Archive for October, 2008
Are credit cards the next collapse?
(McClatchy): First came trouble with mortgages, then home equity loans and commercial real estate. Now, banks are starting to worry about credit cards. As the economy slows and unemployment rises, consumers are defaulting on credit-card payments more often. And though that trend is unlikely to create a crisis in line with the mortgage fallout, it’s still a headache for banks that are already hurting. Go to article
Fishermen paid to stop
(New York Times): About 800 fishermen in the northernmost crook of the Gulf of California have taken up the government’s offer of payments to stop fishing with nets and, in some cases, to stop fishing altogether, Mexican conservationists said. The offer is intended to save a small porpoise that is threatened with extinction as an unintended byproduct of commercial fishing. Go to Article.
US tax law may deter talent
(Royal Gazette): Former Bermuda Premier Sir John Swan has described a new tax law which stops the deferral of income tax paid on compensation earned by US taxpayers working there as a "warning shot across our bows". The Emergency Economic Stablisation Act of 2008, which was enacted at the start of this month, added the new section to the US Internal Revenue Code. Go to article.
UK Minister gets down to business
(CNS): Foreign Office Minister, Gillian Merron welcomed delegates to the Overseas Territories Consultative Council (OTCC) in London this week for what she described as a critical part of debate and decision-making between the UK and the Overseas Territories. Along with the other OTs the Cayman Islands has sent a delegation led by the Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts.
The OTCC, held each year in London, is a key annual event in the British Government/Overseas Territories calendar, providing a forum for the elected leaders of Britain’s OTs and their representatives to discuss high-level policy with a team of British Government Ministers.
"I’m glad to be welcoming so many elected leaders from the Overseas Territories and senior ministers to the OTCC this year,” said Merron, the new Minister with responsibility for OTs, ina FCO statement. “The forum is a critical part of debate and decision-making between the UK and the Overseas Territories. We’ve got a great deal to discuss – from financial services to human rights – I’m looking forward to getting down to the business of ensuring continuing close relations and the security and prosperity of the OTs."
Discussions are expected to cover a range of current issues including economic issues and the current global crisis; financial services regulation; human rights; prospects for the relationship between the EU and the Overseas Territories; the environment and disaster management. Proceedings will include the signing of a new Tax Information Exchange Arrangement between the UK and the British Virgin Islands.
Attending for the Overseas Territories is Osbourne Fleming, Chief Minister, Anguilla; Ewart F Brown, Premier of Bermuda; Ralph O’Neal, Premier, the British Virgin Islands; Kurt Tibbetts, Leader of Government Business, the Cayman Islands; Michael Summers, Executive Councillor, the Falkland Islands; Lowell Lewis, Chief Minister, Montserrat; Leslie Jaques, Commissioner, Pitcairn Islands; William Drabble, Councillor, St Helena; Michael Misick, Premier, the Turks and Caicos Islands; and Conrad Glass, Chief Islander, Tristan da Cunha.
The British Government team will be led by Gillian Merron, who will be joined by Michael Foster MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development; the Stephen Timms MP, the Financial Secretary to HM Treasury; Gareth Thomas MP, Minister of State at the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; and Huw Irranca-Davies MP, the Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment, Wildlife and Rural Affairs at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
New Resident on the street
(CNS): Fast becoming a key resource for both old residents as well as new, the latest edition of Acorn Publishing’s New Resident magazine has arrived in the Cayman Islands. Charles Grover, Publishing Director at Acorn Publishing, said it marks the sixth anniversary of the magazine and is the largest and most complete edition ever produced.
“The complimentary magazine has over 250 pages crammed full with useful information to help both new and existing Cayman residents and contains a total of 24 chapters on subjects as diverse as: preparing to move to Cayman; finding a health specialist; cost of living; pitfalls to avoid when buying or renting a home; activities for adults and kids; schooling options; and even where to buy fresh fish in Cayman,” added Grover.
The Immigration, Heath and Education sections and summer camps in the Activities for Kids chapter have all been extended.
The New Resident is used by virtually all of the large organisations in Cayman, such as government, law firms, hotels and accounting firms, to encourage people to move from their home countries and Angela Piercy, acting Chief Information Officer for the Cayman Islands Government Information Services (GIS), said it provided some of the information too.
“We highly recommend the magazine to both existing residents and new arrivals,” said Piercy.
All government tenders and contracts to go public
(CNS): With just over two months to go before the implementation of the Freedom of Information Law the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) said it will be posting the details of all awarded contracts and tender documents on the CTC website with immediate effect. “The CTC is committed to ensuring transparency in all public sector bids, and continues to welcome comments or questions relating to contracts awarded,” it said.
In a short statement issued on Tuesday 28 October it confirmed that the public may log on to the website at www.centraltenders.gov.ky to see full details of all future contracts and those warded during August and September 2008. The committee said questions and comments may be submitted in writing to: Please send these, in writing, to the CTC Secretary daun.alleyne@gov.ky
The Central Tenders Committee comprises public and private sector members, chaired by Terrence Outar. The CTC, formerly known as the Public Tenders Committee, has been in existence for at least 15 years and has awarded numbers contracts over the years. The Committee meets twice monthly to receive and open tenders greater than $250,000 and overseesthe evaluation of all tenders. Other functions include approving requests for pre-qualification or other methods of procurement by government bodies; providing guidelines for all public sector procurements on behalf of the Financial Secretary and approving all tender recommendations and awards.
Conch remains at risk as season opens
(CNS): Although the conch and whelk open season starts this Saturday, 1 November, the Department of Environment (DOE) said that there are strict limits on the daily allowance and neither can be taken from marine protected areas. DoT also noted that chitons, periwinkles and bleeding teeth may not be taken from Cayman waters at any time.
As the popular season opens the DoE is reminding people of the law. As the Conch is an endangered species, the DoE said the daily allowance for taking conch is five per person or ten per boat, whichever is less. The law further stipulates that no-one may purchase or receive more than five conch from Cayman waters in any one day.
The open season catch limit for whelk is 2½ gallons in the shell or 2½ pounds of processed whelks per person per day. Also, no-one may buy or receive more than this quota.
Violating any of the marine park regulations and conservation laws carries a maximum penalty of CI$500,000 and one year’s imprisonment. If convicted, the Court can also order the forfeiture of a person’s boat or other equipment used. The current conch and whelk season will close on 30 April 2009.
The local Broad Leaf Conch is a vegetarian, marine snail native to the western Atlantic Ocean. Demand for its delicious meat and beautiful shell have contributed to chronic over fishing and placed it under enormous stress throughout the Caribbean. The drastic decline in conch populations across the Caribbean due to over-fishing, led to it being placed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species’ (CITES) list in 1992.
The conch population is extremely fragile and according to the National Trust estimates suggests that out of 400,000 offspring; fewer than one conch will survive into adulthood. This alarming statistic, coupled with other environmental and human pressures, signals a worrying time for the Queen Conch. The Cayman Islands’ Department of Environment conducts an annual conch survey to monitor the success of marine parks and replenishment zones in stabilising existing populations
Two men arrested for the murder of Estella
(CNS): Two men are currently being questioned in police custody at George Town Police Station, having been arrested on suspicion of murdering Estella Scott-Roberts. According to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, the two men, who are aged 27 and 23, were arrested by detectives investigating the murder on Monday afternoon, 27 October. Police could not say where the arrests took place or how they were led to the suspects but said that both men have George Town addresses.
Estella Scott-Roberts was last seen in the car park between Deckers and Buckingham Square at around 11:15 pm on Friday, 10 October. Her burnt out black Ford Edge was found in the Dykes in West Bay the following day. An examination of the remains found in the vehicle by a forensic pathologist left little doubt that the body was that of Scott-Roberts.
Yesterday, police released one man who had been in custody since Saturday, 18 October, helping them with enquiries. Following his release police stated that investigations continued and officers were following some important lines of enquiry.
“We have a number of positive lines of enquiry which we cannot elaborate on at this time,” said Superintendent Marlon Bodden, who has strategic oversight of the investigation. “We appreciate all the assistance we have been receiving and encourage the community to continue to work with us. We must take a stand against violence as a whole community.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the murder team directly Detective Inspector Kim Evans – 926-1773; Detective Constable Wade Chase – 925-7240; Detective Constable Charmane Dalhouse – 926-3975; Detective Constable Karl Lovell – 925-6761 or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477.
Blacklist threat part three and four
UPDATED: There are now two more wake up calls for Cayman. First, the announcement on 28 October 2008 that Australia and the British Virgin Islands have entered into a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA).
Second, the rather opaque comment made by the Jersey director for international finance that behind the scenes Jersey is in a “different position than the headlines suggest”, i.e. it is also busily negotiating TIEA’s.
What can we glean from these two events? First, other competitor jurisdictions are apparently rather ahead of Cayman in recognising the clear and present danger of OECD blacklisting (and possibly other prejudicial action). Second, they are actually doing something about it in a timely fashion. Third, they are getting results that should stand them in good stead.
The well-documented threats from the USA are real, but Cayman can do nothing to stop the likely changes to US domestic tax laws should Senator Obama be elected President. On the other hand Cayman can and must do something about the threats from the EU and the OECD. That is where the focus of the Government and private sector A Teams should be right now.
The final wake up call to Cayman came Wednesday with the very public and photographed signing of a tax information agreement between the British Virgin Islands (one of our key competitors) and the
Government freezes jobs
(CNS): In the face of the global financial crisis and economic slow down and its impact on the government budget, Cabinet has asked chief officers to restrict the hiring of new staff and filling of vacant posts to be reduced to the absolute minimum required. A statement from Government Information Services (GIS) said that government revenue would fall short of predictions by some CI$15 million in the 2008/2009 fiscal year.
(CNS): In the face of the global financial crisis and economic slow down and its impact on the government budget, Cabinet has asked chief officers to restrict the hiring of new staff and filling of vacant posts to be reduced to the absolute minimum required. A statement from Government Information Services (GIS) said that government revenue would fall short of predictions by some CI$15 million in the 2008/2009 fiscal year.
In a special meeting with chief officers on Thursday, 23 October, Cabinet advised senior civil servants of the circumstances and asked for the staffing freeze. The measures will apply to all public service entities, including statutory authorities and Government owned companies, GIS stated.
Chief Officers were also reportedly instructed to take measures to reduce their approved operational expenditure by 6 percent over the course of the present financial year. "This Government is committed to fiscal prudence, particularly in these difficult and unpredictable times," said the Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts.
"By law, the Cayman Islands Government cannot incur a budget deficit and we are taking steps early to ensure that this does not occur. We are doing so not in a reactive way, but by restricting the growth in the size of the public service and by reducing operational expenditure."
Chief Secretary and Head of the Civil Service George McCarthy, OBE, described the measures being taken by the Government as "prudent action". He said it was hard to predict the full impact of the global financial crisis and economic slow down on the Cayman economy and specifically on Government’s finances but early action was key to minimising its impact.
Acknowledging that a total ban on all government hiring is not possible or advisable McCarthy noted that "inevitably there will be instances where recruitment is still necessary.”
In order to address these exceptional situations, appointing officers will have to make application with detailed justifications to the Head of the Civil Service who may authorise recruitment on behalf of Cabinet in their ownership role, if justified. Statutory authorities and government companies will make submissions to Cabinet via their respective ministers.
McCarthy said the restriction on government hiring will not inhibit the appointment of necessary and essential personnel such as policemen, doctors, nurses and other specialised positions. He also reportedly gave assurances that this measure is not a precursor to job cuts in the civil service.
"I encourage all chief officers, appointing officers and managers to find creative ways to minimise expenditure and conserve Government’s strong cash position,” McCarthy added.
“As such, I have tasked the Portfolio of the Civil Service and all other government agencies to identify ways in which the public sector can reduce operational costs."
Addressing the government’s substantial capital works programme, the Leader of Government Business said all major government construction projects which are underway will continue. These include the new Government Administration Building and the new schools.
“In times like these it is important that government takes the lead in ensuring that the economy continues to be stimulated. These major government construction projects are providing employment to hundreds of workers and are injecting millions of dollars directly into the local economy on a monthly basis," Tibbetts said.
In relation to capital works projects for which contracts have not yet been awarded, however, Tibbetts said those were under review to prioritise projects based on importance, affordability and their potential positive impact on the local economy.
Tibbetts said he is confident that with continued careful management and enterprise the Cayman Islands will successfully navigate these troubled times.
"The Cayman Islands has a proven track record of sound financial management. We have every reason to be confident that with God’s grace and our own efforts we will weather the present global storm and emerge from it stronger than ever," he added.