Private cash needed by gov’t
(CNS): As a result of the current state of public borrowing, the government will need to tap into private funds to develop any more major infrastructure projects. Although the new administration has said it wants to build cruise berthing facilities, a new airport and a waste management project among others, it does not have any capital with which to develop. Government will therefore be turning to the private sector. “We need to move forward on a number of projects, but we don’t have the money, so we will need to partner with private investors,” said Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush.
He said seeking private finance for these capital projects would have a twofold impact – stimulating the economy and creating jobs, and giving the country the infrastructure it needed without government having to put the money upfront. Bush added that as the country did not generate revenue from resources or taxes he had to think outside the box about getting the capital needed, and that that meant partnering with private sector investors.
Aside from the cruise port, which he said was essential to the development of Cayman’s tourism product, Bush said he would also like to see new hotels being built. “What do we really have for tourists except the Ritz Carlton?” he asked. He said he wanted to see more brand name hotels developed on Grand Cayman. “I would like to see a Raffles, a Mandarin, a Four Seasons because it will mean a solid economy,” he added, saying that the big name hotels had their own following and that such hotels would bring new tourists. He lamented the opposition that some people had to such development and said, “We could starve to death if we don’t turn around those attitudes.”
Bush said that the development of the airport would also require private investment and noted that the redevelopment of the airport in the George Town area was not necessarily beneficial as he believed that the airport also needed to go east.
He said that there was a pressing need for both a waste management project and new sewerage, and he said he was inviting bids and proposals for all of these potential projects as PFIs. He said government had already received around fifteen different proposals relating to the landfill and people were also coming forward with proposals for the ports, the airport and the other schools.
Bush also noted that he had taken the decision not to knock down the present Glass House building when the new Government Office Administration project was complete but to renovate it with the intention of using it to house a new financial centre. He said renovations would cost around $10 million but it could house the new Finance Ministry, the Stock Exchange and other key areas related to the financial services sector and that renovation would also be done through PFI.
With what he said was likely to be a “bare bones budget”, the LoBG said that all of the borrowing that government would be doing in the 2009/10 financial year was already spoken for as a result of ongoing developments, such as the two new high schools and the new government administration building.
Further public borrowing on top of the existing $590,000 debt is going to be around CI$203 million in this year’s budget but most of that will be used for projects started under PPM administration. Bush said there would only be about $21 million of new money for government to use on any kind of infrastructure works during the next financial year.
If you like this article, click here to find out how to support CNS
Category: Headline News
Why not just bill the Ritz Carlton retroactively for the prior duty concession? Surely that should have been a Duty “holiday”. Given that it was the people who gave the developers the concession in the first place, shouldn’t the Condo have gone to them? Can’t we sell it? There’s 6mil right there.
Becareful private sector! if you do decide make sure the cheque or funds goes directly to a Government account.
What a mess!
A crooked politician is a shame. An uneducated voter is tragedy.
This is what happens when private cash "helps" governments:
The two best known cases of vulture funds attempting to sue governments are both in Latin America, and both involve the same person: Kenneth Dart, heir to the Dart Container fortune. While Kenneth Dart’s father made his fortune by patenting the technology used to make Styrofoam cups, the younger Dart has been involved in shady investing to make his fortune. Aside from the rush to make money out of the fall of communism and the rise of privatization in Russia, two of Dart’s money-making schemes involved using his vulture fund to buy up debt from Brazil and Argentina, and then attempt to cash in on them when debt rescheduling on defaulted bonds and debt was agreed upon. In the case of Brazil, Dart paid about $375 million for debt bonds that he later cashed in on to the tune of $980 million, a 161% profit. That deal was reached without recourse to the courts, but when Argentina refused to give Dart such a deal on bonds that it bought during Argentina’s economic crisis of 2002, judges awarded Dart’s company some $740 million. The government of Argentina has yet to pay this amount, though it is not clear that they will have any other option.
Read the rest of the article here and educate yourselves for once. http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4013
Here’s another link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulture_fund
This is what happens when you wave your political party flag higher than your IQ.
Mac you want an idea to save money – do not add any new MLA’s.
Instant savings forever.
The cut waste ferret.
Well said. He have enough supporters to assist hom from the private sector as we all know who they are and he continues to set them up and now appointing on our boards. Way to go Cayman!z
In fact Cut Waste Ferret, why not eliminate 3?
Lets start with the 4th elected members for GT and WB, then the 3rd elected for BT.
I agree!
Ask Dart and all the others who buying out our land and beaches to PAY UP!!!
And if that don’t work – ASK ALL THOSE RICH FREE MASONS – to fork it over!!!
Oh and if THAT don’t work – ASK THE MLA’S TO WORK BY THE HOUR ON MINIMUM WAGE!!!
Plenty solutions out there – they just need to stop asking the HARD working Caymanians to
give back what we have worked HARD for!
GET RID OF THE FOREIGN MENTALITY AND RE-ESTABLISH CAYMAN – CLEAN SWEEP!
Ask Dart and all the others who buying out our land and beaches to PAY UP!!!
HA!! That’s rich! "Dart and all the others who buying out our land and beaches". Is Dart and ‘all the others’ holding a gun to your head??? Our own people are the ones selling out!! Greed will get you and you can turn around and blame it on ‘foreign mentality’ or whoever you please if that makes you feel better.
i.e. What’s the point of having a moratorium on the maximum height of a building if you are going to lift it for greed later on!?!?!
And when all the mangroves have been yanked up and the Sound has been dredged, there will be no Higher Power big enough to protect our blessed little islands from a Cat 3, much less the likes of Ivan.
Pretty soon, it won’t just be the expats and status holders that are throwing up their hands in frustration and leaving. We should all get our UK passports before the UK won’t give them to us anymore!! Heaven forbid we break away from Britain. You can bet thatwill definitely cause a ‘clean sweep’ if we do!!
$100,000 for a status grant? LOL!!!!! What are you on exactly?
People with that kind of money can just come and go from here as they wish anyway, they don’t need to buy status!
I can think of a lot more interesting & beneficial ways to spend $100k than to buy status!!!
Seriously! LOL!
"$100,000 for a status grant"
Well, well well. Our national "hero" (ahem, cough) (after he bulldozed, repeat bulldozed,repeat bulldozed) possibly the most significant architectural landmark in George Town, Fort St George, was going to sell Status for $150,000 to his Texas friends XXXX before we Caymanians had a sudden rush of common sense and decency to our heads and voted him and his disreputable bunch out once and for all.
Please don’t revive this awful idea.
Fact: We have a declining population due to world economics, crime, The Rollover and the ethnic cleansing by Immigration. People who have been blessed by Status are leaving in droves. Guess who they are going to be replaced by ? Carpetbaggers who do not care!
Why wouldmajor money investors come to a fragile economy that does not look after their migrant workers? In fact are doing their best to discourage building loyalty and life here!
Goes to show that status doesn’t confer loyalty. The problem is that we already had too many carpetbaggers. They are the ones who are leaving.
"Sell 100 status grants for $100k to residents. That would bring in $10m."
If you think that status grants are worth anything like $100k, you’ve been smoke the lawns out in East End again.
Anyway, who’d pay $100k to live in a war zone?
Leave it to big Mac! … Or rather slim Mac now!!
More hotels? Are you serious? As if there aren’t enough unoccupied hotels and condominiums already built down seven mile beach! Who does he think he’s fooling? Maybe HE just wants more hotel suites and penthouses. His little Ritz Carlton room isn’t enough for him or what? There is ABSOLUTLY no need for more hotels! We have quite enough already..!
What he needs to do is take that money he would spend on new hotels and help the police crack down on these criminals with all their illegal guns; and give workers their pension back!
As if we didn’t see this coming. More hotels?.. He fails to understand that majority of tourists come here to see history and want a relaxing vacation. Well, he destroyed the history, but what little peace and tranquility we have left for us and tourists is up in the Eastern districts. Now he wants to ruin all this just like he ruined SMB? This man needs to be caged up. Greedy piece of……….! – He is a disgrace to the Cayman Islands and not worthy of being named Premier! Keep your greedy destructive developing in West Bay and leave our Eastern districts alone! Better way forward all right:- for yourself yes. Concentrate on the real issues – crime, youth, unemployment etc.
i agree completely! could not have been put in better words than that!
We could only hope and pray he sees what you and everyone else sees.
"It’s called protecting the economy"
Big Mac doing good – we need new hotels and accomodations to diversify the economy especially in the eastern districts, remember if and when the old financial pillar is pulled from beneath Cayman we only will have Tourism.
Kudoos Big Mac
Actually, there are already two hotels in the east end/north side area, and a bed and breakfast near breakers… as wells as many other condos and homes available for renting in the rum point/ kaibo, and east end area that are AGAIN, unoccupied most of the year, besides the easter weekend, in which case CAYMANIANS rent them. So building more hotels is a terrible waste! they are just going to end up unnoccupied in any case.
Save the money on something more useful, like upgrading our school systems, and preserving cayman culture instead of running up more debt!
“What do we really have for tourists except the Ritz Carlton?” he asked.
If that doesn’t highlight the people he is interested in catering to then you are deaf and blind. The same man that feels we should change pirates week to "Culture" week feels we have nothing to offer tourist other than Ritz Carlton. I’m pretty sure the guest, actually I know that some of the guest that stay here are not the ones out and about in Cayman if they need the luxuries of The RC. The only party that profits is the hotel. Once again Mr. Bush is only focused on catering to the rich and greedy. How many duty/government fee cuts will these hotels get that will have a impact on Government REVENUE? This is how we are going to help our tourist product? We’re getting feed ALOT of POO alright.
I agree 100%. This mans agenda is so plain that only the blindly ignorant cannot see it. Was The Westin, Marriot, Comfort Suits etc. etc. all demolished overnight?
But there again there aren’t commissions to be made from those establishment’s!!!
Well the protocol man was walking a group of asian men around the airport last weekend – maybe they are the new investors and ……………. the week before there were some israelies – who knows – we are definitely going East.
Is the title correct? Is it really that private cash is actually needed by government or is it that investor’s cash is being pursued for personal gain by a few politicians with the government and the people of Cayman merely being theones that eventually pay the bill?
Bet its not Tom Jones, if i had the money I would invest, I need to get in on the roll too.
Sell 100 status grants for $100k to residents. That would bring in $10m.
.. With what he said was likely to be a “bear bones budget”..
Surely not? If he said bare or bear, you wouldn’t have known the difference. You said he said bear– I think he said bare. Mmmm, methinks you think he meant bear when he said bare.
Give him the benefit of the doubt- he is not that stupid, surely?
CNS: Always alert!
“We could starve to death if we don’t turn around those attitudes.”
Food is always on the mind of Slim Mac. Have a burger you’ve earned it!
Here comes more "Boatswains Beach" deals again. GC Ventures Inc. will have to be incorporated again !!!
The budget for the Auditor General’s office will need to be increased !!!
Surprise surprise. Guess, which politicians/cronies will get the exclusive contracts associated with this new private scheme?
Lol like we didn’t see this coming! Anyone care to guess just exactly what type of private investors would make a great partnership with HIS government?