On Friday, March 22, 2024, Caribbean economist Marla Dukharan appeared on the Talk Today radio show to discuss her analysis of the Cayman Islands’ economy entitled “Unleashing Cayman’s Potential: A Journey Towards Prosperity And Unity.” One of the reasons for the discussion was to clarify that she authored her report on the whole economy objectively and based on data available to her. She also indicated that no one paid her to do the report, and there was no ulterior motive to disregard or undermine the tourism sector, as somewhat implied by the Minister of Tourism of the Cayman Islands on a previous talk show.
Regarding the comments from the Minister of Tourism and other public reactions, Dukharan said:
You know, it’s unfortunate that, in the discourse that followed the release of my report, it was suggested that I had said that tourism is bad or we shouldn’t have tourism, which, of course, is not what I said.
If anybody read my report, you would see that, you know, as a matter of fact, I made some suggestions as to how to make it better.
She added:
So, in no way or form would I ever suggest that tourism should not form part of our economy.
It’s just not “If tourism,” it’s ”how.”
How is it best to structure the sector so that the benefits outweigh the cost?
She continued:
Because we know there are costs.
There are costs to the environment, there are cost to our local culture when you have more foreigners than locals on shore at any point in time, and so on.
To give members of the public an illustration of a tourism model that, from her perspective, works to benefit a country, Dukharan said, “I think Dominica is the one that stands out in my mind as being the most community-based tourism that I’ve experienced in the Caribbean, where you really, truly get to experience the country, the culture, the cuisine, the music, et cetera, et cetera.”
She added:
Whereas the kind of model that more and more we’re gravitating towards in Cayman is more of that very foreign based, foreign taste tourism product with the large foreign brands owning very large hotel complexes, which I’m not bashing that, I’m just saying that that is less of a community-based model.
It is a highly import based model, and therefore you have more outflows for foreign exchange than you would have if you had a community-based model like existed when you were a child.
And that is the point I was trying to make.
She concluded:
And we have to always bear in mind the costs, the pollution, the waste, the ecological damage that we do to our natural environment, which, by the way, the natural environment and the culture is why people come, right?
And if you destroy that, then you’re destroying your tourism product.
Discussing the allegation that she was paid to write the report to undermine the Cayman tourism sector, Dukharan confirmed that nobody paid her to do it, and it was funded entirely by her. She added that she thought that was “a question that was raised as well coming out of the report in order to sort of discredit the findings of the analysis and the data that I reported.”
Demonstrating that this was not a “one-off” report “targeting” the Cayman Islands in any way, Dukharan shared that she wrote previous reports on the Cayman Islands and other countries in the Caribbean. These reports can be found on her website: https://marladukharan.com/special-reports/
Dukharan stressed that she writes these reports because she is “very passionate about the Caribbean.”
She added:
I’m very passionate about us becoming a better society, each of us individually as well us collectively.
And I am very passionate about economics.
She continued:
I think, as an economist, it is our responsibility to deliver solid analysis that is honest, dispassionate and data driven.
Most importantly, being willing to say what needs to be said, even in the face of negative fallout or political pressure.
And that’s my ethos.
Turning to the allegation made on a previous radio show that she was somehow meddling in Cayman politics by certain comments she allegedly made in her report about upcoming elections in Cayman, she explained that she did not say that Cayman voters should be “cautious about going to the polls.”
She added that her statements in the report were to highlight an article published in the media, in which she commented that the reporter “did an excellent job outlining the major issues affecting the Cayman Islands that everyone should be focusing on this year, especially ahead of an election year.”
She continued:
I talked about how if we have too much inequality, it can affect the election campaigns.
I did talk about that.
And then I said here.
These widely held narratives, the narratives… in Cayman, I hear people saying we have the twin pillars of tourism and financial services.
I hear people in Cayman saying, we are a… consumption driven economy.
And I wanted to ask, do we really know for sure?
Because have we ever tested the data to see whether these notions that we held are valid?
… because these widely held narratives shape policy making.
It shapes government spending priorities, and ultimately, it shapes the way the country is governed, who the people of Cayman elect and why.
It is especially important in the year ahead of an election to make sure Caymanians understand how the economy works and what actually are the problems that we need to resolve so that you can make the best decisions possible when you head to the polls.
I never said about being cautious.
I said we need to understand.
She concluded:
And I think understanding how your economy works is critical to [a] functioning democracy.
Having healthy debate about the issues we are talking about today, healthy, respectful debate is critical to a functioning democracy.
And so I encourage Caymanians to ask these questions and to challenge these assumptions and to challenge what we think we know.
