourists
Look! They bought SOMETHING so obviously it’s all worth it. Some hard hitting economic analysis right here.
I sit on public beach and calculate how much money the jet ski operator makes when a cruise ship is in. I dream to be a jet ski operator. Work a couple days a week and pull in more money in that time than my full time job. How about the lounge chair guys? If I was young, I would get creative and be working on the beach.
The beach chair guys are a bunch of bums who harass us and take up space and all the cabanas. They need to go!
But, when you go on holiday, you go sit on a beach with a lounge chair. The cruise ship crowd is gone by 2:00. I think the problem is they need to open back up Royal Palms and a few other places for the cc ship crowd as there weren’t as many complaints when the cc crowd was dispersed.
Agree 100%, a business that pays no fees, likely has no insurance and is using public lands as its base of operations. Brilliant!
…and if I was younger would get creative, harass men on the corner and not pay a penny to Goverment or the bank, not pay for a house, CUC…ride around in free expensive cars no permit required!
What do you want them to buy? What is there to buy?
Would you buy “it”?
Here is a simple question:
– Do you want cruise tourism WITHOUT a dock (on Grand Cayman)?
– Do you want cruise tourism WITH a dock (on Grand Cayman)?
You only vote WITH if you want mass cruise tourism. If you want reduced (to some level to be determined) cruise tourism you vote WITHOUT. Simple.
(Asking for a no-cruise option is too likely to get a pro-cruise answer by default since it unnaturally aligns the pro-small-cruise and pro-mega-cruise camps and that will be deliberately misinterpreted as being pro-docks. Keep it simple and focused. Dock, or no dock. That is the question of the year.)
You continue to muddy the waters.
NO cruise tourism. NO cruise dock. NO more waste of our money and degradation of our shores.
And the answer to that simple question IS: no, no dock.
That’s 2 questions and the answer is no to both. No, or very limited, cruise tourism!
Cruise ships are an environmental disaster and of almost zero net benefit to the economy
Thats part of the problem:
The fact that there are no details for people to vote on makes this entire exercise pointless and more than just pointless, dangerous. Any Government that forms after next years’ election if they decide they want to build a cruise port will just ignore the vote because it was a vote on nothing.
No one with even a semblance of common sense should be willing to sign a blank cheque for a future government by voting yes on nothing. Supposing ‘Yes’ did win which I feel is highly unlikely it would be a vote endorsing a capital project that will even on the low-end cost tens of millions of dollars require the smothering and tearing up of marine ecosystems, the effects of which we would feel for decades.
Where will the project be built?
Who will be responsible for construction?
What scale will the project be?
What cost will the project be?
What will the method of funding be for the project?
What guarantees do the Caymanian people have in relation to revenues, cost overruns, and timelines?
What target number of ships and cruise visitors will the project service annually?
What actions will be taken to mitigate the environmental impact?
Who will be responsible for maintenance and upkeep of the project?
What plans are in place to reduce congestion in Town and in public areas that are flooded by tourists when there are ships?
What plans are in place to get tourists past the waterfront tourist traps and concrete jungle of George Town to actually experience Cayman in an organic way?
Until those questions and more have solid answers – I will be voting no and encouraging everyone I can to do the same.
With no concrete information,the question might as well be “Do you want Kenneth to be able to say he has a mandate via this referendum to be able to go forward to build a cruise ship dock no matter the details in the future?”
“Let’s not get bogged down with the cost, the location, the design and all the other things”.
In that case we might as well also have a referendum on whether we want to launch a space station, or reconstruct the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Exactly – The Tourism Minister really approached this entire debate with the dumbest set of talking points I have heard since the Honourable Minister for Car Crashes and Totaled Vehicles whose real passion in life seems be living as a crash test dummy Dwayne Seymour stated that the phases of the moon influence the sexual desires of women
Hehehe crash test dummy, I like that!
Hey, he was practising as stuntman for all the films coming under the new Film Commissioner = Stardom!!!
One simple question: When are you leaving?
One simple question, “How thick is your skull Minister”. The people dont want this and we will show you in a few months. Get ready to head back to a 9-5!
LTD Da Unboozler
What 9-5… LOL
It won’t be 9-5 for someone more used to 11pm to 3am.
It’s a 9pm-5am for him.
Here is one simple question that I would like to have answered by Honorable MP Kenneth Bryan.
Will the results of the referendum be binding on the incoming government that takes office next year?
If the answer to that question is NO, then why the hell are we wasting $1.5 million and a whole lot of people’s time?
The fee schedule has increased dramatically in recent times. CI Port charges a head tax of $5.74 per passenger, from $26.25 up to $31.50 per tender, and CIG tax of $1.60-$3.20 per EPF passenger plus a $6.00 per passenger cruise ship fee. The cattle bus to Turtle Farm is $30 per passenger. Public beach is only $6. In the best year ever, 2019, we had 1.83 mln cruise ship passengers. It was too many, but even then, not a significant fee earner for CIG. The annual Turtle Farm subsidy at that point handily exceeded the entire year’s worth of cruise ship earnings. Cruise doesn’t move the economic needle on anything other than a narrow band of cruise specialist businesses.
Cruise specialist businesses that pay 80% of their profits back to the cruise ships for advertising on the cruises ets …
No money stays here except in the hands of a few wealthy Caymanians. It is lunacy…
This is why the status quo is maintained.
Kenny is a moron that works for special interests groups
The first part of your statement is correct. As to the second part, no thanks, we don’t want him.
Caymanians, do not be fooled by incompetent and deceitful leaders.
As is often the case, Kenneth is lying.
As is ALWAYS the case, he doesn’t understand the economy.
He, Julianna, Jonjon and their band of self serving MPs are only looking out for themselves and the rich people who fund them. Andre, Sabrina, Kathy – how do you allow this to happen? You are all culpable in this waste of money.
Insisting on spending a million dollars on a referendum to ask about cruise berthing is absurd. We do not have an economic development plan.
Starting in some random point in the middle is a sure way to get the answer wrong. Start at the beginning.
The country. What is our vision for this country?
And then, what is our vision for the economy, the people, the environment?
Now, let’s look at the Economy. What do we need from our economy?
-Revenue for Government?
-Jobs for Caymanians?
-Opportunities for Caymanian business owners to expand?
-Opportunities for new Caymanian businesses?
Which industries can give us those benefits and at what costs? Can we get those benefits elsewhere and at a lower financial cost that investing in cruise berthing?
What choices do we have? Do the work of analysing other options.
Because it is wrong and deceitful to suggest that if we don’t have cruise berthing those jobs and that revenue will disappear and there is no alternative.
We CAN have a cruise industry without cruise berthing.
Maybe the Hamaty children and the children of other cruise merchants won’t make as many millions as they had hoped to make, but they will still be alright and their children will still be alright. They are already millionaires and better off than most Caymanians.
Caymanians, don’t be fooled. The question is not whether we want cruise berthing or not.
The question is how do we shape this economy to best serve our people? Which industries can generate the greatest benefits for Caymanians, today and in the future, without saddling the Government with debt or destroying our quality of life.
Asking about cruise berthing is _ssbackwards and upside down Kenneth.
It’s not about cruise berthing, so don’t waste our money and our time with this referendum.
Thank you! That is one of the best posts that I have read in months.
Are you available to run for Parliament next April – PLEASE!
Is it allowed to have such Clarity Sage in government, sounds too honest and intelligent..
Has anyone seen governors or public beach on a day the cruise ships are here? It is an absolute sardine packed mess. Then the garbage left afterwards is horrendous. We don’t want more ships!
The garbage is quickly picked up. Garbage is worse after Saturday and Sunday night.
We need more trash bins at Governors Beach.
Too true and we paying for MPs to picked up!!
They cannot be allowed to push for this vote until they have a comprehensive plan to present that we can vote, demanding we cast a yes or no on a project with no confirmed scale, price point or idea in how it will change is dishonest.
If they wish to proceed as they are now the only answer must be a resounding NO. We cannot allow ourselves to be bullrushed into a banket approval.
No to a cruise port. Yes to high end eco tourism, if you fools can manage to save even one strip of land from being turned into luxury apartments or a fast food outlet.
So, no, to mass tourism product that cheapens Cayman and makes life worse for the majority of residents.
Thanks.
Glad the question is simple. It will get a simple answer.
Hell NO!
These mass market corporate machines have overplayed their hand and destroy our environment whilst diminishing the very essence of Cayman. In this instance, less is very much more. Quality over quantity.
We could also then use our port to import things we actually need, avoiding any suggestion that we have to spend hundreds of millions to place it elsewhere.
Covid destroyed the illusion of cruise tourism being a financial pillar for this country. it only benefit the taxi cartel and a certain family who invested millions building a mall with the promise that more tourists was coming.
Look at the vast sums CIG has wasted on the Turtle Farm and continues to waste. $10,000,000 a year for the last 10 years. Cruise tourism simply does not warrant massive infrastructure spending when it gives so little back to the wider economy. Does Cayman have to carry the financial burden of cruise tourism forever?
Vote No!
Upskilling Caymanians in tech and finance is much better investment. While we’re at it, how about finally having a robust trade school for young men to fully take advantage of the construction industry.
Agreed 7.53….and an added benefit of no cruise ships would be that a couple of thousand rude placard waving Jamaicans would be sent home.
10.16am Unfortunately they’re not going anywhere. They’re part of Macs new Caymanians helping kill our Tourism product and us Caynanians as we are dying from stress of dealing with them.
A trade school was suggested many years ago and what happened….nothing! It never is about what the people want, only what will line selected persons pockets.
Do you not consider these trade schools?
CIFEC, UCCI or Inspire Cayman
No.
Just men??!!
yes MEN. miss me with that gender non-sense. look at the industry, it’s overwhelming men for a reason and if you haven’t figured that out yet then your parents and school failed you.
What we need is a trade school where we can trade current politicians for someone else.