Archive for November, 2010
Teen investment club opens up mysteries of finance
(CNS): Another group of students will be embarking on a journey into the mysteries of finance and investment over the coming months after some 70 students signed up for the return the Saxon Investment Club. The young would be investors will be formed into small teams within their school’s club to develop and maintain a virtual portfolio by picking stocks in accordance with the current market. This in turn will require them to research the companies that they have chosen for their group’s portfolio. As well as competing for monthly performance prizes, the group with the highest-earning portfolio by March 15th, 2011 will win a $2,500 cash prize, and the runner up team will receive $500.
The official launch of the programme was hosted last month at the UCCI campus after year 10 and 11 students island-wide were encouraged to start a chapter of the Saxon Investment Club at their schools. Organisers at Saxon said the club offers invaluable insight about investing in a hands-on environment. Following the success of the last six-month installment which came to a close in CEO of Saxon Brian Williams said that his team is excited to embark on this journey again with eager young students.
Representation returned from John Gray High School, Cayman Prep & High School and St. Ignatius Catholic School for the second installment of the Saxon Investment Club, as well as Triple C School also signing on for the challenge. St Ignatius’ Five Star team was the grand prize winner of the previous contest.
“The level of enthusiasm that the students demonstrated the first time was truly rewarding for us,” Williams said. “Saxon is committed to investing in our youth for we recognize that there is no better investment in Cayman’s future than instilling young minds with knowledge and wisdom. While this club certainly evokes a healthy level of competition, the most valuable reward is certainly the insight gained from the hands-on experience.”
He explained that through the careful planning of each group’s portfolio, the students will gain knowledge about sound financial investing and money management. “Saxon also hopes that introducing students to these disciplines at such a young age might spark an interest in a future career in one of the financial industries,” he added.
Barracudas catch a free ride with CAL
(CNS): While the young “Brac Barracudas” are pretty good swimmers the ocean between Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman proved even too much for them so Cayman Airways stepped in with free roundtrip airfares for the eight young Brac students who make up the swim team so they could compete in the to 2010 Sprint Swim Meet held at the Lions Pool on Grand Cayman last month. The aquatic athletes took home several medals after Carlie Tibbetts placed first in the 25-metre breaststroke and five-year-old Veandra Robinson earned second place in the 25m-breaststroke in her age group, and placed in the top six in her other four events.
Chineme Ezema finished fourth place in the 50m breaststroke. Other swimmers making up the Barracuda team included Haylie Tibbetts, Mara McLean, Antonia Mena, Garin Ritch, and Teddy Reid, all whom swim coach Michael Hundt, saids showed “guts and determination”.
The meet is the first sprint meet of the season, enabling Cayman Brac swimmers to dive in early with shorter distance races, which suits Brac athletes due to their limited pool on the Brac Hundt explained. “All year the Brac swimmers dream about travelling to Grand Cayman for the learning experience it offers both in and out of the pool, so we are extremely grateful to Cayman Airways for making their dreams come true through the donation of roundtrip tickets for each of the students again this year,” he added.
Paul Tibbetts, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Senior VP Commercial Affairs for Cayman Airways said the airline was proud to help the young Brackers who have limited access to many of the opportunities that students on Grand Cayman enjoy frequently. “We applaud the Brac Barracudas and their coach of many years, Mr. Michael Hundt, for a job well done and we look forward to continuing to support their endeavours,” he said. Tibbetts also presented each swimmer and Hundt with a complimentary “I Love My KX” T-shirt.
Mac under pressure to enshrine 21 day rule
(CNS): Following mounting controversy over the government’s continued suspension the public consultation period for new laws and amendments, the opposition has submitted a motion calling for the necessary changes to be enshrined in the Legislative Assembly’s rules. The Cayman Islands Constitution 2009 says that the Legislative Assembly Standing Orders require that all laws brought by government need to be published at least 21 days before the meeting except in the case of an emergency. In its first report published last month the Constitutional Commission also called on the government to amend the House rules to formalise the period of public debate and discussion and comply with the Constitution. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
Although the current standing order 45 requires that all potential bills be published and gazetted before a bill is read for a second time in the LA, the government has suspended this order via a vote in the House on a considerable number of occasions since taking office. In a recent interview with Cayman 27 the premier justified the suspensions as he said the laws were needed to facilitate the country’s offshore business and he did not have time to waste.
However, the problems associated with rushing laws through the assembly were highlighted recently with the Dormant Accounts Bill. Although Bush had told his legislative colleagues that the financial sector had been consulted at the time the bill was brought to the House, since then it has been revealed that the industry had very grave concerns about the damage that the law could do to offshore business. The law was designed to give government access to the funds in accounts that had been abandoned but the legislation appears to encroach on long term investment products as well.
In a twelve-page memo to government, the Financial Services Legislative Committee said that because the necessary experts were not consulted before government passed the law it had potentially dangerous consequences for the financial services industry. The sub-committee said that unless it was changed it would have “a serious and irreversible adverse impact" on what was revealed to be a long list of key financial service industries, from investment funds to private wealth management services.
This was one of a number of bills rushed through the House over the last year or so and the Constitutional Commission has called on government to amend Standing Orders to reflect the Constitution. Wil Pineau (one of three constitutional commissioners) said the concept of what constitutes an emergency then has to be defined. He pointed out that if government was suspending orders every time, then it clearly cannot be extraordinary or an emergency.
The opposition motion presented by Alden McLaughlin and seconded by Kurt Tibbetts is expected to be debated in the House this week, if it makes it to the order paper, and calls on government to take the necessary steps to comply with section 77(2) of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order and amend the Standing Orders as soon as possible.
The public consultation period is not just a provision for the opposition to debate a particular bill, but also allows the public to read and consider government’s proposed legislation and for the man in the street to raise concerns or offer support.
Speaking on Cayman 27’s "Lets Talk to the Experts" on Monday evening, Human Rights Commission Chair Richard Cole pointed out that it is part of the wider democratic process which allows the people to tell their own MLAs what they think of a bill that is coming before the Legislative Assembly and whether or not they want their elected representatives to support it or not.
Publishers to turn phone books into insulation
(CNS): A new programme launched by the publishers of the local telephone directories aims to keep over 60 tons of phonebooks from the George Town landfill and instead turning them into insulation for homes. Organisers said that the Yellow2 Green project is a first step in the goal towards finally introducing recycling in the Cayman Islands. Eleven drop of points have been installed around Grand Cayman where people can drop old directories which will then be shipped to Tampa and turned into a fibre that can be used as domestic insulation. The pilot project which started on Monday 1 November will last until 20 November.
With the new directories expected to have been delivered in October the organizers said people should have received a new directory before the end of the three week recycle programme, the company also says it will accept directories from other publishers.
Global Directories the publishers of the Cayman Islands Yellow Pages telephone books said that if the programme is successful they expect to run it annually and possibly include the Sister Islands in future. The Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce has been designated the primary corporate collection site at the Governor’s Square office. The other general sites include all the islands supermarkets as well as LIME stores and Camana Bay.
As organizers say they want to involve the entire community they have also launched a challenge for the local primary schools, which will receive prizes for taking part. A grand cash prize of $1500 will be given to the school that collect the most directories withwinners being chosen on a ratio of total books to students enrolled.
Interested school should designate a Challenge Coordinator and have them contact Eileen Keens, Marketing Manager for Global Directories at 814-1798 or send an email to: ekeens@globaldirectories.com to confirm your participation.
Customs lacks ‘harmony’ but upgrades IT
(CNS): Although the country’s custom’s department is promising importers a more efficient service with the upgrading of its IT systems officials said there seems to be a lack of urgency when it comes to implement an internationally recognized harmonised customs tariff. The collector of customs says that if the tariffs were standardized government would more accurately predict the money it expects to take and he believe it would also increase the take to government coffers. Although the idea of implementing the international harmonization codes has been discussed for several years despite the departments pleas there is still no legislation.
Calling on local business to lobby their elected officials Colin Powery the top customs officer told members of Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce at the Be Informed meeting that he believed it was a “lack of political will” which was holding up the introduction of the harmonization system.
“The customs service has made several presentations to Cabinet about this,” Powery said adding that he believed it would boost customs collections and make predictions about that revenue far more accurate.
The current Customs Tariff Law sets out the dutypeople must pay on all dutiable goods and it is a very long and sometime confusing list. The lists are so long and confusing that customs officers admitted they themselves sometime do not know what rate a particular item should be charged at.
In the first quarter of this financial year Powery said customs collected CI$35.4 million in duty therefore he believed if the trend continued the department would be on target to collect almost $142 million in duty putting it on target to exceeding the estimates for revenue in this year’s budget. However he pointed out that there “was tremendous potential” with the harmonisation code for government to increase the amount it collects through the increase in efficiency the international harmonization would bring.
One local business owner however raised some concerns about the harmonisation. Billy Adam the owner of Hobbies and Books said he believed the reluctance to implement the system came down to the fact that it would be an enormous undertaking for small businesses to manage especially if they did not have sophisticated computer systems for their importation records. “It will be very time time-consuming and difficult for people to use and add to the cost of doing business in Cayman,” he said.
The customs officers agreed that there had been some reluctance from local business but once the system was in place they said it would in fact make life easier for local traders.
In the meantime, however, customs officials said that the improvements in the department’s computer systems would mean business owners would soon be able to do their customs paper work and pay their duty on line. Officials said as importers were able to stay at their desks customs officers would in turn enable customs officers to get out from behind theirs and work more on compliance to ensure local businesses were paying their duty in accordance with the law.
Bush broke law, says Tibbetts
(CNS): Full story – The premier has contravened both the law and established practice in choosing the company which will be supplying government’s CI$155 million loan, the leader of the opposition has said. During a national broadcast on Monday night, Kurt Tibbetts raised concerns over the way the premier has, he said, unlawfully overridden the recommendation of advisers in his own ministry, as well as the Central Tenders Committee, when he handpicked the New York firm to provide the money. The PPM leader also asked if the deal really is in the best interests of the country, as claimed by McKeeva Bush, as the premier’s own technical team did not think so.
Calling for full and frank disclosure as to the details of the deal, the opposition leader raised concerns about why the premier had become so closely involved in the awarding of a government contract, especially as his own ministry officials recommended a different bid, which they and the Central Tenders Committee all agreed offered the best valuefor money.
“What is extremely concerning and highly irregular, is that the premier has contravened both the law and established practice in choosing the company which will provide this financing to the government,” Tibbetts told the country. “The premier has unlawfully overridden the recommendation of the advisers in his own ministry, the Ministry of Finance Technical Evaluating team, as well as the decision of the Central Tenders Committee and has handpicked a New York firm to provide this financing.”
Government recently announced that it had secured the financing for a loan of US$185 million to plug the budget gap with Cohen and Company, a firm based in New York. However, it was soon revealed that the company had not been recommended by the CTC and the premier himself had entered into the negotiations regarding the deal. The Public Management and Finance Law requires government to tender all public contracts over CI$250,000 but gives no authority to the premier or any minister to award contracts.
Tibbetts said that the premier had acted unlawfully when he ignored the recommendations from officials and the CTC to award the contract to a joint venture of two local banks, Royal Bank of Canada and FirstCaribbean. He said this was confirmed by the Chairman of the Central Tenders Committee, Ronnie Dunn, who had explained what had happened in an e-mail read out on the Rooster talk show.
“There is no provision in our legislation that I am aware of which allows for the overriding of the CTC decision. And I would invite anyone who knows different to quote that section of the law which allows that,” Dunn had said.
Tibbetts further questioned the premier’s claim that he had acted in the best interests of country and was saving many millions of dollars in interest costs with the selection of Cohen and Company since the interest rate for the deal remained a mystery. “Despite announcing the award of the financing contract to Cohen and Company, the premier has been unable or unwilling to say what the terms of the arrangement are,” Tibbetts stated. “Curiously, it would appear from what the premier has said that the crucially important issue of the interest rate that will be charged on this loan agreement has not yet been agreed and is still being negotiated even after the financing contract has been awarded.”
In addition to what he said was the unlawful nature of the award, Tibbetts raised concerns about whether this deal is really in the best interests of the Cayman Islands as well as the manner in which the firm was singled out for special treatment by the premier in his involvement with the tendering process.
“This is a grave and monumental step for the elected leader of the country to take,” he stated “The first obvious question therefore is, why? The premier says it was to save the country money. But he has not said how. Nor has he explained why he personally went to Cohen and Company’s offices in New York and invited them to make another proposal after the Central Tenders Committee had already decided to award the financing contract to Royal Bank and FirstCaribbean.”
The PPM leader also pointed out that the premier has not explained why other bidders were not invited to engage in negotiations or present other proposals as Cohen and Company had been. “Nor has he told the country why Cohen and Company was singled out for special treatment in this way,” Tibbetts added.
A lot was at stake, he said, as government was borrowing the single largest sum ever and it was critically important that the country gets the best possible deal. He said with so very little in terms of detail being provided about this deal, set against unconfirmed reports that one bid contained a proposal with a 3.5% interest fixed for 15 years with no associated fees, it was difficult to see how the people could be certain the premier’s choice would offer the best deal.
Tibbetts maintained that, despite the premier’s position that the process was less important than getting a good deal, the process was critically important.
“When due process is not followed it opens up the ominous prospect of corruption,” Tibbetts warned. “There are huge reputational implications for the Cayman Islands Government here. It should not be forgotten by the premier in his desire to have his financier of choice that it is the Cayman Islands Government’s reputation for probity and reliability that has made it relatively easy for it to secure financing, even in these hard economic times. The spectre of corruption has the capacity to undermine any government’s reputation, including ratings by Standard and Poors and Moodys.”
He noted that if potential bidders believe that the process of awarding contracts is not fair, predictable and transparent then the attractiveness of this jurisdiction is lost, with potentially dire consequences.
The opposition leader noted that an award to local banks would have also been more beneficial for the local economy, which was now lost.
Calling for full and frank disclosure by the premier of the details and circumstances surrounding the award, Tibbetts said the government needed to explain the reasons why Cohen and Company were singled out and the other bidders excluded. He asked for the disclosure of all documentation related or connected to the tendering process and a report by the attorney general regarding the legality of overriding the decision of the Central Tenders Committee to award the financing contract to Royal Bank of Canada and FirstCaribbean. Tibbetts also said there needed to be a special investigation by the auditor general into the circumstances surrounding the tendering process and the award to Cohen and Company.
Opposition fights to be heard
(CNS): The role of the Legislative Assembly as a place of democratic debate is being further undermined as a result of government ignoring parliamentary questions, the opposition has claimed. PPM member for George Town, Alden McLaughlin, says government has still not answered more than ten questions submitted by the opposition in the last session as they are required to do under Standing Orders. Aside from rushing through laws and suppressing debate on bills and amendments, he accused government of closing down the opposition’s only other options of querying the workings of government through parliamentary questions and members’ motions. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
The former Cabinet member pointed out that the opposition cannot just raise issues at will in the Legislative Assembly, and in order for them to represent the people as an opposition they have to get the topical issues that people want addressed onto the business papers of each legislative session.
“The only time we are permitted wide debate is during the throne or budget speeches, otherwise we are limited in the matters we can raise,” McLaughlin said. “In order to bring matters before the House for debate the opposition must file private members motions or ask parliamentary questions, otherwise the legislature is limited to the government’s agenda.”
With just a few avenues open to them, McLaughlin said government was closing the opposition down by stonewalling, ignoring questions and not placing opposition motions on the business agenda.
“We have over ten questions outstanding from the last meeting which the government should now have answered in writing as they failed to answer them in the Legislative Assembly,” McLaughlin said. With still no written answers on the eve of the next meeting, the opposition had attempted to get the questions placed back on the order paper for this week but it has been turned down because of procedures.
Since government is expected to have followed the rules the Legislative Assembly, Standing Orders are silent on the issue of what the opposition can do when government simply ignores their questions. As a result, the Speaker is obliged to turn to Erskine May, which is the UK’s authoritative work on parliamentary procedures and is what the local legislatures turn to when the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly Standing Orders are silent on a particular issue. That states that, as a rule, a questioner must wait three months to re-submit a parliamentary question.
As the House last met just two month ago, the opposition must wait until the next meeting before the questions which government should already have answered can be resubmitted. The George Town representative said the questions covered a diverse range of important topics, from the current state of government finances, the environmental impact assessment at the port, government money given to churches for hurricane defences, and what has happened to the legal aid report, all of which government will be a liberty to continue to ignore, he noted.
The government was being rewarded for abusing the process, McLaughlin observed, and while the opposition members would bide their time, this was just another example of the government’s contempt for what should be the most important place for debate.
“Technically it is correct that the questions have to wait, but the overriding consideration must be about service to democracy,” he said. “The parliamentary questions are a time honoured method by which the opposition can question the workings of government, but if government doesn’t reply in the Legislative Assembly and then does not, as is expected, submit answers in writing after the sitting then the democratic process is fundamentally undermined.”
McLaughlin said it went further than government simply ignoring the questions; they did not want answer. “This goes to the growing irrelevance of the Legislative Assembly for national debate as the government adjourns to the talk shows,” the opposition member added.
Tomas strengthens as it heads towards Jamaica
(CNS): Update Tuesday morning – Tropical Storm Tomas was located around 445 miles SE of Kingston, Jamaica at 6am local time on Monday as it began to strengthen again. Maximum sustained winds are now near 50 mph and Tomas is moving towards the west at 12 mph. Forecasters said a turn towards the west northwest is expected during the next two days and further strengthening is also forecast the NHC warned. Tomas is farther south in the Caribbean than originally expected, which means the storm may have more time to re-intensify. Tropical storm force winds currently extend outward up to 115 miles from the centre. Tomas became the twelfth hurricane of the Atlantic 2010 season this weekend and is still the 19th storm.
Most forecasters currently have the storm turning towards the north over the next few days before reaching Jamaica. On this forecast path Tomas will not pose a threat to the Cayman Islands, though deviations from that track could occur and residents should still monitor Tomas closely.
Forecasters say Tomas still has the potential to strengthen into a major storm as it moves westward toward Jamaica.
Tomas has torn off roofs, downed power lines and dropped several inches of rain across Barbados, St. Vincent and St. Lucia. Hundreds of people took refuge in shelters at the weekend when winds tore at buildings and rain-soaked hillsides slid across roads.
Selita brings fashion home to Cayman
(CNS): Cayman’s very own supermodel Selita Ebanks will be hosting the islands’ first ever international fashion show this weekend at the Ritz Carlton. Cayman Fashion Solstice is a four day fashion-fest featuring international designers, fashionistas and top models from around the world. Two-time Project Runway finalist and fashion favourite Korto Momolu, hot avant-garde New York designers LaQuan Smith and Indashio, top Guyaneese born designer Roger Gary, renowned couturier Claudia Pegus and Cayman Islands own designers Crown Atelier by Tigerlily Hill and Gabz & Gabz swim & beach wear will be staring on the islands’ catwalk.
The major highlight of the fashion and lifestyle weekend is the highly anticipated Fashion Solstice Gala hosted by Selita on Saturday night at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Ballroom. Top models will be featured from some of the world’s best agencies, including Ford, Elite, Major and RED. Almost 30 Caymanian models will also rock the runway with the international models. An exclusive VIP After-party will follow after the spectacular fashion show.
The fashion extravaganza kicks off on Thursday, 4 November and runs through to Sunday, 7 November an starts with a Culture & Style Welcome Party at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Thursday, November 4, 2010, a Sunset White Fashion Fete where guests are required to wear fabulous white fashions at Osetra Bay on Friday, November 5, 2010; a boat excursion to Cayman’s hottest beach spots on Sunday, November 7, 2010
For more information please visit www.caymanfashionsolstice.com or call (345)946-4882.
Mac to face Bodden Towners at public meeting
(CNS): The premier’s press office has announced that McKeeva Bush will be holding the second in his planned series of town hall meetings next week. This time the premier will be meeting with the people of Bodden Town at the Civic Centre on Tuesday evening 2 November, beginning at 8 pm. The official release says the premier will be talking about government finances, what the government is doing to stimulate the economy and get people back to work, helping businesses, and the process involved in the selection of Cohen and Company. After his opening remarks the audience will have the opportunity to ask the premier questions directly. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
During the first meeting hosted by Bush in George Town in September, at the newly renovated historic Peace Hall, the premier berated what he said was the bureaucracy getting in the way of government projects. He said there was a “silent, passive non-compliance” and a “dragging of feet” when people were opposed to government projects.
The premier also faced a considerable number of questions at the last meeting on topics ranging from the cruise port development project and unemployment.
In the wake of the premier’s decision to ignore his ministerial technical team’s advice to award the government financing contract to a joint bid from two local banks, as recommended by the Central Tenders Committee, and choose a foreign financier instead, together with the controversy surrounding the recent bid for the country’s CCTV, the premier is likely to face questions regarding the central tendering process.
The announcement of Joe Imparato’s plans to construct a commercial port in East End may also be another issue likely to be on the minds of the people of Bodden Town, as well as a number of local issues, such as the continued flooding problems in the district.
The second meeting will take place the night before the Legislative Assembly returns for its next meeting, when government is expected to bring a number of bills for amendment, including the tax concessions amendment bill. The country’s legislators will also be debating a number of private members motions and there are more than 14 questions set down by opposition and independent members to be asked of government ministers.