Demonstrations turn up politics

Two public demonstrations over the weekend turned out
somewhere between 700 and 900 people, according to the estimates of those who
attended.

On one side of Grand Cayman, hundreds of marchers
railed against a proposed East End seaport which they said would “change the
Cayman Islands forever;” on the other side, hundreds flocked to Seven Mile
Beach to support the current government in its efforts to boost Cayman’s
economy.  

Demonstrators in East End said plans for the seaport
amounted to a “mega quarry.” 

“I can’t see anything more than a quarry being
proposed,” said protester Ludlow Buckeridge. 

On public beach, United Democratic Party supporters
said developments like the seaport were needed to ensure Caymanians could find
jobs.

“These are high-cost Islands, you need things to be
going so you can make some money to have a decent living,” said Burns Bodden.  

East End

A crowd of hundreds stretched the entire length of
Lover’s Wall in East End on Saturday to protest the proposed seaport
development. 

“There’s cars parked as far as the eye can see and
there are still people walking up on the horizon to join the main gathering
point here,” said organiser Stephen Broadbelt as the protest got under way.
“[It’s] a huge turnout so far.” 

Most of the crowd was dressed in white to show
bipartisan support to their opposition to the planned development. 

Mr. Broadbelt said the protest was meant to be
“nonpolitical,” but several Legislative Assembly members were present. 

North Side MLA Ezzard Miller, East End MLA Arden
McLean and Leader of the Opposition Alden McLaughlin all spoke at the event.
Cayman Brac and Little Cayman MLA Moses Kirkconnell was also in attendance.  

Mr. McLean said he was heartened to see so many people
at the event. 

“It shows … we will not succumb to might over
right,” he said. 

Many protesters wore shirts that read: “Some things,
and people, are simply not for sale.” This slogan was repeated by Mr.
McLaughlin during his speech to the protesters. 

“We cannot allow ourselves to be bought so cheaply,”
Mr. McLaughlin said. 

The main concerns to those who attended the protest
revolved around the uncertainty of the socio-economic and environmental impacts
the development would have on the district and the country. 

“The people of East End have made it quite clear that
they do not want a project of this magnitude, with all of the implications and,
indeed, unknown ramifications, to happen in their district,” said Mr.
McLaughlin. 

Public Beach

Hundreds of job-seekers and United Democratic Party
supporters rallied around Cayman Islands Premier McKeeva Bush on Seven Mile
Beach on Saturday afternoon, despite the blustery weather that whipped up just
hours after the East End event.  

The Public Beach event was part-barbecue, part-job
registration and part-political rally. It was held in response to scheduled
protests on Saturday morning in East End and another event set for Tuesday in
George Town.  

At one point the crowd got so large, Royal Cayman
Islands Police had to attend to prevent people from being struck by cars as
they crossed West Bay Road to the beach. 

Dozens of attendees filled out job registration forms
while others listened to speeches given by the Premier, George Town MLA Ellio
Solomon and local attorney Steve McField, among others.  

During his address to the crowd, Mr. Bush said members
of the opposition political party and their supporters would eventually end up
killing economic development and driving away economic investors with
anti-foreigner, anti-business rhetoric. 

“Just this last week, representatives from St. Lucia
and the Bahamas came here to meet with Mr. [Kenneth] Dart,” Mr. Bush told the
crowd. “And we’re trying to drive him away.”  

Mr. Bush went over his plans with the Dart group for
relocation of West Bay Road in the Public Beach area, promising the area would
remain open to the general public – just not to traffic. He also lauded the
benefits of a proposed port redevelopment projects and an oil refinery in
George Town.  

“You can embrace wealth or reap poverty,” Mr. Bush
said. “I am no economist, I just have good granny-wits. I have warned several
times that our economic and immigration policies would have serious effects on
our people. Unfortunately, none of these warnings were taken seriously.”