An article about a visitor who died in a diving accident was, unfortunately, the top story of the 20 March 1974 Cayman Compass. Incidents of ‘water-related death’ always make for sad headlines. In this case, a 49-year-old man from the US was diving with his family for the first time, when he got into difficulties. They had been diving off the Seaview Hotel, and the manager, while paying tribute to the divers who tried to help, said of the accident: “As long as more divers are coming to the island, the chances of an accident is bound to increase.”
“Are you proud to be a Caymanian?” That was the question posed under a photograph of “unsightly refuse”along the waterfront. The Compass implored readers to “do something about it” by joining a cleanup organised by the Happy Go Laddie Club. Supported by the Cayman Island Jaycees, the starting point was in the front of the Courts Building.
The editorial on page 4 was about the new tourism law, which received a “vast amount of study” from legislators, and included close examination of related laws in other Caribbean countries. One of the ‘firsts’ connected with the legislation was it would give an elected member “a measure of control over the administration of a department”. Noting the tourism industry was one of Cayman’s “main sources of revenue”, the editorial said the legislation envisaged cooperation between government and the private sector to enhance as well as protect the “healthy tourist industry for the lasting benefit of the Cayman Islands”.
The ‘Something of Value’ column by the Conservation Association compared Cayman to the Galapagos Islands which the Charles Darwin Foundation set “as a sanctuary, or preserve, both above and below the water”. It said that whatever preservation steps are being taken in Cayman, “we must still keep up our vigil, for conservation is an eternal process”.
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