Local advocacy group Amplify Cayman has expressed “great concern” over the current lack of a development plan, saying the islands are “rapidly developing without one”.
The group, in response to Cayman Compass queries on the issue, said with the recently published census population statistics, this concern is even greater.
“We currently do not have sustainable food security, energy security, climate resiliency, or affordable housing, with many unsustainable ventures compounding that – with a greater population, how are our fragile Islands to realistically balance nurturing its citizens, flora, and fauna if we continue to deplete its finite resources?” the group said in a statement to the Compass.
Last week, the final report of the 2022 census showed Cayman’s population had grown by 29.2% since the last census in 2010 and stood at 71,432 as of October 2021. However, that figure is also likely to change with the release of the Economics and Statistics Office Spring Labour Force survey.
Premier Wayne Panton has said work on Cayman’s development plan, which is supposed to chart the way forward for the country, will not be ready by the end of the PACT term.
He said there have been a number of meetings between his Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, the Planning Ministry and the Lands Ministry to work through what has to be done on the development plan, but it is a multi-year project.
“While it is under way, we’re not expecting to have the full development plan completed for the country probably until into the next term. At this point, we’re probably going to have perhaps half of it done by the end of this term,” Panton said as he addressed the issue last week.
However, for Amplify Cayman, that timeline is concerning.
“Our window of opportunity is closing to act in the best interests of our Islands, and we collectively must use our professions for the greater good. Without a development plan, justice is not being done for our society, nor current and future generations, our environment, or our nation. A data-supported compromise in the interim could be to create a low-impact development plan, where we act only in the interests of the transition towards attaining the SGDs [Sustainable Development Goals,]” the group said.
Political analyst Roy Bodden shared similar concerns over the lengthy process to finalise a development plan.
He says the time to act is now as Cayman’s “ad hoc growth” needs action.
Speaking on the Compass Facebook talkshow The Resh Hour on Wednesday night, “The only way we can guarantee a future is if we invent it, so we have to begin now. This political directorate should begin implementing that planning process that they’re talking about now… right now… Tomorrow, they should begin doing that. They should begin sourcing the people, setting up this [planning] ministry, getting the technical expertise.”
Amplify Cayman pointed out that, at present, the existing 1997 Development Plan does not factor in 10-storey buildings, nor climate change.
“So, it’s evident our priorities need to change – to conservation, social development, and working towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. In turn, our economy can thrive, and luckily we have the resources and skills locally to invest in innovation that transitions our Islands to a carbon neutral economy,” it added.
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