Parliament is set to officially open on 19 Sept. and Opposition lawmakers are seeking answers on a range of issues from government’s public-transport plans to updates on restoring the southern end of Seven Mile Beach.
Governor Jane Owen, on Monday, issued the proclamation for the first sitting of the 2023/24 parliamentary session, which is set to commence at 10am Tuesday.
Speaker of the House Katherine Ebanks-Wilks said the business committee would meet Thursday to finalise the agenda.
It looks like being a light session, dominated by Opposition questions and private member’s motions, with only a handful of new bills up for debate. Controversial proposed legislation to allow for secret trials where national security issues can be aired, and reforms of the beneficial ownership regime are not part of the published agenda.
Four bills – the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Public Lands (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2023; Plant Protection Bill, 2023; and Terminal Charges (Validation) Bill, 2023 – will be laid in Parliament for debate.
“There are several motions, parliamentary questions, and legislation for members to discuss and I am pleased that we will be meeting to take care of these important matters as soon as next week,” Ebanks-Wilks said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Several annual reports from a variety of government entities are expected to be tabled as well as a government motion on a proposed rezoning of land in George Town.
Nine private member’s motions have been filed for debate, the statement added, as well as a number of parliamentary questions.
Opposition questions
The Opposition has filed 10 questions for the upcoming session with deputy leader Joey Hew seeking answers on when the Deloitte report on public transportation, along with its terms of reference, will be made public.
The report – which was commissioned in an effort to find solutions to Cayman’s traffic chaos – has been completed but has not been published.
Hew also sought an update on the beach re-nourishment project that was announced in December 2021, along with a budget allocation of $21 million, which was expected to start within the first half of this year.
That project was announced to remediate the damage on the southern end of Seven Mile Beach which had suffered catastrophic beach loss.
It was initially a project under Premier Wayne Panton’s Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Ministry, but was later transferred to the Lands Ministry.
The Cayman Compass, last week, highlighted the situation on the southern end of the beach, which has been exacerbated by recent storm surges, the latest following the passing of Hurricane Idalia, which skirted Cayman.
Property owners along the impacted coastline are clamouring for a solution to the damage caused. The Compass has sought an update on the beach re-nourishment project but has not received a response.
Hew has also questioned the status of the situation with the beach vendors on public beaches.
Licences were expected to be issued to vendors to allow them to trade at Seven Mile Public Beach, following government’s formal beach-vending policy.
School buses
Red Bay MP Sir Alden McLaughlin is also seeking an update on the progress of having private schools utilise buses for their students to travel to and from school.
It was through McLaughlin’s motion in the last sitting that lawmakers voted in favour of private school buses to assist in alleviating school-related traffic in the mornings and afternoons.
Private school leaders who spoke to the Compass earlier this month said they had no current plans to introduce bus services and while they were not against the idea, they said it would require greater discussion with parents and financial support from government.
McLaughlin is also seeking an update from the premier on the status of the Referendum Bill on decriminalising small amounts of marijuana which Parliament approved through a government motion on 7 Dec. 2022. The stated timeframe of the vote was the first quarter of 2023.
Tourism and Ports Minister Kenneth Bryan, speaking on last Wednesday’s episode of the Compass talkshow ‘The Resh Hour’, said the vote could be added to the general election ballot in 2025.
Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart has filed a question seeking answers from Health Minister Sabrina Turner on the extent to which the drug fentanyl, and other opioids, are thought to be illegally available in Cayman.
He has also asked whether government intends to introduce any new legislation or tougher sentences for the importation and selling of these drugs.
McTaggart has also requested an update on the plans Turner announced a year ago to separate the Public Health Department from the Health Services Authority to allow the department to become an independent body.
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