PROGRESSIVES ACTION PLAN IN MOTION FOR 2025 ELECTIONS

Staff Writer

The main opposition People’s Progressive Movement (PPM/Progressives) says it has an action plan in motion to tackle Cayman’s most pressing and intractable problems.

The party says it’s already in preparation mode for the upcoming general election in April next year.

Beach erosion and its threat to tourism and the wider economy, the dump with the risk to the environment and public health, crime including anti-social behaviour, immigration and border control, and promoting ‘a Cayman focus’ on the jobs market are just a handful of the issues the party has on its radar and ready to tackle upon getting back in office.

That was the message new Progressives leader Joey Hew delivered when he appeared on the Cayman Conversations podcast hosted by Caymanians Times editor Ralph Lewis.

Beach erosion is an ongoing hot-button topic with the problem getting worse while the debate simply ebbs, flows and foams.

However, Mr Hew has a two-stage proposal which he disclosed might be the best way of tackling the issue of protecting the beaches, a key pillar of Cayman’s tourism industry and economy.

In the first instance he is proposing a plan for ‘beach renourishment’ with input from government, specialised agencies and businesses.

“What we have to do first of all, as Caymanians, is separate the emotions from what the realities are. We’ve had many experts tell us what the situation is, and whether you believe in global warming or whether you believe these are just natural occurrences, the fact remains is that this is not going to fix itself, not right now. And so the only way to deal with this is, as the Department of Environment have identified, is to do a beach renourishment.”

As explained by Mr Hew, once the beach renourishment is done, “that allows you, then and only then, to identify some of the structures that are considered too close to the to the ocean, or maybe causing the rapid increase in the in the beach erosion and do what they consider a managed retreat.”

He further stated, “That will take the joint effort between the landowner and the government, including the DOE(Department Of Environment), Planning and everyone else, to find out what is the best way.”

Beach erosion, Mr Hew added is not just a reality along Seven Mile Beach but a growing threat to many other beaches in Cayman.

He proposes a special fund to ensure that beach renourishment can be an ongoing process, suggesting financing it through an increase in tourism room tax.

“It’s not just happening on the very southern end as it was, it’s spreading further north rather rapidly. So these and the sister islands, so we have an eye on all of these areas. And I think that the beach renourishment programme has to become a national programme in the sense where we add $1.00, $1.50, $1.25, whatever the case may be, on to tourism room tax as an environmental beach renourishment tax or whatever.”

Other pressing issues on the front burner for the Progressives include issues concerning the suspension of the landfill waste-to-energy project contract. That was one of the breaking points which led to the recent abrupt resignation of four members of the ruling United People’s Movement(UPM) coalition.

According to Mr Hew, while recent reports of the Office of the Auditor General raised several concerns about that contract, an updated report is being awaited.

“With the additional information it would be interesting to see what the Auditor General says. But the fact remains, that we are almost 12 years later, and we’re now in limbo, and we have an ageing landfill that only has a couple of years in it.”

He said that one option might be to consider alternative sites, but he added a note of caution: “Nobody wants it in their backyard, right?”

The leader of the Progressives party who is now also the Opposition Leader in Parliament, said despite the recent upheavals in the ruling United People’s Movement(UPM) coalition with left the government with a minority in parliamentary, the Progressives were not in favour of early elections.

He said while he is confident that his party would have benefitted from an early election on the basis that they are better organised and prepared, they felt having the polls now would be disruptive around the Christmas period.