Aiming to unite the Sister Islands

(CNS): Declaring her candidacy for the district of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman for the fourth time, Maxine McCoy-Moore believes that this time she will be successful. Standing for “United for positive change”, she thinks the two representatives for the district should work together as a team. “We have not had that for many years,” she said. The two Sister Islands should also be “united” because they face many of the same problems, and she wants to emphasise their connection to Grand Cayman.

Having been raised on both the Brac and Little Cayman and with business interests on each islands, she calls both “home”. The first three times she ran McCoy-Moore was living on Little Cayman. Now, she says, she will be living on Cayman Brac for at least the next eight years but she will not forget Little Cayman and remains very much aware of the issues on both islands.

“The cost of living is way too high,” she said. “The government needs to control what’s going on here. The prices on these two islands, especially groceries and electricity, have skyrocketed since Hurricane Paloma. The Sister Islands were hit by three hurricanes last year – Gustav in August, Ike in September and Paloma in November – and the economies of both islands are suffering.”

She said, “Everyone is aware of the mess the whole world is in but I feel something must be done for us here.” In order to mitigate the effects of the global economic downturn, McCoy-Moore believes that the Cayman Islands should be looking for alternative places from which to import cheaper food, such as Jamaica and Honduras.“Government talked about that years ago but nothing was done.”

Reaching out to young people, especially creating jobs for them on the Brac, is a particular focus of her campaign. Every year, students graduating from high school, if they don’t get a scholarship to go to college, have to leave to find work. “One of the biggest problems is government retiring people and then hiring them back instead of training a young person for the post. They are not giving the young people a chance to prove they can do the job.” At the same time, she recognizes that many people cannot afford to stop working at age 60 and that government should reconsider the retirement age.

One young person told her recently that things are so hard that he would rather go back to jail because he couldn’t pay his bills. “The young people have lost all hope that anything will improve. It’s very sad.”

She continued, “We want to see sustainable development that would create jobs.” One way is to use the safety of the Bluff, which because of its elevation is safe from flooding, to attract businesses to set up on the Brac, especially the financial sector. Young people could be trained to work in offshore banks, which could be easily set up here, she said. “What I don’t wish to see is ex-pats being hired from overseas for the jobs and the young people not getting them again. It all comes down to good education and training.”

The majority of people on the Sister Islands are civil servants, and this means that there is no freedom of speech, she said. “This is crippling the progress and development of the islands because they can’t stand up and speak out on what they wish to see done in the Sister Islands.” She believes that civil servants were not fully involved in the drafting of the Constitution and they need the absolute right and freedom to speak out on such matters.

Tourism is another major issue for the Sister Islands, and McCoy-Moore said there should be more focus on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman when the Department of Tourism markets the three islands. “Most people abroad still think the Cayman Islands is just Grand Cayman,” she said.

Cayman Brac needs a safe harbor for yachts and small boats, and the only feasible place is Salt Water Pond in front of Coral Isle Club on the South Side, she said. She also wants to promote agriculture on the Brac to make use of the good farm land on the Bluff, and to scrap plans for the new landfill on the Bluff which, she says, will destroy the water table for future generations. A matter of concern is the Cayman Airways schedule, especially between Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, and she wants to see the reintroduction of direct flights from Jamaica and Miami to reduce the cost of flying to the Sister Islands.

Turning to insurance, she said CINICO should be open to everyone, since the private sector of the insurance industry charges “an arm and a leg” but does not offer sufficient coverage. McCoy-Moore also believes that, in these tough economic times and with the market so unstable, pension payments should not be mandatory for small businesses as it is hurting both employers and employees. The money paid into pension schemes is just disappearing on the stock markets, she said. "When we retire we’re not going to have any funds left."

McCoy-Moore operates a tour bus business, MAM’s Island Tours, as well as MAM’s Janitorial Service, on both Sister Islands. She is also the office manager for the family business, McCoy’s Fishing and Diving Lodge, in Little Cayman and sells land for ERA. In addition, she drives one of the high school busses every morning and evening,which gives her a great opportunity to talk to young people.

Having worked and lived on all three islands in both private and public sectors and with all levels of society, she feels she understands the issues well. “I’m not going to buy anyone’s vote with a fridge or a microwave or a water container, but I want to work for my people and that’s why I’m offering my services again. This time I feel that people are ready for change and I am the person to implement that change,” she said.