Dear Editor,
Wow! Your article from 9 June in which BritCay is proposing a whopping 25% rise in the SHIC premiums will send the Caymanian society into a tailspin. As if this were not ominous enough, there is the proposed increase in water and sewerage rates. There goes any perceived advantage the working class thought they had with a rise in the minimum wage.
The situation is worse than it appears, however, as it speaks to the deeper problem of just ‘how much is enough’? In 1978, I posed the question of ‘For whom are we developing’? The flaw in all of this is that we have developed beyond the society’s ability to supply local labour. And yet, we continue to let greedy and avaricious developers persuade us that ‘more is better’. It is a formula for disaster and our current infrastructure is woefully inadequate.
Even worse, however, is the strain being placed on human relations – the widening gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, the increasing cries of generational Caymanians that they are being marginalized, and our alienated, disenchanted youth, and the expectations of exclusivity by the wealthy elites.
All of these contribute to what I have described as the ‘duality’ which is Caymanian society. It is a society which is now economically unsustainable and is fraying at its edges while priming to explode. Much of what I have mentioned are centrifugal forces which are driving the society into upheaval. It is an Augean mess crying out for Hercules.
J. A. Roy Bodden
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“Greedy and avaricious” meaning “wants to make a profit”. Like every other business.
Does Mr. Bodden sell his personal services for less than they are worth?
However, one flaw in the Cayman taxation model is that it partly relies on one-off income.
If a wealthy foreigner wishes to retire here they are charged a one-off fee of $25,000 or $100,000, depending on their type of residency. Instead, there should be an annual fee of, say, $5,000. Guaranteed renewal every year provide the holder isn’t a criminal and to still eventually lead to the right to vote.
This would provide constant cash flow to the government, but would still be a bargain for the new resident.
Italy has such a system, but they charge 100,000 Euros a year for the right to live in Italy but not pay taxes.