CIG makes progress on economic safety nets
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has managed to secure commitments from local banks and utility companies for some economic safety nets for those in need, as measures taken to protect the community from COVID-19 hit the bottom line. The Cayman Islands Bankers Association has agreed to offer loan holidays or payment waivers on a case by case basis if customers contact their banks directly in the coming days to talk about their circumstances, and ensure that people will not lose their homes.
Meanwhile, the Water Authority, CUC and several telecoms companies have committed to ensuring that no one will have their utilities cut over the next 90 days. Customers in difficulty who cannot pay their bills are asked to contact the utility companies directly via phone or email to arrange the credit they need.
But government has said that it will be doing a lot more to help Caymanians who will be suffering as a result of Cayman’s lockdown, especially the tourism sector, and the knock-on economic effects of the measures taken to protect the people’s health.
Speaking today at what is now expected to be a daily press briefing, which is being streamed on the government’s YouTube channel and on social media, Premier Alden McLaughlin said government has been focusing on the impact of the pandemic for weeks and no rash decisions were being taken.
“Our health professionals have also been focusing on this. And we will continue to focus and take the best advice available and to then make the decisions that we believe are in the best interest of all of the community,” he said.
Following his announcement that the airports here would be closed to international traffic from Sunday, he said that government has also held numerous meetings with key segments of the economy and more are planned to strategise about how best to get through the impact of the pandemic.
“These include the banks, water companies, telecoms companies, Caribbean Utilities, the Chamber of Commerce, the supermarkets and main food and goods importers, the financial services sector, the tourism sector, and doctors representing the Cayman Islands Medical and Dental Society,” McLaughlin said, adding that the conversations have been encouraging.
“I am satisfied that everyone is taking this threat seriously and everyone supported the measures being taken by government,” he said, noting that the business community is doing what it can to protect staff and keep businesses running. McLaughlin said it was important to maintain the services that a modern society requires.
He also said there was a willingness to assist people who will be hit hard by the economic reality that the country faces.
“The ban on cruise ships automatically means that several thousand people working in this industry will be impacted,” he stated. “In discussions with the banks, they have all agreed to work individually with clients with mortgages and loans who are impacted during this period. Also, all of the water, electricity and telecoms companies gave assurances that they would not disconnect customers. They also committed to working individually with customers who are having difficulty making their payments.”
Pointing to the need for the community to continue coming together, he said other measures were being worked on to help keep people employed and “to keep food on the table, especially those in the tourism sector that is being hit hard”. With the tourism sector down but not out, the premier said the country will work through this and rebuild once the worst is over.
In the interim, he accepted that there would be some serious challenges. Those living in costly rental accommodation will be struggling but that is not an easy problem to resolve. He pointed out that there are hundreds of landlords in Cayman but there is no one association that government can talk to and no rent control measures that would help it direct measures to assist tenants. But government he said was well aware of the challenges for Caymanian renters and said Cabinet was still grappling with what could be done to assist.
He said that the Needs Assessment Unit would be playing a part in generally supporting those who are really struggling and that government was hoping to speak about welfare support measures on Tuesday.
In the meantime, he reassured the community that the financial services sector was still up and running and playing its part. “In our meeting with financial services, it was good to hear that they, too, supported the measures we are taking and were themselves taking precautions to ensure the strength of the business here continues,” McLaughlin stated.
The financial offshore sector’s continued ability to function will be critical to keeping Cayman’s economy afloat. “They also have robust business continuity plans to ensure that clients can be served,” he said.
McLaughlin said that despite the challenging times, the sound financial management of government finances over the last administration has placed the public coffers in a position to ride this out.
“We also have a strong and professional medical system, private and public, who are committed to helping keep us safe. As you would have heard there are no concerns regarding supplies of foodstuff and goods coming in,” he said, and urged people not to panic buy.
The premier also stressed over and over again the need to keep the elderly members of the community protected. He pointed out that young healthy people who are infected will recover, even if they get sick. But those who are infected but not particularly ill pose a very serious risk to the older folk. He urged people to be considerate and ensure that they follow protocols and ensure that they do everything they can not to infect others.
He said that overall, most Caymanians were doing what they could to follow the measures imposed by government and were being considerate towards each other in an effort to keep the virus at bay.
Since the press briefing, the Department of Children and Family Services has announced that it has suspended all social visits until further notice to the Kirkconnell Community Care Centre on Cayman Brac, the Golden Age Home and Maple House in Grand Cayman to protect the vulnerable. The DCFS said it was exploring alternative methods for families to maintain contact.
CNS has not received any notifications from the Pines Retirement home regarding visitor there.
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Category: Business, Health, Medical Health
Well Aldart it’s time to start using some of those amazing surpluses of the last 7 years of work permits for whoever can pay and PR for whoever complains. Maybe some government austerity like closing down worthless WORC and getting rid of Big Man Mac.
Totally agree. After boasting about the very large surplus, use some to help those in need!!
Guys, you are lucky so far. You have Mr. Dart with gold eggs. Should help or to be checked on it.
Flights are open until Sunday
What about the people who depend on tourism rentals to survive and are getting an abundance of cancellations? Maybe stop the tax on rentals for awhile.
Umm, no rentals means no tax will be payable …
I hear you, but, I think they are asking for a tax ‘vacation’ after things begin to pick back up. Like no tax through to the end of 2020. (Just an example, ignore the specifics.)
Big international tourism associations are asking the big governments for (future) cash as well, as every tourist operation is hurting form this. If you’re a small operator needing to pay your mortgage & staff its a tough call for CIG whether to help you out or not, and how.
How about implementing
1. Implementing a curfew.
2. Restrict restaurants to take out or delivery only.
3. Closing down bars/night clubs (people can buy alcohol and stay home).
4. Copy what the USA does – only scale it accordingly for the size of our islands.
5. Doing something sensible when it comes to laid off workers – if I recall correctly, able-bodied persons who are of working age are entitled to 3 months of benefits from NAU
But only if you’re Caymanian. What will happen to the thousands of work-permit holders with no money and nowhere to go?
Repatriation bond – that is the purpose of having it right. Key words used are Work Permit.
Our great leaders will sort this out but for now we should have free food, utilities, rents or mortgages paid. This will help with the burden of this crisis.
The point of this lockdown is to make sure people stay in their homes and not be homeless. Dont forget about those who dont own, but rent…
All these half finished buildings around, they soon get their wish to become the Dubai of the Caribbean.
In the press statement the Premier said assistance would be given to Caymanians in the tourism industry who would lose their jobs as a result of the ban on cruise sips and flights, but what about the poor people on work permits. His response was Govt could not afford to assist them, so are they to end up on the street and starve?. They cannot go home due to the Premier’s ban on flights, this is callous treatment in the extreme. Shame on the Premier and his Govt.
I agree, there should be an organization that can help expats out – perhaps organized and funded by expats also. Is there anything like this in existence already?
Repatriation fees are included in the work permit fee; so that money should be available for their repatriation. That is if the Government are going to abide by the law. As they should. Tho, knowing how they work they have no doubt spent it. Hope not!
Hello,
One thing that should be done is to send all NON ESSENTIAL WORK PERMIT HOLDERS (who STILL have, gainful occupations with paid salaries) home.
Having these persons here without any means of cash flow means that
A) They WILL do side jobs illegally.
B) If the CANT find honest work then they WILL resort to crime in order to survive. This causes an increase in crime rates.
C) They will cause an unnecessary burden on the Health system locally.
D) They will cause local goods supply issues if importation of goods becomes an issue. A large number are sending a majority of goods obtained here locally, in te past two weeks, to their respective countries in bulk.
The Govt needs to ensure the needs of the indigenous population is met first. All others can, and should, be sent to their respective countries who are required to look out for their own population.
This needs to be a priority.
Ah…all the evil comes from foreigners? Wow, you really wrote that. Crime rate will increase across the population, not just foreigners. How the hell are they supposed to get home anyway? No flights anywhere…Ah good old Caymankind. Go talk to your preacher and wise up. BTW, who is going to pay for illegal side jobs? You are in cuckooland…
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
So the ones that have jobs will resort to crime and illegal side jobs? I guess you meant to say those without jobs. Well according to the law if they lose their job they are meant to leave anyway – no need for special regulations, just enforce the Immigration law. Two practical (putting aside the morality) problems with that. First, we are not awfully good at enforcement and dealing with over stayers. Second and more fundamentally, how can we send them home when the Premier closed the airport to outbound traffic?
Work permit workers that have lost their jobs should go home.
Cayman Airways can send them to Canada, Jamaica, US , Honduras.
If they are a citizen of that Country, that Country must allow them in.
is this the worst you can be, or is there worse still in you?
As a Caymanian, I am totally appalled. you do realize that it is not the expats that cause the most crime in this country but it is us Caymanians that do. My parents didn’t bring me up like this and just who is the indigenous population?
This is the time that we should be pulling together and helping our neighbors. I went through Hurricane Ivan and yes there were a lot of expats that left but many of them stayed here with us and helped us rebuild. We could not do it on our own.. I’m tired of this “all for me” attitude.
I am 5th generation Caymanian if you want to go down the indigenous road and I was always told to show respect to everyone and always treat people they way you would like them to treat you..
To all expats, I know these types of posts are insulting but please understand that not all Caymanians are like this and I apologize on behalf of my people.
Stay Safe Everyone and remember Charity begins at home.
Love thy neighbor as thyself!
9.03am You are so ignorant, along with the 24 thumbs up. Thank God we have some very sensible Caymanians here.
The issue with rent is completely dependant upon the relationship you have with the landlord. If you’re a good tenant then they’ll likely want to help you and give you some reprieve, not free, just a reprieve. If you’ve been a pain in the but then you’ll likely get the boot, reap what you sow.
House those most in need in empty hotels. It will help everyone to pay their bills, have access to food, and keep people safe!
What a great idea. Since it is so hard to find landlords to accept NAU clients, this should work. Place security guards around if you’re scared but sound humane to me!
Landlords who would lose current tenants might have trouble finding new ones. I doubt hotels would agree to house displaced people.
The alternative is that some of them may be coming, knife in hand, to a bedroom near you.
You may not like the idea but viable solutions to provide urgent housing and food to large numbers of people are needed and fast.
Are you talking about yourself? This is what you would do?
No, but it did happen to me after Ivan.
In other countries m, govts and taking over hotels for hospitals based on infected numbers. We have plenty hotel rooms here, problem will be medical staff.
Worst idea in the history of bad ideas. Congratulations.
6.04am I beg to differ, that goes to allowing the Speaker to take indefinite “leave of absence”.
I’ll take the Ritz suite and the NAU kids can have my place.
😂
There is always Comfort Suites…