Transparency Lacking Over CIG Cable Plans

By CaymanNewsService
September 16, 2025

(CNS): The Cayman Island Government is moving ahead with the construction of a new subsea cable system, the Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure (MPLAHI) announced this week in its latest update about the project.

However, the ministry has still not explained if the CIG is going to parter with a private sector company to finance the project, which company that might be, or how much the cable will cost Cayman.

The CIG appears to be pushing forward with this project, expected to cost many millions, even though earlier this month, Liberty Networks announced that it is undertaking a multi-million dollar upgrade of its MAYA-1 subsea communication cable that connects the Cayman Islands to the United States.

The MAYA-1.2 project will double the capacity of the existing cable, which the regional telecommunications company said will secure Cayman’s digital future for more than a decade. Why the cash-strapped government still plans to finance its own cable in addition to the private sector cable, which will not cost it anything, has not been explained.

“The Cayman Islands currently rely on ageing systems that require upgrading to keep pace with global standards, safeguard against disruption, and provide the connectivity that Cayman’s residents, businesses, and institutions need to thrive,” the release from the ministry said, without reference to the MAYA-1.2 project or how that affects the CIG’s plans.

While the latest update and the accompanying ‘fact sheet’ pushed the idea that the cable is a necessary investment in infrastructure, the lack of transparency over the financing of a project it has apparently commited to remains glaring.

In July 2024, Jay Ebanks, the planning minister in the previous government as well as the current one, told his colleagues in parliament that an undisclosed private sector company had offered to build it and Cabinet was exploring that option. He said at the time that the consultants hired by the government had costed a project plan, and “an interested party” had made an offer “to connect the Cayman Islands to a multinational system”.

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