SPIT still working says APC
(CNS): Despite claims published in an editorial yesterday in one of Cayman’s local newspapers, Acting Police Commissioner James Smith has said that neither Operation Tempura nor the latest part of the Special Police Investigation Team’s work, Operation Cealt, have been or are about to be derailed by financial trouble. Nor, as also cited in the same comment piece, has the governor run out of reserve funds, not least because, as confirmed by his office, Governor Stuart Jack does not have a reserve fund in the first place.
An editorial in Cayman Net News, the publication owned by Desmond Seales,who has been at the centre of Operation Tempura since the SPIT arrived in Cayman, said that according to reliable sources, the Metropolitan Police investigations into alleged corruption within the RCIPS “may have to be shut down within the next two weeks because of financial constraints.” It also stated that "…the Governor has nothing left in his ‘reserve fund’ for this purpose.”
According to APC Smith, neither operation has been halted, although he did state that he is well aware of the fiscal challenges government is facing, and as such he will continue to work towards ensuring the best value for money in everything the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service does.
While it is common knowledge that the elected members of cabinet have refused to sanction funds for the investigation, the governor recently drew on his reserve powers to access the money from the Cayman purse to pay the damages toJustice Alex Henderson following his unlawful arrest by SPIT, and continue the investigation. However he did not draw on any reserve funds as they do not exist.
The Governor’s Office confirmed to CNS that he has no such funds but reserve powers, as set out Under Section 8 of the Constitution, whereby the governor is required by the Constitution to consult the Cabinet, but he may, with the approval of the British Secretary of State, act against its advice if he considers it "inexpedient in the interests of public order, public faith or good governance" to act in accordance with it.
The constitution also states that the governor may when necessary receive financial assistance from “Her Majesty’s Exchequer in the United Kingdom for the purpose of balancing the annual budget or otherwise…” However, the governor does not have any funds of his own to call on for any reason.
Category: Headline News
It is interesting that NetNews, and no one has so far denied the CNS debunking, is again not getting the story right. However, what is more telling about the NetNews editorial is its attempt once again to serve its own purpose – and that in a rather self-congratulatory tone – above and beyond the public good.
The pity is that the public may never see through the self-congratulatory verbiage: it would not serve The Net News’ objective, it appears, to remind people that long before Bridger ever heard of Cayman, the Cayman Islands had an established and well deserved reputation for dealing with corruption wherever and whenever it appeared.
Take for instance:
1. the intended prosecution of a very revered and powerful politician which he avoided only by an untimely death;
2. the many investigations over the years by Auditors General and the RCIPS into matters such as the award of the hospital contract, the Cayman Turtle farm, the National Housing Scheme (with appropriate findings one way or the other), the selling of workpermits and status grants by certain immigration officers (with successful prosecutions), the selling of drivers licences by people within the RCIPS ITSELF (with successful prosecutions);
3. The territory’s efforts, proportionately greater than any of our competitor jurisdictions, to stamp out money laundering (with successful landmark prosecutions); in this regard Eurobank was itself a good example of Cayman going to all ends to prosecute and do so at great expense. The case collapsed because of the widely reported prosecutorial misconduct of the leading prosecutor (A QC brought in from the UK specifically for the case), the UK Attorney General of the day and the the-then head of the Financial Reporting Unit (Brian Gibbs — a former UK MET officer, by the way) in trying to falsify the evidence which was to be put before the jury. We can all recall that debacle in which all the ethically offending principals involved in this debacle fled the islands in great haste given the lack of tolerance for their behaviour in the local climate.
These are but a few examples of the zero-tolerance attitude Cayman has always taken towards official corruption and it is simply unfair for a newspaper (which by the way has had first-hand experience of Cayman’s commitment to stamping out fraud) to try to use its far-reaching capacity to give the world the impression that the Cayman Islands has put expedience about justice, and above law and order.