(CNS): Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has said that government might not hold fast to opening next month but will be making an assessment about lifting quarantine requirements based on a risk-reward basis because the future of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unpredictable. But he noted that government cannot sustain an endless closure of the tourism sector because of the need to pay stipends, support small businesses and other related costs, while at the same time losing millions of dollars in accommodation taxes and other related fees.
Appearing on Cayman Crosstalk, Rooster’s morning talk show, on Friday, Bryan confirmed that the stipend will not stop before the end of the year and spoke again about the threats to end the payments that he made on Radio Cayman, saying that while it will taper off for those who go back to work, it will not come to abrupt end.
The minister apologised to anyone who was upset by his use of the words “scare tactics”, as he explained he was trying hard to motivate local people to sign up for the tourism jobs that are now re-emerging. He said the government was still battling with the industry to make sure Caymanians come first in the current recruitment efforts ahead of the border opening.
“If there is a stipend recipient who felt that my comments… made them feel bad, then I really do apologise as I don’t want them to feel that way,” he said. “The most important thing I want them to take away is that the government will assist you as much as...
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