The speaker of the Parliament of the Cayman Islands has set a target of 28 February 2029 for the opening of a planned ancillary parliament building.
Speaking on Radio Cayman’s programme ‘For the Record’ on 28 September, Ezzard Miller said parliament has applied to the government for a portion of the old Tower Building site, which now hosts a craft market, for the project.
He said a business case for the building’s design is being prepared.
Miller confirmed the building would house support staff for members of parliament.
He added that the government and the opposition had just agreed that the opposition would be provided with resource staff, which may be housed in the new facility as well.
The building will not provide an office for every MP, he said, but will offer rooms that MPs may book through parliament staff.
Miller outlined plans for the building in a July interview with Cayman Independent. He described a potential 30,000-square-foot, three-storey facility and said construction was possible “in the next couple of years”.
In the radio interview, Miller said parliament’s staff were “jammed for space” and that parliament rents premises offsite for many of its functions.
The new building would allow staff currently working offsite to return to the office, he said.
It would also let parliament expand its parking and would add a second entrance and exit on North Church Street, he added.
Parliament’s new technological assets would also be housed in the building, he added.
In July, Miller said that parliament’s tech needs included data storage space and cooling capabilities to accommodate artificial intelligence-assisted Hansard reports.
Miller also said on Radio Cayman that he and Premier André Ebanks have agreed parliament will meet every other month and have published sitting dates up to November 2027.
