For the first time in the history of the Caribbean, a nation territory has used a referendum to decide whether its government should build ship-berthing facilities.

December 19, 2019 was the date selected for the people of the Cayman Islands to decide whether they want a cruise pier.

The government announced the date for a referendum on this development in the first week of October 2019, immediately following passage of Referendum (People-initiated Referendum Regarding the Port) Bill – 2019. The question posed by the bill: Should the Cayman Islands continue to move forward with building the cruise berthing and enhanced cargo port facility?

Calendar year 2019 started with good news out of George Town, the Cayman Islands capital. News media reported in February that leading cruise lines had been discussing the building and operation of a cruise ship berthing facility. In a report published on February 23, Cruise Industry News mentioned Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Disney as the brands in talks to jointly finance such a facility. The territory’s Premier, Alden McLaughlin, was reported as saying that the cost would be approximately US$240 million; no public money would be used to build the pier; and, government would be open to accepting bids throughout the first quarter of 2019, with a view to making a formal decision during the summer.

The news was received in some quarters with high expectations. George Town, with no shore facility to receive cruise ships, is a tender port. And being a popular destination, it is not unusual to see five cruise ships and more anchored just outside the port. With the incremental increases in ship size and capacity changing almost annually, tendering tens of thousands of passengers on any given day had become challenging, even counterproductive. Those that advocated construction of a cruise pier cited increased revenue inflows and economic growth. However, there was a strong undercurrent of opposition to the idea, with antagonists arguing that any such development would have negative impacts on the environment and grave implications for the economy.

Immediate opposition
Opposition to the idea of cruise pier construction in George Town started almost immediately after the matter was again put on the public agenda at the turn of the century. George Town received over a million cruise passengers in 2000. And that number increased dramatically to reach 1.82 million by 2003, triggering renewed but more fervent discussions among politicians and tourism interests. It was felt by some that the Cayman Islands, without a cruise pier, could hardly expect continued growth in this sector of the economy. However, antagonists to the idea were immediately vocal.

One such was then-Leader of the Opposition, Kurt Tibbetts, who chastised the government for not considering the concerns brought forward in its tourism development plan. His concern, as expressed during the 2003 budget debate, was about the likely negative impacts that high volumes of cruise ship visitors could have on the environment, community and occupancy levels at local hotels.

“The government seems intent on a course of action to encourage even more cruise ship visitors… It seems like the government is pursuing this course of action despite the overwhelming evidence across the region that concomitant with an increase of cruise ship visitors is a drop in the number of stay-over visitors. Statistics prove that and on reflection, it is easy to understand why,” said Mr. Tibbetts, as quoted in the Cayman news media.

A study commissioned by the Caymanian Ministry of Tourism entitled: Focus for the future: A tourism policy framework for the Cayman Islands, prepared in 2003 by a U.K. consultancy firm, did raise some of the concerns cited by Mr. Tibbetts.

The report stated: ‘The growing imbalance between the two visitor types [cruise and stay-over] is one of the overriding issues raised by tourism stakeholders in the Cayman Islands… Such large volumes of relatively low-spending visitors are seen as a deterrent to stay-over visitors, seriously diminishing the quality of the experience in George Town and at the key attractions… It is also seen as a major contributor to congestion and the quality of life for residents.’

Limits
The consultants recommended a daily limit on the maximum number of cruise tourists allowed ashore, but, as those opposing pointed out, did not recommend construction of cruise ship berths.

As soon as the Cayman government announced its continuing interest in building a cruise berthing facility in February 2019, groups and individuals opposed to the idea started initiatives to block the move. In June, they filed the requisite papers indicating their intention to petition the government for a referendum on the matter. By August, the government announced that it was proceeding with plans to build the cruise ship pier; that it would cost some US$240 million; that the Verdant Isle group was the preferred bidder for the project; and that there would be a referendum to allow the people a say in the matter.

Verdant Isle Port Partners, it was then reported, consisted of McAlpine Cayman Ltd., Orion Marine Construction, Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Orion Marine Construction purchased Meisner Marine, which previously built the Royal Watler Terminal as well as the Creek Dock in Cayman Brac.

In making the August announcement, the Premier reassured Caymanians. He said the cruise facility would not have a single cruise company in control and that it would be owned and managed by the Cayman Islands Port Authority.
“This is a moment that the majority of the people in our islands have been aiming to get to for at least 20 years, if not longer. Certainly, every Government elected since 2000 has had promises of a cruise port in their election manifesto, or as part of their delivery plans,” said the Premier.

By this time, however, those opposed to the project that had formally indicated their intention to challenge the government by way of a ‘people-initiated referendum’ started using social media platforms to organize an effective opposition. In September, the Cayman Islands Elections Office confirmed that the minimum of 5,292 signatures required from registered voters to make the referendum a reality had been surpassed and verified.

This legal stipulation having been met; the way was now clear for the government to pass the necessary legislation to set the referendum process in motion.

A majority of votes of 50 per cent of the entire electorate (not the just signatories to the petition) plus one are required for the result of the referendum to be binding on Cabinet. With 21,216 voters on the list, 10,609 Caymanians voting against could halt the project.

December 19, 2019 was declared a public holiday. The people of the Cayman Islands will therefore have time off from work to register their decision. —