Archive for June, 2009
Neighbourhood dispute turns violent
(CNS): Two suspects have been arrested on suspicion of wounding following an assault that left the victim with lacerations to his body and a broken arm. A 43-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman are currently in police custody following the assault, which took place shortly after midnight Tuesday night, 23 June. The 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call from a man stating he had been assaulted in the Mangrove Avenue area of Prospect. Police and medics responded to the scene and found the 36-year-old male victim, who was taken to hospital for treatment. The victim has told police an altercation occurred between him and two other people at a residence.
Anyone with information about the assault is askedto 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.
Rapist wins HR claim
(The Independent): A convicted rapist has won a High Court test case ruling that his human rights were breached by the long delay in the Parole Board reviewing the lawfulness of his continued detention. Mr Justice Collins ruled that Betteridge’s right to a speedy hearing under Article 5(4) of the European Convention on Human Rights had been breached. But he was not entitled to damages because the evidence showed he was not fit for release in any event. He said other prisoners in similar circumstances to Betteridge were also unlikely to receive any damages, and their applications would only add to legal costs and create "a thoroughly unsatisfactory state of affairs".
Europe takes Britain to task
(Times Online): Brussels turned up the heat on Britain yesterday over the Government’s plunge into the red as a result of the recession and the banking crisis. In a fresh warning shot at the Treasury over its soaring budget deficit, the European Commission classed Britain alongside the struggling Irish Republic and stricken Latvia as the European Union economies whose national finances had been most dangerously hit by the costs of the crisis. Alistair Darling was again urged to take more urgent and radical measures to bolster the UK’s budgetary position, which Brussels said was set to be even worse next year than the Chancellor has forecast so far as the recession bites harder than the Treasury expects.
Cocaine, opiate markets ‘shrink’
(BBC): Global markets for cocaine, opiates and cannabis are steady or declining, the UN’s annual drug report says. Opium cultivation in Afghanistan fell by 19% in 2008 while cocaine production in Colombia dropped 28%, it says. Consumption of the drugs in major markets in Western countries is said to be stable or declining. But the production and consumption of synthetic drugs are thought to be growing as they shift increasingly to the developing world. In its report, the UN Office for Drugs and Crime said that what used to be a cottage industry producing synthetic drugs – amphetamines, methamphetamine and ecstasy – has now become "big business".
PPM queries integrity of FS
(CNS): Leader of the Opposition Kurt Tibbetts has accused Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush of gross misrepresentation regarding government finances and questioned the competence and integrity of Financial Secretary Ken Jefferson. “The fundamentally different positions taken by the financial secretary in a matter of mere weeks and the radically different advice that he has given to the former and present governments raises serious issues not only about the state of the finances of the country but also about the competence and integrity of the financial secretary,” he said.
In the wake of recent claims by Bush that the projected operational deficit at the end of June of $29 million was now expected to be $74 million and that the country’s reserves had declined from the previously projected $126 million to CI$17 million, Tibbetts has raised serious doubts. The opposition leader pointed out that for the advice and guidance provided to the Cabinet by the Portfolio of Finance and Economics to have changed so much in such a short period raises serious questions and has demanded an immediate meeting of Finance Committee to scrutinize the sudden and radical differences.
Tibbetts explained that the opposition, which now includes four members of the former Cabinet, had delayed their statement in response to Bush in order to analyze the claims he had made. “We have concluded that much of what has been said by the LoGB in his recent statement grossly misrepresents the actual financial position of the country,” Tibbetts said.
The opposition leader said that on 5 May Jefferson had set out the actual state of government finances as of 31 March 2009. “These were not projections, but the actual numbers,” Tibbetts added. “According to the Cabinet Note … the actual operational deficit of the government as at 31st March 2009 was $18.8M.”
Tibbetts said that Cabinet was informed that the actual cash balances of the government as of that date were $110 million, made up of unrestricted cash of $29 million and restricted cash of $80 million.
“The financial secretary also assured Cabinet that the projected operational deficit of $29M and projected cash balances of $126M at the end of June were holding true,” the opposition leader stated.
He said that the figures given by Bush on 12 June to the country were a deliberate misrepresentation designed to make the stewardship of the country’s finances by the PPM look as bad as possible.
“And we say this notwithstanding that the financial secretary has recently been reported as confirming the allegation that the projected deficit has now been revised upward to the huge sum of $74M,” Tibbetts said. “There is something radically wrong with the picture painted by the LoGB and apparently endorsed by the financial secretary. The variance between the previous projections made by the financial secretary to the PPM Government and the recent announcement by the LoGB is so great that it defies belief.”
He added, “No amount of incompetence could possibly have led to projections which were so hopelessly off. There must be another explanation. It is inconceivable that the financial secretary has suddenly discovered that the advice and information which he consistently provided to Cabinet over the course of the past year and right up to the eve of the elections was completely wrong.”
Tibbetts suggested that either the PPM Cabinet was deliberately and consistently misled by the financial secretary or the true position is now being misrepresented to paint as bleak a financial picture as possible.
“In view of the gravity of this matter, I call on the financial secretary to immediately convene a meeting of Finance Committee in order that the true state of the finances of the country can be properly enquired into and made known to the public,” Tibbetts demanded. He said that broad and sweeping statements such as the one made by the LoGB on 12 June were not satisfactory given the financial secretary’s previous advice to the PPM Cabinet only two weeks before the elections.
“There are issues that demand explanation and questions which require answers by both the LoGB and the financial secretary and I call upon the financial secretary to explain to the country the basis for the vastly different state of the government’s finances,” the PPM leader said.
He also called on Jefferson to explain what instructions he had received from the present government regarding the management of government finances and if they had caused him to revise his earlier projections regarding the state of the government’s finances.
Tibbetts asked if any policy decisions been taken by the present government regarding additional expenditure during the present fiscal year which has negatively impacted the projected operational deficit or cash balances of the government.
“What is the current undrawn balance of the CI$154M loan facility which was approved by Finance Committee in May of last year for use during the current fiscal year? Is it proposed that the entire approved loan of CI$154M be drawn down and utilized in the present fiscal year and what will be the impact on the government’s finances if the entire loan amount is not drawn down in the current fiscal year?” he also asked.
Tibbetts said he and his opposition colleagues do not believe the statement made by the LoGB truthfully reflects the present financial position of the government. “I call on the financial secretary to publicly answer the questions I have posed and to convene a meeting of Finance Committee immediately so that these important issues and others raised by the LoGB in his statement can be properly ventilated and the true state of the government’s finances can be made known,” he added.
Read Kurt Tibbetts’ full statement here.
FOI boss fights for resources
(CNS): With a lack of resources and no staff, the new information commissioner says she has been struggling against bureaucracy and brick walls since taking up the post in January. She is also concerned that some public authorities are dragging their heels over internal reviews on Freedom of Information requests that have been initially denied. This, together with the office’s resource problems, means that the public are likely to experience delays with FOI appeals, Jennifer Dilbert has said.
If an applicant is not satisfied with the decision the information manager made in response to their FOI request, they can ask for an internal review where a more senior member of the staff of the public authority will consider the request. If the applicant is still not satisfied, then that is when they can make an appeal to the information commissioner.
“I am very concerned that the initial application process with public authorities is already taking too long, and mindful that delays in the appeal process will further prevent the public’s requests being responded to in a reasonable timeframe,” Dilbert sai.
She added that her office has been under-resourced from the outset and is struggling to cope with the number of appeals being received. There are currently 21 requests under appeal, some of which have already been delayed by the relevant government authority but may now face further delays, Dilbert explained.
The government’s Implementation Plan for the Freedom of Information Law called for a commissioner to be in place 6 months before the law came into effect. However, Dilbert was not appointed as commissioner until 5 January.
Dilbert stated that the Cabinet Office did assist with making some arrangements when she arrived but there was no office accommodation, supplies, equipment, or staff.
“These first six months have been very stressful and very frustrating,” Dilbert said. “Specifically, I have been subject to much government bureaucracy, especially relating to staffing, and the independence of my office has not been established.”
Although coming up against what she described as “a brick wall at almost every turn”, Dilbert said she has now put together a small team consisting of an office manger, who joined her in March, and a deputy, appointed in mid-April, and has moved into an office space in Elizabethan Square. “Approval for two further members of staff was finally given on Friday 19 June, after a long struggle against the government’s hiring moratorium being applied to this new office,” Dilbert added.
She explained that, while the posts have been advertised and interviews are taking place this week, it will take several months for the office to be adequately resourced with trained staff. While trying to put in place the policies and procedures necessary to conduct fair appeals, the commissioner said some of the appeals she is dealing with are quite involved and complex.
“Seven of these appeals have been received this month alone, as cases work through the system,” Dilbert noted, explaining that a lot of the appeals are dealt with through arbitration and mediation before she has to take all the material involved and make her ruling in a written decision.
She said statistics show that a majority of the requests for records were being well handled by the information managers. Another encouraging trend was that in several instances where requests for records has highlighted inefficiencies or lack of systems in some authorities, the relevant authorities had accepted these problems and were making efforts to correct them.
“This is one of the benefits of Freedom of Information,” Dilbert noted, but added that it would take some time for the process to yield long term improvements and asked the public to be patient.
She also encouraged the public to continue to seek the information they require. In the future, she will be looking into ways to make the process of requesting and accessing information as easy as possible for the general public.
“I invite the public to visit our new website www.infocomm.ky where you can find our Policies and Procedures as well as links for application forms and other helpful resources. In time, my office will be providing comprehensive ongoing public awareness and training programmes to ensure that FOI is made accessible to all in these Islands.”
Dilbert heads the independent Information Commissioner’s Office and her powers under the Freedom of Information Law are to hear, investigate and rule on appeals filed under the law, and to monitor compliance with the law. In her early months Dilbert said she has been supported by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in British Columbia, which has provided her with an advisor for three months, and a registrar of hearings for a two week period, and Dilbert said she was very grateful to BC Commissioner David Loukidelis, who has provided support to both her and her deputy in terms of training,information and personnel.
DTF discovers ganja haul in shed
(CNS): Police said today (Tuesday 23 June)that Detectives from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) Drugs Task Force (DTF) have recovered 24 pounds of ganja in an overnight operation. The illegal drugs were found in an outside shed at the back of a George Town apartment complex. The drugs had been wrapped into 30 individual packages ready for selling and officers said the seizure will have a noticeable impact on the sellers’ illegal trade.
No arrests have been made in connection with the find but police said that and investigations into who might be connected to the drugs continue. “Whoever was involved with these drugs will be hurting today,” said Superintendent Kurt Walton head of DTF. “They lost a fair amount of drugs and I am sure they won’tbe very happy about it.”
Although police have not supplied an estimated street value it is understood based on local street prices that whoever had planned to sell the drugs could have expected a return of up to $40,000.
Anyone with information about the seizure is asked to contact the Drugs Task Force on 949-7710. People can also pass information about the use and sale of illegal drugs to 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.
OECD impressed with progress on transparency
(CNS): Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Secretary General Angel Gurria has said that rapid progress has been made over the last few months on transparency and information exchange. “Over these eight months, we have made more progress than in the last 10 years,” he said in Berlin today, (Tuesday 23 June) adding that the number of tax information exchange agreements doubled to over 80 during the last six months.
He said that over the next two months, the OECD aims to strengthen the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information by setting up a robust peer review mechanism, monitoring the implementation of agreed tax standards, and developing further countermeasures against non-cooperative countries.
"In these difficult times, when governments need every dollar of tax revenue, when citizens need to be reassured that the tax burden is being fairly shared, when governments are striving to improve transparency in financial markets, it is essential that the international community moves forward," Gurria said at the meeting of 18 finance ministry officials from European Union and OECD countries.
The meeting also saw the 18 nation agree that sanctions may be applied against countries not complying with OECD standards.Although they have not yet described under what circumstances sanctions might be implemented. The agreement on sanctions was contained in a communiqué that was signed by the countries attending including some of the “grey list” countries that have not yet fully met OECD standards.
Among the sanctions proposed was the ending of treaties between the non co-operative jurisdictions by those that are signed up to abide by the OECD’s standards. A Swiss delegate to the meeting, finance minister Hans-Rudolf Merz, warned against the imposing of sanctions too hurriedly.
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told reporters measures would be taken to tackle foundations and holding companies that make avoiding tax easier. “It’s of decisive significance that we don’t stay put,” Steinbrueck said. “Declarations alone, as important as they are, have to be followed up with action.”
Funds held offshore by individuals or companies to evade taxes or escape from political instability in their home countries are “somewhere between $5 trillion and $7 trillion,” according to OECD Gurria.
Tenth tax deal done
(CNS): The Cayman Islands now has ten bilateral tax information exchange agreements in place following a signing ceremony today in Berlin, where Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush signed a deal which had been negotiated with the Republic of Ireland. This means that Cayman is now only two short of the twelve agreements required by the OECD to move it to the post G20 ‘white list’. According to today’s OECD progress report, Cayman remains on the ‘grey list’ of countries considered not to be fully co-operative.
Bush said he was pleased to sign the agreement with Ireland as it marked another important step towards the country’s commitment to international cooperation and OECD standards for transparency and exchange of information on tax matters. “This signing will commemorate the beginning of what I am sure will be a highly productive and mutually rewarding relationship between the Cayman Islands and Ireland,” Bush added.
He said that the newly formed ‘Negotiation Team’ had worked tirelessly to secure technical agreements quickly. “Our signing last week of a Double Taxation Agreement with the UK together with today’s signing is a direct result of their commitment and hard work. We look forward to continuing these efforts and I am confident that we will be on the OECD’s white list very soon.”
The deal with Ireland is as a result of negotiations begun in the last few weeks by the new government’s team and forms part of a list of potential other bilateral agreements with a number of OECD countries. Some negotiations were started under the previous adminsration in the wake of deals signed under the unilateral mechanism, which was not accepted by the OECD as fully compliant with its standards.
Signing on behalf of the Irish Government, Martin Mansergh, Minister of State at the Irish Department of Finance, said the TIEA was concrete evidence of the significant progress that has been made in recent months. “Ireland welcomes the commitment of the Cayman Islands to implement the OECD standards of transparency and exchange of information in tax matters and their willingness to enter into tax information exchange agreements,” he noted. “The signing of this agreement represents a new chapter in relations between Ireland and the Cayman Islands.”
Mansergh told the Irish press that the agreement would allow Ireland’s Revenue Commissioners to request information which is relevant to an Irish tax investigation directly from the authorities in the Cayman Islands. "Information that would typically be relevant is bank account information and beneficial ownership information for companies and other entities established in the Cayman Islands,” he added.
The Cayman Islands now has bilateral tax information agreements with the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. The jurisdiction also has complimentary agreements with Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Slovak Republic and Switzerland under the Tax Information Authority Law passed late last year.
It is understood that the technical committee of the OECD had originally sanctioned the unilateral mechanism, but at some point before the G20 meeting where the white and grey lists were drawn up decided it would have to give further consideration to that particular method of signing agreements. The OECD did state in the notes that when the so-called lists were first published that it had acknowledged the use of this mechanism to consider revising Cayman’s position from the list.
However, since then Bermuda has been moved and in today’s progress report Cayman is still on the ‘grey list’, with the same note still in place but making it clear that the jurisdiction will have to continue on towards the goal of 12 bilateral deals. Bush said last week that he is aiming to sign agreements with all OECD countries but will have the all-important twelve by September.
New laws target UK MPs
(BBC): MPs who break the rules could face up to a year in jail under plans for new criminal charges for Parliamentarians. Harriet Harman outlined new offences of making a false expenses claim, failing to register a relevant interestand breaking rules on paid advocacy. She also pledged to "look again" at the issue of blacking out details on MPs’ published expenses claims. Shadow Commons leader Alan Duncan said last week’s heavily edited publication had been an "unmitigated" PR disaster. Ms Harman has been outlining the government’s plans for cleaning up Parliament in the wake of public anger over MPs’ expenses claims.