Dart to get 3700ft of WB road
(CNS): Despite claims that government is swapping 2,500 feet of the West Bay Road with Dart Realty, the three groups trying to preserve the public road say the people of Cayman will actually be giving up over 3,700 feet of crown land when the road closure goes through. At a West Bay meeting on Thursday evening hosted by local activists, measurements taken by members from Governors Way to Yacht Drive show that the length of road that will be given to the developer is well in excess of the amount claimed. Alice Mae Coe from the Concerned Citizens Group along with Dr Edward Caudeiron used a wheel-measure and discovered that Dart, in contradiction to claims, will be getting 3,731ft in the swap with governments. (Activists measure the length of the West Bay Road due for closure)
“So who is misleading whom?” Coe asked, saying that the entire population of the Cayman Islands had been misled as she pointed to the undisclosed road length.
The developer has stated consistently in its documentation and at various meetings and presentations that around 2,500 feet of road will be closed to vehicular traffic as part of its planned redevelopment of the former Courtyard Marriott site into a four or five star beachfront resort. This crown land will be given to the developer in exchange for land in Barkers, the development of the extension and related roads, a cash donation of around $20 milllion and the redevelopment of the Seven Mile public beach.
According to the proposed plans in the ForCayman Alliance deal between the Dart Group and the Cayman Islands Government, the road will be closed at Governor’s Way, where clearance work has now started, and traffic will be diverted on to the Esterley Tibbetts extension. The existing West Bay coast road will then be closed to traffic until beyond Yacht Drive, where drivers will have the first opportunity to return to the West Bay Road, more than 1,200 feet further than has been claimed.
Dart has recently began work on preparing the land for the extension following an agreement with the National Roads Authority. This coupled with comments by the premier indicate that the opposition to the road closure has not yet had any impact on government’s intention to move to the full ForCayman Alliance deal. The crown land has not yet been handed over, however, and the activists are hoping that they can still stop this part of the deal.
Although disappointed that their petition given to the governor in December which contained over 4,100 signatures was immediately passed to the premier by Duncan Taylor and then dismissed, the activist are now planning a full scale demonstration.
During Thursday’s meeting the groups began organising a rally in Heroes Square, where they intend to have at least five hundred supporters present.
Bolstered by analysis of the petition to government, the groups also revealed to the audience of more than one hundred people at the meeting that more than 2,300 signatures belonged to registered voters. The activists denied that they mislead people who signed or that there were significant anomalies in the petition, as had been reported in a local newspaper. Given the revelations regarding the length of the road, Coe said it was not the activists that were misleading anyone.
During the meeting she explained that all of the duplicates were accounted for and in the final analysis there were exactly 4,116 unique signatures. Only 8 belong to children under the age of 18 and 1,652 of those who signed lived in the premier’s constituency of West Bay, while 1,223 signators lived in George Town and 873 were from the other districts.
Only 368 signatures were from visitors to the island, though the activists said they believed those people had a right to express their opinion on the issue as well, especially owners and frequent vacationers to the island.
Dr Caudeiron gave an impassioned speech to the audience about the need to fight to preserve the road and to oppose the deal until “the bitter end”, as he described what was happening as a disgrace. He said that despite the premier’s comments that the signatures were “idiots”, the petitioners were simply voicing their opposition to the closure of the road and a deal that was fantastic for the developer but not for them. “You must not insult the people,” he told the premier as he warned that would only rile them up more.
Captain Bryan Ebanks, one of the leaders of the Save Cayman group, asked the people of West Bay what they were prepared to do now the petition had been ignored. He said that the only power the premier has is that given to him by the people. “We are taught to wait four years to express our feelings, but we cannot afford that," he warned. “Until you use the power that you have, you serve the politicians,” and not the other way round, which is how it should be, he said, adding that politicians were meant to work for the people.
As the meeting drew to a close, the activists managed to extract commitments from more than fifty people who said they would bring at least ten people to the rally when the Legislative Assembly is in session. Capt Ebanks said that “warm bodies on the street” was the only thing he believed the premier might take some notice of.
Category: Local News
OK – I agree SOMEWHAT with the efforts,but there is too much disorganised yapping.
Why dont they/we get a real petition, listing all the topical issues – WB Rd / Dump / Dock etc – and petition registered voters, and try to trigger a multi-question National Referendum Vote on these major issues????
After all, that's mandatory for it's built into the Constiutiton and doesnt require the Governor to accept (or pass the buck again)…
Hmmm
All the people that are against this should boycott the new Public Beach when it opens…It you don't likeit you should stay off it…I don't want to see see any of you Naysayers enjoying the new modern facilities.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the public beach is the bit by the sea (where sand meets water) so there is no "new public beach", just a new bit of sand and park? When I go to the BEACH I go for the sand meets water bit.
What difference does it make? Really who cares other than these idiots with too muchtime on their hands?
I look forward to all the positive developments happening in tandem with this project!
The difference is somewhere in the region of $200 million dollars the government is giving away to Dart. Does that help you understand the gravity of the situation?
I also think the hotel would be good, however i do not support the "negotiations" conducted by the other idiots as I believe they are not getting value for OUR money
Thats Great, hopefully they will start with the Hotel right away too, we need it sooner rather then later!!!!
ya, cuz all dem other hotels we gots iz overflowin!
I have not fully made up my mind on where I stand as yet but I have the below genuine questions that I need to be clear on:
1) Will the closest I am able to get by car to the beach be Trafalgar Place and I walk from thereafter? The picture on the forcayman alliance website however indicates that there will be two lanes of traffic before the enhanced beach, but the diagrams indicate road closures? I want to fully understand beach access on the new plan. If I am planning my daughters bd party on the beach how I would get the necessary party gear to the beach? Or I am going for an evening jog on the beach how far away should I park and walk?
2) By "enhanced" beach does this mean more beach land/space or simply a few cabanas and other facilities?
3)Isnt it a good thing that we will be getting more rooms thus enhancing our tourism product? Surely moving an already troubled road and increasing room count offsets the costs ?
I am definitely not for Dart owning so much on this island because it is too much power for one individual. However, on the other side these are not small investments that he is making these are significantly huge investments so at minimum he has to be planning to stick around for a few years to make back some profit. The number of Caymanians that are employed by Dart directly or indirectly is also significant. In a stagnant economy such as ours the benefits outweigh the costs in regards to a continued partnership with Dart.
3,700 is that all? Give him the rest. Oh, cut in the white Jamaicans and the Chinese. We can't discriminate. As long as it's not our people. This sellout government. People that voted for the UDP needs to be horse whipped and put on a slow boat to China to get a new brain. They make me ill.
There is no need for a new hotel, our occupancy rates are under 65% so there is no financial justification for another hotel. That is why the hotel is closed in the first place, along with the Hyatt. Has a feasibility study been done by the developer? Another hotel will only hurt or drive out of business the existing hotels that are struggling and only benefiting Dart and Co. I am in favour of free enterprise but I do not think that Government should be assisting w/o a feasibility study which would show all of the likely iimpacts.
Other countries have mountain vistas, tree covered road canopies, beautiful countryside drives etc. This is what we have, "15 seconds" of sea view and we should preserve it.
Finally, if I had a business along 7 mile beach road I would be the most concerned about this road closure. Once someone gets on this road they are not likely to get off and drive on WB road. This will reduce their opportunities for business and further more will only benefit, yes guess who, Dart and Co. as most cars will be driving past Camana Town.
Educate yourself before making such unfounded statements.
Firstly, the hotel occupancy is a direct result of the DOT's directive to attract the North American market – ONLY !!!! As we all know Americans on vacation a few daysat a time – Our European friends vacation for 2-3 weeks at a time. Look at Jamaica's occupancy rates.
Secondly, the hotel offering in the Cayman Islands is sub-par in terms of product type, value and ammenities. Look at Nassau for reasons why people flock there instead of Cayman.
Thirdly, the 15 seconds of beach view should not be enjoyed by vehicle – it should be enjoyed with you feet in the sand, with your family and friends. The new public beach and ammenities are 3 times the size of the exisitng one – PLUS another public beach further north.
And lastly, just as people turn off the West Bay Road to drive into the Galleria Plaza, West Shore Plaza, The Strand etc., so they will do the same from the by-pass road. It will have a positive effect on the movement of foot traffic from the condos and hotels into these businesses. The daily commuter traffic will drive on by-pass on a dual carriage way.
And above all it will provide value income to Government, increase job opportunities, improve our tourism product and benefit thousand of local people.
And all of the residents who live off that bypass will have to take their life in their hands every time they want to walk their dog/ baby/ go for a cycle and go for a walk or run because there are no pavements and the cars are traveling over 40mph and regularly crossing the lines on the sides. I am delighted traffic will be better for the tourists on West Bay Road, but they experience this for a few days – I have to live with being run over almost every day and it will only get worse if virtually all traffic is using the ETH as a race track.
I did look at at Jamaica's occupancy rates, they are no better than ours. The EU tourist want to spend under $200 per night for a couple all inclusive so it is a different market.
What about the businesses before Galleria and West Shore? You can't get to the Strand that easily off the by-pass coming North.
You need to face the fact the the things you mention are not what Caymanians want..However sinceless it sounds….
Honestly, I have not read enough about this to be able to make an educated decision whether I am for or against this, but then I know it wouldn't matter whether I read it all or not as I am sure certain details have been left off or have been fluffed up as suits. This is business as usual in the Cayman Islands with no authority to oversee and enforce anything.
I feel however confident that Dart can easilty outsmart the Government and run circles around them cause it doesn't take all that much to do so.
At this stage it all has become a power struggle and logic has gone out of the window. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed that in another 10 years from now there are still some people left who are willing to pay a high price to see a "South Florida" located in the Caribbean.
I so agree with the statement about South Florida. You have to offer something that the US population wants to be there for two weeks for.
Unreasonable
I think that these posts objecting to the land swap is in the best interests of the Cayman population. Dart already owns the beach land and the land opposite and is only looking to make the derelict Courtyard property viable as a business, to do so he needs to join the property and get rid of the road. To stop a project of that size which will likely employ 400 ple year round so that the drive from WB into GT has a view of the ocean is unreasonable. If we want to grow the tourism product and develop more jobs we need hotels to be built. If you want to object to an issue stop building condos that are only occupied 3-4 months of the year… this hurts businesses and reduces the year round employment and potential duties. Mr.Bush your job is difficult but keep on making the tough decisions.
Where Caymanians won't be employed, we don't need the business. Development in Cayman should provide employment for every Caymanian who wants to work not just for the benefit of the developer who is allowed to import all the labour while we look on and yap yap yap.
You sum'd it all up when you said " Caymanians who want to work "
This worries me! Dart is not coming out clean with the Cayman people!
It is like they are hiding something.
I wonder if there is anything else we ought to know that is not factually correct.
Like what about the dump deal.
Maybe the Governor isn't stopping it because, like the rest of us with a brain he realizes that's its actually a good idea???
I'm all for freedom of speech etc, but the majority of the islands people obviously want this to go ahead, hence whyyour petition was signed by 2000 people, twice.
Vultures usually wait for life to expire then they move in to pick over the bones. Dart seems to be a bit impatient here. Does anyone here, Caymanian, ex-pat, etc. really believe this man is doing this out of the kindness of his own heart and he truly cares for Cayman?
I hope he is NOT doing it out of the kindness of his heart..I am sure he will make money. I certainly hope so. But in return we get infrastructure that has been talked about from 1988 or before. Let us get on with it and stop the political football with our economy.
3,700ft is a good start.
Hello All,
When are WE the people gonna stop TALKING, YAPPING our gums to show our frustration, beating up our chests. We are going to have to get off our butts, stop talking and DO SOMETHING. The persons behind all this DEVELOPMENT are only in it to make money WHATEVER THE COST. They DO NOT CARE FOR ANYONE BUT THEIR POCKET.
It is time to take physical action, no one is listening cause they believe that all you do is run your mouths off. I challenge everyone to get up and DO something physical about what is going on here. If they will not hear us then they MUST FEEL US.
Or are we going to sit by and run our mouths off as usual.
I’m gonna go with run our mouths as usual…
And since I’m right can I claim my prize now?
Most likely that is what will happen, verbatim, your last statement.
The report and several of the comments is missing a very important point made by Dr. Calderon and others at the meeting and on other occassions. Simply put, this agreement with the Dart Group would not pass the "commercial" test if it was negotiated between two companies. If the Government was a company, the management would probably get fired for proposing to give away the assets of their company for an un-equal return.
The agreement should be amended to give proper value and it should not degrade the transportation network. You all saw what happened when the Esterly Tibbetts Hwy was temporarily closed due to a terrible accident last year and the West Bay Road was still open. Now envisage what would transpire after it is closed without an alternative route! Back to the value propostion, Africa is one of the most resource rich continents on this Earth. Nevertheless with a few exceptions it is also home to the poorest countries with some of the lowest standards of living on Earth mainly because they do not get value for their resources! (at least the official Government treasuries do not). It is time that our Government negotiate agreements with real commercial terms. Mind you, even then not everyrhing should be for sale.
Yeah thats works out to 3700.00 USD$ and 2500.00 KYD$
It seems that Dart should be paying $200 million instead of $20 million! And that $200 million should be managed for the people of the Cayman Islands by one of the "Big Four" accounting firms to make certain that the Caymanian people benefit, not crooked politicians!
Does the Cayman Islands REALLY have crooked polititions?
Your politicians are Caymanian!!!!!!!!
I think lands and survey might have used a CHEC measuring tape.
At 20:35 We get that point Sir!!
If this is the case then the deal should have should have been stated 3700ft and NOT 2500ft.
Simple, If i walk into your store and buy something for $20.00 and I give you a $100.00 to pay will you give me back $120.00 change?
For all you who don't read anything else but the CNS blog….
"Under this agreement, Dart Realty is giving approximately 32.5 ACRES of land for the extension to Government and will WAIVE its right to compensation. The construction COST of the four-lane extension is estimated to be in the region of US$35 MILLION which will be FULLY FUNDED by Dart Realty.
In PROVIDING the US$40M in infrastructure and community funding, Dart Realty receives public infrastructure concessions and US$24M in development incentives and concessions. However, in order to recover this US$24M through concessions, Dart Realty will have to CONTINUE TO INVEST and develop in the Cayman Islands in excess of US$350M.—-(source: http://www.forcayman.com, caps are my emphasis)
Even if it was 3700 feet or 4.2 acres (3700 feet x 50 feet wide) the return of the 32 acres for the bypass pales in comparison. As the road is not 'beach land' it does not have the value you think, and yes it does add value to Darts land but its really a prid quo pro. At the end of the day however its a win-win scenario.
Ok, but let me ask you this, would Mr. Dart's huge investment in property purchased from Stan Thomas have any development value without this road that he is supposedly "gifting us".
Are you too blind to see that he needs this Esterley Tibbetts road extension for his development more than I need it to get from West Bay to George Town?
At present, I can make my journey just fine and i'm willing to wait until Government is able to afford to build a new road to make it even quicker. Dart on the other hand cannot complete his development in the absence of that extension.
So don't go all bleeding heart on me about him donating a road and what he is getting in return, he's no more donating that road than Frank Hall is donating the one that is going down the middle of his new subdivision and I don't see Frank Hall claiming Bodden Town road for compensation.
Think about your concept for a second more…DART does not need to connect either end of this so called road to access his lands. He can simply access the lands directly from the seven mile beach road. He actually does not need the north-south corridor to access his lands. I heard Alice-Mae Coe with this flawed thought as well. He really does not need a bypass through the middle of his land- gives him less options to develop it.
In the same way that he didn't need to create the bottleneck through Camana Bay which impacts, in particular, the traffic coming down the ETH by the dump every night of the week due to the fact, not that 2 lanes are needed, but that everywhere else on the ETH there are very few access roads to disrupt traffic flow. EXCEPT off Dart's part of the road so every day everyone has to suffer because of this and thiswill only get worse as more homes and businesses are brought there.
Yea but he needs the government road to make him richer!
Thanks for clarifying this! After seeing this post it is easy to see why so many people like you are so confused, they never think through these situations carefully. Giving up the existing road way alone, increase Dart Realty's land valued by over US$100,000,000. The road itself has a value of nearly $20,000,000.
The road has NO SEA ACCESS!! It's INLAND!! If you give me $20M for that I got a bridge to sell you.
With that reasoning then the "extended beach" is no such thing – it's INLAND!
It seems to me this is a matter of principle. If the Cayman public is being lied to about something as simple and straightforward as the number of feet of road, what on earth else are we being lied to about in this grand deal, and why on earth else is McKeeva putting up his usual resistance to ALL the facts being made available to the public?
Lied to like at an earlier meeting a representative of Dart stood up and told the group that Dart had no plans to move the road.
Dear Mr. Anonymous,
If all you say is true (and that's highly unlikely), then Dart is going to "invest" more than 350 million dollars in the Caymans. In reality Dart will put in only what is absolutely necessary so that a maximun profit can be generated. That's the way it works, folks. Money talks, BULL S*** WALKS! (Caps are MY emphasis.) The way I see it Dart gets the win win, the Caymanian people get the s****ty end of the stick. How can the government get into such unfavorable deals…..?
Have you BEEN to Camana Bay? Or to any of the COMPLETELY FREE events held there for all and sundry? I have, and I am quite sure that "maximum profit" cannot possibly have been motive for the beautiful landscaping, imaginative architecture, and attention to detail I have seen there, not to mention the wonderful events planned, executed and paid for by Dart and his employees.
I don't really know why he continues to bother, since all anyone ever does is complain. Free Easter egg hunt for my kiddies? Not enough eggs. Beautiful Christmas pageant with local choirs, lighted trees, and Santa doling out treats? Too crowded. Parade of lights, complete with risers for my viewing pleasure and fireworks afterwards? Not like the old days. Pirates' Week family day? Who does he think he is co-opting a festival we wanted to get rid of anyway?
If Camana Bay (or any future development of its kind) is the s****y end of the stick to you, you need to do a bit of traveling. Is it a bit generic? Maybe. But it's still nicer than anything else in Cayman…with the possible exception of SMB. All parts of it except the current public beach, which I and all my visitors avoid at all cost. (Rubbish strewn about, loud music, lewd behavior, crowds, rude vendors etc.) Dart can only be an improvement there…
No dahlin' this wasn't done for maximum profit; it was done for love — love of money & self
Not to mention his generosity in propping up failing businesses which helps to keep out any local entrepreneurs and create a market which is not operating as it should.
Just with Camana Bay alone, which does not look to half finished yet going by the drawings, he will easily invest $350M more if he gets the go ahead from Govt. Thats in addition to the must be more than $750M already invested in Camana Bay.
If its anyone that can reinvent the stayover hotel market, its Dart and thats exactly what we need.
Big Mac is going to invest in lenghtening the runway at Owen Roberts, didnt see that on CNS, so we can get direct flights from Europe. Its all coming together to give Cayman a boost that it needs to stay competitive in the tourism market.
Go Dart and Go Big Mac.
Tourist keep complaining about poor service and they don't see Caymanians anymore so who is going to benefit? The Caymanian who works for $2.5 per hr
Dart needs this road for their development and would have to build it anyway so they are literally getting this beach property free = no swap
DART GROUP: "oops… we really meant from the 3700 feet, 2500 of the West Bay Road will be swapped. The rest of the feet will be handed over not swapped; hence, there is a difference you see."
The last thing the Governor want to do is to micro manage local political differences. The group against the West Bay Road deal need to think of the country as a whole and not just their own personal desires.
That section of beach has always been almost unusable and the interior land has gone to waste. The leaders of this dissent are obviously not in need of a job from the development but why are they so confident that keeping others from work with this project is the right thing to do?
Don’t think I agree with you about the land going to ‘waste’. God kinda built it that way.
Yes, they need to think of their country! If I come to Cayman and can't enjoy the ocean then i will go elsewhere. Cayman doesn't offer much more than the ocean. You don't need a major road blocked off. One of my best memories of Cayman is driving West Bay Road and seeing the ocean and that site taking my breath away. I've often said that as many times as I have see it….there are times that is STILL takes my breath away. I am sorry that this site will be lost.
I think people need start payin attention to the road and stop staring at the beach while they drive by…..
Seems to me it is true that you will not be able to travel north on West Bay Road for 3700 feet!
Absoulutely shocking!
On the other hand, after traveling north on the bypass, when you return to West Bay Road I suppose you could always turn left and drive the 1200 ft. to the edge of the Dart development.
Actually you can just drive into the beach park and walk 1200 feet on your beach. Are you being intentionally hard of hearing?
Yes, you COULD if allowed on the property. You all remember when the Holiday Inn was closed and another hotel wanted Barefoot Man. But was told the locals would not be welcome. Will this be the same situation? You know The Westin doesn't want anyone on their beach unless you are staying there. IT WILL BE THE SAME
You still don't get it. There is a big public beach right there for you to see and walk on.
The rest of it is private already above the high water line.
Better that Dart get it and do it NICELY like Camana Bay and all the other developments he has done than somebody else who does not have the invested interest that he does in these Islands. It is in his best interests that Cayman has a bright future. What better idea do these naysayers have other than just causing problems? Who cares about this strip of 7 mile? You can't see the ocean for more than a few seconds at best when driving. Public Beach is a nightmare for parking with people wandering across the road because they have to park on the shore side. All those beach bars with drunk people stumbling across the street everyday and every night we are lucky no one has been run over yet! Public beach will be double the size with a park and actually be safe! People will not have to worry about being run over! And there will be a second public beach. Not to mention that Dart will make these beautiful thoughtful places as he always does. It will create employment, new school, moving the dump etc etc. The real question is what the hell is wrong with you people? XXXX
Because its not for us and this country can hardly pay the cost to run this island now with 50+K people and this will bring more people and more cost. It take's 100K per person,per-year to have 24 hour service's that the people need and want. People are always demanding services and these cost money.It is nice to have all these projects but they are now a big part of the problem. Goverment has to supply infrastructure for all these projects and we can no longer find the money to do this with the fee's that goverment take's in.If we do not stop and think about the long term cost we will slip in to a down ward trend.Its like owning a lambo or benz but can't pay for the tuneup,you can drive for years maybe but one day its going to need a tuneup. We don't want to go there. Alot of people will say build,build and the money will come the problem is the amount needed is not coming in and if we keep going this way we will find our self's with direct tax's but alot of people are not looking at the bigger picture.They want to play but not pay to play.
Keep pressing. I'm sure many others may have attended the recent meeting if we new that it was taking place. Please cast a wider net to inform people of these activities.
in other ground breaking news seven mile beach was discovered to be five miles long…zzzzzzzzzzzz
I understand there motive because its the only section of wb road you can see the ocean from the road and history of picking thatch tops etc.. but at this point i think they are fighting a losing battle.
As much as I agree with you about stopping the deal and keeping west bay road, the Governor is the only one who can stop it and he either does not have the ba*ls or he does not have the power.
"The Governor can exercise complete executive authority if he wishes through reserve powers reserved to him in the Constitution. However, he must consult with the Premier prior to using such powers and must do so in the interest of the Cayman Islands (so long as it doesn't prejudice British interests). He must give royal assent to all legislation, which allows him the power to strike down any law the legislature may see fit for the country."
This is the problem "he must consult with the Premier prior to using such powers" Mr. Bush is very intimidating and the Governor is obviously intimidated, so he has the power but not the…………..
I think it's passing the buck to say it's up to the govenor. If you are Caymanian, And you don't want something to happen here, it is up to YOU! and your brothers and sisters. Don't hand it off to someone else and then cry.
They tried with the petition, where did that go? in the trash. What next?
not my island, it's up to you. But you still gotta stop passing the buck
I think if he ever tries to stop this project, then McKeeva will cry foul, and say the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is trying once again to ruin Cayman's economy so they can impose tax on us or declare full rule. I think the Governor does not want international attention. McKeeva has even said he will go the UK and ascertain legal action.
The governor doesn't need to do anything because the Caymanian people will ruin their own economy by fighting against every development idea that will bring in revenue. Which in turn will give the UK reason to implement direct taxation. See how happy all these naysayers are when they have to pay income and property taxes to keep that 3 second view of the beach or that hospital from getting built. And don't forget about paying for the dump remediation themselves which will lead to increase Garbage pickup fees…Oh and by the way when are those Multimillion Dollar College Campus like schools going to get finished..
Giving away means getting nothing in return! What we now refer to as West Bay Beach, was
given away generations ago by our forefathers. It is a bit late in the day for the likes of Alice Coe and her political hopefuls to start this campaign. If they were really genuine, this is a campaign that would have started, at least 30 years ago. The method of governing these Islands, is no different today, than it has been for the past 40 years. I read a post yesterday by a BD comparing the present leader to Benson and Truman " at least they had banking experience " however, Mr. BD, their form of governing was exactly the same. Lawyer, Financier,Educator, they all sat there and welcomed the foreign investors with open arms and the majority of todays critics became wealthy under the same type of administration. But no one complained then, we were all too busy doing the country's business, and getting fat, wining and dining the officials to get our wealthy clients a piece of the pie.
I just cannot agree with you. The island in Benson’s day was much, much smaller and had a great deal more integrity.There were smaller investors but the Government was not broke and Government boards were full of non political residents. Please in particularly note that.
Forty years ago these islands were far better off. Everyone had a job and many of the ladies had two to improve their family lifestyles. Doors were left open and one could walk the entire island without fear.There were few fast cars and no satellite dishes. When the political great crept in is difficult to determine the year but it came and it came fast.
I put the blame at consecutive governments over the past twenty years. They assumed that the financial sector would never stop laying the golden eggs and tourism would run unabated . How could that be when they saw numerous hotels being knocked down and replaced with condominiums that generate no where near the income of hotels, the latest being the Beach Club Colony. They also lent money without collateral to one developer who seems unable or uninterested in repaying the debt whilst the current government share the same disinterest.
Finally I should add that in the good old days politicians were not remunerated. Perhaps there lies a
difference. Cayman did not give the beach away they failed to recognize it’s future value. That is not a crime.
The TCI islands repeated the same mistake decades later, having seen what took place in Cayman and ironically enough two major developers and contractors took advantage. You will also recall that Cayman ians preferred to live off the beach for good reason. History cannot change nor the facts or logic behind the history.
the beach has no market value except to the extent us foreigners will pay something for it. there's a reason why all the cemeteries are on nice high beach and it's not to give the residents a view.
It was the easiest place to dig 6 feet under coz it was sand and the tools back then had limits!
I very largely agree with your analysis, Mr Johnson, but don't forget that forty years ago your (and my) "native" country, the UK could be argued by many to have been " far better off". Both have "developed" (yes, even the ancient UK) and not every change is a positive one. Perhaps it's just in the nature of things.
you missed one important part…all that development gave the Caymanian people money in the treasury….it got us all those nice things that we love,….roads, airconditioning, SUVs, scholarships, electricity, trips to Miami, a financial centre, nice hotels, no mosquitoes, etc etc.
yep…. we "gave it all away" but we got a lot in return, only trouble is we spent most of it already. thats a Cayman problem but the developers.
CIG cannot 'give away' Crown Land because it belongs to the Crown.
Governor Taylor where are you?
Please read more on crown and educate yourselves, the government is receiving rope to hang itself and doesn't even know!
http://openeye.99k.org/The%20Crown.html
Let’s move on. No one has brought forward any single valid reason why we need to keep this hurricane prone road in the old location. It is just politics to oppose the government. Let’s get people back to work, move this road and get a free bypass to West Bay. Because that is where the old people manage to put it does mean we should keep it there.
As for the length of it no matter how long it is Dart is giving us twice that land at bypass. Twice the length and twice the width.
We need to keep the road to compliment the Easterly Tibbets Highway (ETH). The ETH was designed to work in conjunction with the West Bay Road not to replace it. What will happen when the ETH gets blocked as happened in December 2011 and traffic had to be diverted onto the West Bay Road?
Why is the developer so determined to get the road if it was not worth anything? The 3,731 feet is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The Public Beach is only 600 feet and it is worth CI$100 million dollars! Can you imagine how much that road is worth?
We want people back to work but in well paying sustainable jobs, NOT these temporary low paying jobs.
The length is very important because we were told by the Government, the developer and lately the NRA that it was 2500 feet that was being given away. Low and Behold we now know that it is in realtiy 3731 feet of prime Seven Mile Beach land. So the length IS IMPORTANT! The by-pass being built by the developer is primarily to access his property. He has to build taht road in any event !
There are so many things wrong about your post, I don't know where to start. Oh… what the heck… you wouldn't listen if I told you, so what's the point? Please continue on ranting. Try not to blow an artery.
You need a real calculator is you think the “road” is worth that. It’s a strip of inland property that planning does not allow development on! Now Darts land on the seaside of that strip is worth millions but not the road. This is all nonsense anyway as most of that seaside property can be built on without moving the road and you will not be able to see the sea then anyhow. There are at least two properties there that have planning permission already. It’s better to move the road and open up more investment to get our folks back to work.
For the record The road is not “prime seven mile beach land” it’s inland. Dart already owns the beach land there. He is actually giving us 200 more feet of it.
HOW MANY TIMES does it have to be said that Dart is not giving us ANY beach????? He is combining several existing rights of way to make a "new" beach. In my mind, that is not giving us beach, it is taking away several of the few remaining points at which we can still access the beach. SMH……..
This deal lacked transparency from the very beginning.
This “mistake” of over 1200 feetin the developer’s favour, which the Caymanian people would not be compensated for is a major red flag.
The error of over 1200 feet of prime beach front property which our government “overlooked” is conservatively valued at CI$ 120million.
It is obvious we can’t trust them to broker a deal in the best interest of the Caymanian people.
How many other parts of the deal are skewed in the developer's favour, shortchanging the Caymanian people?
The Caymanian people deserve full disclosure.
All elements of the deal need to be made available for public scrutiny.
Only when we the people check and double check the facts and figures will we know if this is a good deal for us.
As the old heads say, this is truly an instance where we need to “measure twice and cut once”.
Actually, the better saying in this instance is "cut it twice and it's still to short"
It appears they are counting the road into the public beach, which is not going to Dart. How is this not misleading?
Please stop interferring with these people's right to hysterical, ill-informed protest by introducing facts. They want to march and it sounds better if the can say Dart lied because it takes attention away from their sham petition. They'll march us right back to cookrums and smoke pots if we let them. Left, right, left, right, left, right….
It is correct to count the road in front of the Public Beach!
The agreement with the developer shows that the developer is getting that portion of road and he in turn will "ALLOW" us access over the road to the beach.
Please go and read the agreement carefully yourself. You may be surprised at what you learn!
Nope – I read that land will be vested with CIG and that the new, bigger Public Beach will ALL belong to CIG. Would have loved the extra space this weekend when there were birthday parties, volleyball games, families and a big party …. COME ON ALREADY PEOPLE!
anon 19:11
Wrong again, and misleading. Common sense will tell you that the existing road east of the beach will be incoorporated into the expansion of our ( the people's beach) public beach, which will streatch from the water all the way to the bypass.
This is what i meant by most of the people has been mislead, and dont understand the map that is posted, that shows the lay out of the improved public beach. Most people cant read maps.
Why is it that this piece of land which still only has the same bit of sea in front of it keeps being referred to as an expanded beach? This is not a beach – people go to the beach for the sea, not for a larger dirty sand area. This is where people are being misled – a park attached to a beach is not more beach and as earlier posts point out the land that we are talking about away from the beach is inland so how can it be beach?
In addition, it keeps being pointed out what an "enormous problem" it is that the sand comes up on the road every few years or so, so can someone please explain what is going to happen to the public facilities provided when this same thing happens to the "expanded beach" as it won't be road clearance so how and who will this problem be remedied when it is less urgent? Who is going to maintain this extra space?
12:22 im not one bit surprised at them, measuring the width of our public beach, to include it in the lenght of the road.
After all, there are people up untill this day saying that Dart is buying our public beach, and we wont be able to swim there anymore. I had many arguments, even with family members of mine, trying to explain that is not the case, only to be told that i was stupid and talking foolishness.
"Activist" – "Luddite".
activist minus luddite equals what?????
I hope the premier ignores these dynosaurs and forges ahead trying to get the economy going
An education untouched by grammar, spelling or punctuation.
Just likes he ignores everyone except Dar and forges ahead…………………
Isn't that how they used to spell dinosaurs a very, very long time ago? Shouldn't a sentence end with a period, or maybe we are in the wrong period? Do you REALLY think the premier does not deserve the respect of an upper case P? Your beloved 'premier' has indeed spent the past 21/2 years getting the economy going…the way of the 'dynosaurs'. UDynosaur Prehistoric.
OMG 3700 feet??? That is a lot of footage to give away, but yet again that is what the Premier has been doing, giving our country away…..and there is nothing any of uscan do about it…no more beach for the Caymanians to enjoy…
well then, I guess you're right. There's nothing you can do about it. nite nite….
Would you prefer to BUY the 10,000 feet of Darts land from the Pubic Beach to Batabano road that DART is giving us?? IT IS AN EXCHANGE!!!! Cayman gets far more land than it gives up even if it was 3700 feet!!
As for your beach comment–its just plain silly. Read before you post. Dart EXPANDS the existing public beach at its current location adding acres to the north PLUS will be giving a NEW PUBLIC BEACH at the north end of the road closure. It gives a net addition to the WB public beach.
This post is plain silly. Disagree on a valid point but dont just post rubbish to work up people.
that obviously a licensed scientific survey then……..zzzzz
You don't need a scientific survey to measure a road!
Even you can do it! Did the parties do a scientific survey? Please tell us the results!
You seem to be satisfied with people misleading you.