The press release from the Coalition for Cayman (C4C) we received yesterday attacking the government’s proposed National Conservation Law makes me wonder what really is their agenda.

The release that one media house has described as a ‘well thought out position’ is anything but as the ‘facts’ in the release are anything but facts.

At first read of the C4C report I wondered if they had actually read the Conservation Law proposals but upon reflection I believe they have and therefore deliberately targeted areas with misinformation that includes the word ‘could’ that is sure to give rise to the public’s indignation.

If you give misinformation with the same conviction as the truth it is believed.

When you also have the weight of Cayman’s largest media print publication behind you, who are also against the new Bill for reasons that also mystify me, you can enjoy some measure of success in spreading this misinformation

The C4C campaigned that we needed a new conservation law, their candidates said it was needed URGENTLY and, if elected, they would pass one. This new release says the government’s bill is being slated to be passed too quickly. It needs more time for debate.

More time for debate? How many times have we been hearing that? Over the last ten years? Yes. Over the last 30 years? Yes.

We have left it so late and the developers have taken advantage of it. Persons have deliberately been placed on certain boards to make sure any environmental concerns are played down or not even considered. Knowing what is in the works some developers are moving ahead so quickly to rape and ravish our environment for their own selfish and greedy gains without a care in the world what is destroyed forever. If we gave them another 12 months time, God only knows what Cayman would have have left.

The new law the C4C proclaims “allows policy on all matters related to the environment to be made by a council which includes Members of the Department of Environment, the National Trust and other political appointees without any reference to the Minister in charge of policy making on behalf of the elected Government”.

FALSE. Cabinet will make the policy decisions based on the technical advice offered by the council.

And then comes the C4C killer punch that is sure to get the public’s wrath and to tear at our heart strings. They say:

“The Compulsory Acquisition Law is already on the books. This new Bill, working in tandem with that, would allow compulsory acquisition of private properties which might be deemed “protected” because they were adjacent to protected Crown property. Land is also a financial resource in Cayman as it is passed down from generation to generation providing collateral for our children’s education, our first home, our own business, etc. For Caymanian landowners to potentially lose the use of their property or the property itself, and without proper compensation, is unthinkable.”

I’m already grabbing my phone to call the Minister in charge of Environment, Wayne Panton, to scream at him ……  but wait….  let me take another look……

Where in the proposed law does it say this? I have searched through page by page and cannot find this reference.

FALSE. How many times has Panton, along with Department of Environment Director, Gina Ebanks-Petrie stressed that government will not be able to forcibly purchase land under the proposed law, nor will it give the Environment Council, which will be created under the law, power to dictate policy?

The council’s role will be 95% advisory, they have said. Planning decisions will continue to be made by the Central Planning Authority (CPA) in Grand Cayman, the Development Control Board (DCB) in the Sister Islands, and Cabinet for coastal works licences.

The law only says bodies must consider the advice of the council, along with all the other advisory bodies, such as the roads and water authorities, when weighing the pros and cons of a planning application.

The council is ONLY a technical advisory board, will offer non-binding input on planning applications in the same way that the DoE does now. While the CPA, the DCB and Cabinet are not compelled to accept the advice of the council about environmental concerns, the new law does, for the first time, require them to CONSIDER it.

Gina Ebanks-Petrie, speaking in Cayman Brac went further. She said, “If the council or a private body suggests that a piece of land has environmental importance, and if the council decides that it’s worth it, it will advise Cabinet to buy the land at a fair market price, but if the owners are not willing to sell, that is the end of it.”

Just because a protected species lives on private land it does not mean the land cannot be developed, Ebanks-Petrie said.

So the C4C are now saying we go back to what we already have. That is, a Planning board that doesn’t have to consider any environmental issues!

Have they conveniently forgotten what has happened in South Sound?

So why has the C4C deliberately released misinformation and joined the group that cares nothing for the environment?

I have to question, therefore, what game are they playing?

Side Note: Since writing this iNews has just received a Press Release from the The Society of Cayman Architects Surveyors and Engineers (CASE) that canvassed all their members on the National Conservation Law. They said the majority of their members agree that “the National Conservation Law 2013 is an ‘essential piece of legislation that needs to be enacted as soon as possible.’”

As a past member of CASE I say ‘BRAVO!’ And to C4C as Andy Martin says ‘TAKE THAT!”