Archive for November, 2010
Mac rejects Keynesian economics for Cayman
(CNS): The country’s leader has said it should be the private sector that creates Cayman’s wealth and not government that props up an economy. During his Strategic Policy Statement in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the premier rejected the Keynesian economic model that he said the previous administration had adopted because he said Cayman was too small. While it might suit developed countries Bush stated that it was not the best choice for small developing economies with fixed exchange rates, no natural resources, or manufacturing.
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Keynes no good for Cayman
(CNS): The premier has said that Keynesian economic policy is no good for the Cayman Islands because the country is too small. He said the theory that government can buoy up a flagging national economy during a recession with major projects may be suitable for the world’s larger economies but it was inappropriate for Cayman. Criticising the PPM for their approach to spending when they were in office as the recession began to hit, McKeeva Bush said the government has first got to be more fiscally prudent before it can inject money into the economy. Bush said that his government was creating the environment for the private sector to stimulate the economy.
“It is okay for developed countries to choose the formula put forward by the great British economist, John Maynard Keynes, of increasing government spending during a recession, but this is not necessarily wise for small developing economies with fixed exchange rates, no large natural resources, little manufacturing, a deteriorating revenue base and, thus, limited capacity to borrow,” the premier stated in a clear indication of his government’s policy position.
“The growth of the national debt during the last PPM administration between 2005 and 2008 served to constrain our capacity to employ the Keynesian formula this time around. Given the evidence so far, we have made the right choices. We would leave the big spending to the big countries and act with fiscal prudence in the economic management of the Cayman Islands.”
He said that because of the action taken by the previous administration to keep on spending, leaving the country’s finances in a “very perilous state” nothing could be done by government to stimulate recovery until that situation was repaired. Quoting his Cabinet colleague and former accountant, Rolston Anglin, who said last year that in a free market economy a government has to listen and craft legislation to promote and protect the jurisdiction, Bush said he was adopting a more pragmatic approach, working with the private sector to create the wealth.
“When we therefore show that we have the guts to put our fiscal house in order, the right signals are sent to stakeholders in the international centres such as Washington, New York and London,” the premier stated, adding that the goal of his government was to depend on the private sector to boost the country’s economic fortunes.
“The government understands that the best strategy for achieving sustainable growth in the Cayman Islands’ economy is to inspire the private sector to do what the private sector does best — create wealth and generate jobs,” he said.
During the 2010/11 budget address Bush had placed a strong emphasis on partnering with the private sector to get out of the recession and he was continuing to do that to drive the economic recovery. He revealed that there will be no new borrowing by government over the rest of the political term and that each year government spending on capital projects would be limited to only $25 million.
Cayman HQ’d legal firm creates jobs in Ireland
(Hedgeweek): Walkers, the legal and management services provider, says it will be creating a significant number of jobs in Ireland as the firm further expands its Dublin office which opened in October. Approximately 25 new positions will be created by the end of 2010, rising to around50 new jobs by the end of 2011. "We are committed to developing a strong presence in Dublin with experienced top tier Irish lawyers and professionals, providing them with the opportunity to grow the Irish corporate business through our global network," says Vicki Hazelden, managing partner of Walkers’ Dublin office.
"We are excited about our expansion in Ireland which is a very desirable location for international financial services. The International Financial Services Centre has been a beacon of strength for the economy and has benefited from a very broad network of global tax treaties and the maintenance of the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate which we are pleased to see is part of the Government’s four year national recovery plan."
Academic to tell Cayman’s economic fortune
(CNS): A former senior lecturer at the University College of the Cayman Islands and expert in economics, Dr Tom Philips will be taking a look at the country’s economic future on Monday evening at a free presentation at the university on Monday evening. Dr Philips has been a member of the faculty at Fleming College since 1986 and a lecturer at Trent University in Ontario Canada since 1988. He spent two years at UCCI from 2004 until 2006. A regular contributor toGrand Cayman Magazine, Phillips has continued to follow the fortunes of Cayman’s economy since he returned to Canada. In Waves of Change Plotting Cayman’s Economic Voyage, Phillips will be tackling with the thorny issue of where the country goes from here.
The lecture is open to the public, free of charge and starts at 6pm in the UCCI Cascade room.
UDP hopeful ministry adviser
(CNS): The former UDP candidate for George Town in the May 2009 election, Pearlina McGaw-Lumsden, is offering advice to government ministers as a consultant, an FOI request from a member of the public has revealed. McGaw-Lumsden came home in 8th place in the George Town political race with just short of 31% of the vote, but she is now working with her former running mates as a political assistant to four of the five Cabinet ministers. Reviewing papers and documents for political sensitivity and contributing to long term policy ideas, the young UDP member is being paid from the public purse between $67-77,100 per year plus benefits.
McGaw-Lumsden’s role, according to the documents released, is to advice the four Cabinet ministers (but not the premier) from a party political point of view, write speeches, do research, liaise between the government and the party membership and those with political allegiances and represent the views of the party to the media. The young party member was appointed officially by the Cabinet office on 1 June, the papers received by the requester reveal.
Although the Cabinet office eventually released all the details of the contract to the member of the public who made the request under the moniker ‘Cayman-Consultant’, initially the salary range was redacted. However, following further correspondence in which the FOI requester pointed to the precedent of the premier’s press secretary’s salary being public, the office relented and revealed the range.
As with many other requests, Cayman-Consultant told CNS that they had had a hard time with the FOI since in the first instance the information managers had denied that the young UDP member had been employed. Cayman-Consultant had sent the request to all the ministries asking if McGaw-Lumsden was on contract with them, requesting copies of the contract, a description of duties, the correspondence related to the appointment and the salary range.
Although it was later revealed that the appointment had been made by the Cabinet Officer, the former UDP election candidate was nevertheless working with the ministers when the request was made, and Cayman-Consultant told CNS that they believed they had been mislead during the process of the request rather than assisted, which is what the information managers are required to do.
“I was finally directed to the Cabinet Office, who disclosed some of the Cabinet Secretary’s emails, the contract and eventually a salary range,” Cayman Consultant said. “It was most interesting for me to discover that some information managers clearly misled me about Mrs. McGaw-Lumsden’s consultancy status, perhaps attempting to hide behind mere semantics as she was on contract with the Cabinet Office and not with their ministry. I personally believe it was misleading if not outright untruthful to state that she was not on contract, not offering services and not being paid by the ministry.”
Cayman-Consultant pointed out that at the time of the request McGaw-Lumsden’s contract had been confirmed and that, aside from the fact that she was already in post, there was correspondence between the Cabinet Office and the four ministries regarding the contract, which Cayman-Consultant noted the information managers should have known about.
The revelation that the information managers told the FOI requester that McGaw-Lumsden was “not offering services” come in the wake of recent rulings by Information Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert that managers are falling short when it comes to following the process.
Although the political appointee was contracted by the Cabinet Officer, which meant she was “not being paid by” or directly “on contract with” any of the ministries which the FOI requester contacted, she clearly was working for government, and according to the Freedom of Information Law the information managers have an obligation to assist and clarify the applications made to them.
Dilbert said in her recent ruling regarding the run-around given to CNS over a request about ministerial expenses and benefits that it was “unconscionable” and a contravention of its statutory obligations for a public authority to hide records and information “behind mere semantics” but that public authorities should communicate with applicants to determine what they want.
Drivers urged to be cautious as major works continue
(CNS): Motorists and pedestrians travelling along Elgin Avenue are being urged to proceed with extreme caution due to the major road works that are currently underway in the area. National Roads Authority (NRA) officials advised the public to be alert for large construction vehicles and to heed the signals of the on-site flag men. Motorists are also asked to pay closer attention to both pedestrians and workers as sidewalks have now been removed to facilitate the expansion project.
All road users are asked to be especially alert at the pedestrian crossing near the Immigration Department and to observe its lights. The extensive work now underway is to widen Eglin Avenue to accommodate the anticipated extra traffic in the area as a result of the opening of the new government office accommodation building which is due to open in early 2011.
UK court rejects appeal over murder re-trial
(CNS): The Privy Council has not allowed the appeal of Josue Carillo-Perez, who will now face a second trial for the murder of Canadian National, Martin Gareau, in May 2008. The UK’s highest court refused the appeal taken by Perez, who was found not guilty of murder in a judge alone trial in July 2009, a verdict which was then quashed by the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. Perez, who had been a free man for only four months, having been in jail on remand awaiting trial, before he was rearrested in the wake of the CICA decision. A new trial date was set for September of 2010, which was then postponed when the case went to the UK’s Privy Council
The not guilty verdict of Justice Roy Anderson was overturned as a result of a self misdirection in the judge’s ruling, which stated that the burden of proof was enhanced for a murder charge. The crown had argued that the burden of proof is never enhanced because of the nature of the crime.
Perez, a Honduran national living in the Cayman Islands, was originally arrested for the crime only a few weeks after Gareau’s badly beaten body was found at his Beach Bay home in Bodden Town. Perez denied the murder and took the witness stand in his own defence and said he considered the victim a friend.
The crown’s case was based on two latent fingerprints found at Gareau’s home which matched the defendant, who said he had been to Gareau’s home only a few weeks before for a barbeque.
The judge said in his ruling that it while it was plausible that Perez could have committed the crime, plausibility was not enough. “Plausibility, however, is not an adequate basis for a criminal conviction and certainly the standard is enhanced when the charge is one of murder.” The judge went on to say that he did not believe the crown had not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. Justice Anderson explained that although the defendant had elected for a judge alone trial, it was still the role of the judge to be both judge and jury and make the decision on the evidence.
In his verdict Justice Anderson said the crown’s case was based on circumstantial evidence, and while it had demonstrated with the fingerprint evidence that Perez was likely to have been at the scene, there was evidence to suggest that if Perez had played any part he was not alone. The crown had, however, presented a case where it said the defendant was the sole perpetrator of murder. The judge said that while he believed it was possible that Perez was involved, he could not say that he was sure he was the one that had committed the act of murder and therefore returned a verdict of not guilty.
Perez currently remains on remand at Northward and is now listed to appear in court in December when a trial date will be fixed for 2011.
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Judge sends UK clampers to jail
(BBC): A member of a "criminal" car-clamping company which operated in Birmingham has been jailed for four years. The city’s crown court heard Gary Southall, 49, of Moseley, extorted up to £500,000 from motorists. Two others from the firm were also jailed. At a previous hearing, he and three more members of the firm pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud. Earlier this year Birmingham City Council refused £1,300 in pennies with which Southall tried to pay a fine. Gary Southall’s brother Wayne, 41, of Tyseley Lane, Tyseley, was given two years while his girlfriend, Victoria Charlton, of Heather Dale, Moseley, was given a suspended 12-month jail sentence and ordered to do 200 hours of community service.
Another member of the firm, Philip Bennett, 34, of College Road, Saltley, was jailed for 18 months. The council had fined Gary Southall for clamping vehicles without providing his business contact details on receipts to motorists.
Birmingham Crown Court heard how cars which had not been clamped were parked as "traps" to entice people to leave vehicles in areas patrolled by the National Parking Control.
$50k for robbers’ arrest
(CNS): Cayman Crime Stoppers and Butterfield Bank (Cayman) are offering a reward of up to US$50,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the armed robbery of the Compass Centre branch of the Butterfield Bank on this week, the RCIPS have announced. The information must be disclosed or passed before 31 December. On the day of the robbery police arrested a 17-year-old male from the West Bay area in connection with the incident. He is still in custody and the extensive enquiries continue.
At 11:20am on Wednesday, 24 November, three masked men entered the bank and threatened staff and customers with what appeared to be a handgun, which was discharged into the ceiling. The suspects made off from the premises with an undisclosed sum of cash. An extensive police search, roadblocks and the air operations unit were all involved in the subsequent hunt for the offenders. No one was injured in the incident but one member of staff was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The CID launched an immediate investigation and a team of officers have been working tirelessly with witnesses and forensic teams. The three suspects are described as having dark complexions and wearing dark clothing. They had their faces covered by Halloween masks, one ofwhich was described as being of President Obama.
Butterfield Executive Vice President, Caribbean, Conor O`Dea states, ” We would like to stress that crimes targeting the safety and security of our customers and staff will not be tolerated. We are working with the Chamber of Commerce and Crime Stoppers to send a clear message to the community that, as an organization, we stand together on this”
The reward acts to strengthen efforts to apprehend the offenders and anyone who has any information about this robbery should call the CID at George Town police station on 949 4222 or the confidential crime stoppers number 800-8477(TIPS)
Gun runner gets 9 years
(CNS):Having pleaded guilty three days into his trial for the importation of firearms, Joseph Hurlston was handed a 9 year prison sentence in the Grand Court this morning by Justice Smith. Despite Hurlston’s guilty plea, which brought the statutory minimum sentence on a firearms offence from ten years down to seven, the judge noted that there were aggravating factors and said time must be tacked on. He pointed to the number of weapons that Hurlston had attempted to bring in and that fact that his guilty plea came so late in the day. (Photo courtesy of Cayman27)
Justice Smith said he did not feel that Hurlston’s claim by his defence counsel that the three guns were bought for his own protection because of a murder that had taken place in his yard was a mitigating factor.
The judge noted that if Hurlston had wanted a weapon for safety reasons there were provisions for him to apply for a license. The defendant, he said, had imported three handguns and ammunition as well as waiting until the crown had almost closed its case against him before he admitted his guilt. The judge said that he agreed with the crown counsel that the seven year minimum sentence had to be reserved for cases where the defendant had no previous convictions, where there was only one weapon was involved and where the guilty plea was entered at the earliest opportunity.
“I believe an appropriate sentence in this case is nine years,” the the judge said, adding that time already served by the defendant should be taken into account.
Hurlston has been in custody since his arrest in April of this year in East End. The 27-year-old from West Bay admitted going to Jamaica, where he bought three hand guns for $3000, in the wake of a murder which took place in his yard, followed by fire at the property that destroyed his home and which he believed was deliberately set.
The defendant said that, fearing for his life, he had decided to get the guns for protection. He returned from Jamaica via canoe and when he and others were offloaded onto a smaller boat close to Grand Cayman’s East End, the boat took on water and began to sink. Hurlston lost his backpack, which contained two of the guns he had bought, as well as his passport, wallet, drivers license and some drugs, overboard as he tried to save his own life.
Soon after he came ashore with another man in East End in the early hours of the morning of 20 April, they were both spotted by police offers on patrol in the area. When they both fled, the police gave chase, and although Hurlston tried to discard the one remaining firearm as he ran away, the officers recovered the gun from the beach and apprehended him.
Marine patrol officers also searched the area near the East End channel where the boat had capsized and recovered Hurlston’s backpack, the guns, drugs and ID.
During his sentencing hearing last week it was revealed that Hurlston’s yard was the scene of a fatal gang shooting in West Bay last year, in which Marcus Ebanks was killed and Adryan Powell was seriously injured. Raziel Jeffers has now been charged with the Ebanks’ murder and the attempted murder of Powell.