Tag: Katherine Ebanks-Wilks
Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill still under review by MPs
(CNS): The Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill, which has gone through multiple rounds of public consultation and stakeholder review since Cabinet approved drafting instructions for the legislation in 2022, is still under review. The minister responsible for gender affairs, Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, has revealed that the bill was reconsidered by Caucus just a few months ago and members […]
PPM dismisses responsibility for ReGen disaster
(CNS): The agreement the PPM signed in 2021 with a Dart-led consortium to develop a waste-to-energy facility and a waste-management system was a terrible deal, according to a recent report by the Office of the Auditor General, but the party, now in opposition, still seems unable to accept responsibility for its failings. Instead, Deputy PPM […]
New climate policy edited by MPs and already gathering dust
(CNS): The new climate policy appears to be in danger of suffering the same fate as its predecessor and has already begun gathering dust on a government shelf, having been presented to the PACT caucus by then-premier Wayne Panton almost a year ago. In parliament last week, Panton asked the current sustainability minister what had […]
UPM dumps ‘untenable’ Dart deal for ReGen
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government is going through the process of withdrawing from the deal it signed with a Dart-led consortium to take on the country’s waste management problem and the construction of a waste-to-energy facility. What had become the UPM’s worst kept secret was finally revealed in parliament on Thursday when Sustainability Minister Katherine […]
Opposition urges CIG to ‘come clean’ on ReGen
(CNS): As speculation mounts that talks between the Cayman Islands Government and Dart over the future of the waste management project, ReGen, have completely broken down, the opposition is urging the CIG to break its silence on the status of the project and “come clean” to the people about what is going on. Deputy Opposition […]
Gov’t finally changing law to ban single-use plastics
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government is in the process of changing customs legislation to ban the importation of a significant number of types of single-use plastic. Officials from the sustainability ministry said that small plastic grocery check-out bags, plastic straws, plastic stir sticks, plastic chopsticks, sky lanterns, polystyrene cups and clamshell food containers are all […]
UPM green-lights new 2045 target in energy policy
(CNS): Cabinet has finally approved an updated National Energy Policy more than seven months after the draft was published. In a press release about the decision to accept the revised and more ambitious plan, drafted under Wayne Panton as the sustainability minister, the Cayman Islands Government acknowledged that the process needs to move more quickly, […]
Climate policy in limbo as more heat records broken
(CNS): The data for global temperatures is expected to show that last month was the warmest February on record after spring-like conditions across the Northern Hemisphere caused flowers to bloom early from Japan to Mexico, left Europe’s ski slopes bereft of snow and Texas sizzling at 100°F. The Cayman Islands may have enjoyed cooler weather […]
ReGen talks roll into yet another year
(CNS): Government officials and the Dart Group have missed yet another date to complete talks on the national waste management project. The PACT Government had targetted the beginning of December as the most recent deadline for a deal to be made, but the ReGen project has been pushed back yet again until early in the […]
Conservation law marks 10yrs as MPs attack environmentalists
(CNS): Wednesday was the tenth anniversary of the National Conservation Act passing into law, despite the continuing opposition to the legislation and the misrepresentation of how it has impacted development. With former premier Wayne Panton, the architect of the law, laid up after breaking his ribs, there has been no one in parliament this week […]
MPs to meet but no-confidence vote may fail
(CNS): On Friday, the PPM secured enough signatures from MPs now sitting on the opposition benches to call a special parliamentary meeting for Tuesday in order to hold a no-confidence vote in the government. However, the vote could still fail. On Saturday, there were indications that they still had not locked in the necessary tenth […]
