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:
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- Afraid
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’.
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.
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!
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
GTC PLEASE do us a favor and fire this buffoon next year. We can’t another term of Kenny G!