A local legislator who’s opposed to the Cayman Islands’ long-planned cruise ship facility is calling for a “people-initiated” vote on the $200 million project, even as the Cayman Islands tourism minister says the government is preparing a final construction RFP (request for proposals).

In local news reports last week, Cayman Islands legislator Ezzard Miller announced a “campaign for a people-initiated referendum” on the port plan. Miller said he is not asking the government to halt the project, but to submit the plan to a public vote.

Miller expects to organize public meetings in October, offering local residents “a chance to see” port-related documents and to “ask questions, debate the issues and inform themselves about this huge capital project.”

Launched in 2015, the government-backed plan calls for two new piers in George Town harbor that are capable of accommodating four vessels—including the cruise industry’s 6,000-passenger mega-ships, the cruise industry’s largest. Government and tourism officials say the piers are needed to maintain the destination’s booming cruise business.

“I am satisfied with the progress to date and am pleased that we are nearing the end of a long and complex procurement process to construct cruise piers in the Cayman Islands,” said Moses Kirkconnell, the Cayman Islands tourism minister.

“Since the business case was approved in 2013, we have worked with some of the best engineering and environmental companies in the world to gather as much relevant information and data as possible,” he said.

Kirkconnell said the government has treaded carefully throughout the process, which has witnessed delays due to factors including concern regarding the project’s environmental impact.

“We have meticulously followed the standards of international best practice in our procurement process,” he said, “which takes a great deal of time, but provides our people with the assurance that the decisions the government is making are based on well-established principles.”

Opponents say any tourism benefits generated by the new cruise pier will be outweighed by the damage done to George Town’s natural underwater environment, as construction would damage more than 15 acres of coral reef.

Officials at Save Cayman, a nonprofit environmental group, have also said the project bidding process lacks transparency and the need for the piers had not been proven.

“It has been our position that the environmental and economic costs of this project outweigh the benefits and there exists little evidence to suggest otherwise,” the group said in a statement.

Miller is hoping to gather more than 5,200 signatures, which opposition leaders say are required to compel the government to approve a national ballot.

Referendum requirements

Gina Matthews, a Cayman Islands government spokesperson, said Tuesday that the nation’s constitution “does make provision for a people’s initiated referendum to take place if Cabinet is presented with a petition signed by 25 percent of registered voters.” The Cayman Islands New Service report says Miller’s group has collected “nearly 2,000” registered voters’ signatures. The Cayman Islands has just over 60,000 residents.

Should Miller’s group collect the required number of signatures, “Cabinet would be responsible for wording the referendum question and setting the date for the vote to take place,” Mathews said. She added, “The referendum is only legally binding if more than 50 percent of the electorate vote is in favor of the question.”

Meanwhile, the government-backed plan is sailing toward a key stage, Matthews said. “The (tourism) Ministry is still in the process of compiling the final RFP pertaining to the construction of the cruise berthing facility,” she said.

“We are expecting the RFP to be issued this month and submissions would be due back in December,” added Matthews. “The final bids would then be required to go through an evaluation process before a winning bidder could be announced.”

The Cayman Islands is the fourth most popular Caribbean cruise destination, with 1.7 million shipboard visitors in 2017, trailing only the Bahamas, Cozumel and Jamaica. Yet cruise experts say that status is in peril as the Cayman Islands is the only major Caribbean cruise port without modern piers or passenger terminal facilities.

In fact, cruise ships presently visiting the Cayman Islands anchor in George Town harbor and transfer passengers to shore aboard “tender” boats. For a variety of reasons including passenger safety, cruise companies prefer to dock ships at fixed piers, particularly as vessels grow ever larger.

Tendering also limits the time guests spend in port, impacting shore-side vendors’ commercial opportunities. Cayman cruise pier opponents counter that large cruise ships are already tendering in the Cayman Islands and the ships will continue to visit the destination with or without a dock.

Kirkconnell has repeatedly said cruise lines will find other destinations to visit should the Cayman Islands fail to update its port infrastructure. “I look forward to being in a position to announce the winning bidder later this year when the bidding process concludes,” he said.

IMAGE: The Cayman Islands cruise port would be located in the capital of George Town. (photo via Flickr/Bruce Harlick)