Archive for June 8th, 2011
Save Cayman still on alert
(CNS): The man spearheading the campaign against the dredging of the North Sound says he and the Save Cayman supporters are not letting down their guard, despite comments made by the premier that investors are no longer interested in the channel project. Captain Bryan Ebanks said that while he is delighted the immediate threat to the North Sound has been removed, he takes very little comfort from the recent statements by the premier or believes that the proposal will not return to government’s agenda. On Friday evening McKeeva Bush told Radio Cayman that the developers proposing to dredge a channel and create a marina and resort on reclaimed islands in the North Sound had been put off by the negative response. (Photo Dennie WarrenJr)
After what was an exhausting campaign to collect close to 2,000 signatures, Ebanks said he was pleased that the opposition to the project had been enough to deter this set of investors but he said he was not convinced that this was an end to the matter.
“No one is comfortable that the threat is over as a result of the comments,” said Ebanks. “Everyone knows the premier can be unpredictable — he tells us one thing on one day and often tell us something very different on another — and there is never any accountability for these comments that change so often.”
The campaigning captain said that the Save Cayman group would still remain vigilant as there were absolutely no guarantees that when a new set of investors came forward with another idea to dredge the Sound, the premier would not once again throw his weight behind the project.
While he said there was time for his supporters to take a virtual deep breath, they were also planning on throwing their support behind the campaign in East End and North Side against what he said was the ‘big hole’ project disguised under the label of a cargo port. The captain noted that there were also other concerns about proposed developments.
Although protecting the North Sound was a major priority for Save Cayman, Ebanks said it was not its only purpose, and aside from wholeheartedly supporting the campaign in East End, Save Cayman was opposing the proposal by the Dart Group to move the West Bay Road, along with proposed crown land swaps with the developer.
More recently, Ebanks said a number of other issues have been raised about possible government development plans that have raised concerns, including speculation about the future of Barkers and some proposed development ideas for what was supposed to be a conservation area, as well as the ongoing question of the land invested to the Port Authority, which was set aside for a public marina at Safe Haven.
Ebanks said that Save Cayman would continue to campaign to ensure any future development of major infrastructure projects was more carefully scrutinized and only allowed to go ahead when it could show real benefit to the regular people of the Cayman Islands and not just a select few. He said further development on the islands had to be more sustainable and more meaningful to the community at large.