Chamber seeks members’ views for constitutional talks

(CNS): With the countdown on to the imminent arrival of the Foreign and Commonwealth team in the Cayman Islands to discuss the country’s future constitutional arrangement with the UK, the Chamber of Commerce, one of the NGOs selected to join the Cayman negotiating team, is urging all its members to offer their opinions by answering specific questions on the proposed changes in an online survey.

The Chamber said the response of the members will go towards forming the position that the Chamber will bring to the talks and will highlight the specific interests and concerns of the membership.

“It is of the utmost importance to the Chamber of Commerce Council that we communicate the positions of the 740 members, and the 18,500 employees that they employ, accurately,” said Chamber President James Tibbetts. “The Constitution is the single most important document for the Cayman Islands, and the Chamber of Commerce welcomes this opportunity to provide feedback from its members to the Constitutional talks which take place at the end of this month."

He encouraged all members and their employees to complete the survey so that the members’ views on this important national issue, which, the president said, would impact both our social and economic future for many years to come, could be put forward. The survey consists of more than fifty questions concerning everything from whether we need a new constitution at all to the number of elected officials. Members are asked to select one of five answers ranging from "strongly agree" through to "neutral" to "strongly disagree".

The Chamber said the questions had been carefully crafted based on the government’s Constitutional Proposals and the opposition’s Discussion Draft. Members will be e-mailed a link to the online survey or will be able to access the survey through the Chamber’s website www.caymanchamber.ky. All responses will be kept confidential.

It also advised members to reread articles released in the April issue of THE CHAMBER Quarterly Review, which clarify some of the different positions raised in the course of the constitutional discussion, to make fully informed decisions.  The deadline for completing the survey is Wednesday, 24 September.