Developers need to utilize Caymanians

| 21/01/2015 | 2 Comments

(CNS Business): Government must hold large developers to account and ensure that the local community benefits directly from the proposed major projects and developments in the pipeline, Barry Bodden said as he took over the presidency of the Chamber of Commerce. While questions remain about how some of the proposed larger projects will impact infrastructure and shape the future of Cayman, developers must be mindful of the community and hire Caymanians and local companies, he maintained.

“We ask our Government to hold these developers accountable to the Caymanian people, and to ensure these projects are completed in a manner that is befitting of our heritage and culture,” he said at the Chamber AGM last week.

“While large-scale development projects are important to our economy, we’re mindful of the concern many small local businesses have with regard to how they might be affected as a result. We’re also mindful of the impact some of these projects may have on our infrastructure. And we’re guarded with how this might impact government spending, resulting in a need for increased duties and fees.”

He said elected officials have to seek out partnerships that benefit the Caymanian people and to find ways to fund capital projects without direct taxation or additional fees

“Many Caymanian small businesses struggle and are in great need of relief,” he said. “They are the lifeblood of our economy and are directly responsible for many thousands of jobs. The business community is constantly under fire. We face unfair competition, sometimes even from the public sector. We face new policies and fees that threaten to push our cost of doing business even higher. Many small businesses are barely able to break even and would not be able to absorb additional fees.”

Noting some efforts by government to reduce the burden on small businesses, he called for more relief. “We encourage our political leaders to look into more relief measures, in particular for the smaller to medium-sized businesses.”

He added that incentives were needed to promote and encourage retail trade in Cayman to promote growth and development so that local companies could provide the products, selection and pricing to make it attractive for customers to spend locally rather than shop abroad. He said the Chamber would be taking recommendations to government about how that could be done.

“Enforcement is another area of concern. We want to see action taken against those that don’t play by the rules. Those that operate illegally to gain an unfair advantage in the market should face dire consequences. Why does it take years and multiple agencies to address these illegal operators, if at all? We want to see quick and decisive action and we want the punishment to fit the crime” he added.

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Category: Local Business

Comments (2)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Whatever just look at that new school on frank sound what a piece of work. It is falling apart

  2. Ann Nonnimuss says:

    Here’s a weird idea: central government seems to give duty concessions to these major developers. And a while back it was highlighted that small business owners don’t seem to receive concessions on the same level. So, let’s do this: duty concessions are determined SOLELY by the ratio of Caymanians employed in the company at hand. For example, 20 Caymanians out of 100 total employees, that’s a 20% concession on duties and fees levied by the government.

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