Every time you leave the Cayman Islands your airline ticket
is charged a fee to help sustain Cayman’s environment.
The same goes for the people who come to our shores via
cruise ships; anyone entering and leaving the Cayman Islands is hit with this
charge: Travellers departing by air are charged $3.20 and cruise ship visitors
are charged $1.60 each as part of their departure fees. That money is paid into
the Environmental Protection Fund.
But that money is rarely used for its intended purpose.
Instead, Government has – over the years – been using money
in that fund to pay for myriad other things. The money has been used on roads
and infrastructure projects. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 $10
million of the money was used to clean up Grand Cayman.
And what’s even worse, the money that is intended to help
with environmental conservation is being used to help the Government balance
its budget; smoke and mirrors at best in proving good accountancy.
When the protection fees were first implemented in 1997 the
intention of the fund was not to fund government projects, but to conserve and
protect.
Today the Cayman Islands is struggling to find money to
protect it indigenous flora and fauna.
Environmentalists have been successful in getting money for
grants for some projects, but those who make the grants are receiving more and
more requests for groups that may appear more worthy that the Cayman Islands,
which means we are competing for money against governments and agencies that
have the necessary laws on the books to ensure environmental protections.
The Cayman Islands doesn’t even have a comprehensive
Conservation Law. And using portions of the $40 million sitting in the
Environmental Protection Fund for projects unrelated to conservation is a
pretty good indication to others outside our jurisdiction that Government isn’t
at all committed environmental conservation. The money is that fund should be
dedicated to its original intent and shouldn’t be used as a way to misappropriate
funds in the Cayman Islands.
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