Buy local motion ‘neutered’

A bid by North Side representative
Ezzard Miller to allow import duty concessions only for developers who buy from
local merchants failed after the government amended Miller’s private member’s motion.

Mr. Miller found himself in the
unusual situation of voting against his own motion after saying the government
had “neutered” it.

He said he brought the motion
because local merchants were not benefitting from the “carrot” of import duty
concessions the government gave developers to attract them to do business in
Cayman.

United Democratic Party MLA Ellio
Solomon moved to amend the motion to state instead that developers who buy
local materials would get a larger discount on import duty than those who did
not. Government members voted in favour of amending the motion and then voted
the motion through, six to five.

“The current format that exists is
that once the developers are given these concessions for the development, they
are then allowed to import themselves the various building materials, furniture
and fixtures that they will use in this development, bypassing the local
economy completely,” Mr. Miller said, in presenting his original motion.

He said he had been approached by
members of the business community who wanted to sell goods to developers doing
business in Cayman.

Mr. Miller said his original motion
resolved that, simply put, “if you don’t buy the goods locally, you don’t get
the waiver… If you can’t get it locally, you can’t get the duty waiver.”

Mr. Solomon’s amendment reworded
the motion to state that the general government policy on all duty waivers to
developers is “to give a higher percentage to local purchases, where
practicable”.

He said the government could not
insist that investors buy all goods locally.

After a sometimes heated debate in
which it became clear the motion would not go through as originally worded, Mr.
Miller said: “I understand that the motion has been neutered and that the
business people in the community will get no benefit from the amendment which
is going to be passed. At least by bringing the motion here, we have gotten
(the government) to admit to a change to where they would encourage (developers)
to buy it here.”

UDP member Rolston Anglin, in the
debate on the motion, said: “How in the world can this House accept a motion
that resolves to say that we ‘shall’… purchase the goods locally to obtain
such duty waivers when we know well that in this market that feeds only 50,000
people, there are many products that are not here?”

“What happens when goods are not
available locally?” he asked, and queried whether Mr. Miller’s motion would
lead to the establishment of agents locally to procure goods overseas.

He argued that the wording of Mr.
Miller’s original motion was “fatally flawed, impracticable and unworkable” and
would serve as a deterrent for foreign investors.

This was echoed by Premier McKeeva
Bush, who said Cayman should not do anything to stifle incentives or “frighten
away investment or else we won’t get anything at all”. He went on to outline
planned incentives from the construction industry, such as concessions on import
duty, work permit fees and planning fees.