After recently spending a glorious afternoon at Smith Barcadere, I am curious to know what progress has been made by government in the purchase of the land adjacent to the beach. As was clear from the Save the Cove campaign, this is an issue near and dear to the hearts of Caymanians and visitors alike. However, despite promises by CIG for a speedy resolution, it has been some months since any update on the imminent purchase of this land has been published. Could you please research and provide us with an update?

Auntie’s answer: It was certainly major news when the government decided to purchase the land by Smith Cove after a very passionate public campaign to stop a developer from building a condo there (see Developer agrees to sell Smith Cove to CIG).

Now that the excitement has died down for supporters of the campaign to preserve the cove and with the start of a new year, this seems a great time for your question.

The answer has come from the Ministry of Planning, with a representative saying that government was “contractually bound to complete purchase of the parcel by 22 January 2017, and that it is fully expected this will be achieved”.

I was assured that the deal has not encountered any problems and it will be happening as planned.

I know that many people might remain skeptical that the deal will be going through, but with an actual date now out there, we can check back to make sure the government has kept its promise and officially made the purchase.