The Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA) released a statement last week in support of the Premier, Hon McKeeva Bush’s request to establish a “Special Task Force” to ensure that law and order prevails.
“Our established reputation as a wonderful, safe, family destination was built and nurtured by thousands of hard-working and dedicated people over the years and the great reputation we have earned must remain intact,” read the statement.
“Neither Cayman’s tourism industry, nor our people, must ever be allowed to come under threat by anyone, and we therefore commend and will strongly support all efforts to stamp out all elements of crime.”
CITA’s is the most recent voice added to a Cayman-wide chorus calling for swift, immediate action to ameliorate rising crime.
In a joint meeting of the Chamber of Commerce and the Royal Caribbean Islands Police Service (RCIPS) last month, Chamber President Stuart Bostock said that new, powerful technological tools are available and that “ordinary men and women have chosen to get involved and contribute solutions to fighting crime.”
Keynote speaker at the Chamber event was Police Commissioner David Baines who said that 2009 marked the beginning of gang activity in Grand Cayman
“We had eight murders in 2009 versus three the year before,” he said. “What is different is the escalation of gun crimes. It has led to Caymanian young men shooting and killing each other.”
This year has seen already the senseless shooting of a four-year-old boy, Jeremiah Barnes, as he sat in a car at a gas station, an incident called by Commissioner Baines as the country’s “wake-up call.”
Recognizing that the RCIPS does work diligently to address the issue of crime in Cayman, the tourism group said those efforts, however, are not sufficient due to inadequately checked borders and “few consequences” for criminal activities.
A similar sentiment was expressed by the Chamber president, who told the gathering last month that greater emphasis should be placed on protecting Cayman borders and checking on who is coming into the country, not where they are coming from.
“Weapons coming into the Cayman Islands are coming through our weakened borders,” said Mr Bostock, who said that a multi-faceted approach to fighting crime must be taken that included “social, economic, and educational development” to address the rise in drug offences, gun crimes, thefts, burglaries, and robberies, all of which are more prevalent during economic recession.
“If left unaddressed, the future of tourism will include installation of guarded perimeters around our resorts,” according to the CITA statement, “turning our authentic visitor experiences into a compound of distractions in the hope that our tourists don’t get to see what is going on outside.”
The Tourism Association said that without a concerted effort to stem the increase in crime, the number of tourists inevitably will decline, and Cayman will be unable to attract the 400,000 visitors per year needed to sustain the tourism economy, which many believe forms the cornerstone of the country’s economic health.
Cayman’s “typical” family-oriented visitors frequently returned to the Islands, and a “significant” number purchased vacation homes or condos, or established businesses, in a safe, friendly, tax-free environment, a scenario also likely to end if crime continues to rise.
“The ability to rent out these vacation homes, and the impact crime has on real estate values will also send a crippling wave through our entire economy that many businesses and Caymanians have thrived on for the last three decades,” said the Association’s statement.
Less than two decades ago, the economy of the entire state of Florida was brought to its knees after several tourists, including a British couple who made a wrong turn into a crime-infested area of Miami, were shot and killed in what was then a rising tide of drugs, crime and violence in the state’s largest county and its largest metropolitan area.
The state suffered not only a drop in tourism, but a corresponding drop in new business, as well.
Since the responsibility for policing and the criminal justice system in the Cayman Islands rests with the Governor and RCIPS, said the Tourism Association, “we ask them both: At what point will you concede that taking the same actions will yield the same results, and so crime will continue to climb until our tourism economy becomes yet another fatal victim?”
The statement concluded with a plea for “aggressive policing measures” to bring safety and peace once known here back to the Cayman Islands, ensuring the well being of its people and the economic health of the country.
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