NEW MP FOR CAYMAN BRAC WEST AND LITTLE CAYMAN, BUT WHO WILL IT BE?

By Staff Writer

It was a gentlemanly exchange of ideas when the contenders for the Cayman Brac West and Little Cayman seat met in the continuing series of Candidates Forums organised by the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce.

Nickolas DaCosta of the Cayman Islands National Party(CINP) and independent Lonny Lee Tibbets shared the stage with the goal of one emerging to replace Moses Kirkconnell of the People’s Progressive Movement(PPM/Progressives) as the constituency’s representative.

The dominant local issues, as reflected in the previous debate for the Cayman Brac East seat, were the shipping costs between Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands, inter-island air travel, education, jobs, and care for the elderly. On the broader national scene, the cost of living and other broad social and economic development issues were highlighted.

On the specific question of enhancing shipping services to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, Nickolas Dacosta(CINP) stated: “Currently, our only option is the weekly barge. We need to forge direct trade negotiations with other countries in our region where we can get goods directly from.”

He spoke of the extraordinarily high prices for the people of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman due to high shipping costs plus an additional two levels of duties, both in Grand Cayman and then in the Sister Islands.

Businessman Mr DaCosta feels that port equipment is urgently needed.

“When I ship my items to Cayman Brac that people have purchased, the cost more than doubles…We need to upgrade our dock, and we need to upgrade the equipment that is on the dock.”

He also feels that the costs could be further reduced by first offloading in the Sisters Islands their shipments from Jamaica, incurring only one level of import duty instead of taking them to Grand Cayman further duties are added.

Independent candidate Lonny Lee Tibbets agreed.

“There’s an unfair process in the duties, import protocols and payments made on shipping to Cayman Brac,” he said, noting that 90 per cent of all imports for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman first land in Grand Cayman and are then subjected to a two-tier duty system when they are shipped on to the Sister Islands. “We need to fix that,” he insisted.

Mr Tibbets, who is also a former CEO of the government-run CINICO (Cayman Islands National Insurance Company), advocates for better local healthcare insurance and services for the residents of the Sister Islands, especially the elderly.

He argued that huge amounts spent on sending patients to Grand Cayman could be better invested locally in the Sister Islands to improve healthcare and cut down the cost to patients in the islands.

It was also felt by both contenders that some central government policies from Grand Cayman were having a disproportionate impact on the Sister Islands pushing up the cost of living.

Both candidates called for improving airlift to the Sister Islands, although they addressed the matter from different perspectives.

They also agreed on growing the economy of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman with more investment in tourism.

“We have got to increase our room capacity on Cayman Brac, similarly on Little Cayman as well,” Mr Tibbets(IND) said adding back office operations and remote working possibilities are also economic and employment-generating possibilities for the Sister Island.

CINP’s DaCosta felt that Cayman Brac and Little Cayman were being overshadowed by Grand Cayman in growth opportunities.

“Cayman Brac is definitely unique, where all of the attention is placed in Grand Cayman but then Cayman Brac is stagnant. Little Cayman is stagnant, and nothing is being done to boost economic activity in our Sister Islands.” 

He proposed developing the island’s unique eco-tourism product with a specialist hotel and called for incentives to encourage relocating office processes from Grand Cayman to generate jobs locally.

Concerns were also voiced about youth services, education, employment opportunities and specialist social services support for at-risk young people.