Premier raises prospect of higher buildings in Cayman

At a glance

• Premier André Ebanks told the audience at the Chamber of Commerce Parliamentary Luncheon that buildings might need to be taller as land is finite.
• Developers could be asked to pay for affordable housing in exchange for a streamlined approval process.
• Liquified National Gas is being explored as a viable alternative to diesel.

Premier André Ebanks paved the way for taller buildings in the Cayman Islands, telling the business community that the country needs, “to admit to ourselves that the land in the country is finite and we may have to go higher.”

Ebanks made his remarks in his keynote speech at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Parliamentary Luncheon which took place at Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa on 9 Oct.

Addressing the audience of several hundred members of the business community sitting alongside politicians and civil servants, Ebanks said, “The question is, where you go higher, and how high? But we have to face that as a country.”

Balancing interests

He added that it was important to “bridge the gap between development and the environment,” saying, “it is a thorny issue, but it need not be.”

Ebanks is the latest politician to raise the possibility of an increase in building height in the Cayman Islands, which is currently 130 feet or 10 storeys according to the Building Code Regulations, and only allowed in areas zoned General Commercial.

Former premier McKeeva Bush called for a change in regulations to allow buildings of up to 30 storeys back in 2022 when he was MP for West Bay West, while then-premier Sir Alden McLaughlin outlined plans for a skyscraper in 2019.

Planning Minister Jay Ebanks and Chief Officer Eric Bush are working on revamping current planning legislation, said Premier Ebanks, with the new National Development Plan to be tabled in Parliament by early 2027 at the latest.

He told the audience that a recent birthday vacation to Alaska with his family had shown him first-hand the “desperate” problem of global warming and the need to take care of the environment, but that the business community could play their part without neglecting their own goals.

He said a recent conversation with a developer had led him to consider the possibility of an expedited building approvals process in return for additional money spent on affordable housing.

This meant, he explained, that instead of a builder risking $10 million dollars on a project being delayed, they could spend $2 million on providing affordable government housing as part of that development, in exchange for more business certainty.

“So, when you ask yourselves how you can help. If we get you, in whatever business line you’re in, the expedited service that you need, will you then turn around and lean in to help government? he asked. “We can’t get to it all on our own.”

Cost of living

The premier also addressed the high price of fuel, saying that the cost of fuel itself, not energy provider CUC, was “the enemy on your bill.”

He added, “We live in a country where we rely on imports, so no government here, no member, no matter who’s elected, can control if countries go to conflict overseas and prices go up. And we’re not alone. This isn’t a Cayman-unique issue.”

He said that Finance Minister Rolston Anglin had asked the Utility Regulation and Competition Office to “take another look at the analysis of how we are going to get ourselves off of diesel,” adding, “If it’s going to be too slow and you can’t do it 100% with solar, do we need to look at LNG as a transitional fuel?

“Those of us who are 100% solar, including myself, have to think how we’re going to get this done, because this problem cannot go on another political term. Our country needs breakthrough relief now.”

To applause he said, “So we will be getting that report with a timeline as quickly as possible to assess our options to see what can be done in the next 18 to 20 months, because if that goes down for every household and every business, then guess what? Every piece of cost of living in the country goes down.”

Financial services assessment

He said that the official Caribbean Financial Action Task Force assessment was currently ongoing and that a national risk assessment will be published in the coming weeks, showing Cayman’s strengths and its gaps. He said, “I will be coming into Parliament with racks of legislation to make sure that there is no excuse why we don’t get technical compliance.”

The premier said that government was “not moving any further than legitimate interest” on UK beneficial ownership and said that the fact that the Cayman Islands was second in the world only to the US in investment funds volumes meant that regulation was not to be feared but had to be done right.

He finished off with a burst of Queen’s 1980s pop classic “Under Pressure,” urging the audience to help the country deal with pressure, “because we have now, as a country, reached the point that we have to move to our next term of transformation.”