Cayman Island Govt Extends Electricity Assistance Programme
The entire world is experiencing an exponential rise in cost of living expenses; we are undoubtedly going through one of the most challenging times in recent history and we as a government, but also each of us in the community, must prepare for the possibility that it may be some time before it gets better. Although global inflation was already on the rise before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it has become more of an issue in the past year.
The Cayman Islands Government has taken more than a dozen substantive actions and will continue to work to lower costs for some of the most vulnerable people in our society – lower- and middle-class families, our senior citizens and post-secondary students. We are developing assistance programmes so that our community is prepared to handle the turbulence that economists have indicated lies ahead, whether that comes from an extreme weather event like a hurricane, or impact that comes from external economic forces like increasing inflation and rising interest rates.
To assist the community with sharp increases in electricty costs due to fuel price hikes, we have extended the Electricity Assistance Programme until December 2022.
We extended the Electricity Assistance Relief Programme until December 2022 to help residents with electricity bills during this period of unusually high fuel costs
· We offered a fuel cost credit to residents across all three islands to help alleviate the price of electricity during the summer of 2022
· We waived import duty on certain food items and essential family items, such as feminine care products and baby products
· We donated $1.5 million to the R3 Cayman Foundation to assist with ongoing housing repairs in the community for vulnerable Caymanians
· We reduced the fees of government services for Seniors
· We reintroduced private school grants to help families that rely on private early childhood education centres and other education institutions
· We saved Caymanian families hundreds of dollars in school lunch costs and made sure our children were able to achieve their best in school by receiving the nutrition they need
