Ezra writes: Doesn’t it make you wonder what goes on in the minds of Cayman Islands members of parliament when they are called upon to discuss spending the people’s money? Is there a clear understanding of the business cases that drive their approvals? And is there any thought on how and whether, apart from value for money, there is intrinsic value and creation of a better quality of life for the people who they represent?

Added to this, is there any thought of how the development projects which they so eagerly approve affect and drive the need for increased infrastructure in virtually all aspects of life and how this largely affects a myriad of services, manpower needs, and the resulting unmanaged growth and its effect on the overall quality of life for the populace vis-à-vis the strain on schools, traffic and accidents, hospital premises, erosion of beaches, loss of natural habitats, etc? 

What is in it for the people who live and work on these islands? Long lines of traffic, long waits at stores, and poor service at government entities because no thought was given to the connection between managed growth and runaway development, which now results in a scramble to upgrade almost every area of service, roads, schools, air and sea ports.

Strange that there are no plans to upgrade government hospital premises, which we were told recently are bursting at the seams, neither are there any projections for open park spaces and facilities throughout the island for the people to relax with their families with proper facilities, such as parking, toilets, benches, play spaces for outdoor sports and kids swings, etc. Not everybody wants to travel to the concrete, crowded Seven Mile Beach or hang out on football fields or at Camana Bay, the sole venue for music entertainment, which doesn’t come cheap with its overpriced restaurants. 

Can these people we elect, who travel extensively, start to focus on what facilities are offered in other countries or regions where the people can congregate and enjoy quality time without being stuck at home with Netflix and social media? 

We have seen the disastrous situation we are facing, where we now have to spend $1.2 billion on areas that we should have focused on years ago and would only be maintained to standard at this time. Can we expect better by recycling the same now-tired faces every four years with the same results? There is no plan on hand. Maybe they don’t know how to, and that’s sad and indeed shameful because we, the people, elected them. 

We seriously need to consider who we elect as our representatives in elections. For over the past 20 years, we have sold the soul of Cayman and started and maintained its ever-looming demise because of a lack of planning and understanding of our environment, unmanaged growth, giveaways to developers, too many people in our limited land space, erosion of our culture, making us a minority, and so on and so on.

The good ship Cayman needs to be refurbished, with new maps, new engines, and a new crew who knows not just what to do but how to do it, and who will make and/or change the necessary policies and laws that will ensure the benefit of the Cayman population and that are fair and equitable to all who live on these islands. 

Please, please, voting public, don’t be swayed any longer to sell your vote for a few dollars, fridges, stoves, boats and whatever else these jack-in-the-box politicians give you. Hold them to what they tell us they are going to do, and ensure that it makes clear sense and that we benefit from it — all of us, not just some.

Most importantly, be prepared to show that you care not just by being vocal about the wrong they do but by protesting peacefully in large numbers on the streets when necessary. We elect them. They must and will answer to us.

God bless these Cayman Islands.