EBANKS-WILKS AND HYDES GO HEAD-TO-HEAD FOR WEST BAY CENTRAL

The West Bay Central Candidates Forum saw a feisty encounter between the incumbent and first-time MP - Katherine Ebanks-Wilks and her sole challenger, the independent candidate Jewel Hydes.

Responding to questions put by the organisers, the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, the two candidates devoted much of their time to rebuffing challenges from each other on district and national issues.

It kicked off early with Ms Hydes questioning MP Ebanks-Wilks’s track record.

“For over the past four years, despite the incumbent being a minister for a period of time, little has been accomplished West Bay Central. The people are feeling the weight of inaction. They are hurting, and they deserve real change. I am ready to fight for West Bay Central and the Cayman Islands.”

She referred to the incomplete Apple Blossom housing project, an issue which surfaced several times during the forum.

But incumbent Ebanks-Wilks who is running as part of The Cayman Community Party(TCCP) defended her achievements.

“During those four years, I have delivered much,” she countered the claims from her opponent Hydes.

“I’ve also rolled out medication delivery services, broke ground on Apple Blossom, which is an overdue housing scheme, I’ve provided funding for the first green space in West Bay Central, I’ve also rolled out enrichment programs for our children who are lacking in literacy and math. And I’ve also given my constituency office a legal identity to ensure that there is transparency as we function through the constituency functions.”

But while the two candidates addressed a range of issues, the Apple Blossom housing project seemed to be a lightning rod.

Outlining their priority issues, Jewel Hydes, listed unemployment, the cost of living and housing, and she again tackled MP Ebanks-Wilks over the incomplete Apple Blossom housing project.

“Almost one year ago now the ground was broken and not one piece of steel has been laid. Those people still remain in those derelict conditions that she spoke to in 2021.”

Ms Hydes also said she would first advocate for the government to perform a housing assessment “because right now the government doesn’t have a true picture of how many Caymanians are in need of a home.”

MP and former government ministers Ebanks-Wilks had listed housing, education and the cost of living as her top three concerns.

“There’s high mortgage rates for those who own homes (high) rental for those who rent. It requires rental control, so we need to implement the Residential and Tenancy Act straight away,” she said on the housing issue.

On the matter of cost of living, she proposed a different approach to address the matter of high fuel costs and electricity bills.

“Many have said that it is the cost of electricity, but after having a discussion with CUC(Caribbean Utilities Company), we’ve come to understand that…it’s needing to have the removal of the fuel cost, and that is done by way of ensuring that the hard work that I did as a minister with the national energy policy is now commenced.”

That policy, she said would allow homeowners to install solar panels as a cost-saving measure.

Ms Hyde had previously challenged MP Ebanks-Wilks on the energy policy.

“That was passed in April 2024 and it still has gone nowhere. This is a year later. That policy can save a lot of cost to consumers if implemented.”

MP Ebanks-Wilks explained that there were administrative procedures to follow and ministerial priorities to contend with, particularly where a matter was in the portfolio of a different member of the Cabinet.

For the first time in the series of Candidate Forums the issue of tackling crime came up.

Ms Hydes(IND) said it was a concern that she that comes up often during her canvassing.

“That is one thing that I would seek to address, and how I would address this would be involving the police, having more police presence around the gas stations, around the commercial stations of various businesses, around the convenience stores, around the restaurants.”

She also spoke of community awareness and ensuring that CCTV systems work.

MP Ebanks-Wilks concurred that the crime situation needs to be tackled: “Continue supporting the police as they focus on the hot spots. We have a few in West Bay Central and there are other hot spots throughout the district.”

And she updated her opponent on the CCTV cameras: “She might not be aware, but the cameras that were not working have been fixed.”

Despite the push-and-pull that characterised this forum encounter, there were several points of agreement between the two West Bay Central candidates on matters of district and national priority, even though in several instances different strategies were proposed for dealing with them.