Archive for May, 2009
Canadians attacked inJam
(thestar.com): A gunman shot up a minivan full of Canadians driving into Jamaica’s gang-ridden capital, Jamaican police have said. One of the tourists suffered minor injuries from flying glass. Prime Minister Bruce Golding met with the six visitors from Quebec to apologize personally, and a military helicopter flew them back to the beach resort of Montego Bay, deputy police commissioner Mark Shields said."I think their motivation was to drive into downtown Kingston to look at another side of Jamaica," Shields said.
Tibbetts calls on governor & AG to uphold constitution
(CNS): Leader of the People’s Progressive Movement and outgoing Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts has said it is the responsibility of the attorney general and the governor to deal with the apparent disqualification of Mark Scotland and Dwayne Seymour in Bodden Town. He said that before the governor swears in any candidate to the Legislative Assembly it is his responsibility to check they are qualified.
Although Tibbetts did not state that the PPM would not be challenging the result, in a speech to the country on television on Friday evening he indicated that he expected the AG and the governor to deal with the issue and not necessarily the two candidates from his own party — Osbourne Bodden and Charles Clifford — who both came in directly behind Seymour. However, a number of local experts in the field have indicated that the question of qualification must come as a legal challenge from either a candidate or from the district’s electorate. If no challenge is forthcoming, the governor may be obligated to swear in both candidates, despite the fact that the Constitution states they are disqualified.
Tibbetts said that before the elections the attorney general had announced that he would not take any action until it was over. “So we await a public statement from him now that the elections have been held. Furthermore, it is the duty of the governor to ensure that all persons he swears in as members of the Legislative Assembly have been duly elected and have not been disqualified under the provisions of the law or the Constitution. So we await his public statement on this subject. I do not wish to make any further comment at this time except to stress that the governor and the attorney general have no higher responsibility than upholding the law and Constitution.”
However, the only comment that the attorney general made before the elections was that the issue was a matter for the courts to decide. The governor had said that he expects all candidates in the forthcoming general election to operate within the terms of the Constitution and the applicable laws of the Cayman Islands, but also said cases of possible non-compliance with the legal requirements would be a matter for the courts.
Tibbetts also raised the issue of the investigations currently being undertaken by the Elections Office and the police over the accusation of irregularities that took place in George Town, where the United Democratic Party was accused of handing out voting instructions in contravention of the Elections Law.
“There havebeen serious allegations that UDP agents, supporters and some candidates attempted to unduly influence voters at some George Town polling stations on Election Day. These matters have been reported to the Supervisor of Elections and the police. We understand they are being investigated and that in due course a statement will be made regarding the outcome of those investigations,” he said.
Tibbetts said, however, that the voters had spoken and the PPM respected their decision as that is the democratic process. He told the country that he and the party were disappointed but he said the five candidates who have been returned would proudly carry out their duties as representatives and as the parliamentary opposition.
“As the opposition, our duty will be to question and criticize measures taken by government so that the public can better understand what is going on, and the government can be held to account. But we will do our best to perform our duty in a constructive way,” Tibbetts added.
He also said that the PPM had brought a new culture of governance to Cayman offering open, honest and transparent government and making huge strides in key areas like education and infrastructural development. “We have much of which we can be proud,” he said, adding there were lessons to learn and that members of the PPM would continue the mission to offer the Cayman Islands the right kind of government.
Speaking of the Constitution, Tibbetts said he was delighted that it had received the blessing of voters in the country’s first referendum.
“Cayman will now have a new, modern constitutional framework in which to negotiate the growing number of complex issues with which we are faced in these increasingly difficult times,” Tibbetts added. “The constitutional modernization exercise has been a protracted and difficult process, but together we have stayed the course, and I believe future generations will thank us all.”
Thanking all those involved in the constitution process, the referendum and the election itself, he also offered his thanks to the civil service for the work they had done during his government’s time in office. Noting that it was not necessarily customary to thank them, he said it was important to acknowledge all the work that civil servants do. “Nothing can be achieved by a government without the civil servants. LA, Cabinet and the governor are the head of the government, but the civil service is the body. I hope the civil servants are proud of what we have achieved together in the last four years,” he concluded.
Travers gets traction in DC
(CNS): The international PR onslaught initiated by the Cayman Islands Financial Services Association under the new chairmanship of Anthony Travers seems to be gaining traction after Travers appears to have got some key US officials to see Cayman in a new light. Pushing the message on Capitol Hill and to members of the Washington media that Cayman is committed to transparency, Travers has drawn some positive attention to the jurisdiction and says he intends to brief the new Cayman government on what needs to be done to keep up the pace.
On his trip to the United States capital, Travers shared details of CIFSA’s support for proactive reporting — and CIFSA’s concern about any approach that would use “lists” as tools to further tax policy — with legislative staff and Washington reporters for international news outlets. He conveyed important facts about the Cayman financial sector, including its strong and stable financial platform.
Travers said that he and a number of key US officials responsible for tax policy agreed to work cooperatively to develop a plan that would encourage transparency and further bi-lateral dealings between the two jurisdictions. Optimistic about the discussions in Washington, he added that he believed Congress would reject the idea of identifying any list of countries and territories whose tax and disclosure systems are inadequate to US needs and would instead focus on promoting reporting and transparency.
Travers said he plans to develop a more detailed initiative that would continue to provide accurate and up-to-date information to Washington decision makers and opinion formers.
“As the legislative process gains traction in Washington, I anticipate that the new government in Cayman will now adopt a far more engaged and proactive approach. I will be briefing the new minister fully as to what CIFSA regards now as the appropriate and immediate course of action. Preliminary understandings have been established in Washington, and in that respect I am pleased with what has been achieved in a short space of time.”
He said that legislators would be kept fully informed about the suggested transparency developments in Cayman on a timely basis. “Provided the government adopts certain specific measures, I believe that the prospective US legislation will not target Cayman,” the CIFSA chair said.
“It is simply a question of improving the understanding and then introducing legislative enactments that corroborate the story. But we need to get ahead of the curve on this issue and stop playing catch up.”
Travers also held a number of meetings with renowned tax academics and hopes to promote the publication of opinion pieces that will be fully supportive of the Cayman position and help deal with what he said were misperceptions.
Local patient H1N1flu free
(CNS): Following the dispatch of a flu sample to CAREC the Public Health Department confirmed today that the patient does not have H1N1 flu or what was commonly called swine flu. The patient had tested positive for Influenza A last Sunday and CAREC is now conducting further tests to establish which strain and subtype of flu it is.
Last Tuesday the Health Services Authority (HSA) said it had up to that time investigated a total of 17 patients with respiratory infections or flu-like symptoms in the Cayman Islands, eight of which had a travel history with potential exposure to the new H1N1 virus. All 17 have now tested negative. Medical Officer of Health Dr Kiran Kumar said then that this latest patient had probably contracted a local strain of seasonal flu from members of her own family before travelling to the US.
According to the World Health as of 06:00 GMT, 22 May 42 countries have officially reported 11 168 cases of influenza A -H1N1 infection and there have been 86 deaths 75 of which have been in Mexico
Constitution gets less than half electorate’s support
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Constitution was passed on the say of less than 50% of the full electorate, though it did receive 62.2% approval from those who took part on Wednesday, 20 May, or 7,045 ‘yes’ votes. Although the new Constitution itself stipulates that a people-led referendum must receive an approval rating of more than 50% of the entire electorate (which is currently 15,361), this vote did not reach that figure. In order to achieve the new standard of referendum it would have required 7,681 votes to pass.
However, the Referendum Law which was passed in the Legislative Assembly earlier this year only required a 50+% of the actual turnout, which was in the end 11,244 people, or around 69% of the entire electorate. Susan Bothwell from the Constitutional Secretariat told CNS that she felt that given this was Cayman’s first ever referendum it was an impressive result.
“I believe it was a tremendous turnout considering this was the country’s first ever referendum. The numbers are quite impressive and the truth of the matter is most people who voted in the General Election also took part in the referendum,” she said. “The country’s mandate has been ‘yes’ for acceptance of the Constitution. Now the work will begin to prepare for the implementation of the new Constitution."
Although the result was bitter-sweet for Alden McLaughlin, the former minister who, along with Kurt Tibbetts the outgoing leader of government business, has been associated most with the drive for constitutional modernisation, he told CNS he was delighted that the people had voted ‘yes’ in the referendum despite the election result. “We are very please that the new Constitution has been approved and this document will be around a lot longer than any political administration,” he said.
Governor Stuart Jack expressed his pleasure at the outcome and said it wasas a result of three rounds of negotiations between the government of the United Kingdom, the Cayman Islands government, the opposition, and non-governmental organisations, representing the churches, the local business community and the Human Rights Committee.
“An Order in Council will now be submitted to Her Majesty in the Privy Council for consideration at its next meeting on 10 June,” he said. “The new Constitution Order will be brought into force by me by proclamation soon after it has been made in the Privy Council. At that time, I will issue a further press release explaining the phased introduction of the new Constitution. There is much work to be done, and my office will be working closely with the Constitutional Review Secretariat and others to ensure a smooth transition.”
Bothwell too felt that it was important for the secretariat to continue its work following the result to help educate people about what it means to them and to assist with its implementation.
“I definitely see a future roll and function for the secretariat in terms of education,” Bothwell said, adding that she herself had been seconded and so the unit may well be headed up by someone else in the future, but either way she hoped it would continue on with its work of informing and educating.
This morning, the UK’s Foreign Office Minister Gillian Merron welcomed the acceptance of the draft Cayman Islands Constitution Order at the referendum on 20 May and congratulated the United Democratic Party on its election into Government.
“I am delighted too that the draft new Constitution has been accepted by the people of the Cayman Islands. As I said in February at the conclusion of the final round of talks, which I was honoured to chair, the new Constitution will be an important step forward for the people of the Cayman Islands,” she said, adding the she recognised the debate surrounding the Bill of Rights.
“I am convinced that it is an important first step in the enhancement of human rights protection in the Cayman Islands, and that it will raise awareness of and strengthen respect for human rights in the Islands. The new Constitution will also help to ensure the increasingly high standards of good governance to which the UK government attaches considerable importance.
“We look forward to working with the new government of the Cayman Islands towards timely implementation of the new Constitution Order. I know that it will entail a great deal of work, and I am grateful for the efforts that have already been made to help ensure a smooth transition," Merron added.
Although some elements of the Constitution will be implemented immediately, the Bill of Rights will be phased in over a period of three years. Also, certain domestic laws may have to amended and new ones passed in order to ensure the national legal framework is compatible with the requirements under the Cayman Islands Constitution 2009.
Robber leads cops to him
(CNS): Police said this morning that a 28-year-old man is currently in police custody having been arrested on suspicion of theft, obtaining property by deception and handling stolen goods after he called the victim who he had stolen the goods from and tried to sell them back to him. Police said the man was arrested in West Bay last night (Thursday,21 May). Officers were informed that a man had been contacted by someone claiming to be in possession of his stolen laptop.
The victim was informed that if he paid $600 the item would be returned to him. Officers attended the location where the transaction was taking place on Batabano Road, arrested the suspect and recovered the stolen laptop. Police said the laptop had been taken from the victim’s car earlier this month. The suspect remains in police custody at this time while investigations continue.
“This is a great example of the community and the police working in partnership to tackle crime,” said Area Commander, Chief Inspector Angelique Howell. “We encourage anyone with information about criminal activity to come forward to an officer, or call Crime Stoppers anonymously.”
Residents are also reminded to bear security in mind at all times and follow crime prevention tips such as locking all windows and doors on homes and vehicles, not leaving items on display and reporting any suspicious activity to police. More information on crime prevention can be found on the police website at; http://www.rcips.ky/crime_reduction_advice.htm.
Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station 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.
More UK cops review RCIPS
(CNS): In an attempt to address the problem of the community’s low confidence in how the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s (RCIPS) handles information and intelligence given to it by the public, the departing Acting Police Commissioner has initiated a thematic review of its intelligence systems, practices, policies and procedures by former officers from the United Kingdom. James Smith said the review is designed to identify areas of best practice as well as highlight any processes which could be improved upon.
Smith acknowledged that there have been concerns expressed by members of the public and from officers within the service relating to how intelligence is handled and that a review of the systems in place is the most effective way to address those concerns.
“It is imperative that the way we access, gather, store and use intelligence is the most efficient, effective and modern way possible,” Smith added. “We also need to ensure that the public have the utmost confidence in us when they give us information. This review will help us to assess our procedures and make improvements where necessary.”
He said the inspection will be led by two ex-UK police officers who have vast experience in reviewing intelligence systems and will be supported by two RCIPS Chief Inspectors. He confirmed that the former officers are not members of the Special Police Investigation Team (SPIT) brought here by the Governor, and re indpendent from those officers who are reportedly still working on police corruption issues.
With former SPIT Senior Investigating Officer Martin Bridger gone, Operation Tempura has reportedly wound down and been replaced by phase two of the investigation named Operation Cealt by Smith. SPIT is now being led by SIO Anne Lawrence from Scotland Yard.
Smith added that the duration of this separate review will be dictated by the outcome of actions completed but it is expected to take around three weeks to complete, after which a detailed report will be compiled. Smith explained that once the review is complete recommendations will be made on how things can be improved for the good of the service and the Cayman Islands as whole.
Smith noted that the review should not reflect badly on any police officers or departments.
“Acknowledging concerns and taking steps to address them should not be seen as negative reflection of the officers within the RCIPS,” he said. “The service recognises that there could be areas for improvement and is keen to ensure that these are identified and addressed.”
This review is one of many which have been carried out over the last few years. The most recent of which focussed on the Professional Standards Unit (formally the Complaints and Discipline Department). In 2008 the unit was audited by a UK police officer who examined how complaints against police were handled and the procedures in place for disciplining officers.
The new Police Commissioner David Baines is expected to arrive on Island some time next week to take up his post. Chief Superintendent John Jones who was recently cleared from any criminal allegations regarding the infamous Netnewsgate is also expected to return to duty in the next few weeks following a 14 month long suspension in the wake of that.
Cayman men to attend conference on domestic abuse
(CNS): Three men the Cayman Islands will be attending a conference in New York aimed at ending domestic violence, sexual violence and all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls. The Estella Scott-Roberts Foundation (ESRF), along with assistance from an anonymous private donor, sponsored its Chairperson Rayle Roberts and successful applicants Victor Crumbley and Clifton Gayle to attend this Stand Up, Speak Out conference on 21 and 22 May.
The conference organisers have invited a group of male and female presenters who are amongst the leaders in the United States in pioneering efforts to engage men in addressing the issue of ending violence against women. Men and women are attending this conference to "Stand Up and Speak Out".
The conference aims to challenge men to reconsider their long held beliefs about women, in an effort to create a more just society. Organisers believe this is achieved by encouraging change in the behaviours of men through a re-education and training process that challenges sexism. The goal of the ESRF is that the local attendees will lead the re-education process in our society upon their return.
This is the 4th annual conference organised by A Call to Men, The National Association of Men and Women Committed To Ending Violence Against Women in the United States. A Call to Men (www.acalltomen.com) believes that ending violence against women is primarily the responsibility of men. They state that historically it has been almost entirely women who have been at the forefront addressing this issue, and they think it is essential that men play a primary role in the solution to end it.
"We realise that the majority of men are well-meaning and do not engage in acts of violence against women; however it is precisely these men that don’t see themselves as a part of the problem who are a critical part of the solution," stated Roberts. With one of its objectives as a life free of violence for all, the ESRF aims to be an active change agent to engage men in addressing the issue of ending violence against women in the Cayman Islands.
New law assists offshore business
The Companies (Amendment) Law, 2009 came into force on 11 May 2009. It introduces a new, simpler and more cost-effective mechanism for mergers and consolidations between Cayman Islands companies and between Cayman companies and foreign companies.
The Plan must be authorized by each constituent company by (a) a shareholder resolution by majority in number representing 75% in value of the shareholders voting together as one class; and (b) if the shares to be issued to each shareholder in the consolidated or surviving company are to have the same rights and economic value as the shares held in the constituent company, a special resolution of the shareholders voting together as one class. A proposed merger between a Cayman parent company and its Cayman subsidiary or subsidiaries will not require authorization by shareholder resolution.
The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company in a proposed merger or consolidation is required unless the court (upon theapplication of the constituent company that has issued the security) waives the requirement for consent.
The Plan must be signed by a director on behalf of each constituent company and filed with the Registrar of Companies together with the required supporting documents including various director’s declarations such as a declaration of solvency of the constituent company and the consolidated or surviving company, that the merger or consolidation is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the constituent companies, an undertaking that a copy of the certificate of merger or consolidation will be given to members and creditors of the constituent company and published in the Gazette, and the applicable fees.
A certificate of merger or consolidation is issued by the Registrar which is prima facie evidence of compliance with all statutory requirements in respect of the merger or consolidation. All rights and property of each of the constituent companies will then vest in the surviving or consolidated company which will also be liable for all debts, contracts, obligations and liabilities of each constituent company. Similarly, any existing claims, proceedings or rulings of each constituent company will automatically be continued against the surviving or consolidated company.
Provision is also made for a merger or consolidation between a Cayman company and one or more foreign companies where the surviving or consolidated company is or is to be a Cayman company.
Further, provision is made for a dissenting shareholder of a Cayman constituent company to be entitled to payment of the fair value of his shares upon dissenting to the merger or consolidation. Where the parties cannot agree on the price to be paid to the dissenting shareholder, either party may file a petition to the court to determine fair value of the shares. These rights are not available where an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange for the shares of the class held by the dissenting shareholder.
Bikers against crime
(CNS): Cayman’s bikers turned out in force to show their support for the fight against crime in an islandwide cruise from Boatswain’s Beach to Kaibo. Dozens of avid bikers took part in the first ‘Ride Against Crime’ on Sunday, 17 May, organized by Cayman Crime Stoppers’ in partnership with the Cayman Islands Motorcycle Riders Association. The riders were accompanied by police escort from West Bay through Sound Sound to Savannah, where they took an oragnised stop to talk with members of the public.
The ride then made it’s way via East End to Kaibo at Cayman Kai, where the public was afforded another opportunity to view the bikes and learn about the Crime Stoppers programme.
Stuart Bostock, Chairman of Cayman Crime Stoppers, was delighted with the turn out. He said, “I want to thank everyone who took part in the ride for their support. I would also like to thank Keith Keller of the Cayman Islands Motorcycle Riders Association for partnering with us to promote Crime Stoppers. The day was a huge success and all the riders and spectators had a great time. Most importantly we attracted a lot in interest in Crime Stoppers and even gained a few new members.” Mr. Bostock added, “I’d also like to thank members of the public and road users for their patience – the day went off without a hitch.”
Mr. Bostock said, “As the ride was such a success we will be doing it again next year when we hope to get even more riders and supporters for the day.”
Crime Stoppers is a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of crime. It exists to promote the Crime Stoppers telephone tips line, 800 TIPS (no ‘1’ before the 800), which anybody can call to report a crime in complete anonymity. Calls are answered by a call center in Miami so callers will never be recognised and nor will they ever be asked to reveal their identity or give personal details. Callers can receive a reward of up to $1,000 should the information they give lead to the successful resolution of a case.
