Port fee hikes “worsen cost of living crisis”

With the Cayman Islands almost solely reliant on imported goods for survival, from food to cars, construction materials to clothing, the increase by government of a slew of port fees will drive up the cost of imported goods and thereby worsen the cost-of-living crisis, the PPM has warned.

Recently gazetted changes to the Port (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 have meant Cayman residents will have to pay more for imports into the country, especially car, with the introduction of a new flat rate fee of $300 for a vehicle weighing less than six tons and $500 for a vehicle weighing six tons or more. The charge for trucking cargo from ship-side to the distribution centre at the Industrial Park is now $60 for a container 20 feet long or less, $120 for a container more than 20 feet long but not more than 40 feet long, and $135 for a container more than 40 feet long. Cargo dues, handling charges, heavy lift charges and tailgate charges for containers have all increased as well, as have storage and miscellaneous costs.

“The government’s recent surprise increases in port fees on imported goods will worsen the cost-of-living crisis.  This unexpected increase comes on top of the Premier’s $120 million list of tax increases announced during the recent December budget session,” the PPM stated. “In presenting her budget just before Christmas, the Premier promised the country that the government’s tax increases were made to ensure that they were non-inflationary and did not have a direct impact on the average citizen and the already high cost of living.  These port fee increases will undoubtedly impact the cost of living, as will other increases the Premier and her government are planning.” 

During the budget debate, Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart warned that the government’s skyrocketing spending spree would require increases in duties, fees, and other taxes as they tried to balance the books.  Mr McTaggart warned: “l have observed that nearly every tax increase has a tangible effect on people’s wallets in some manner or another.”

The PPM wondered how many more surprise tax increases the country would learn about in the coming months as the government continued to fund its vast spending spree in the last year of its term. 

“We, in the Progressives Opposition, will be watching,” they confirmed.