Lettersto the Editor
A Few Answersto Many Problems of the Economy
Dear Sir,
Because it seems our elected officials havevery few answers or solutions to offer us I feel compelled tobring a few to their attention.
First off government needs to do a much better job of promotingnew business and development in Cayman. We need to stimulate theeconomy and the development of new projects would give a much-neededboost to Real estate, Construction, and Tourism.
(Minister Hon.) McKeeva's new baby, the cruise ship dock seemslike a good idea albeit not in West Bay!
Cayman is very fortunate in that we have investors who are willingto invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Cayman right nowbut yet we continue to push them away as if we have the luxuryto do so. The National Trust repeatedly flies in the face of peoplewho are willing to risk extremely large amounts of money investingin Cayman and each time puts a black eye on the prospects of futureinvestments to these islands. The MLA's and planning departmentneed to stop this practice and take charge of progress now. Iunderstand the importance of preserving natural environments butlet's be realistic folks.
Seven-mile Beach and West Bay Road is a defined development area.One flight over Cayman and Ray Charles could see that there areso many pristine and undeveloped areas of Cayman that could usethe National Trust's attention instead of their pointless effortsto hold onto a couple of mangrove plants in a highly developedarea. The National Trust needs to get a clue, they do a have animportant place in a Cayman unfortunately the people running itdon't know where that is.
Promoting of Cayman is poor at best. I rarely see anything onTV, Radio, or Magazines about Cayman. But yet every 15 minutesthere is some sort of ad for Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Jamaica.Nothing personal against the new head of marketing for Caymantourism but she is hardly qualified or experienced for such aposition. What the head of tourism should have done was to hirea world-class team of marketing strategists to promote this beautifulisland. Jamaica does! You can bet if this area doesn't improvewe are going to get hammered in the future by countries like Cubaand Turks & Caicos.
Government also needs to amend the Caymanian participation inthe local companies' law. If not eliminate the restrictions alltogether, at least amend it to the point whereby only a minimumamount of local participation is required and if none can be foundlet them invest here. This would help bring in very much needednew goods and services that will provide jobs, Government revenue,promote tourism, and give Caymanians and tourists alike more optionsof activities here in Cayman.
How are we to support any growth if we do not invite more companieseasier access to invest in Cayman? Fostering competition and bringingnew services, activities, and goods will provide many more benefitsthan problems to Cayman. Look at the models of almost every freeand democratic country worldwide, competition and freedom is thebackbone of any success they have attained in the business world.
Those among us who obsessively covet all things Caymanian willhave to realise one day, very soon, that the world has becomea global society. Each day that passes the nations of the worldare more dependant on the other and Cayman is no exception. Theeconomic prosperity we have attained can never be maintained ifwe continue to foolishly think that somehow we can close off Caymanfrom the rest of the world and conserve all things Caymanian.We have built this country from a mosquito forest to a world financialpower with the help of foreigners and we should continue to doso. We Caymanians will always maintain control of these islandsbut we should not be so afraid to open it up to the world; fortheir benefit but more importantly for ours.
Also, we need to find new ways to generate government revenuewhile reducing taxes. An easy example of this would be a locallottery, which is long overdue. I'd be willing to bet those whoobject to such 'Gambling' won't be arguing too much if they happento win the $1million dollar prize. This simple idea which hasbeen implemented in almost every civilised society around theworld could generate much needed income for the government tofund education, road works, and many other vital programs.
This would also give the government the ability to start diversifyingtheir income base, something that is badly and urgently neededhere. We can no longer rely just on tourism and banking anymore.New avenues of making money have to be explored all of which shouldbe done with the mindset of reducing taxes to bring down the costsof living for the people. Government can't bring in new dollarsyet continue to kill the people with these high taxes we currentlypay. The lottery is just one of many things that could be done.I know the MLA's shouldn't have anything against it because everytime I go to Las Vegas I see half of them in the casinos gambling.
Another problem, tens of millions of dollars are being lost bynot allowing companies to open on Sundays. The reasoning behindthis one other than the 'Community spirit' speech is beyond me.
I don't see how shops on the waterfront which are open on Sundayssomehow inhibit people from worshipping God? It won't stop mefrom going to church, how bout you? We are losing tens of millionsof dollars in revenue every year by not allowing the shops tobe open seven days a week, if they so choose. If we are goingto close the shops on Sundays, which I don't support, then let'sdo it without bias. Its funny that I can drive down the road andbuy alcohol from any bar on Cayman on a Sunday, yet I can't goto Fosters and buy milk? For those of you who will be up in armsagainst Sunday business please explain this logic to me as I mustbe a bit daft!
Ahh, now we get to one of my favourite topics; Cable & Wireless.E-business, which are companies who use telecommunications, namelythe Internet, as the backbone of their business, is going to bethe vital industry in the future. Let me say it again, it willbe THE vital industry in the future! We should be actively tryingto draw in such business to Cayman, which would allow young Caymaniansexposure to the world of high technology, an experience that willbe vital for the next generation. But instead we have seen fitto let a monopoly named Cable & Wireless suffocate the industrywith second-rate services while charging more than premium prices.We need to end the debate as to what to do with this monopolyand concentrate 100% on liberalisation of telecommunications inCayman, period. When we have affordable prices and cutting edgeservices here in Cayman we will certainly receive a major influxof companies wanting to do business here.
That means a boost in jobs, education and most importantly revenue.I personally know of a few people who would like to come to Caymanto operate their e-business. However, they cannot because of poorservice, slow technology, and ridiculous costs, all associatedwith the monopoly of C&W. A monopoly is never good, and wehave people who are ready and willing to provide better servicesat better prices than C&W and yet we are still debating whatto do. I trust that Mr. Linford Pierson is smart enough to makethe appropriate moves now for the future .I trust he won't listento the people who've been reading too many conspiracy books andthink that somehow removing C&W will lead Cayman to a telecomdisaster.
Another motion that government needs to pass is to amend the electionlaw to specify that only qualified applicants can run for publicoffice, a practice that has been implemented all over the world.In the last election I saw people declaring for office who couldn'trun a lemonade stand in the Sahara Desert. Yet they want to bethe leaders of an entire country. Right now we've got people inthe house who could never make the kind of money or wield thekind of power they do in the 'real world' for lack of formal educationand common sense. It is because anyone can run for elected officein our country why it is in such a mess presently.
If 'Qualified' candidates were only allowed to run, our choicesfor election would have been more focused and a better governmentwould be in there right now. And those who want to be the leadersof the country in the future will know that they must work hardand educate themselves to prepare for such a monumental task.Also we need to get rid of 'District' divided elections.
Let the people of this small country decide with one voice whoshould be in the LA. Then we won't have the current problem wehave presently with elected members looking out for their districtonly but the island as a whole. We are not Bodden Towner's, WestBayer's, or East Ender's. We are Caymanians and we should be ableto vote as Caymanians. Then and only then will this country getthe democratic right to freedom of choice.
And now we arrive at the single biggest problem that Cayman faces.It's the granddaddy of them all, the core, the base, the startand end of our economic troubles.
Government is far too big! We pay $156,000,000.00+ per year insalaries via the government. That's $156 Million CI dollars insalaries alone! What a ridiculous giant to keep feeding for sucha small island. Government employs over 5,000 people of whichmore than half should be working in the private sector being paidby companies and not the tax paying people of Cayman.
This burden to meet such debts month in and month out is calledwhat? Cost of living! That's right, the major reason why drinks,food, materials, duties and fees cost so much here in Cayman isbecause government takes this money from the people to meet itsdebts. Now that companies which also provided revenue are notyielding what they used to government is going to have to getthe money from somewhere so they will come to their usual milkingspot, the general public.
More fees, higher duties and new taxes should be coming to a grocerystore, airport, and gas station near you. So what's the answer?Privatisation! Take the burden off the taxpayers. Government moneypits like Cayman Airways, Public Works, the Hospital, the Garbagedump and a million other departments can easily be privatised.
There are companies who are willing to do the jobs that governmenthas all these people employed to do, better and for less money.
The unemployment of ex-gov't workers can and will be filled bycompanies who take advantage of the newly liberalised industriesas well as the new companies that operate on the island as a resultof increased telecommunications services (Once C&W is gone)and less stringent restrictions as discussed in the last few paragraphs.
I seem to say this till I'm blue in the face: government needsto reduce its size whereby only the minimum required people areneeded to facilitate the day to day operating of the Cayman Islands.Departments like the police force, customs, Immigration, legislature,Fire department, and the Courts are valid governmentally requireddepartments.
However, we don't need government to provide services that theprivate sector can already provide. When this happens it placestremendous strain on the local economy to support such ventures,like the much-publicised Cayman Airways disaster.
The answers above are just some, it's not the end all be all ofour problems. However if just some of the above were implementedhere in Cayman we would be a much Richer, Happier, and well-Educatedsociety.
James Whittaker.