CAYMAN NEEDS A BETTER PLAN SAYS MARIO EBANKS

By Staff Writer

A major rethink about policy priorities as the campaign revs up for the 2025 general election on April 30th, concludes public affairs commentator Mario Ebanks.

Speaking on the Caymanian Times podcast, Cayman Conversations with editor and publisher Ralph Lewis, Mr Ebanks outlined several areas of concern. He challenged the logic of the referendum due to take place alongside the election and pressed for a long-term development plan including an updated immigration and population policy as an overdue priority.

Mr Ebanks also wondered about the current influx of what he described as inexperienced candidates and challenged the notion of decentralisation of some government and commercial activities to suburban districts.

Mr Ebanks who is a human resources specialist was also a candidate in the 2021 election.

REGARDING THE REFERENDUM

He questioned the timing and content of the upcoming referendum, arguing that the issues of decriminalizing cannabis, establishing a cruise port, and gambling should not be prioritized without a comprehensive national plan addressing population growth, infrastructure capacity, and environmental and social sustainability. Mr Ebanks also said there was insufficient time for a proper public awareness programme.

“Those three questions that they’re putting to the referendum cannot be sensibly answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because there’s no information…It’s not going to get factually discussed.”

Mr Ebanks also chided the main opposition, the People’s Progressive Movement (PPM/Progressives) for supporting the minority United People’s Movement(UPM) government’s move to hold the referendum during the election.

He said he will vote against the cannabis and national lottery questions and will abstain on the cruise port issue. “They don’t even know where they are going to put it,” he stated.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Emphasising the importance of succession planning in politics, Mario Ebanks advocates for experienced politicians to retire and be replaced by capable individuals. He however cautioned against the risks of an abrupt transition from experienced to inexperienced leaders.

“I also believe, as an HR professional, that succession planning is very important where the older seasoned politicians ought to know when the time has come for them to retire. They should have other people in the wings who are prepared to step in and continue.”

He noted that “we have a number of, I think it’s about six politicians in the current Parliament that have decided that they are not going to contest the next election for re-election.”

He further explained: “If you have an exodus of all the experience, and then you have an influx of inexperience…is like drinking from a fire hose (and) I always believe that there’s no success without a successor.”

DEVELOPMENT AND IMMIGRATION

“I think that one of the biggest issues that we have to face in the next government is a long-term plan for the Cayman Islands,” according to Mr Ebanks speaking as an analyst and commentator on Cayman Conversations.

He recalled that the previous Progressive government initiated a revamp of the development plan, creating a series of area or district plans called ‘Plan Cayman’.

He also observed that the PACT government that took over in 2021 did not prioritize long-term planning, which he said resulted in a lack of progress until about a year and a half ago.

“It takes five and a half years to get this plan pushed and five and a half years to create it along with serious funding, serious resources. I think while that’s being done, I believe that we also need to put in place a moratorium on no more 10-story buildings, especially in areas that are really congested, such as the Seven Mile Beach corridor.”

According to Mr Ebanks, a core aspect of any national development plan should also be an updated population and immigration policy.

“I think that if you have a government plan, the first thing to inform that is, what is your population projections for the Cayman Islands? How much can we take? What is its carrying capacity?”

Meantime, Mario Ebanks is still mulling over whether he will contest the 2025 election.