Boat operators have written to the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands to air concerns they may lose access to SafeHaven marina if development in the area goes ahead.
Captain Bryan Ebanks said 15 local boat operators who moor at SafeHaven signed the letter asking the Port Authority “to confirm or deny that there is a plan ahead to lease this land or sell it away from us”.
“The land was vested to the Port Authority to be held for the people of Cayman,” said Mr. Ebanks, adding that there were fears if the land is leased or sold, earlier assurances that a dock would be built to replace the existing one for use by the boat owners would not be adhered to.
He said the letter had also been delivered to the secretary of the Cabinet.
Mr. Ebanks said recent comments in the media from developer Mike Ryan and from the government about the site had made the boat owners concerned they would “yet again” have to fight to retain the site as a docking area.
He said fears that the SafeHaven marina may become unaccessible to boat owners due to development of the site for Mr. Ryan’s Dragon Bay development or any other development, coupled with a proposal by MLA Captain Eugene Ebanks to create a hurricane shelter for boats either in Barkers or Salt Creek as part of a land swap deal with Dart, Mr. Ebanks said boat owners were suspicious they would be squeezed out of SafeHaven. The West Bay MLA touted the option of a “hurricane hole” at a public meeting to discuss a wide-ranging deal between development company Dart and the Cayman Islands government last month.
Bryan Ebanks said if the boat operators ended up having to moor their boats at Barkers, it would be detrimental for their business as it would not be possible to take cruise ship passengers to get to West Bay, out to Stingray City or the Sandbar and then back to George Town in time to board the cruise ships before departure. “We would go out of business,” he said.
SafeHaven, on the North Sound waterfront, has been used for years by local boat operators and it has become a gateway for tens of thousands of visitors a year to visit Stingray City and the Sandbar. The Dragon Bay development agreement included an undertaking by the developer to construct a new marina and associated facilities to replace the existing marina as part of a land swap. That new marina would also be vested to the Port Authority.
Wayne Panton, former chairman of the Port Authority board, said for the land in question to be sold or leased to a private developer, “it would require the approval of the Port Authority board to change the title, to transfer it to another entity.”
John Henry Ebanks, the current chairman of the Port Authority board, said he had not yet seen the letter and was unable to provide a comment by press time.
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