The Governor’s Office has announced the appointment of Chevala Burke as the new Deputy Supervisor of Elections.

By Staff Writer

A noticeable absentee from the Election Candidates Forum for Cayman Brac East was the longstanding incumbent and outgoing Premier, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly.

No reasons were given by the organisers, the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, for her no-show or that of independent candidate Maxine Avon McCoy-Turner.

Five candidates are competing for the Cayman Brac East seat. The three who participated in the forum were Dan Scott, leader of the Cayman Islands National Party(CINP) and independents James Christian and Ruth Ann Bodden.

Health and social care - especially for the elderly, the economy - locally and nationally, air access, education - especially the new high school project, and the cost of electricity were among the topics dealt with in a generally cordial atmosphere.

Regarding the economy, the participating candidates shared a concern about Cayman Brac being overlooked and that the Sister Island required its own development model.

CINP leader Scott proposed that The Brac is an ideal location for investment in remote working especially for the financial services sector. “The way I think we could seek to do that is to welcome back Cayman Brackers or Caymanians to be able to work remotely in the short term, even as folks are developing office facilities and otherwise. We today live in a world where you’re connected wherever you are, and I would seek to encourage firms, such as the one that I led for a number of years within the financial services industry, to allow that to happen.”

James Christian(IND) cautioned that investments should be sustainable and minimise the impact on Caymac Brac’s fragile environment..

“We need to be careful about the investments and investors that come into our country. We need sustainable economic development. We know that it’s crucial, very crucial. We need a clear and transparent investment policy. This will attract responsible investors while ensuring environmental and cultural safeguards are in place,” he stated.

Independent candidate Ruth Ann Bodden, felt that one way to stimulate the local economy was to return services to Cayman Brac which are now centralised in Grand Cayman.

“The practical steps to diversify Cayman Brac’s economy would be to bring some of the jobs back home that have been taken away from us in the last couple of years.”

She also feels that immigration controls need to be tightened to protect local jobs. “What is happening is they’re putting in work permits for someone and during that time employing a Caymamian for only six months. And when that permit is approved, they let go that Caymanian.”

There was also agreement that more needs to be done to improve and streamline the health and social care services, particularly for the elderly in the community.

Two ongoing large infrastructural projects on The Brac which have attracted some controversy are the Zeus marina development and the new high school.

Opinions varied, but a common theme was that these projects should benefit the economy and society by guaranteeing local jobs for Brackers. Regarding the marina project, there were some reservations about the environmental implications.