As the government enters its second year in office, a policy initiative intended to address longstanding development tensions has encountered pushback from opposition lawmakers.
Cayman Forward has been described by the Premier’s Office as an informal consultation of stakeholders from the Cayman Islands Government and the private sector.
It was touted as an effort to create “better alignment between our natural and built environments”.
The official opposition has declined an invitation to participate in the process, however, objecting to the format as contrary to established democratic processes.
Opposition leader Joseph Hew sent an open letter to Premier André Ebanks, who has championed the initiative, on 3 June.
“Our concern is not with the objective of the exercise, but rather with the governance structure through which it is being conducted,” he wrote.
Hew said he recognised the importance of addressing ongoing issues between the Central Planning Authority and the National Conservation Council.
The authority is responsible for reviewing and approving building applications, while the council is charged with evaluating their environmental impact.
This conflict, he said, has led to uncertainty about responsibilities and delays in planning applications, but he called to shift the debate about the issue to parliament.
An opposition press release, published alongside the letter, said: “We agree that the current situation requires attention and that greater clarity and certainty are needed.
“However, we believe it is government’s responsibility to develop policy and bring proposals before parliament.
“The opposition’s role is to review, challenge, improve and hold government accountable for those proposals.”
The opposition is calling on the premier and Cabinet to provide clear policy direction, resolve internal disagreements and bring any proposed reforms before parliament.
“The people of the Cayman Islands deserve transparency, not closed-door discussions,” the press release said.
‘Well-structured form of consultation’
The Premier’s Office defended the process in a statement to Cayman Independent on 4 June as a commonplace form of stakeholder consultation.
“Cayman Forward is a well-structured form of informal stakeholder consultation which has been organised by expert policy consultants who have previously assisted overseas governments review challenging policy issues and forge consensus,” the office said.
“After years of tension between development and the environmental stakeholders in Cayman, the NCFC is taking a proactive and inclusive approach with the aim of producing mutual beneficial recommendations that work for the greater good of all Caymanians.”
The Premier’s Office also referenced policy consultancy ForgeFront as introducing a process “new to Cayman but proven in countries around the world” to gather policy input from government, industry and community members.
“This phase wrapped up this week and will help inform a meeting of relevant stakeholders on Friday as well as final recommendations,” the office said.
“Any resulting proposed changes to legislation or regulations will naturally follow the formal constitutional and parliamentary processes.”
Premier Ebanks, in previously made comments to Cayman Independent, had described the initiative in reference to affordable housing and the need to build an additional 5,000 residential units in Cayman in the next 15 years.
Finding common ground between developers and environmental advocates will be key, he explained, to advance development decisions.
“If you listen to developers, they’ll say that the process is too slow, inefficient. And then, if you listen to environmental stakeholders, they say it’s too fast, the opposite – we’re growing too fast. Both can’t be true exactly at the same time,” Ebanks said.
“So, we need to unpack that, have this seminar, see what’s not working well – what areas need to be preserved for heritage, environmental perspectives, and what areas can now diversify.”
The Department of Environment said it was unaware of the initiative’s format, objective or participants, but that it was “optimistic and fully committed to participating in the process”.
The National Conservation Council said it did not have any insight on the goals or objectives of the initiative.
The Department of Planning had not responded by press time.
