The sister Islands have no animal sanctuary anymore. Despite rising clamours from around the world, and some public spirited people here at home, to protect the diminishing wildlife, the Cayman Islands seems determined to thumb its nose at environmental concerns.

On Monday (5) our Members of the Legislative Assembly voted to amend the Animals Law, degazetting the Salt Water Pond on Cayman Brac as an animal sanctuary. The pond is home to several bird species, including the endangered West Indian whistling ducks.

The brackish pond, which is also known as Dennis Point Pond, needed to have its protected designation removed because of the stench, according to Deputy Premier Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, who is also one of the two MLA’s for Cayman Brac.

Whilst the pond has been around for years and years it has taken only three years for the owners of the Alexander Hotel, who built the establishment in 2009, to get the animal sanctuary to become an un-sanctuary because the “stench” from the pond was offensive to guests staying at the Hotel. People living nearby had also complained about the smell according to Ms O’Connor-Connolly.

“It has a horrible, horrible stench with the decomposition of organic matter, which affects not only the neighbouring residential properties but also the Alexander in particular,” she said in the LA in support of the motion to remove the designation.

Director of Environment Gina Ebanks-Petrie said it was unfortunate that the hotel had been constructed on the edge of the pond.

Ms O’Connor-Connolly also said, “we in the government would be able to go and clean it up as has been done for many years and would not be confronted with the situation that obtained the last time when the District Commissioner was threatened to be incarcerated by another agency of the government and we trust we will see safe passage of this law to remedy that situation, which is quite annoying on the Brac”.

Premier McKeeva Bush also was in favour of removing the sanctuary classification. Not surprising as he is also Minister for Tourism. He said, “Cayman’s tourism product is one of the most important things to us in terms of our economy and Cayman Brac, being small as it is and difficult to keep the economy going, we have to do everything possible to make sure that from our tourism perspective the various properties have all the support that we can give…… So, as much as birds or whatever it is they want to protect there, the place needs to be cleaned out.”

That comment and how it was said shows once again how our government leaders are so ‘out of touch’ with environmental issues.

“We talk about how we help or we don’t help Caymanians. Well, here’s an opportunity to really help one who has gone out and put their best foot forward, invested all their hard earned money in a property… We as a government, any government needs to do that, to be able to help a local entrepreneur when they are investing as Mr. Dilbert has invested,” he added

Ahh. The word “investment”.

The Deputy Premier did have a conciliatory word to say, however, advising that her ministry would and have been in the past looking for other areas in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman as sanctuaries “to balance development and environment.”

We shall, I fear, have a long wait, and wild animals don’t like change. When their natural habitat is destroyed it is not easy for them to just go to a “nice” place humans have made for them.

From “This is Cayman” under the title ‘Birds flock to the Sisters’

Westerly ponds and area southwest of the airport: look for all species of water birds, including uncommon ones such as White Ibis, as well as migratory warblers in the mangrove fringe, and in recent years a large flock of Whistling Ducks. Around the hotels and condos is an excellent site for uncommon migrants such as grosbeaks, buntings, tanagers, warblers and vireos. Frigatebirds, shorebirds, gulls and terns occur on the beach.

Salt Water Pond and the marshes: herons, egrets, rails, migrant shorebirds including Killdeer; Stilt, Willet and Least Terns breed in the pond in the summer. Migrant warblers occur in the mangroves.