Archive for March, 2009
Cuts fund SPIT & CUC
(CNS): Although every government department has made significant cuts to reduce spending in the face of the economic crisis, none of the savings have made their way to the treasury coffers. The need to pay almost $4.5 million for the Special Police Investigation and a further $6 million to CUC customers for the rebate, means that all the cuts in services have been absorbed by these and other unexpected government expenses. This has resulted in an addition to the operating budget rather than a reduction as was hoped when government asked for a 6% cut in spending across departments.
In a marathon finance committee sitting which started around 5:00 pm in the evening on Friday and continued until 1:00 am Saturday morning, legislators were faced with an appropriation document which was 199 pages long. The document was laid on the table of the house at around 11:00 am, which led Leader of the Opposition McKeeva Bush to raise his objection to the amount of time members were being given to study such an important document before they were expected to vote on the line items in committee.
Entering into what would be the first altercation of the day with government and Madame Speaker, Bush demanded more time. “We have been a reasonable opposition and we are only just seeing this document,” he said. “It is extremely important that as an opposition we get to examine this we demand more time to go through it.”
Despite his pleas and insistence, the deadline of the dissolution of parliament prevented more time being found as the House must conclude all its business before midnight on Monday evening. Consequently, after a long and heavy day ploughing through a number of important bills the members faced the task of examining the cuts and expenditures of government that had led to such a huge appropriation document coming before them at the eleventh hour.
Education, mosquito control, counselling and district health services, legal services, prisoner rehabilitation services and the police have all seen major budget reductions and cuts,while the introduction of the FOI law, the forthcoming general elections and referendum as well as the impact of hurricanes on the Sister Islands all required new money. However, most of the new requests were considerably less significant when compared to the $6,000,000 requested for the Residential Electricity Fuel Duty Rebate for CUC consumers, the $4,444,744 for the Special Police Investigation, and the $2,063,000 to meet the growing interest rate on public debt.
There were 104 requests for changes and 85 were reductions and only 19 increases but the result is that government’s operating costs have still increased by $4.3 million. Moreover, with revenue down some $21 million the coffers remain in deficit. Every single ministry and government entity has made significant cuts to reduce the overall budget, however, because of the major appropriations the government operating budget has still increased.
Introducing the document at the start of Finance Committee, Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts said the world was in deep crisis and every country was being adversely affected but Cayman would weather the storm and things were not as bad as some would believe. “As a result of mis-information about the state of the economy people may be confused as to the true picture,” he said, adding that reports of Cayman receiving a terrible assessment from Moody’s were false and Cayman had retained its triple A credit rating. He said the purpose of this budget appropriation was to present an honest picture and he said the budget reductions were efficiencies and not cuts. He said the people would not bear the brunt and social services would not be cut.
Tibbetts explained that there was more than $20 million in unexpected spending, including the significant amount for SPIT, which he said he believed the tax payers should not have to pay but, as had been widely reported, his opinion had been over-ruled. He said that despite the problems the budget was compliant except in its ability to project on operating surplus.
Bush condemned the government’s mismanagement and said that the opposition had voted against the budget last year as it was obvious then that it was unrealistic. “What we have before us is a fidget, not a budget,” Bush said, adding that government should have been more open back in June about what have now been revealed to be over projections about earnings. Again he cited the opposition’s fundamental objection to the hurry over the appropriation. “We are objecting to the rush to go through this 199 pages, just at a glance it’s easy to see revenue is off by around $21 million giving us a deficit of around $28 million."
"The country is in jeopardy,” he said. “If the budget drops further we won’t be compliant with the requirements of the PMFL and we are already off in one area.”
He also noted that as there have been few audited accounts tabled during the last four years the country cannot know the real state of the government finances and it was impossible to know how safe the country is. “The government is calling for the country to come together and I agree. We need to call on the country to remove an inept government,” he said.
Keep checking CNS this week for details of cuts and spending across all government ministries and departments.
Stamp and customs duty cut to boost economy
(CNS): Continuing the legislative sprint to the finish, the members of the Legislative Assembly passed another five pieces of legislation on Friday including amendments to the Customs Tariff and the Stamp Duty bills in a bid to boost development and the real estate industry. Duty on construction materials is to be reduced by 5% and stamp duty is being cut across the island by as much as 2.5% for buyers in the Seven Mile Beach area and 1% elsewhere.
The customs duty reduction will stay in place until January 2010 and the stamp duty window will last only until 1 October 2009. The explanation for the short window of opportunity was, government said, to ensure the flurry of activity associated with stamp duty reductions, which is normally concentrated towards the end of the period, would make an impact on Cayman’s economy sooner rather than later.
Described by Financial Secretary Kenneth Jefferson, who laid the two pieces of legislation on the table, as a package to stimulate the economy, the opposition criticised the moves as too little too late insisting that there was no evidence that such moves would do anything at all to help the people in Cayman who are actually suffering more than ever before.
“People can’t eat cement,” Second Elected Member for West Bay Rolstin Anglin noted with irony. “The economy is in really, really bad shape. We have people coming to us for help that we would never have dreamed would find themselves in such a position. These people don’t even know where the social service department is as they have never needed help ever before.” He said a bill to stimulate real estate would not address the problem. “Does the government believe people are just going to suddenly jump up and build, that we have lots of rich people, rich Caymanians, just sitting around waiting for a break in duty to start building?”
Anglin said that if government had come with a more comprehensive list of duty reductions on things the people actually buy it would at least be something people could understand, but reductions in stamp duty and construction materials were too little too late given the fact that duty was the least of the reasons why so many developers had decided not to build or invest in Cayman. He said the bills were a desperate last attempt to address the government’s long term mismanagement of the economy and gain votes.
The government, however, argued that the 5% reductions on most building materials and significant reductions on stamp duty would stimulate some investment, especially as it was combined with a commitment by the real estate sector to cut commissions industry wide by around 20%.
“We are not suggesting it is a magic bullet. We believe this, together with a reduction in real estate commissions, will have the effect of stimulating real estate development and activity,” said Minister Alden McLaughlin, adding that boosting development was important given how many Caymanians were employed in the construction industry. He explained that this at least was a way of creating new jobs to replace many that would likely be lost in the coming months as major projects finish and few new ones were yet on the horizon.
The government also pushed through three other pieces of legislation, two of which were important changes for the offshore industry. Amendments to the Companies Law to regulate mergers and the Exempted Limited Partnership Law to regulate wind-ups and dissolutions have been long anticipated by the offshore industry as the changes will offer the industry a much needed opportunity to attract more work to the jurisdiction.
The bills received support from both sides of the House but not before they provided the opposition with another opportunity to criticise the government for the delays in bringing such crucial amendments before the Assembly. The government had stated that the delays were due to a shortage of specialist staff in the legal drafting department.
“Given the contribution that financial services makes to the economy and government revenue one would think that whatever resources are necessary would be allocated to ensure that these bills could be completed in order to avoid missing commercial opportunities,” Anglin said, adding that given the impressive amount of legislation that had suddenly come through the House in the last few weeks, the drafting problems must have been resolved. McLaughlin once again responded to the charges on behalf of government and said despite the inference that government was rushing things through only because of the election, the world would not end on 20 May.
During the day’s debate the members engaged in a number of heated exchanges where Madame Speaker was forced to intervene as the insults flew and voices were raised. Referring to the members as “children” on at least one occasion, the pressure of time was apparent as the day wore on. She tried in vain to make members stay within the parameters of the laws for the debates and not wander into unrelated areas, which caused not only further argument and tit-for-tat on both sides of the floor but absorbed precious time, threatening to upset the government’s tight timeline.
The fifth bill passed on Friday before the evening’s Finance Committee sitting was an amendment to the Public Management and Finance Law to protect the privacy of patient medical records held by the HSA from financial audits.
The Legislative Assembly will meet for one more day of business on Monday, 23 March, before parliament is dissolved in an official ceremony on Tuesday, 24 March, in preparation for the 20 May General Elections.
Award committee follows up on recipients
Chairperson of JGHS Literacy Committee and Reading Specialist Reina Jefferson said that getting a book in a student’s hands is one thing – but will they read it? “There is where the challenge lies. It’s about engaging students’ interests in reading, as well as improving their reading ability.” The “Blueprint for Literacy” programme aims to make reading part of students’ everyday lifestyle, rather than a scheduled programme that they participate in at school,” Jefferson added, “If we get some students to model the importance of reading, other students will in time also buy into it.”
Joanna Clarke said she was pleased with the progress of the initiative and looked forward to hearing more about the fruits of their labor in time. “I was very impressed by how passionate the educators are about instilling our youth with the joy of reading.”
dms introduced the award to both honour Clarke and publicly acknowledge the efforts of all persons and organizations that contribute to education in the Cayman Islands.
"This award has allowed us to launch and implement our school-wide literacy programme, Blueprint for Literacy. With the funds received, students and staff will benefit from high-interest literacy materials, incentives, and rewards specifically provided for John Gray High School,” said JGHS’ Acting Head of English Amber Bothwell.
Applications for the 2009 Joanna Clarke Excellence in Education Award are currently being circulated throughout Cayman Islands’ schools and are available at the award web site www.joannaclarke.ky. The deadline for applications is 17April 2009. For further information and to obtain an application contact Kim Fellman, dms Marketing Coordinator, at 814-4279 or
The JCA Committee will carefully review all applications submitted, and if several worthy projects are identified, they may provide grants to multiple organizations up to $12,000 KYD in total.
Court staff in ‘losing’ battle
(CNS): Twelve women and one man from the Judicial Administration have made a commitment to a healthier lifestyle and intend to slim down and lose weight. Inspired by the popular US television show the ‘Biggest Loser’, they have signed a pact to lose weight and tip the scales of the justice department, as it were, in a new direction. “I am delighted that staff members are a making conscious effort to improve their overall health. This is a win-win situation for all of us, in our public and personal lives,” said Courts Administrator Delene Cacho, an active participant in the programme.
“I am hoping this will translate into overall life-style changes that impact positively on work performance and, at a personal level, on individual self-worth. In short, we will be positively endorsing our lives.”
At the start of the programme the 13 participants had a combined total weight of a not insignificant 2,794.7 lbs and they now have until 4 May to make a significant dent in that figure. HR Manager Patricia Muschette explained that the person that records the highest percentage of body weight loss over the period will be declared the biggest loser.
“We are already seeing increasingly healthy and nutritious choices in foods,” Muschette said. “We are more focused, choosing items like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, as well as lean meats. And we are cutting out candy. I am pleased to report that so far the group is showing great commitment to individual goals.”
Participants have recourse to meal and nutrition plans as well as detailed weight charts. In addition to their mutual support system, there is a personal trainer who offers services at reduced costs. The group is weighed weekly by an external recorder, but unlike the TV show there is no public disclosure of results, and therefore participants are not distressed nor pressured.
The overall purpose of this reportedly gentler approach is to encourage the continuance of the healthier lifestyle regimen even after the two-month contest concludes. Organisers want to enable life-altering habits to take root in individuals for their betterment and wellness.
Contestants are vying for an airline ticket to Miami or Jamaica, but the real prize is the weight loss as everyone gains in this losing battle. “If they lose, they win!” added Muschette.
Election day remains dry
(CNS): Anyone planning an Election Day party will need to make sure they stock up on liquor before polling day as there will be a ban on booze during polling time. According to the election law, there will be no alcohol on sale anywhere on Election Day until the polls close at 7pm in the evening. The Liquor Licensing Board of Grand Cayman said that intoxicating liquor cannot be sold, offered for sale, or given away during and just after poll time.
Sale and use of liquor may resume at 7:00 pm, one hour after the closing of the polls. However, the Board said it may exempt any bar serving an airport and any duty-free shop located at an airport or serving a seaport in respect of sales to outgoing passengers only.
The Cayman Islands is not alone in its election day alcohol ban as a number of countries and several US states also keep election day dry.
For further information, licensees and members of the public may contact Marva Scott at the Liquor Licensing Office at 946-5446 Ext. 5
Spear guns need licence renewals
(CNS): The Marine Conservation Board has said that all provisional spear gun licences will be invalid after 31 March 2009. After the end of this month, all remaining provisional licence holders are expected to have a proper licence complete with photographic ID and anyone in possession of a spear gun while using a provisional licence will be breaking the law. The MCB said that anyone wanting an official full licence should make an appointment with the board.
Applicants who must be over 18 years old are required to provide a completed application form; police record, issued no more than six months previously; a spear gun with all its parts, and proof of a previous licence. If the license is approved, a $50 fee will be applicable.
No one may use a speargun in Cayman waters without a license this also includes Hawaiian sling, polespear, harpoon, hookstick or any device with a pointed end which may be used to impale, stab or pierce any marine life. License holders are still not permitted to use spear guns in any Marine Park, replenishment or environmental zones.
The Marine Conservaition law also prohibits the importation of spear guns or any parts for a spear gun. People using spear guns are limited to three fish per licensed person per day and no one may possess more than six fish that have been caught by a spear gun.
Appointments and licence processing are both scheduled for Thursdays and Fridays between 10am and 4:00pm except on public holidays. For further information, contact: The Marine Conservation Board, Department of Environment, CI Environmental Centre, 580 North Sound Road or call 949-8469.
Small businesses may struggle with immigration points
(CNS): Embarking on a series of public meetings to explain the proposed changes to the immigration system, Chief Immigration Officer Franz Manderson says it is important that small business take time to score themselves using the proposed guidelines andmake their feelings known to the department during the crucial consultation period. “There are a lot of legitimate questions surrounding how this will impact small businesses and we need them to look at their potential scores in this system to measure the possible impact.”
Although Manderson and his immigration team have met with stakeholders in a number of specific industry sectors. the focus is now with small business owners as there are legitimate concerns that it may be harder for them to achieve the higher tier levels. The problem for smaller businesses is that in order to be allowed to apply for any key employees they must reach level two, which goes well beyond compliance which the law.
“There is a legitimate question here regarding compliance,” said Manderson. “If an employer is in full compliance with the law, why should he not be able to apply for key status, something which is currently available to all employers?”
The proposals at present suggest that all businesses, regardless of the number of employees, will need to be compliant with the system. Evidence of compliance with all the legal requirements expected of an employer, such as health and pension payments, the necessary operating licences, evidence of a viable business and employment contracts will equal 350 points and give the employer tier one status. This will only allow an employer to apply for renewals or new work permits, it will not allow any key employee status applications.
In order to gain that benefit and other benefits, such as fast track applications, employers will need to accumulate points to climb through the tiers. As noted by some business owners present at the meeting, small business are as likely to have just as much need for key employees as the larger companies, if not greater. Losing a crucial member of staff from a company of five or six people will have far more of a negative impact on that business than one employing hundreds of employees. Under this new system, however, it may be very difficult for a small business to reach the 500 points which will be required to get a key employee.
Once compliant with the law, access to greater points comes from a wide range of possible areas, such as the level of a company’s participation in the community and sponsorships, the percentage of Caymanian workers and managers, the promotion of Caymanians, profit sharing schemes for Caymanians, training and scholarship programmes, employment practices such as health and safety and disaster preparedness among many others.
It is apparent that the system could be prejudicial to small businesses that are less likely to have the resources to get them to the top or fourth tier. However, Manderson said it was not impossible as there may be ways of creating a point structure that was beneficial to small business and he said it was important that the small business community offered its contribution and ideas for things which could go some way to preventing a possible imbalance.
Manderson made it clear that the primary focus of the system was to address unscrupulous employers and ensure in the first instance that all businesses are compliant with the law. He said the changes would speed up the process of work permit applicants. “This system will eliminate doubt about employers, for the first time we will know from the evidence supplied that they are compliant with the necessary laws and what they are doing to encourage Caymanian employment,” he added. “It is geared toward holding business owners accountable and rewarding best practices; advancing Caymanians in the workforce; and preventing the work-related abuse of non-Caymanians workers.”
Manderson also said there were still a number of considerations to be made and things were not finalised. He said the consultation period would allow the department to re-examine suggestions and consider changes. He said for example, that the question of whether employers would still need to do a business staffing plan on top of submitting their accreditation was still unanswered and that was something he hoped the consultation period could help finalise.
So far only a small number of small business owners have turned up for the two meetings in George Town and West Bay but Manderson said he was hoping Monday (23 March) evening’s meeting in Bodden Town would see a greater number of people in attendance.
UFO files released in UK
(BBC): A boomerang-shaped object seen from an airport control tower and a woman’s encounter with an "alien" are among the secrets revealed in official UFO files. The woman reported seeing a glowing, spherical object rise into the air in Norwich after meeting a man who said he came from a planet similar to Earth. In another sighting, a triangular craft hovered then "shot off at 500mph". The third set of UFO documents to be released by the Ministry of Defence covers the period from 1987 to 1993. In November 1989 a "completely terrified" woman contacted RAF Wattisham in Suffolk to report her close encounter with a man claiming to be an alien.
Man shot in George Town
(CNS): A 48-year-old man is currently in serious but stable condition after receiving gunshot wounds to his chest and left elbow early Sunday morning. The 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call at approximately 2:10 am on 22 March from a man reporting that he had been shot and that he was behind Punta Latino on Shedden Road. Police and medics responded to the scene and found that the man had received a wound to his chest and arm. He told police that he had been in his house on Linwood Street when he heard voices outside and went to investigate.
The victim said he saw two men dressed in dark clothes and one of them fired at him. He then ran from the area and called 911, and was taken to hospital by medics.
Detectives are appealing for anyone with information about the incident to come forward. Anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious should contact George Town CID on 949-4222 or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Lyndon swaps dock for hustings
(CNS): Although Lyndon Martin was supposed to face court on Monday morning for making a false accusation against a police officer, CNS has learned that the case has been delayed until September. However, Martin will be declaring himself asa candidate on Nomination Day for the district of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. The former United Democratic Party MLA, who served in the LA between 2000-2005 as the second elected member for the Sister Islands, will be taking his chances alone as an independent candidate this time around.
CNS understands the delay in Martin’s trial is down to the prosecution, which is reportedly still not ready. Martin was arrested 12 months ago on 27 March, 2008 while he was working at Cayman Net News, and charged with 17 counts ranging from burglary to false accusations. Since that time most of the charges have been dropped and Martin now faces only two counts which both relate to accusations he made against Deputy Commissioner Anthony Ennis surrounding possible leaks to the paper.
While the accusations against Ennis were, according to the Special Police Investigation Team, unfounded, the prosecution must now demonstrate that Martin made the accusations knowing they were false. However, it appears that the former MLA has considerable evidence to demonstrate that he had every reason to believe the accusations he reported to the police commissioner at that time, Stuart Kernohan, were true.
Following Martin’s report to Kernohan, who has since been dismissed from post, he reportedly told Governor Stuart Jack, UK security officer for OTs in the Caribbean Larry Covington and Chief Superintendent John Jones about the concerns Martin had regarding Ennis. At some point following the report Martin, along with his colleague John Evans, a reporter from the same paper who also believed the allegations, tried to find concrete evidence by searching the office of the Editor in Chief, Desmond Seales. Nothing was found, however, and at some point the governor, Kernohan and Covington made a decision to bring in the Metropolitan Police from Scotland Yard.
The Scotland Yard team reportedly arrived in Cayman in September 2007 and worked undercover until that was blown, allegedly as a result of a relationship one of the original officers had with a resident. At that point, Martin was arrested and the UK officers revealed themselves to the Cayman public and suspended Kernohan, Jones and Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon for unrelated offences. The officers also concluded that Ennis was not involved in a corrupt relationship with Seales.
During his suspension, Kernohan left the island because of the death of his father and has not returned since. With significant concerns about the way the investigation was being conducted, Kernohan did not respond to orders from the governor to return as in law he had no obligation to do so. He was dismissed, however, and although Kernohan’s legal team has remained in contact with the UK investigation team (SPIT) which is now employed by the Governor (in his role within the Cayman Government), he has not yet been interviewed regarding the case. Jones, who has remained on island suspended on full pay, has been interviewed but has not been dismissed or returned to post.
On Friday evening, James Smith told Finance Committee that issues regarding Operation Tempura were being wrapped up as soon as possible as SIO Martin Bridger was returning to the UK in April. Referring to the Rudolph Dixon case, which he said was the last trial, he said everything would therefore be completed by August. Consequently, either the prosecution intends to drop the case against Martin or no one told Smith about the delay.