CNS Viewpoint

The purpose of the CNS Viewpoint section is to nurture intelligent and articulate debate about issues that affect the people of the Cayman Islands. Anyone may submit a Viewpoint, but submissions must be written in a commentary form and will be posted only if they add to the subject in a meaningful way. No topic is off boundaries so long as arguments are presented thoughtfully and well.

The aim of CNS Viewpoint is to encourage people in these islands to discuss political and social issues and to start talking about challenging areas, such as health, education, women’s issues, child abuse, human rights and the environment. The time has come to consider how we can tackle some of the problems in the community, instead of just complaining about what we think is wrong.

After some considerable discussion, we decided to allow our contributors to use pseudonyms, the issue being whether to do so or not would best serve the principles of freedom of expression. Unfortunately, many people in the Cayman Islands, both expatriate and Caymanian, feel that using their real names might jeopardize their livelihoods.

Therefore, since the purpose of CNS Viewpoint is to further debate and is not intended for unsubstantiated accusations, gossip, personal gripes, or vendettas, we will post commentaries  pseudonymously while acknowledging that this issue itself is a good topic for debate.

Readers will not always agree with the content and the CNS team will disagree with Viewpoint contributors from time to time. However, the site provides a platform for well-informed comment that is intended to become a focal point for public debate.

Not all viewpoints submitted will be published in our Viewpoint section. Acceptance will depend on the standard of writing and on whether we feel the writer has made his or her point sufficiently well. CNS reserves the right to copy edit submissions but no significant changes to style or meaning will be made without consultation with the writer.

If you would like to contribute to a Viewpoint, please email nickywatson@caymannewsservice.com. Contributors should aim for 500 to 800 words, though commentaries that are shorter or longer than this will be considered if they are pertinent and interesting.

If you don't feel up to writing a commentary but have an opinion about something or a problem that you'd like to open up for public discussion, you can start a new topic in the CNS Forum. Forum topics will not be published until they have been approved by the site moderator, in the same way that comments are moderated, but unless there is some reason why they should not be posted they will appear soon after they are posted.