When will these violentTimes End?
Members of the Cayman community continue to express that "Caymanis gone" following the most recent killing which followedthe shooting that took place just one week ago, extinguishingthe life of a 25-year old Caymanian male - who left his father'splace of business to visit a popular night club.
Never in the history of these Cayman Islands has so much crimeand anti-social behaviour impacted its people - until now.
As a community which prides itself in Christian heritage and foundation,many are espousing - with some degree of conviction, that theseare the 'End Times' of the world - meaning the time is near whenChrist will return to this world that we now live in.
This conviction which is shared by all ages - "confirms"says one Christian leader, that "many Caymanians still believein the Biblical teachings they have learned over the years ...because the coming of the 'End Times' now expressed by a widecross platform of media ... and from the pulpits of several Churcheshere and world wide ... reaches Caymanians from all walks of life."
As unscientific as the local community's Christian assessmentmay seem, most people living here are shocked ... to say the least- at the severity of criminal behaviour that has taken place overthe last six months, beginning with the major prison riot at theend of October last year - followed by a series of attempted bank-break-ins... four prison escapes - three from Police Headquarters and onefrom the Bodden Town Police Station lock-up ... and now four murdersin just four months.
With a General Election looming just 23 weeks away ... and thefocus still being on more and more development, whose impact studiespay little or no attention to the amount of people that will haveto be brought in to work - the additional negative impact on analready imbalanced indigenous population - and the attendant stressbrought on by the difficulty of several households trying to makingends meet by many in our community ...a burdened nation must nowbe wondering ... when will these dark times end?
It seems that increased development, which supposedly has broughtin a significant amount of prosperity ... has brought with itstide ... an attendant rise in imported cultures and workers inrecent years.
It is sad to say, the net result of all this increased commercialactivity and prosperity ... continues to bring with it, an obviousand seemly non-reversible increase also in criminality.
The question therefore still begs ... Which Way Cayman?