Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush accused Caribbean Utilities Company of ‘ripping off’ the country.
Electricity bills had increased and the government had done nothing to protect consumers, he claimed in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Making the opening contribution to the debate on the Throne Speech and Budget Address, the West Bay Member claimed that CUC had even charged for losses after Hurricane Ivan.
No other local company had been able to increase charges in order to pay for losses as a result of the hurricane, he alleged.
It was totally unacceptable because the company was ‘ripping off’ the Cayman Islands, and he said he hoped that CUC’s operations would be looked at in more detail.
Mr. Bush said he believed there were several issues hurting people today.
Commodities had to be kept within reach of the people.
Petrol prices had gone up, property insurance was out of reach, and that would put mortgages out of reach, and the government had to do something about these key areas.
West Bay dock
Mr. Bush said the West Bay dock scheme had been stopped but the Turtle Farm had, he said, been developed as a $40 million project and needed thousands of customers to support it.
The West Bay dock was integral in its success because it was imperative to have infrastructure closer to the actual attraction, he said.
The dock was also to decrease the congestion of people having to travel along West Bay Road, he added.
He believed the two were inter-dependent and if one was stopped the other would suffer.
The Turtle Farm would suffer and who would pay back the $40 million loan if the project was not successful, he wondered.
He was worried about the viability of the Turtle Farm’s $40 million debt, he told the House.
The budget did not address long term strategy plans for the country and was not a true platform for future spending.
Given the margin of error, it was likely that the projected surplus could end up as a deficit. It did not recognise the current state of the economy, he said.
Mr. Bush said that they could not stop the Spirit airline coming in but he felt they should not go all out to help them either.
It was going to hurt Cayman Airways which could end up having more deficits.
Mr. Bush wondered if the government’s projections could be sustained during these times of economic uncertainty.
Investors had to feel the economy was being managed properly, he said.
If the government did not allow for good economic growth they would not have the revenues to pay for the expenditures needed to help the people, he added.
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