Politics
Local economy could contract by over 12%
(CNS): The Cayman Islands’ economy could contract by as much as 12.2% this year, according to Finance and Economic Development Minister Roy McTaggart. The gloomy forecast for the country’s short-term economic fortunes was not unexpected, but with the reality of a 19% unemployment rate, government will now need to create public sector jobs and fund […]
CIG’s 1st Q results provide $25M buffer
(CNS): The public purse collected $25 million more than it expected during the first three months of this year, providing an additional buffer that will help the country brace for the expected massive decline in revenue in the second quarter, resulting from the economic lockdown in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 1 January […]
Opposition ‘walk out’ over lack of access
(CNS): Opposition Leader Arden McLean led an angry walk-out of the Legislative Assembly last week, accusing Cabinet of “truncating” the opposition. After complaining that no other business but that of government had been allowed on the order paper for the meeting, McLean said the government frontbench “should be ashamed of themselves”.
MLAs deserve their pay, says premier
(CNS): Premier Alden McLaughlin has confirmed that there is no plan to cut the salaries of politicians in Cayman as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. He said the people in his team “were working harder than they ever were before” and they have bills to pay like other people. While ministers in other […]
Date set for 2021 General Elections
(CNS): Cayman Islands voters will go to the polls in twelve months time on Wednesday, 26 May 2021, a date that has now been confirmed by the Governor’s Office. However, it is still not known if the referendum on the government’s cruise port project will also take place that day, as urged by the Cruise […]
Premier defends legality of curfew in Cayman
(CNS): Like governments the world over, the Cayman Islands government has been balancing public health concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19 in the community with the damage that lockdown inflicts on the economy. However, another contentious debate has emerged about the legality of the lockdown measures taken by the CIG, which the premier has indicated […]
EU blacklist a ‘major worry’
(CNS): With the COVID-19 pandemic decimating the tourism sector in the Cayman Islands for at least the rest of this year and probably well beyond, financial services will be the main driver for any economic recovery as the country emerges from lockdown. But Premier Alden McLaughlin said that Cayman must be removed from the European […]
QC stresses untruths over port marine damage
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government engaged in what was “little short of a propaganda campaign”, misleading the public about the impact the proposed cruise port development would have on the marine environment, a lawyer representing the National Trust argued last week. Tom Lowe QC told the appeal court that the Trust “was shocked” by this […]
Bush still holds speaker job
(CNS): The representative for West Bay West, McKeeva Bush, still holds the substantive post of speaker, Premier Alden McLaughlin confirmed on Monday. Bush is supposed to be on leave from the senior position following allegations and charges against him for assault. However, he was seen in his full ceremonial robes last Friday presiding over the […]
How to boil a frog and why it should terrify you
‘Oz’ writes: When the lockdown started the government talked about suppression and flattening the curve as the reasons for introducing widespread restrictions on our freedoms. Reducing the number of COVID-19 cases happening at once made perfect sense; everyone could easily understand the rationale of doing this and we happily complied. But somehow, and without our […]
CPR lawyers defend judge’s ruling
(CNS): The judge presiding over the successful legal challenge by Shirley Roulstone, a member of the Cruise Port Referendum campaign, to the bill government passed last year paving the way for a people’s vote did not get it wrong when he found it was unconstitutional, lawyer Chris Butler said Thursday.
