Port will reclaim 8 acres for upland destination
(CNS): Tourism stakeholders heard on Wednesday that the project to create cruise berthing facilities in George Town will reclaim some eight acres from the ocean for the upland development. West Bay MLA Cline Glidden said that DECCO, the developer, will be recouping its investment in the project by a combination of usage fees from the cruise lines and from its own use of the upland area. Although government says it is restricting DECCO from flooding the upland with retail units, the developer will be free to create a other facilities within this new waterfront development. Glidden said that it may include a mega yacht marina, an amphitheatre a hotel and restaurants.
Glidden said that the negotiations and the processes which government faced to make this project happen were fraught with bureaucracy. With many stages still to go through, he said the wheels were grinding slowly. However, Glidden, who is spearheading the project, said that DECCO (The Dart Group’s construction company) were still on board and that they were now considering what exactly they would be creating on the eight acres of reclaimed, residual land that would ensure they would make back their investment.
Glidden told the stakeholders at the special lunch held at the Marriot that following the first agreement (the MOU between Dart, the Port Authority and government) came the framework agreement which solidified the commitment to the development byall parties. The government backbencher said that the framework would be valid for four months and the aim was to reach this agreement by October of this year while still aiming for the project to be completed in October 2012.
He explained that the developer would be given a lease for the new upland waterfront destination related to the cruise port, which would be determined by the amount of investment in the project DECCO made less the money collected from the cruise usage fees from the cruise lines.
That shortfall would form the basis for the lease to enable Dart to have a reasonable time to recoup that investment which they would have to justify to government. The investment Dart intends to make is estimated to be more than $200 million.
How DECCO would do that is up to the developer, provided it dovetailed with government policy. “Government also wants to see local participation in this project so the developer has to agree to give Caymanians jobs and local businesses access to the work,” Glidden added. He noted that government was absolved of the risk of the project and Glidden also emphasised that retail units, which could compete with existing down town businesses, would not be an option.
He also stated that the additional land won’t interfere with the cargo operations area but that there would be some enhancement and improvements to that port during the development.
The overall goal, he said, was to create a world class waterfront destination with a number of attractions to enhance and compliment the down town George Town area, which would also be improved and transport would be moved away from the facility to underground parking garages. Glidden said there was no firm plan yet as the developer was still considering a number of options but that would be finalized after the framework agreement.
“This has to evolve beyond the norm,” Glidden told the tourism stakeholders at the special lunch. “We are creating a new waterfront that rivals any other in the region and works for Caymanians as well as tourists.” (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr: – speculative port plans)
Category: Headline News
I still don’t understand the use of the word ‘reclaim’ . Was this 8 acres lost in Ivan or something and we’re now going to get it back. Or is like when we reclaimed the americas from the indians??
Yes, "reclaimed" is a confusing term. It basically means "claiming", not "reclaiming". There didn’t used to be land there that went away. They are just going to turn it into land. Hope that helps.
I wonder why they just don’t say Claim then
One of the better things about DART handling the project is that it will be classy and well-designed and avoid all the tackiness of trying to be "Caymanian" in any way.
Check out the real situation. The whole long and short of it is that our politicians are being influenced once again by people who see Jamaica and Roatan and other similar places getting so called "world class" cruise facilites and they believe we must have one too.
Firstly, their circumstances are different than ours. They have no duty free shopping, no restaurants, etc in their towns to cater to thousands of cruise passengers. Secondly, their towns have no attractions in the immediate area of the Port. Thirdly, their towns would require major injections of cash to beautify them. Fourthly, there are issues of "crime and safety" to be considered and thus people don’t venture too often outside of a known safe/comfort zone.
In comparison, we have a town that was developed over the years to cater to cruise ship passengers. Millions of dollars were invested by us in building shops, restaurants etc. The town is clean and relatively safe to walk; hassle free too if you can avoid the taxi operators on the streets.
Now let’s look at the nature of things when the cruise ships come into port here. The vast majority of cruise passengers go on a tour or to the beach. Very few remain on the terminals. Some walk around town, browse the shops and restaurants and buy a few things here and there, then when the crowd returns from their tours and the beach, that is when you find them pouring into the town and doing their shopping etc.
Developing a "world class" facility will result in one of two things; either it will result in the cruise passengers deserting the town in favour of it, or they may not change their current pattern, in which case the revenues projected to be earned at the facility will not materialize. Remember not so long ago there were articles in the news about rents being lowered for shops on Royal Watler Terminal (see CNS article on Sept 9, 2010 "Pricey Commercial Real Estate May Be Reduced" ) and some not payinig rents (See CNS article on Aug 10, 2010 "Port Audit Stirs Up Denials")? If the pattern remains the same for the cruise ship passengers and I have no reason to think they will want to do anything other than what they come here for now; Stingray City, Turtle Farm and the world famous Seven Mile Beach, with a little shopping in the town at the end of the cruise day, then the revenues generated at the "world class facility" that will be critically needed to fund its financing, will not meet projections and that could result in defaults and more embarrassment like Boatswains Beach.
All this crap that the cruise lines will stop coming here is plain garbage. All they want is enhanced facilities such as piers to berth their ships by and for their passengers to be able to freely get from ship to shore, shaded areas for passengers to wait under for their tours etc and a place where taxis are separated from pre-booked tours. There is a big difference between that and a "world class" facility. There is also a big price difference between them. The question is, "Have we considered all of the scenarios (what ifs) for each of them? The bottom line is affordability in a worse case scenario. Will we as a country be able to afford what has been selected?
I think this facility misses the point. To stay competitive in today and tomorrows tourism market, Cayman needs to attract lower income travellers, not mega yacht owners, and the super rich. The world economy is pushing the middle class lower, but those are the travellers that will actually spend money in Caymanian owned bars, restaurants and shops. Everyone talks about the importance of the cruise ship patrons, and they are on the lower end of the tourism price scale. If you make it more affordable for overnight stays to the common traveller, you’ll steal away some of the tourists from the Bahamas, Florida, and possible Mexico.
Mortgaging your key revenue to a private investor is a country killer. Ask all the South American countries how it’s worked out when they offered multi-national companies in to ‘update and run’ mines, water distribution, telecom, and electrical grids. The governments think they are getting a good deal because they will collect some taxes. Unfortunately they are duped by the overseas investors and these taxes, or fees in our case, continually get reduced or unpaid (see the Ritz) because these same developers claim that the projects aren’t successful enough because of government taxes and intervention.
Build the cruise fingers for sure, but do it at our own pace as the market and money allow, and maintain our national sovereignty. If we don’t keep anything nationalized, then we are only going to be ridden hard and put away wet by these quick buck investors (yes 10-20 years for a foreign investor is quick).
The history is clear; you let foreign investors call the shots, you’ll see a short term gain, and long term loss of sovereignty, and in this case revenue. Stop building mulit-million dollar condos that nobody stays at, build more hotels, and market the island as a more marine eco-tourism destination. We should also add Universities galore and attract students. Who wouldn’t want to come to the Cayman Islands for an education? Takeadvantage of the great things we have to offer, do not try and build some fake ones. Take a page from the Asian development model which is government driven with tight restrictions on foreign investment, but strong on national education and sovereignty (except for the Philippines which is why they work here. Ever seen a South Korean working at Burger King?
Thank you for that! From the beginning, I have always said that this PARTY like a Quarter (heads and tails) is all about MONEY.
It has caused Cayman to become divided, and because there is no real checks and balances between "those in power" and the rest in the LA, the country will be held at the mercy of the special interest.
This is starting to look very scary. Would anyone care to dispute the "spin" that I may be putting on this to make it look scary?
1. Government asks for Expressions of Interest (EOI) in building two piers onto the existing dock to handle cruiseships. It must be done at no cost to government and the passenger fees that government presently collects is sacrosanct.
2. Government evaluates the EOIs and selects DECCO to be their "partner" for the project and then enter negotiations to flesh out the details.
3. A year and a bit later project creep has set in to the point where the two piers appear to be an afterthought, and (if the Compass is to be believed) Cline Glidden (who in my opinion would appear to have a clear conflict of interest when negotiating with DECCO) is stating that government may have to giveup the cruise passenger revenue to make the project work.
Dan Duguay would be all over this like appliances on a West Bay election.
"is stating that government may have to giveup the cruise passenger revenue to make the project work."
It’s not "may" because it already has been decided that DART will be repaid through these fees. Did you come that late to the conversation to have missed this?
In other words, we will be indebt or owing Dart for a very long time! Question: Does that give Dart the power to demand payments when the country would be unabled to pay for them???
I wonder if we are not getting ourselves in serious trouble!
Learn from history –
When PPM was in power they said the same thing! They proclaimed: "We will be able to make enoughrevenue to pay for the schools." And guess what happened – now in court with Tom Jones! The schools are not built to this day! And you tell me… who is going to pay for it???
Now the UDP is coming to us with the same assurance. "We will be able to make enough revenue to pay back [Dart]." I am trouble by this, because have you ever stopped to consider WHO you are dealing with? You are not dealing with Tom, you are dealing with Dart, who is just not any ordinary man!
I just hope we are able to keep our commitments!
One dictator & his cronies have sold this country out.
Goodbye Cayman Islands, hello Dartman Island! After this project goes through that is it folks. We will own nothing, & he will control everything, thanks to that dictator who is more interested in self that country. Do not worry though, he (dictator) will have to answer, if not to us today, to "someone" eventually, don’t you worry. Eternity is a "hell" of a long time! haha.
Hmmm…and I was wondering what the average Caymanian, getting out of this grand project? Dart is Caymanian, so I guess he will be getting something in return for his labor. Cline and the MLA’s are Caymanian, so I guess it could be that they will be getting something too return.
But what about the 50+ thousand on this island? All I’m seeing is bills and more bills. I just hope and pray they look out for us. We are a small island and our ports are the gateway and toll of much revenue.
HE / THOSE WHO HAS CONTROL OVER OUR PORTS, HAS THE ISLAND!
I guess this means there would absolutely no need to dredge North Sound as there would be docking for Mega yachts. There would be no need for additional space after this would there? How does delinquent (duty wise) Mr. Ryan feel about being one upped on this by Dart??
Mac, be very careful with your associates! When much is done to make the diamond shine and glitter, it is hard to share it. We are human beings, and someone in the room is going to envy the other, and would think ill before sharing the daimond. But please… God is looking on you!
Do not turn your back on your own people!
Camana Bay, the green spaces, common areas and fountains cost millions and millions and millions of dollars. Dart gets no direct revenue from these, there are there for you and anyone else to enjoy and use.
Weekends there are countless kids playing in both the fountains, their parents laying on the soft grass and having a mini picnic.
Look at the huge shell fountain, of the fifty odd triangle granite fountains, all of which are surrounded by hundreds of samples of local trees and flowers.
It is so peaceful to sit there and listen to the water flowing, to watch all the plants, little birds signing and people just strolling by taking it all in.
It’s all free and it is there for you to enjoy. Is Camana Bay supposed to make money for the developer, YES… absolutely. But all of the things I mentioned above were in no way required to be installed and not only do they not produce any revenue for the developer they cost a fortune to not only put in place but to maintain.
I am quite sure that the new dock (besides showing a decent return for both the developer and Cayman) will likewise have many of these same common elements for all of us to enjoy on a daily basis.
I for oneadmire the foresight on both the part of Cayman and the developer to work together and pull this off…
and NO… I don’t … nor have I ever worked for Dart…
Cheers…
I know if I purchased a mutlimillion dollar mega yacht, I would never go to a marina next to four giant cruiseships. come on people get real, people that can afford mega yachts DO NOT want to be near the common tourist. It seems that someone has not been paying attention. The mega rich do not generally go out in public, if they want great food, they do not go to as restaurant, they hire the chef to come cook for them. I would tend to agree the Dart builds very nice buildings and landscapes them wonderfully, but who thought this up. Who here would pay Ritz-Carlton room rates to stay in a hotel that has hoards of cruiseshippers milling around outside? There is nothing elegant or relaxing about 10,000.00 crowding onto 8 acres, oh boy what a great vacation that was, NOT!
Has any INDEPENDENT group even seen the ‘Environmental Impact Study’ especially regarding the effect of the ‘reclaiming’ 8 acres on surrounding dive sites and the Seven Mile Beach????? I would like to hear what Gina has to say about it.
Will be interesting to see how they will build the 8 acre piece.Back filling would be my guess putting down gigantic concrete blocks
as they dredge the areas for the dock to be put in place.My other concern is if the "new"piece is all the way to the bottom this will cause quite a problem during rough weather(ie Norwesters/hurricanes)and also any strong winds from the south west.It should be high enough(like I would hope the new ship piers will be),to allow water to pass underneath.If not you can build a wall as high as you want and it will not stop the seas from passing over this area.I understand that its possible that a hotel could very well form a part of this area along with shops etc. and again I would be VERY concerned in the event of any form of high seas.Keep in mind from what I can see of this a lot of the fringing reef in the harbour will be taken out,and that will add to the impact of wave action as the deeper that area becomes the higher the seas will be also.Reefs are "put"around islands and atolls to help prevent errosionand to help keep back the wave action not to mention the habitats for reef fish etc..That is why they are where they are.and if one checks around these islands over the many yearsmost areas that have had "un natural "channels cut through them has made quite an impact on currents and sand movement.
All in all I guess the inevetable is going to happen and only time will tell how all this pans out.I wish them all well with this but hope that our famous 7 mile beach will remain intact and the powers that be do NOT have any other ships anchoring further north than where they are at the moment.Greed may very well play a big part in that decision and diving as we have seen it over the many years along 7 mile beach may well cease as we know it.
In the meantime lets hope we can get our stay over visitors back on track but there will almost certainly be a drop in numbers while the ship piers are being built.Lets hope I am wrong because these are the people that have put Cayman where it is today.WE NEED THEM!!!!!!!!!
What I would like to know is what happens with a swell from the Northwest pushing water into that basin? It will have nowhere to go but across the road and into town. Hammerheads and the fish cleaning station will be "fubar"d!
It might be part of the long-term plan so that stretch of the waterfront can be purchased for a relatively low price.
After the waterfront property is acquired, you run a breakwater outwards in a westerly direction from around Burger King area and all is protected again.
I must say that I was surprised to see a design that was in no way protected from a northwesterly wind.
One does not need to be a master mariner (and we have a few of them that are genuine Caymanian born) to know that a breakwater running in a westerly direction from the old Atlantic Star proposed site that curved around to the south would protect the entire harbour in bad weather.
Cruiseship piers could then be built angling off in a southerly or southeasterly direction from the main breakwater as an when the funds and demand for cruise berths are equally matched.
I have always thought that a good breakwater about 50 feet wide would be far too expensive to install, but it now appears a cheaper alternative than what the present government seems hell bent on mortgaging our souls for 99 years over.
Mostly on the postivite frame of thinking!
The Cruise Berthing Plans look interesting.
We should consider:
The Bankers having more walk in foreign exchange customers
The Farmers having opportunities to grow more local fruits & veggies
The Restaurants selling more food
The Mixologists mixing more bar drinks
Doctors & Hospitals being busy with minor & emergency patience non stop
The Taxis making more fares
Our children will have more education/job opportunities especially in Tourism, Maritime, Immigration, Customs, Foreign Languages, Culinary etc…etc…
The Florists selling your flowers
The Wedding planners planning more weddings
But apologies Jewelers I don’t think the cruise passengers are to going to be interested much longer having to experience all these proposed amenties with their expnesive Rolex’s and the like, so either get ready to increase your services to include deliver to ship concierge’s or just lose sales to the already onboard boutique shops. Apologies sames goes for Cosmetics & the like "Duty Free" purchases.
Down fall to all this that I personally immedicatly see……
I can’t see much positives from the plans on North Church Street, Fort
Caymanians are already out numbered to work permit holders & to our (Caymanian) demise I see "cheap foreign labourers" arrives in hopes of getting a piece of remaining "Caymanite or Blackcoral"…sorry I meant: a piece of what Cayman can offer them and their dependants,,,,because u know the sister,brother,wife or husband, and children 1 & 2 & 9 months after arrival have child # 3 & 4.
Oh the schools… we should not forget….. the largest building in the midst of the berthing facilities should from inception be allocated for child services and a school because most children will be very happy to stay after being fooled into believing all Cayman is.. is what they immediately see a mini amusement park and a cove for swimming. I say this because even with berthing facilities what time or need will passengers/visitors have to visit what else Caymn has to offer.
That’s it … my overview!
The gov’t really do have to be applauded for being transparent in the early stages of this…unfortunately, they’ve not executed this very well at all….it seems they’ve called a public meeting, shared a lot of info, and advised us all that they’re signing another agreement that has a lot of important issues still to be agreed and have also announced a timeframe that they intend to aim for but equally admit is improbable to achieve.
again – the intent behind this weeks cruise berthing announcements is really impressive…..but man have they messed up on so many levels…….there was no need to announce anything at all apart from a statement that negotiations are continuing, we’re getting very close, we’ve manged to find a ‘chump’ that’ll not only build it, but also pay for it too!! (thats not easy these days – and yes, i understand they think the cruise lines will chip in a bit, but it’ll be minority)
instead, we’ve got a can of worms opened up…..everything from the ‘game-changing’ desire behind this development (Why oh why do we need to be a game-changer?? we really dont, we just need commitment from the Cruise lines that they’ll bring XX #’s overXX Yrs……Cayman itself is the game changer….not a covered car-park and some waterfalls)……then we hear that most of the drawings have a bridge to the westwind building, why would they even let that slip out now?? another example of the mistakes being made here…….and of course, there is no mention of the very strong likelihood that the real ‘game-changer’ will be a casino, because nothing else can possibly fund the ‘mega-port’ that we seem to be crawling towards
Dart should be thanked for trying to save Cayman tourism…..but this is all happening back-asswards……i’m not sure most of Caymanians really believe that cruise tourism is vital to Cayman, but it actually is……even more now that offshore tax havens are slowly disappearing…….however, to build a mega port before we have inventory in hotel rooms, and before we have a runway long enough to fly tourists in upon is a mistake……..the port must be improved……it could be done gradually……we really should just hit the berthing needs right now, along with the lands needed for buses/taxi’s/tour operators……then we need Dart and others like him to focus on creating hotel inventory (Not on a cruise port, thats nuts….why would people book a holiday on a cruise port when they could be staying on SMB???!!!)…..get the hotel inventory, get the longer runway(s)…..then we can really impress the possibly 2 million tourists that may enjoy their disembarkation experience – they dont want to see a lovely port, they want a functional port that allows them to see the real game-changer…the Cayman Islands…..the beaches, the water, the marine life…..second to none………and they’ll come back.
there is no doubt that dart/decco will build something amazing…look at Camana Bay…..but also look at how empty camana bay is all day long…..its way too big for Cayman, it really is becoming just an office park…..they may end up doing the same thing again with the port, simply over-reaching and totally mis-reading the local market and potential for business…….caymanians are not coming downtown to go on the cruise port every night and every weekend……we go to public beach, north side, etc, etc…..because we know all about our game-changer, its these lands themselves……we just need a facility that allows people to stay longer to enjoy it……theres a very real chance that when cuba opens up, no matter how big a port we build, ships will leave us……..why not wait and see, and in meantime simply build whats needed…….there’s a difference between needs and wants….we want everything, but what do we really need?
I am afraid it may turn out to be another Boatswains Beach for us. Too grandiose, too expensive and we are unable to afford it. That would be really embarrassing, if we aren’t already embarrassed enough with all the other failures.
I love it, I love it, I love it!! Now let’s get on with building it and get some of our people back to work. Great job CG. Thank you for your perseverance, and thank you Dart group for believing and trusting the people of Cayman. I have absolutely no problem with you getting a fair return on your investment here.
Once again another short term, reactive approach by government to stimulate the economy…build this facility.
"Bobby Anonymous" nailed it on the head.
I am not against wealthy developers/investors in this country, but there should be more incentive for competition for Dart from other wealthy investors so that he is not sole share holder for all private funded "GOVERNMENT" projects.
What about Arab investors, Chinese investors or even a conglomerate of our wealthy Caymanians pooling together? These are just ideas. I am not expecting everyone to agree with this comment.
CNS: Will the public have access to the presentation given on Wednesday?
re: Medical Tourism to Rescue Island From Financial Oblivion!
CNS- Is there any way to find out if the MOU for Shetty’s hospital is expired? Can you put The Mouse on it?
Lookout Arden. 8 acres of fill for the new port has to come from somewhere, and the most likely place would be 8 acres of fill dug out of East End. Now we can see why Mac wants the new cargo dock moved there. It looks like a win win situation for all of his big financial supporters.
My friend, you have to give to a cause in order to get something back! That is just a part of life. UDP is at least doing something for the economy in 2 years. PPM had 4 and blew it!
I think that observation is ludicrous. Why wouldn’t they use the material they have to excavate to fill the 8 acres.
Stop being so hateful and try to think positive. we are going to starve to death if something around here doesn’t start happening.
I need to feed my children and keep them in school. There isn’t a damn thing happening in this economy and we need something to happen.
Stop stifling the economy further by all of this hatred and badmindedness. This was never the Caymanian way. We cannot survive much longer sitting on our hands, criticizing the government and the private sector if they try to invigorate the economy.
Let’s come together and try to see if we can find some common goals. At least we know what Dart can produce and we know he will do it well. Camana Bay is a testament of this.
You must be one of those UDP financial advisors if you think you can go out in the sea, dig up the bottom, and pile it up in the same place to create land.
I have never seen such a crock of rubbish! If you want tourists here, start by reducing prices. It is way to expensive to:
1/ Get here.
2/ Sleep here.
3/ Eat here.
4/ Do anything here.
As for Mega yachts, trust me they will not come here to stay and if they do they are totaly self sufficent and would not spend a nut here. Or do you think you are going to charge stupid money for berthing? You may charge it but they wont pay it!
Tourists even have to pay to go on the beach! Wake up Cayman you are NOT the only place in the caribbean, but by far the most expensive.
The crime free boast has, I am afraid gone.
Bobby you just miss one important factor in all of this. If we do not get this project done before 2013, cruise ships will stop coming here. The Florida association has warned use more than ones of the liabilities of transporting passengers from their ships to our harbor.
So this project is a NECESSITY if Cayman wants to conitinue having tourist visits from the cruise lines.
Thats fine. Build a dock, the Watler terminal is a prime examle of how NOT to do it. We don’t need a water front Disney park.
As for the post that sees lots of Groceries going to Yachts, I don’t know where he is seeing these Mega Yachts and if they are buying anything. I guarantee that it is ALL duty free as it is classed as Vessel in transit.
Whistling Duck, you obviously haven’t traveled too far yet. I wonder what the cruise lines are going to do with their private islands in the Bahamas that they all have to tender their passengers to? It adds to their exclusivity, don’t you see? Dumb duck!
Cayman is not a private island that will be tendered. If we want the new Genesis Class boats to stop here we need to build the berths. If we don’t, don’t build the berths. Cayman is one stop on the itinerary and it can be written out. Question is, to whose detriment?
The difference between the Oasis & Freedom class ships is 1000 passengers. 1000 passengers times 52 weeks times 20 years times $12 is only approx $12.5 million dollars. That’s all the additional gov’t tax that ship will produce in 20 years. How does that justify a $300 million dollar project? The question we should ask is whether Carnival intends to build ships as big as Oasis, because I see more Carnival ships out in the harbour here than I see Royal Caribbean ships.
By the way, can anyone say what will happen to the cruise ships on Nor’wester days? Will there still be tendering at Spotts, or will the ships just bypass?
CITA betrayed our professed high end product vision years ago by neglecting the smaller but higher-end passengers that travel on the smaller luxury liners and super yachts. These are not Genesis-class behemoths and do not need a $300mln port facility. Their average guest is not headed to town in search of cheep booze mix, snow globes and tshirts (the sale of which does not really trickle down to the average Caymanian); rather, they are well qualified to engage in large economic transactions while ashore. Many of the world’s finest liners will not return because we have congested our product with the wrong customers (many stay over guests echo the same sentiment). Cayman’s class-less leadership moves us further and further in the wrong direction and perpetuates this divergent product image by focusing on the lowest-end of the market…the one which lines their pockets. Logistically, we are headed for more problems once (hypothetically) these 4 Genesis-class ships are emptied onto our streets. Where and how will 20,000 extra people get around? What will they do here now that the very facility that docked them sits atop what was once the best snorkelling in the islands?
Do you have any idea how many yachts were here last year or how much money they spent? Maybe ask the people who deal with them? I’ve seen truck loads of groceries being loaded on tenders when they are here. I would think if we gave them a place to dock more would come and even more money would be spent.
Dart considers himself a Caymanian, and he is doing what a Caymanian would do! Invest and make money in his own country. I feel this is a win-win situation. Government will get something back from this as well as Dart!
I think everyone is worried about the history of Dart and the claims made about him. It is too late now to ponder on these things. He is the developer, and the project has to be completed in order to benefit our economy.
Remember the UK expects us to balance our budget and pump revenue into the economy. Meanwhile we will be paying back Dart for his contributory millions he put in the project, but most definitely we will be getting beck something.
I think the other concern is, how much of the pie of revenue, will the average Caymanian be able to taste from this facility and mega yaght?
Anyways… God has not forgotten Cayman, and I feel everything will work well so long our politicians LOOK OUT FIRST FOR THEIR OWN PEOPLE WHO MAKE LITTLE AND HAVE TO STRUGGLE WITH THE BILLS!
WILL THIS MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR ALL OF US???
I like the idea and planning behind the development of this project. However, my concerns are growing regarding land ownernship and capital investments Dart owns in Cayman.
I think many people already know, Dart is a powerful man and he is already welding political influence. More power should be in the hands of the people, but this is not the case because we are under UK watch, and the UK claims to be the sole authority of our good governance. The people of Cayman are just smack in the middle of all of this.
We have no real democracy here. It is use between the wealthy and the UK watchdogs. Even our Constitution resigns all power back to the Governor and UK whenever their interest is being jeopardize.
Caymanians, we just have to negotiate well with the power heads over us in some way. People don’t like Mac, and Mac may think about his own hive, but he is a Caymanian that other Caymanians should learn from. Mac negotiates – he reaches out. He knows he can’t win wars by military force or some kind of government powers, but he is clever and business minded. He can win you by persuasion, and many Caymanians need to learn from that.
Who runs Cayman????
The WEALTHY who has MONEY and POWER!
And secondly, the INTEREST’S GROUPS in the United Kingdom!
Dart and any other wealthy Caymanian better make sure that his interest is along the lines of their interest. But then again money talks, and Caymanians are just caught in the middle.
CNS, the photo you posted, is that available online somewhere, I’d like a bigger.
CNS: You’ll have to ask Dennie
Talk about selling your soul to the devil !!
Will there be anything left of the real Cayman when they are done?
I will laugh the day Dart has enough of you fools and puts a big gate around all he owns and locks you idiots out. I hope you know it is comming. He is just using us but most are too stupid to see it.
Yah, cause Dart would really benefit from doing that. Get a grip and stop posting ignorant posts just to get a rise out of people.
where would cayman be without dart???….what an ungrateful bunch…..
it would still be right here
Why in the world would Dart want to put a gate around what he owns and lock Caymanians or anyone out. He is a developer and an entrepeneur and invests money in the hope of making more money. Everything that he has done so far in this community has been well done and tastefully done and I know of nothing that he has developed that stops any of us from using these facilities – in fact he is constantly hosting events for the community to enjoy. If he locks people out then how would they make any money. How paranoid and stupid can we get.
Where the locked gates at Camana Bay??
soon come
I wonder if it is easier for CG to negotiate knowing that the construction company that he owns is already a sub-contractor in Camana Bay?
I think that I will plant some more banana trees in my backyard as the Governor doesn’t seem to see us for what we are yet.ah5%d
"If Dart does something the do it right"
Ask Argentina, Poland and Brazil about Dart!!!!
DART IS DRIVING COUNTRIES INTO BANKRUPTCY!
Have a nice day.
Listen people; Dart Companies employ Caymanians. Not only status holders, but born Caymanians. They also pay their employees top salaries and give them and their families benefits. This man is not driving us into bankruptcy, your premier and deputy premier is doing that for us and you are not picketing to stop them. Do not submit postings to this website without true facts. Gossip runs rampant in the Cayman Islands and you know it. Do not join in gossip just for gossip. Get your facts straight and then talk.
looks extremely impressive! people can say what they want about Dart, but when he does something he does it right. and that big building in the middle looks just the right size for a casino!
I guess there may be objections from the existing businesses located south of Elmslie, but they need to look at the bigger picture – with berthing facilities, we’ll get more cruise passengers, and those that come will be able to stay for much longer (including, I assume, overnight).
And as it includes a mega yacht facility, I guess this means dredging the North Sound won’t be needed, at least unless or until the new port can’t handle the demand.
I trust they have managed to reroute the taxis off the main drag so we can still have down-town traffic – ie. not pedestrianize the city…
As it stand right now, the limited space means these ignoramouses block up traffic on a regular basis – give them space to fight amongst themselves OFF the main road – so the rest of us can keep moving!!!
Where is the city to which you refer?
I was present at the luncheon. I gotta say if the government can pull off half of what was proposed for the cruise berthing facility they would have done extremely well. Amazing Plans, lets see how it comes together.
Gosh- I couldn’t make the luncheon; I had a date at The White House. But please tell me- was there any mention of MOU’s or activity on the East End or Dr. Shetty’s hospital? Does the Premier take questions? Is there anybody who might be willing to share information with the rest of us on the issues we want to know about or do the little people not need be told?
"REclaim"?
…".mega yacht marina, amphitheatre, a hotel, reataurants" AND no flooding of the area with retail?? Jeezus, do these people ever listen to what they squeeze out of their mouths??!!
nuttin’ wrong with this… who here, don’t like Cayman Bay?
Oh… I love Camana Bay! Still expensive, but I guess I am still waiting tosee a better economy and some kind of minimum wage. This project better help us reduce crime, because anyone who says that there is no link between crime and our economy, is sorry to say… dreaming
Camana Bay is alright for a shopping mall. But unfortunately it has about as much Caribbean flavor as a mall. Actually, if you squinted it could be in Pittsburg. Cayman is in the Caribbean isn’t it?
Obviously you’ve never been to Pittsburg. What it is is Miami.