Grand Cayman, 21 December 2023 – Government soundly rejects a 20 December article in the Cayman Compass in which there was said to have been a raid on the Environmental Protection Fund (the EPF/the Fund).

The facts pertaining to the EPF are as follows:

1. At 31 October 2023, the EPF had a balance of $51.3 million;
2. Each year the balance in the Fund is enhanced by the receipt of $5 – $6 million from sources such as departure taxes paid with respect to cruise ship visitors and air travel departures;
3. During the process to pass the 2024 – 2025 budget, Finance Committee – which consists of all 19 Members of Parliament – agreed to the use of the following from the EPF:

• A maximum of $1.4 million in 2024 to continue the remediation of the George Town Landfill to make it safer and less likely for waste to seep into the North Sound and the Islands’ ground-water lens;
• Up to $10.0 million to purchase beach property and other lands for conservation; and
• Approximately $6.5 million for each of 2024 and 2025 to cover the operational costs of the pre-eminent agency – the Department of Environment – that is charged with the responsibility of protecting and preserving the environment.

The annual inflow to the Fund of $5 – $6 million counteracts the annual $6.5 million stated above – thus, there isn’t any “raid” of the EPF.

Premier, Minister for Finance and Chairperson of Finance Committee Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly said, “I have the audacity to hope that one day the media will realise that objective reporting – as opposed to headline-grabbing negativity – is equally appreciated by the public.”

Government cannot use monies in the Environmental Protection Fund without explicit authorisation by the Parliament’s Finance Committee and, this was adhered to during the recent 2024 – 2025 Budget approval process.