Archive for October 6th, 2008
Cayman to clean house
(CNS): Everyone is being asked to pitch in and clean up over the next few weeks as the Cayman Islands Beautification Committee launches its second annual October Beautification Month. Chairperson Heather Bodden said that sprucing up now prepares the Islands for end-of-year events, such as Pirates Week, Jazz Fest and Christmas, as well as presenting the best possible image for Cayman as the busy tourist season approaches.
“The Committee wants all residents to take note of Beautification Month’s Aims and Objectives, clean up their yards, and join a neighbourhood project to improve the appearance of a community area,’ she added.
Bodden said that every household should own proper and sufficient garbage cans in which to place securely bagged garbage. While it’s okay to use plastic grocery bags, leaving them unsecured on the roadside is a no-no and she said garbage cans and bins should be an enclosed or fenced unit
Debris collection throughout all the Districts will be scheduled in conjunction with the DoEH and the Cayman Islands Beautification Committee will place receptacles with covered garbage bins throughout all the Districts at specific locations and on 20 October all bulk waste/debris left by the roadside will be collected.
The Committee also encourages all other organizations to plan and carry out special cleanup and beautification activities throughout the month of October.Individuals in each District are encouraged to team up, clean up and beautify specific areas within their own neighbourhoods and communities.
“Everyone is encouraged to take pride in their own surroundings and therefore show that true ownership is not just owning something but taking care of it in the best way possible,” said Bodden.
Schools and youth organizations are also being encouraged to organize and participate in clean-up and beautification activities.
MLA says won’t trust PPM
(CNS): The interpretation of the first round of Constitutional Talks between the Cayman Islands and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office offered by the government differs from that perceived by the opposition, which has said the People’s Progressive Movement government cannot be trusted and any meetings between the two parties before the next round of talks will only take place if they are in open public forums with a clear agenda.
The United Democratic Party Second Elected Member for West Bay, Rolston Anglin, said the government was disingenuous during Friday morning’s press conference with its attempt to blame the UDP over the fact that the Cayman is not presenting a united front to London. He said they failed to be completely honest with the people when they did not admit that the UK had rejected a number of their proposals.
“The government has said the reason why the country is not getting more autonomy is because of the opposition but that is not the case the UK has rejected their claims for unadulterated power,” said Anglin. “We ought to be presenting a united front and we thought we had engendered some trust and maturity but the government has been disingenuous. Any further meetings after Ian Hendy sends the summary document of these talks will be in public as they cannot be trusted. We will not meet with them until they have defined the parameters.”
On Friday at the televised Press briefing with Ian Hendry the leader of the FCO delegation, Helen Nellthorp and Susan Dickson, the Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts said the talks had gone well and the Minister for Education Alden McLaughlin said the UK had not rejected anything outright. While Tibbetts thanked the opposition for its support and role in the talks he criticised them saying they were still taking the position that Cayman should retain the status quo and that the constitutional relationship withthe UK is not in need of modernisation.
“The United Democratic Party is saying, essentially, that they are happy keeping things the way they are,” said LoGB.” As one Opposition representative has put it, Caymanians are not ready to take on this kind of responsibility for themselves. This attitude amounts to a clear lack of confidence by the UDP in the ability of the Caymanian people.”
Anglin noted that for the government to make noises accusing the opposition of not having confidence in Caymanians was an easy way to get support but he insisted that he reality of the situation was that Cayman had not yet developed a political maturity to take on the kind of power that the government wanted.
“History has found is in the position that we are not yet ready for that kind of power, the UDP wants to see sensible advancement, we want a natural process of development,” said Anglin adding that the UK certainly had rejected outright a number of proposals and the government was playing a cat and mouse game riddled with lies.
The MLA did note however that there were various proposals on which the two parties were in agreement and he also said in an ideal world Cayman should be presenting a united front when it comes to the constitution but he said the government’s position, its attempts at power grabbing and its attitude of constantly excluding the opposition didn’t help. He said that in the wake of talks there should have been a united press conference which would have given a more balanced view of what had actually happened.
He said the proposals rejected by the UK included the PPMs wish to place the AG outside of Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly and to reduce the Governor’s powers in Cabinet to merely a figurehead which he said the opposition could not agree on. Anglin also said he was also very concerned about McLaughlin’s desire to control the police. “That is a very dangerous suggestion,” he added. “We cannot have a situation where the politicians control the police.”
Save the turtle
Considering sea turtles are endangered species, media reports that a local fisherman has been caught with a 400 lb turtle out of season and without a license illustrate that many Caymanians still do not take the word "endangered" seriously.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) considers all marine turtles — globally — to be either "threatened" or "endangered".
Turtle poaching on Grand Cayman and the Brac — both of females and the eggs they lay — shows an appalling short-sightedness of the part of the perpetrators. Who will they blame when the species become extinct and they can no longer have their turtle and eat it?
The 400 lb turtle killed is probably close to 100 years old, and still had many reproductive years left. With the survival rate to adult-hood of one per thousand hatchlings, her death has brought ever closer the extinction of this amazing animal.
The time has come for Cayman to follow the recent example of the Bahamian government which is planning to ban the "commercial harvest, purchase or sale of all species of marine turtles within the Bahamian exclusive economic zone and/or of their by-products such as shells" as of 31st December 2008.
We need to cancel all turtle licenses, beef up our marine policing activities, increase our penalties for those caught breaking the law and show the world that we are serious about protecting the turtle on whose back this country was founded.