Sandbar demo wins support
Posted on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 17:57 in Headline News
(CNS): Organisers said they were very pleased with the level of support for their demonstration on Monday, when around 400 people signed a petition against the application of a liquor license for a boat bar to sell booze at Stingray City. The idea of a ‘bar at the Sandbar’ has caused considerable disquiet in the community as many people say that the sale of alcohol in the wildlife interaction zone is inappropriate. Natasha Kozaily organised the protest in Heroes Square because she said she felt very strongly about the issue and wanted to make sure the authorities knew that people were opposed to the bar.
Hundreds of people passed through during the two hour demonstration at lunchtime on Monday, 4 December, in front of the Legislative Assembly, and many others drove by honking their support and stopped to sign the petition against the bar.
Bernie Bush had applied for a liquor license at the most recent hearing of the licensing board on 10 December in order to operate a boat that would go out to Stingray City in the North Sound to serve customers with a swim up bar, while they visit one of the Cayman Islands’ most popular and famous attractions. The application was granted.
However, since then there has been considerable mounting opposition to the idea, culminating in Monday’s public demonstration. Kozaily told CNS that she hoped that government would either step in to stop the proposed bar or that the Liquor Licensing Board would reconsider.
“We are hoping that the authorities will see that the people do not support this initiative,” Kozaily said. “We have had a lot of tourists sign the petition today so we are not convinced by the claim that visitors want this facility. We should be protecting our water resources and encouraging eco-tourism, not doing things like this.”
The Department of the Environment noted that, despite the fact that the Sandbar is a protected area as a Wildlife Interaction Zone under the Marine Parks Regulations, the fact that a floating liquor bar was never envisioned when the regulations were drawn up means there is no specific rule prohibiting the proposed facility. DoE Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie said that without regulations her department was unable to prevent the bar from becoming a reality and it would require a policy decision by the ministry to change the existing regulations to include prohibiting the sale of alcohol in the area.
She said the DoE believed the idea of a boat-bar in a wildlife interactive zone, which was established to protect the rays and the habitat, seemed inappropriate. “It is at odds with the ethos of conservation management,” she added. “We would certainly caution against anything that could upset the delicate balance of the zone and it is not the sort of activity one would promote in an area considered in need of special protection.”
Ebanks-Petrie explained that the Sand Bar was adopted as a special wildlife interaction zone because it was perceived as an attraction that needed this special protection for a number of reasons. This was to maintain the integrity of the stingrays’ environment and to protect them and the people using the area, as well as to regulate how the rays are fed and how many tour boats are in the region at a given time. Therefore, she said, it appeared that adding a floating liquor stop to the zone would to be in conflict with the desire to protect the area.
CNS has attempted to contact Bernie Bush, former election candidate and local businessman, regarding the issue to no avail. Attempts to contact the minister with responsibility for the environment, Mark Scotland, about the government’s policy regarding the introduction of a bar at a WIZ were also unsuccessful.
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I agree! Why are they
I agree! Why are they getting all riled up for? Let's forget about this...who cares! I don't care if all those stingrays choke on my conch stew or they open some floating shops to go there too. I just want to party till the sun comes up...watch TV, and stay ignorant of it all. Let Cayman develop itself until it turns into a concrete Island. I'm a lucky gal...coz I'm a caymanian...but do you think i care about my country. no sir i don't......and when all unna have to start fighting for the environment and natural treasures i have to ask myself 'now who do they think they is? coming to my island...and caring about it more than me? they should go back to where they came from...we don't need people like that. we need more people like me' i can't wait to eat some cayman style lobster and feed the fish with my leftovers and trash. Because do think I care about putting it in the garbage? Huh, you must be mad!? I fly my Wendy's bag out my car window all the time!
No sa! Unna try behave nah!!
No sa! Unna try behave nah!! Try stop getting all riled up before unna drop down with high blood pressure or something. Look ya, tomorrow is Friday and ya know wha dat means? It's happy hour time so all deh talk on dis boat thing ya done now cuz we ready to put on our polyester and go listen to some good country music. Cha!
Ha. You're right. That's
Ha. You're right.
That's enough on that for now. :)
Wow! Talk about hostile
Wow! Talk about hostile people here. I'm surprised the Bracker/Caymanian drama didn't get started in this heated debate. What happened to all of the ignorant folks that are so quick to jump on that band wagon? Bernie is doing the best thing and that is to remain quiet, sit back, relax, concentrate on getting his boat in the water and laugh at all of you fools that are about to burst with dislike.
LMAO, keep laughing, gal. At least the idiots are complimenting you by calling you young and passionate. And if God has relocated your nose since the last time I saw you, he has placed it next to a wonderful piece of art and I'm not talking about your colon either. LOL! Isn't it good when we can take a uneasy situation and smile about it?
What??? Not hostile. Just
What???
Not hostile. Just wanting to discuss issues rather than call names and other juvenile behavior.
And by discuss, that does not mean calling everyone who does not agree with you an idiot.
As an expat, I'm all for
As an expat, I'm all for Caymanians making money. I agree that a lot of times locals get screwed over by foreign interests (and by other locals that sell out to the foreign interests).
However, this isn't about a single Caymanian trying to make some money. It's about how this might affect the overall view of the island by foreign tourists. If you start putting bars at all of the local attractions, then you are most definitely not trying to attract family tourism. You are trying to attract a party crowd.
If Cayman wants to become a spring-break hotspot for drunk college kids, then by all means put in a bar at stringray city. A better idea though is to attract families that will stay longer on island, spend more money on local products and food, and not destroy the island in a fit of drunken debauchery.
Cayman needs to attract the right kind of tourist to the island. Tourists that stay, spend, and respect the island all at once. That will give many Caymanians the opportunity to make money, not just one bar owner.
Tacky, tasteless and
Tacky, tasteless and classless. This plan is therefore in keeping with much of Cayman's recent tourist development. That goose laying the golden eggs is on life support . . .
Hey, I havent heard back from
Hey, I havent heard back from planning yet on my application for a floating church at the same location! Who is going to make sure that this bar is anchored at least 500 feet away from my sanctuary?
Hey - you don't need planning
Hey - you don't need planning permission for that - otherwise there would be a planning application for every dunking in Hog Sty Bay and Smith Cove when the churches do their community blessings.
So, I will hail eternally the guy that goes out to Stingray City every day with a sign saying CHURCH BOAT so the mobile bar has to stay 500 feet away - what's good for the goose is good for the gander...
Or what's good for the Bush is good for the rest of us...
Better still we should
Better still we should support a floating buddhist temple to get Juliana going.
How can I be such a sad
How can I be such a sad Caymanian when I am LMAO at all of you whiners? I am not losing any sleep over Bernie's vessel but obviously you sound as if you might need to take a couple of Dr. Chase's nerve food tablets (if you're not familiar with the brand, this is what Caymanians take so they don't become so sad). However, since you want to be blunt in your response to my freedom of speech in MY OWN ISLAND, let me have my final say here and you're free to vent afterwards.
We are sick and tired of people coming to this island and trying to push us around. We are also fed up with the brain-washed Caymanians, whether they are young or old, who doesn't support their own people. So to all of you that are against Bernie's boat, calling us idiots & morons, etc., go find something to do with your time. You can't keep us down, remember that.
By the way, the last time I checked, my nose was still there.
Have a nice day!
Yup, the nose is right there
Yup, the nose is right there beside the colon - you really do have your head up your a$$!!!
what are you talking about?
what are you talking about? Bernie Bush is Caymanian, many of the people protesting are Caymanian, many of the names on the petition are Caymanian! how have you made this into an expat versus local issue???
So if a Caymanian wants to protect his/her island from the greedy godless money grabbers amongst them then they are obviously brainwashed by expats? Does the bible not say that the love of money above everything else is the root of all evil. It would appear that you fit the bill rather well. There are somethings that are more important then the almighty dollar, perhaps it would do well if you remembered that from time to time. Protecting your island, its people and its future should come before your greed for more and more money.
Keep laughing imbicile, luckily most Caymanians take this sort of thing very seriously.
The position you are arguing,
The position you are arguing, that if a Caymanian is doing it then it must be right, is silly and immature.
Caymanians are (one might suspect) humans too and are perfectly capable of doing harm (as well as good) to themselves and their home... just like everyone else. If a Caymanian murders another Caymanian (and we have seen a lot of that recently) does that make it RIGHT or OKAY? I think not.
Having an opinion about the future of Cayman is "pushing [you] around"? Caring about the environment, AS WELL AS THE ECONOMY, is not supporting Caymanians? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
You have a lot of passion. That is good. But you seem young and stupid. Hopefully, time will cure both.
In response to A YOUNG
In response to A YOUNG CAYMANIAN, that's the problem here now, the expats are loving Cayman way too much and that's why they believe they can moan and protest about every thing they don't like. At the end of the day they are free to pack their bags and go back to where they came from and what are we left with? Another poor Caymanian that was not allowed to make a living because of their whining.
And to reply to the poster at 19:22 who feels we are morons for supporting Bernie, no one is begging you to come back here. I'm quite sure we would never be able to come to your country and kick up a storm about someone licensing a vessel so don't bother to fuss up yourself, life goes on here in Cayman.
?...poor caymanian not
?...poor caymanian not allowed to make a living...give me a break. I am sure he gets 50+plus grand a year as the Deputy Director of the Pirates week Festival....rich, just trying to get richer with a lot of time on his hands my fellow caymanian.
wow, so lets get this
wow, so lets get this straight. You are first having a go at expats because in your words 'the expats are loving cayman way too much'!! this is truely amazing. You are taking this to a whole new level of idiocy. You are then having a go at a Young Caymanian becuase he/she wants at least some of the island to remain in a vaguley green and natural state for when they grow up and have their own Children.
So lets say that the expats do pack up their bags and go home, you ask 'what are we left with'. Well the expats and many Caymanians are doing their best to ensure you are left with what remains of this beautiful island and its natural heritage. If you had your way, you would rather be left with absolutely nothing, a barren rock sat in a polluted, toxic sea (but at least no more expats would come and do all the bad things that they do).
You are a sad sad sad Caymanian, thank god there are plenty of young and old Caymanians who want and desire the best for their island. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!!!
Wow. I'm not from here but
Wow. I'm not from here but I've been here long enough to know the name Bernie Bush. I suspect that his livelihood does NOT depend on parking a booze barge at the sandbar. This is just ANOTHER way for him to make MORE money.
And the question becomes: do YOU really care about the Cayman Islands, enough to help preserve them for present and future generations? Or do you just look at the Cayman Islands as a resource to be exploited for maximum personal gain?
Don't condemn expats for earning a living and call it "exploitation" when you seem so very willing to sell YOUR birthright for the almighty dollar.
The irony to all this is that
The irony to all this is that most of the protestors and negative views on this site are coming from Expats and tourists bemoaning the loss of a natural wonder and the destruction of the Cayman tourist product, while most Caymanians are saying it should go ahead, sod the environment and the island, the guy is making a buck. Good clean Cayman hypocrisy - the Caymanian love of money above all else.
I'm caymanian and i agree
I'm caymanian and i agree with you 100%. i'm ashamed at how some of my fellow caymanians could be in favor of this bar. Not to mention the fact that they are bashing on the expats for loving Cayman more than they do. SAD
I think people are missing
I think people are missing the point.This is not about drinking liquor at the sand bar as we all know almost everyone does so anyway. This is about somebody setting up a business there, which creates regulatory issues and sets a precedent. What if 5 other people then want to follow suit? Should we have then 5 or 10 floating bars? How can you allow someone to do it and not others? What keeps anyone from putting in a "floating" bar at West Bay Cemetery Reef Beach or any other place??? It is a slippery sloap.....
This is not about setting up an attraction that will bring more tourists to the Island. Think about what this is to accomplish!
If you protest against the
If you protest against the bar, you should protest against and ban all alcohol at the Sandbar. If you think alcohol on private boats at the Sandbar is OK then let Bernie get on with it - anything else would be hypocritical. A lot of people I know are protesting but I know on their own boats they are loaded up to the gunnels with their own booze stash.
Get real people, the Sandbar is already over-exploited and this argument is heading in the wrong direction; it's being made all about the alcohol and the money etc. What really needs to be considered are the stingrays which make the Sandbar the attraction it is.
I know Bernie and he is a
I know Bernie and he is a good man but I really think this is not a good idea for many reasons. Aside from the matter of protecting what little we have left, what little we haven't sold, or built on, or cleared, or tarmac'd, etc. etc I hope to God Bernie has looked into liability. God forbid somebody drowns/has a heart attack at the sandbar after drinking at his bar - you can imagine the lawsuits - Bernie will never recover either emotionally, mentally or financially!
This is not about keeping a Caymanian down, I am a Caymanian, but about wanting the best for our country.
I do not think the bar is a
I do not think the bar is a good idea at all. This thing has not been thought through and it could be more a problem than people realize.
I have a feeling that the liquor board was not aware of the full intentions of Mr. Bush's application. That in itself should be enough for review. This could seriously be very harmful to the other operators who are actually bring their clientel to the sandbar.
All operators have contracts with the cruiselines to carry out a function that is defined in their contract. ie... they have a trip to pick them up in GT, take them to sandbar and return guests back to GT. Simply said that is it! It is not ok to steer those guest to another business who is there for a different kind of operator to benefit and make money off tourists. These guests are in the care of a specific operator or company.
All operators have to carry insurance. Many are with the Land and Sea or maybe privately insured. Regardless they also have resonsibilitys to follow those rules of the insurer besides the cruiseline or guess what.....they are not covered. Most people unfortunately think if you have insurance your ass is covered but it does not work that way if you are negligent in anyway. Most cruiselines or insurers will pick apart a company to cover themselves and guess what they can because they are bigger than small operators.
I am not sure but willing to bet if someone had a Cruiseline trip on a vessel and one of their customers got drunk and injured after visiting the floating bar well guess what, they dont really care, those people were in your care and it will be that operator who will have the law suit not the bar.
These tourist people origanally wanted to see stingrays. Why do we have to turn it into a floating REHAB drunk fest.
Mr. Bush has an idea to attract a business that could seriously harm another fellow operator who is just trying to get by and guess what folks they just truly get by.
I wonder have other boat operators or the Land and Sea looked seriously at this? Why don't they contact the insurers of these vessels and ask! It used to be with Royal Marine and so let someone contact them and ask.
I have thought about this a bit and really wonder if having liquor at the sandbar at all is even really necessary with cruise ship pasengers. Its only liability for those trying to show people a good time.
Well thats my 2 cents!
Well why don't we get some
Well why don't we get some strippers too to go with the booze and ATM Machine? Bernie, please focus on the youth I think they need you there more than getting our stingrays drunk. We have lost our focus of doing what's right for Cayman instead its a 'me get rich attitude' so sad.
My family and I first visited
My family and I first visited Grand Caymay in 1996. This is the latest in a long list of activities leading to the island's downfall as a popular destination. I love the diving on Grand Cayman but we will not be back. I would advise stopping selling out to exploitative individuals or lose your livlihood altogether.
Best of luck, Craig
Poor Bernie!
Poor Bernie!
Pour Bernie?
Pour Bernie?
N am N am why una dont leave
N am N am why una dont leave the man and let him make some money like erebody else?
I totally agree that there
I totally agree that there should not be a Boat Bar at the Stingray City site.
What really bothers me everytime I read some comments on here, is all the fuss about whether the person writing in is "Caymanian", "Born-Caymanian" or "Non-Caymanian"??? For the life of me, I do not understand why this matters.
Can a "not born" Caymanian, such as myself, not feel for beautiful things being preserved in Grand Cayman? Although I was not born on this island, I have been a "Caymanian" since I was 17 years old, (now I am 52!)... but my "child" has the blood of a Caymanian father running through her veins, and I am so pleased to be able to say that she enjoyed this wonderful place when she was just a baby.
Her dad took her out everday to swim with, and feed these animals, when we took tourists out on daily trips to see these creatures. How many children in the world can say that? There was never any liquor in the area then and there should not be now, especially being sold! There are not too many places like this in the world so why does there have to be liquor served in this sanctuary?
I think that Stingray City is a lovely "place of nature" and I hope it is going to be like that for my grandchildren's children. I am so fortunate to have the memories of this area, when in the "way back when" days, this place was "very quiet" and "peaceful". In fact, I remember when the whole of Grand Cayman was "quiet" and "serene". Yes Cayman is still beautiful, but serene and peaceful places are sure hard to find on this island now. Surely all of the "olden days of Grand Cayman" do not have to be kept in a museum, under lock and key, to be paid an "admission" to see and remember.
I am so privilleged to have the memories of what Cayman was like 30 or 40 years years ago. And don't get me wrong, I have no problem with "progress". It's just a shame that when something is so lovely, why do people willingly or unwillingly want to do anything that might destroy it's charm?
For the love of these marine animals, I just hope the people of the Cayman Islands, or the Government of the Cayman Islands, can preserve "some things" the way they were.
Why not take it up a notch
Why not take it up a notch Bernie - serve some food and make it a hammerhead interaction zone!
I just don't see what the
I just don't see what the fuss is all about. It's very simple; the man was GRANTED a liquor license for his boat and he wants to run a business. It's not like this is going to be the first time someone obtains a license to sell liquor. What else are you people going to protest about now? The fool-fool roosters that crow at 10 pm in the evenings? Or too much Jamaicans and Filipinos in the water at Smith Cove spoiling your Sunday morning dip? Why didn't you all protest against Camana Bay when that was going up?
Bernie, I know you will eventually read these comments and we want you to know that your own Caymanian people are behind you with this project and we are proud to know that you are contributing to the island's tourism. Keep dancing!
Please speak for yourself and
Please speak for yourself and not for all Caymanians. While "born and bred" here, I'm strongly opposed to the bar and fear for the poor stingrays and their safety.
Are you serious??? It's
Are you serious??? It's because of morons like you and this guy that our oceans are in so much trouble. I will never go back to Cayman if this happens. You people have no respect for the ocean. Shame on you!!
Well hello Mr. BUSH! Tell
Well hello Mr. BUSH! Tell us, why are you so unwilling to #1 meet the concerned and #2 continue to destroy and wipe what Cayman was from memory and the face of the earth?
So long the stingrays and the
So long the stingrays and the marine environment are not HARMED, there should be no restrictions on tourists drinking alcohol and enjoying themselves
M
The only way people can enjoy
The only way people can enjoy the wonders of Stingray City is to be sober, at all times. Inevitably people will get drunk to a point that will turn in to disaster as alcohol with sun and sea will have a much more drastic effect on humans in general. I can invision fights, speeding boats, stingrays being lifted out of the water as common sense at that time will most certainly have left the brain and once more the animals, in this case the stingrays will ultimately pay the price of human ignorance and stupidity.
Eventhough I am a smoker, I welcome the public smoking ban. I believe it is high time we install some sort of public drinking ban as well. I have not too often heard of a cigarette smoker killing animals or people with a car or boat, can't say the same for drinkers.
When was the last time people were able to have "a good time" without the use of alcohol? Reality shows that those who enjoy their leisure time without alcohol have a much better time as they can actually remember what kind of good time they had.
Sorry Bernie, as others have stated too, bad idea and you will lose more then you will ever make with this concept.
As much as I would like to
As much as I would like to hope that our say (those opposed to the bar) would have any impact to liquor board or government approval of this, I camn't help remembering the 'dolphin in captivity' issue!!!
All the opposition in the world got us nowhere and we eneded up TWO dolphinariums... its all about money and greed with no respect for how beautiful this island is and what it has to offer.
Senseless and foolish!!!
its being done already by
its being done already by tour operators that have liquor licences... why is it a problem that bernie wants to do it.... these are the same ppl who go to another tourist destination and think its a great idea and partake.
if a patron is drunk cant the bartender refuse to serve him
Because they are not PARKED
Because they are not PARKED on the sandbar.
Don't know how this is
Don't know how this is affecting his li velyhood as he is the newly appointed Deputy Director of the National Festival Pirates Week...just goes to show you he does not have much to do the rest of the year...I guess organising and planning our national festival allows for plenty of time to deal with creating a new business venture, as well as the red tape that comes along with it...or the Deputy job does not pay enough.....?????
Thoughts anyone.....? Things that make you go hmmmmmm....?
Until ALL bars are closed or
Until ALL bars are closed or protested against, this is just another one-what is the deal?? The BIG thing with this is, this is just one little local boy from west bay running his OWN business and not fronting for foreigners.
No, you moron, the BIG deal
No, you moron, the BIG deal is that this one is going to be in the middle of Stingray City, we are worried about the future of the place.
People of all sorts protest
People of all sorts protest against bars for a variety of reasons. I think the fact that this one is proposed to anchor (or float) in a marine zone is a valid reason for NOT having it.
This discussion is about the possible impact on the beautiful, the precious Cayman Islands that were founded by God upon the seas and is NOT about keeping a Caymanian businessman "down".
For those who think that simply because a Caymanian wants to start a(nother) business that it should be welcome with open arms - your willingness to sell anything Caymanian for a dollar is the reason so much trouble has come to your islands.
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6:10
Locals go out on the boat -
Locals go out on the boat - to DRINK, whether they carry their own or are buying it from Mr. Bush isn't going to make much of a difference. This is the way it has been, and it is the way it will always be. Anybody who goes boating on Saturdays and Sundays, usually have a cooler stocked full of booze. On the flipside - the people protesting have a point, but I believe they are missing the most important one - which is booze and stingrays might not mesh well together! But hey - what does booze mesh well with these days?
I think we should ban
I think we should ban drinking anything at the sand bar. Too much pee pee in the shallow water even now as it is. It is even worse at Rum Point on Sundays because the currents dont flush it quick enough.
LOL!!!! Good one...."pee
LOL!!!! Good one...."pee pee"...
You have a point, I will
You have a point, I will continue to drink copious amounts of alcohol on the North Sound and thoroughly enjoy myself doing it. I will not however be paying Bernie's inflated prices when I can simply pack my own cooler. Or will there be a 100 foot radius around the boat with "no outside food and beverage allowed" signage. Irrespective of the environmental concerns, it's simply not really a very good business idea.
I say let it die it's own slow death.
As we all know, a north sound
As we all know, a north sound floating bar will enable drunk boaters to drink their coolers dry, replenish, and over-consume. It will also encourage PWC/Jet ski operators (and other personal water craft without cooler space) to consume and ride with relative impunity.
It would be interesting to hear the positions of the Marine Police on this proposal given the above realities. Why have they been so silent?
How can the DEH approve of this proposal inside the Marine Replenishment Zone? Surely this barge will have to anchor well outside the Marine Zone so as not to violate existing Marine Interaction Zone rules?
CNS: The Director of the Department of Environment (which I think is the department you meant to refer to) is quoted in the article and makes it clear they have no say in this decision. I think you are also a bit naive as to whether or not civil servants, including the Marine Police, are allowed to voice their opinions publicly. They're not.
CNS: Why are government
CNS: Why are government departments not allowed to have a discussion about what's best for the island? Isn't that what the government is supposed to be doing for the public everyday?
CNS: Precisely. Everyone in the media and, I suspect, many in the civil service believe that they should be allowed to discuss what's best for the island - often they are in the best position to know. It is a situation that can be incredibly frustrating for all concerned - except for politicians and the top echelons of the civil service who create the rules and an atmosphere of secrecy.
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