Letters to the Editor
Extending Economic Growth toother Districts
Dear Sir,
I noticed today in your paper,with great interest, that Cayman Airways has requested an additional$3.6 million dollars in its first quarter subsidy. The readingimplies that a certain amount of subsidy must have already beenpaid for their first quarter operation. In looking at this picture,I am wondering what the final amount will really be at the endof this year.
It is rumoured that Cayman Airways lost $11 million in the year2000, and I am believing that our Government cannot afford topay these sums of money to keep Cayman Airways flying, and thatwe should bite the bullet and close the airline down, at the sametime, maintaining a licence that would allow us to charter airservice in the event that it becomes necessary from time to time.
I am told that tourism is up in the Bahamas and Barbados, andin most other Caribbean islands, but I presume that due to thepoor performance and imprudence of the previous Government, tourismhas been down both in hotels and from cruise ships, and a surveyof business will tell you that the bottom has dropped out of businessin the past several months and is destined to get worse. It appearsthat the last Government lived in a fantasy world by believingthat Grand Cayman was the only island that tourists had to visit.However, that case has proven to be untrue.
I was told that some three or four years ago, a large hotel chainpurchased property in the Frank Sound area with the idea of buildinga 700-room hotel.
It is alleged that the then Tourism Minister advised them thatno more permission for hotels would be granted until after theWestin had been well established.
I have been told that the same group revisited the island recently,and the present Tourism Minister welcomed them with open arms,and they said that it was refreshing to find the Minister of Tourismwith such a positive attitude.
I am also told that plans are now being drawn for the proposedhotel project, and that they are likely to be submitted to thePlanning Department in the very near future. The Frank Sound/Breakers/PeaseBay areas certainly need some development, and it would be a God-sendto have such a project come to realisation.
Greed pays those who do not need
It is a well-known fact that the Governmentis paying $400 a month to every male adult that claims he wasa seaman, or that he has been in some kind of military service.In addition, they are being given their entire medical and evenall their medication free.
I personally know of one individual who is stinking wealthy andhas his home in the United States, and is collecting $400 dollarsa month from our Government.
I consider that this is a disgraceful act, and that the Governmentshould not pay these types of people. Furthermore, he should beashamed of himself to accept it, bearing in mind that he is probablyworth at least $100 million.
I am told that there are hundreds and hundreds of Caymanians thatare living, and have lived, out of the country for most of theirlife, but because they claim to have been a seaman, they are alsocollecting this fee.
In addition, there are hundreds and possibly thousands of localpeople, young and old, many of them undeserving, but yet collecting$400 per month. My question is: How long can the Government affordto do this, and what will the next GIVING project be?
It is a foregone conclusion that we are rapidly creating a welfarestate and a welfare state cannot be maintained without some kindof taxation, so I am wondering what will be next.
It is simple arithmetic that a country cannot spend more thanthey take in, without continuing to borrow more and more as theprevious Government seemed to have done. I am sounding a whistlethat this country is heading for major financial problems if wecontinue on the course that has been charted by previous Governments.
Over the past number of years, we have experienced the longestfinancial boom in our history, and we are now heading into a recession,which might develop into a depression, and I therefore urge theGovernment to take heed, to pull up their socks, and to exercisesuch prudence that has never been experienced before.
Dick Cross