Fuel prices go up

Prices at the pump and on utility bills went up 1 July following government’s approval of a 25 cent increase on gas and diesel import tariffs.    The 25 cent per gallon increase raises import duty from 50 cents to 75 cents per gallon for gas and 60 cents to 85 cents a gallon for diesel. Caribbean Utilities Company officials have said they expect an average 5.5 per cent hike in electric bills as a result of the measure. CUC is the largest consumer of petrol in the Cayman Islands and uses fuel to power its electricity generation system. The import duty increase will not be applied in Cayman Brac.

Planning law changes

Proposed Development and Planning Law and regulations changes relax some rules for developers and aim to make the planning process faster and more user friendly.
The plan also calls for significant fee increases, particularly for developers working on new projects in higher-density, upscale areas such as Seven Mile Beach, South

Sound and central George Town.

Among the many significant changes are sharply increased daily fees for property owners who refuse to clean up their land or deal with abandoned buildings.
Fines of $5,000 per day on derelict properties are proposed for scofflaws. The fine rises to $25,000 in tourism centres where property owners have ignored Central Planning Authority orders to clean up.

The law introduces measures that allow government to take individuals to court for ignoring clean-up orders.

Price gouge protection

The Cayman Islands Law Reform Commission is seeking to introduce the country’s first consumer protection law.

The commission said it was likely the current review would point to the need for consumer protection legislation in the Cayman Islands. It did not state when that review might be completed.

There is some protection against price gouging in the Cayman Islands during times of emergency – hurricanes and other natural disasters, for instance. But there is no consumer protection law, nor a full-time agency such as a better business bureau, where complaints can be made.

Conservation bill

The Department of Environment is undertaking a concerted campaign to convince the people of the Cayman Islands to support the long-awaited National Conservation Law.

The bill does not necessarily guarantee that Cayman’s natural resources would survive the onslaught of development and growing population but it is a chance to provide Cayman with the relevant and modern tools to protect and conserve the environment.

The bill had been slated to be put before the Legislative Assembly last year, but not get tabled before the May election.

Minister of Environment Mark Scotland has said he hopes to put the bill, which was first drafted in 2002 and has undergone several redrafts, before the LA in September.

Disgruntled company owners

Company owners and managers have a glum outlook on business and the economy in the near term, a survey of more than 200 businesses has revealed.
About 80 per cent of the 208 people who responded to the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce survey believe the Cayman Islands economy has gotten worse in the past year; a full 94 per cent believe the Islands are still in an economic recession.

However, the vast majority of those surveyed said their confidence in Cayman’s economy is at least fair, if not good or even excellent.
The main constraints on businesses growth in Cayman are recruitment and retention of employees, work permit and business fee increases, direct wage costs, and government bureaucracy.