Letter to the Editor

We need a tougher stance to protect our environment

Monday, December 22, 2003

Dear Sir,

Please allow me the space to voice my opinions and concerns re some topics that your good paper has printed recently.

For many years, in fact ever since I first set foot on these beautiful Islands, I have always tried to help protect our fragile marine environment, in whatever ways I could. 

I have spent time with young people in various schools talking to them and answering their questions to the best of my ability and to share with them my thoughts and experiences. As far back as my the early Seventies I tried to make people aware of the fact that nothing will last forever, but we as caretakers (for that is what we are in essence) must ensure that the generations to come will continue to enjoy what we have enjoyed for so many years. 

Unfortunately there are those among us today who do not respect what we have and exploit things for one reason only. Personal greed, regardless of what other people might think. The almighty dollar has changed these islands so much and unless we put a halt to this, Cayman will never recover. 

Sure we all have to make money to live and survive, but at whose expense? Our marine laws need to be rigidly enforced and give the guys that do all this hard work the satisfaction of knowing that their cases will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 

Right now these laws are being flaunted by persons who, without any regard, go out and get 200-300 conch or 20-30 lobster and those that are caught get the basic "slap" on the wrist by our judicial system and go away laughing at the tiny fine they have to pay. 

We have repeat offenders who get away with this all the time. If one visits Canada or the USA one has to get a license for the basic fishing etc and lo and behold anyone caught, breaking the law will not only lose the right to continue to fish or hunt, but will lose their boat, car, truck plus all the equipment used. 

We need to take a much tougher stance with our lawbreakers here and show them that we mean business and stop pussyfooting around once and for all. We no longer have 5,000-10,000 people here on these islands, more like 45,000 now and supplies will not take this added pressure unless we prepare now for the future. Yes we do have the traditional fisherman but hopefully even they will see the need for preserving what we have now.

Our ongoing grouper problem is another sore point with fishermen and others and it is now time for the politicians of this country to stand up and make some unpopular decisions. Show some guts for a change and stop hiding behind the fact that they might lose votes because they do something that is right to the whole Cayman Islands. 

The closing of the grouper holes for eight years will benefit all people and can only make the future bright for these over-fished species. 

The restaurants as a whole and the hotels should say no to buying these fish if indeed the law is passed to protect them and they are brought in for sale. Supermarkets should do the same. 

Is this the time to maybe pay our fishermen to not fish. I am sure this government can find the money for such a worthwhile cause and maybe stop spending so much money on traveling hither and yon. This practice is now becoming more prevalent in other parts of the worlds so why not make the effort to try it here. 

I ask, with all due respect, that the fishermen concerned take a long hard look at what the outcome will be for the future of grouper fishing in these islands. Give them a chance is all I am asking.

The recent upsurge in cruise ship arrivals, while bringing in a lot of dollars to some and frustration to others will without doubt have a serious impact on our stay-over visitors. 

Yes folks, they are the ones who spend the real dollars here on the island. Anyone in the downtown area who enjoys those 10,000-15,000 people milling around and saying that they are making tons of money has their head in the sand (what little we have of that these days). 

Wake up people! More does not mean more money. What we have here is quantity not quality and that is what makes our regular visitors come back here repeatedly. We are sending out the wrong image here Department of Tourism! 

There are those in this mass "chineese" fire drill they are trying to take all their dollars with them when they die. They know who they are. These same cruise passengers will go back and spread the word about how quaint, but oh so overcrowded, Cayman really is. 

Our roads are crazy with speeding drivers running back and forth like there is no tomorrow. All we need is a serious accident with some of these folk and it will set us back even further. 

Our sand-bar is another place of great concern to many of us. I spoke to 10 visitors off a couple of boats in Safe Haven one day just for the hell of it and eight out of the 10 said that it was total chaos out there and would not recommend it to any of their friends. That is 80 percent folks. 

I know that a committee is working on getting some suggestions for new laws to help protect this area, but this again is taking way too long to get done. These areas were suggested as far back as early Eighties for special Marine Park status, but again our Government did not think that it was important enough to follow up with this. Let us get this done ASAP. 

What we need is to talk to the cruise ship folk and get them to change their schedules of departure from their homeports. Leave in the middle of the week instead of all leaving at the same time or day. This will let us have say 3-4 ships per day as that is all we can realistically handle now anyway with the infrastructure that we have in place. 

We cannot expand the size of the island, so all we will succeed in doing is causing more traffic jams and more road rage than we have already. One only has to stand by the West Bay Road and watch the races. Why even the light poles have moved back for fear of being run into. 

Maybe this is something else we can charge the tourists to watch! I feel that if we do not control our cruise ship arrivals our image will be greatly damaged and once the word gets out we will have a hard time regaining consumer confidence again. Look at what has happened to other countries here in the Caribbean. 

One last footnote. I see that the Bahamas have seen the writing on the wall re closing their grouper fishing during spawning season. Let us do the same and help save the future of these islands for all to enjoy. 

Peter Milburn

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