Nearly 60 per cent of the respondents to the final cayCompass.com online poll of 2011 think it’s a terrible idea to either build a cruise ship berthing facility in South Sound or to build one anywhere.
The two-week poll attracted 1,028 respondents, but was subject to several attempts at manipulation by multiple voting, which were deleted before the final results were recorded. One IP address voted 445 times “It’s a great idea.” Another IP address voted 243 times “It’s a terrible idea.”
The largest segment of respondents – 492 people or 47.8 per cent of the total – said it was a terrible idea to create a cruise ship berthing facility in South Sound and most of the comments came from these people.
“I really thought this was an April Fools’ joke, but then I remembered it was December,” commented one person.
“This is the dumbest idea to come along in a long, long time and there have been some dumb ones!” said someone else.
“The artist rendition of this port looks way out of proportion,” said another person. “Most of the present ships are over 1,000 feet long and the new ones quite a bit bigger. The piers are about the same length, yet they manage to fit all these ships in this photo. I don’t think so.”
“This is silly,” said one person. “Cruise ship passengers on the whole want to see something from the ship they can walk to, and George Town is established enough to encourage them to get off the ship. Move the port to a location with little or no infrastructure, and most cruisers will just stay on board.”
“The marine environment in the South Sound would be totally destroyed,” stated another person. “How can this developer have no concern for his Island? “It is crazy to destroy a still largely preserved and protected marine area and it would be crazy to increase the flooding danger to what has been shown to be a vulnerable part of the island,” said someone else.
“I never heard such a stupid idea,” commented another person. “Most people opposed the Conolly idea of dredging canals and now we have the idea of a cruise ship berthing in South Sound. What next people?”
Another 299 people – 29.1 per cent – thought it was a great idea to build a cruise ship berthing facility in South Sound.
“Better late than never!” said one person.
“It should at least be properly studied,” said someone else.
“The Cayman islands needs this to continue to grow its economy otherwise it will just be another island that struggles in the Caribbean,” said another person.
Some respondents – 119 or 11.6 per cent – thought it was a terrible idea to create a cruise berthing facility anywhere on Grand Cayman.
“Improve the one we have which can be done with low impact on the environment,” said one person. “That’s all that’s necessary.”
“Since moving here over 30 years ago, I’ve watched cruise ships degrade the lives of everyone in Cayman to benefit a very small minority,” said someone else. “If a ship never landed here again I wouldn’t shed a tear and we certainly do not need the cheap tourists that occupy the behemoths that require those docks!”
“Stop trying to destroy what’s left of Cayman, please!” said another person.
“We need to stay away from cruise ships,” commented another respondent. “They are ruining our main tourist product – Seven Mile Beach.”
Another large segment of respondents – 105 people or 10.2 per cent – said they were not sure.
“I’m not entirely sure, but will say that something should finally be done, before we lose this revenue stream as well,” said one person.
Thirteen people responded ‘other’ to the question, although many of these respondents seemed against having a berthing dock in South Sound as well.
“Yes to a berthing facility, but why in South Sound?” said one person. “This is a strictly residential area. It doesn’t add up!”
“The main problem cruise companies have with Cayman is the lack of a proper berthing facility, so the creation of one is great, if not crucial to the future of cruise tourism,” said someone else. “Should it be in South Sound? I’m no expert, but maritime officials and constructors have obviously done their homework. The other ports we’ve seen on our cruise travels have all been built up in shopping and downtown areas. South Sound is so primarily residential, so it does seem a bit of an odd location for it.”
“I believe individuals who purchased property in South Sound did so based on the fact that it was a tranquil environment,” said another person.
“Bad idea. Keep it in George Town,” commented one person.
“I think all options need to be considered as the facility is highly needed, but they will need to be reviewed in an impartial manor, not an emotional manor,” said someone else.
Next week’s poll question
How confident are you that Cayman’s economy will rebound in 2012?
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not too confident
Not confident at all
I don’t know
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These polls are largely meaningless as they really do not provide the public with any accurate gage of the public opinion. More or less filler.
And as Winston Churchill once said. Democracy will never work. Just go and talk to the average voter for 5 min, to see why.
The dock is a win win. When the dock is placed in south sound. Many of the stores and shops will follow. Slow at first, but eventually, smart business owners are going to want to get to those tourists first.
Then the most obvious benefit of a south sound or dock anywhere else. It relieves the traffic in GT. which is long over due.
spread the work commutes out, and GT won’t seem so crowded. The island won’t seem so crowded.
Democracy should only be allowed if it’s an IQ based democracy. If you don’t have an IQ over 120. You shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Because this year alone, the government has come up with some very good money making revenue ideas. Only to be shot down by the sheeple.