National TrustBlamed for Economic Downturn
Dear Sir,
In the address to the Chamber of Commercemade by the Honourable McKeeva Bush on Wednesday night of 27 June,2001, he attempted to outline the poor state of the economy makingmention of the large number of businesses that are down by veryhigh percentages, ranging from 25 to 78 percent.
This is an alarming state of affairs andI am predicting that it is going to get much worse.
He also revealed that a consortium of companieswas in the process of purchasing a 250 acre property somewherebetween the Seven Mile Beach and North Sound. He stated that thewould-be developers discovered that the National Trust had delayedthe Ritz Carlton project for a very long time and that they areaware that the National Trust has appealed against the CaymanShore project, therefore, this type of environment was not conducivefor their development and they decided not to pursue it any further.
I am being told that the 720-room hotelbeing planned for the Breakers Frank Sound area has been put onhold after hearing about the major problems that other large developersare experiencing; due to the excessive power that the NationalTrust, together with Mr. Billy Adam, have been using against somedevelopers.
I am suggesting that the National Trustis playing a major role in destroying the Islands' economy andI am calling on the Government to withdraw their financial supportand to close them down.
If they want to preserve Cayman's old historicbuildings, etc. there would be no objections but they should nothave the authority to object to developments and I invite themto feed the people on the mosquito-infested mangroves that theyare trying so relentlessly to protect.
By the end of this year and into next yearthe slowdown is likely to be so destructive that some people'sattitude might have to be changed.
There might be some members of the Trustthat are not so well off and are being misled by other membersthat are extremely well off to the extent that their money ispractically limitless; therefore, the 'benefits for developmentand changes' are words not included in their vocabulary.
I have been reliably informed that the consortiumof companies, mentioned above, brought in such people as the HiltonGroup, the Marriott Group and others and when they discoveredthe frustration that is being experienced by other developersthey said "Good Bye" to the Island.
As a result of the OECD/FATF issues, thefinancial industry is definitely being affected and with the adventof no new hotels, etc., I am wondering who will provide jobs forthe many hundreds of graduates this year and in the coming years.
Tourism is the only other industry thatwe can look to and every last effort should be made to encouragehotels, condominiums, etc., as this could be our lifeblood salvation.
In addition to the problems created by theNational Trust and I should not forget the Department of Environment,we have become victims of three problems all at one time and theyare as follows:
The poor performance by the last Government.Allegedly using inaccurate figures of tourist arrivals from whichwe have already suffered and recovery will take forever.
The OECD and FATF initiatives for whichrecovery will take a long time, if ever.
The US recession over which we have no control.
As soon as the US comes out of the recessionour tourist arrivals might improve, however, many of the peopleconnected to the financial centre that would have bought or rentedhomes or apartments are likely to be gone forever.
I regret to harbour the thought of someof us having to change our high profile lifestyles but I am believingthat we better brace ourselves for the worst slowdown to be experiencedin the past twenty to forty years.
Joe Conti