The public will also not see the final business case justifying the controversial proposal until after the referendum on it. When asked specific questions about the impact on reefs outside the dredge pit, such as Eden Rock, during and after construction, the Verdant Isle group admitted there was much work to do to understand these issues, which will not be available for many months.

The meeting was held at the Family Life Centre on Thursday, and although there was not a significant turnout by members of the public, government officials and representatives from the Verdant Isle Port Partners were bombarded with questions.

The policy not to allow attendees to interact directly with the people there to answer questions, but rather to insist that questions are submitted in writing resulted in the panel and other officials being swamped. The attendees were told, with just around 45 minutes left on the clock for the meeting, that there were still 115 written questions to be asked. The government has said it will post every question and an answer on the promotional website within 72 hours after each meeting.


Premier Alden McLaughlin and even the Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell, known for his good humour, both became visible agitated and frustrated with the questions, many of which had been asked many times over. At one point the premier was asked about Carnival’s poor track record on pollution, which has led the cruise line to face criminal charges and significant fines. McLaughlin declared the question ridiculous and refused to answer it.

There is a long history now of government and officials not being able to offer the details that members of the public demand, and questions continue to go partially unanswered. But it became apparent during Thursday’s meeting that one of the major reasons for this is that so much information is still to be collected. The representatives from Verdant Isle conceded that there is a great deal of work to be done before many of the questions being asked can be answered.

Stran Bodden, the chief officer in the tourism ministry, also confirmed that the final business case, a critical document that should set out clearly and precisely the justification for the project, will not be ready until after Cayman goes to the polls to make a decision. Bodden said he expected that document will be completed and available some time in the first quarter of next year.

The full negative impact of the work on the marine environment in and around where construction will take place is still a matter of conjecture, as is the process of coral and wreck relocation. Silt and sedimentation management during the project and afterwards from the ships’ engines and how much coral that will kill are also major issues that the representatives cannot address until the necessary environmental assessment and geotechnical studies are done.

During the meeting government pressed home its increasingly narrowing messages around this project, especially the unsubstantiated claim that without it cruise tourism will eventually die at some unspecified point in the future, and that we are in desperate need of a cargo port and the only way to get that is to build the cruise piers so others can pay for it.

However, the meeting served to support claims by those opposed to the project that we should not be having the referendum in just five weeks time and it needs to be postponed. In the absence of so much critical information about how this project will impact the environment, voters will be going to the polls with their decision based on hunches and speculation rather than hard facts.