As the country’s oldest and most
read newspaper, we at the Caymanian Compass feel justified in making the
following claim:
Living in the Cayman Islands is a
wonderful privilege.
The weather’s always nice, even the
rain is pleasant (except for the occasional hurricane), the sea is always warm,
the countryside is still beautiful while the Islands retain most of the
conveniences needed to support a modern lifestyle.
Other Caribbean islands may make
many of the same claims and feel quite justified in doing so.
It’s sometimes easy to forget the
precious commodity of our country and our region; a place so enchanting that
millions of people choose to visit it every year for holiday. These folks come
here by ship and by plane for the famous three S’s: sun, sea and sand. It’s not
something many of them get a chance to experience very often; they’re willing
to pay handsomely for it and thereby support our local economy.
Earlier this month, some
individuals in St Kitts forgot about the importance of this symbiotic
relationship and disrupted the beauty of their islands by waylaying a tourist
bus, throwing rocks at it while blocking the road, and then robbing the 16
cruise ship passengers on board.
Two major cruise lines cancelled
calls to St Kitts because of the incident. Those two ships hold a maximum of
nearly 5,000 people.
Many times the effects of crime on
tourism destinations aren’t quite as readily apparent as this incident in St
Kitts, but the concern for the jurisdiction is clear. If a significant part of
your economy depends on the kindness of strangers, it’s probably not a good
idea to start pointing guns in those strangers’ faces and taking their phones
and jewellery.
The Cayman Islands has its own
problems with robberies of local businesses. We must do everything possible to
discourage the crooks from taking it “to the next level” and ruining our
paradise for all.
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