Policy
People’s vote coming on gambling and ganja
(CNS): The PACT Government is planning to roll out a referendum next year on a national lottery and the decriminalisation of ganja. Premier Wayne Panton has said that after Parliament meets later this month, he will be revealing more details about further questions that will be put to the people. Appearing on Radio Cayman last […]
NCC learned of CPA plans to appeal in media
(CNS): The controversial decision of the Central Planning Authority to appeal the judgement in the ‘Boggy Sand case’ was conveyed to the chairman of the National Conservation Council via the media. Following the news, as first reported on CNS on Friday, that the CPA had made the decision at a special meeting on Tuesday, 30 […]
Ministers must agree with policy or resign
(CNS): A minister who is not able to support a Cabinet decision has only one option, which is to resign, according to the Cabinet Manual made public for the first time Friday. The document was released just hours after news broke that the Central Planning Authority will appeal a court decision stemming from an internal government […]
Minister walks back plan to cut cruise numbers
(CNS): The focus of the PACT Government’s cruise policy may have shifted away from cutting back on the number of cruise visitors that were coming to the Cayman Islands by the end of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic closed the borders. Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said Friday that he wants to spread guests around the […]
Minister aims to create welfare-to-work regime
(CNS): Social Development Minister André Ebanks says the fundamental reforms he is planning to steer through Parliament next month will create a new regime in which many people currently receiving financial help from the government will transition into permanent employment and self-sufficiency. At the same time, it will offer more support for those not able […]
DP: Safety net needed to improve national happiness
(CNS): The Cayman Islands needs to invest in a social safety net and policies to improve its “gross national happiness”, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Chris Saunders has said. Of the six metrics that drive a county’s happiness levels used by the United Nations for its World Happiness Report, the one that counts most is […]
Residential fuel costs capped at 15 cents per kWh
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has announced the start of a fuel cost credit to residents across all three islands who use between 101 and 2,000 kilowatt-hours per month capped at $0.15 per kWh, no matter how high fuel factor costs get over the summer months. Anticipating a sharp increase in power costs, the CIG […]
Minister takes ‘fruitful’ scoping trip to Honduras
(CNS): Agriculture Minister Jay Ebanks has said his ministry is looking to establish and promote a direct shipping route between the Cayman Islands and Honduras in order to import fresh fruit and vegetables and other agricultural products from that country. As the government seeks to improve direct trade links in the region to strengthen Cayman’s […]
Health insurance help ends as costs rise
(CNS): The Health Insurance Premium Payment Assistance Programme, the freeze on private pension payments and the tourism stipend programme are all due to come to an end this month. Government has not yet confirmed that employees and workers must start paying into pension funds again next month or what will happen to tourism stipend recipients […]
Non-exec civil servants to get 4.5% COLA by year-end
(CNS): Civil servants on Grade E and below on the salary scale can look forward to three special payments of $150, which they will receive this month and in July and August, to help them navigate the increasing cost of living. This precedes a 2% increase in pay that will be rolled out across the […]
OfReg ‘surprised’ by PACT policy on green energy
(CNS): Heavily redacted minutes from an OfReg extraordinary board meeting on 2 May show that the utilities regulator was caught off guard by the PACT Government’s recent policy announcement to ensure public ownership of future green energy facilities. CNS has learned that OfReg had also failed to tell the Cabinet about its own plans, after […]
