$45.5 million spent on land purchases for royal family since 2021: Cayman News Service

(CNS): Since taking office in 2021, the Cayman Islands government (first PACT, then UPM) has spent at least C$45.5 million on more than 60 plots of land, most of which were purchased in the past 18 months. C$12 million was spent on Cayman Brac alone, more than $2.1 million on Scranton Park, and about $20 million on beach access on all three islands. But less than C$1.6 million has been spent on protecting endangered natural habitats or species.

There has been a huge outlay on land acquisitions, much of it on the beachfront and coastline, which have been acquired to provide public access and protect against development. But only a small fraction has been set aside for true conservation purposes, although some of these parcels, including some of the more expensive acquisitions, appear to have been funded by the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF).

The government is also spending $2.7 million to build a health and wellness park at the old Mariner’s Cove site in Prospect, and $5.6 million to build the tourism minister’s planned training and attraction centre at a waterfront site in George Town, according to information released to CNS readers following a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Regional Administration and Lands.

While the documents released under the Freedom of Information Act list about 60 parcels of land, it is unclear where all the acquired parcels are located. CNS cross-referenced open-source information and government documents, such as the Land Department annual report, to find out where the land is located as well as more details on why the properties were purchased and what CIG plans to do with them.

However, in most cases, the public is provided with very little information about the land that is purchased on their behalf.

Some of the waterfront land acquisitions were very expensive, such as Lot 67, 39E, which was purchased for $2,178,000 to provide public shoreline access and prevent development in the Rum Point area. The government has acquired several expensive waterfront lots in the North Side area along Rum Point Boulevard, but it is unclear where many of them are located or what CIG plans to do with them.

The government also spent $1.3 million to purchase land for public shoreline access and to protect Old Man Bay from development, using funds from the EPF, a fund established under the National Conservation Act to purchase land to protect specific habitats and endangered species. However, the land was not acquired under the NCA and, again, no public information has been released to explain the purchase.

The Department of Environmental Protection and the National Conservation Council are struggling to find the resources to buy the land needed to protect specific endangered endemic plants (such as ghost orchids) or animals (such as blue iguanas), and CIG has recently acquired large amounts of land for various uses. But it does not appear to be coordinating with its own environmental experts to find out which parcels are in the most sensitive environmental areas.

Beach access is a big issue and land acquisition is essential for people to continue to enjoy Cayman’s beautiful coastline. However, in some places where land is being acquired, governments are clearing natural habitats from these coastal areas and building infrastructure and parking lots that locals consider unnecessary.

At the new public beach at Pease Bay, natural habitats were sacrificed to build numerous parking lots, a turtle mosaic roundabout and other concrete structures.

See below for a summary of the purchases compiled by CNS and for more information CNS Library.