Archive for December 2nd, 2010
International leader to star at UCCI conference
(CNS): The first ever commonwealth secretary from the third world, Sir Shridath Surendranath Ramphal, a Guyanese barrister, politician and international civil servant has been confirmed as the Keynote Speaker at UCCI’s second International Conference that will be held in the Cayman Islands on 17 & 18 March next year. A strong advocate for the interests of developing countries and the world’s poor, the need for a new international economic order, and the need to end apartheid in South Africa, he was also an architect of regional integration in the Caribbean and strengthened ties in the region and Latin America.
With the success of its first international conference in early 2010, UCCI is now making preparations for 2010 this time exploring themes related to Leadership, Governance and Empowerment
“Next year’s conference, promises to be just as stimulating as the first one, with an impressive array of speakers headed by our planned keynote speaker, Sir Shridath Ramphal,”said Dr. Livingston Smith,Director of Research and Publication at UCCI.
After the end of his term as secretary-general of the Commonwealth in 1989, Surendranath Ramphal, (or Sonny as he is more usually known) served as head of the World Conservation Union and played an important role in the Earth Summit in 1992. His book Our Country, the Planet (1992), published just in advance of the Summit, expresses his commitment to the causes of international economic reform and environmental protection. In all he served on five international commissions on global development and the environment.
The UCCI is currently looking for prospective presenters to join the line up, who are being asked to submit a 250-300 word abstract, a 50-word biography, information on university affiliation, if any, and a photograph, if there is no objection to displaying such on the conference website. UCCI said the Deadline for submissions is 30 December 2010.
“We urge the public to participate in this event and come together as a community to discuss and share ideas on critical and urgent issues relating to the region, including the Cayman Islands,” added Smith
For more information, please contact Dr. Smith at 623-0539 or email lsmith@ucci.edu.ky
LIME prepares ground for move into the Bahamas
(CNS): Cable & Wireless Communications the parent company of LIME has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of the Bahamas to acquire a 51% interest in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC). The Bahamas telecommunications company is wholly-owned by the government and is the exclusive mobile operator in the country as well as a leading provider of fixed-line and broadband services. CWC and the government will now work together to complete due diligence, finalise contractual terms and obtain necessary consents and other regulatory clearances with the aim of completing the transaction in the first quarter of 2011, CWC said.
According to the MOI CWC will acquire the majority equity stake in BTC, including management control of the business, for US$210 million. BTC will enter into agreements with CWC for the provision, on an ongoing basis, of various support services, branding and use of intellectual property. The liberalisation process for the mobile sector will commence no sooner than three years after completion of the transaction. CWC will work with the government and the management of BTC to develop a business plan for BTC, addressing its plans for the modernisation of telecommunications throughout The Bahamas and for the development of BTC following privatisation.
Speaking on behalf of LIME, Chief Executive David Shaw said there was a solid strategic fit between LIME and BTC . “If successful, this transaction can deliver a new era of innovative services like mobile TV and high-speed broadband in The Bahamas,” Shaw stated. “This MOU is a positive first step. The due diligence will now provide a fuller understanding of BTC operations and the concerns of its stakeholders – which is the right way to start and a big part of getting to know the flavour of The Bahamas.”
Tony Rice, CWC’s Chief Executive added that it was an important step in the process to invest in The Bahamas, a dynamic economy and market with great potential. “In partnering with the Government, we believe that we can deliver a world-class telecoms capability to the people and businesses of The Bahamas. Our immediate focus is now on finalising terms and completing this transaction,” he added.
Cayman will be runner’s 50th in 52 marathons
(CNS): Australian long distance running star, Tristan Miller will be flying into the Cayman Islands this weekend via helicopter from Negril, Jamaica where the marathon runner will have completed his 49th race in his goal to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks. CI Helicopters are making it possible for Tristan to compete in the Cayman Islands Marathon by flying him from Jamaica where he will have ran the Reggae Marathon on December 4. The Cayman race on the following morning will be his 50th marathon. Miller has run all over the world this year in his Run Like Crazy campaign to raise money for international charity Facing Africa and other local causes.
Miller will be lining up for the Cayman Islands marathon alongside hundreds of local and visiting runners at 5am at Breezes By the Bay in George Town. The route takes runners on two laps through South Sound and then onto Old Prospect Road to Prospect Point which is designated the turnaround Point. Runners run back via Walkers Road and George Town before returning to Breezes By The Bay. The current male holder of the Cayman Islands Marathon title is Steve Spiers (43) from Virginia Beach while the female champ is local resident Beth Schreader, (29).
A fundraising reception will be held in the evening of on 5 December at Breezes by the Bay, organized by Krys & Associates, proceeds from donations and a live auction will benefit Facing Africa and Cayman’s local School of Fitness – a program dedicated to developing the physical well-being of Cayman’s youth. Miller, who aims to finish his record breaking marathon runs in his home town of Melbourne, will be talking about the subject of childhood obesity and be available to meet with fans.
UK royal calls Serious Fraud Office “idiots”
(The Sun): Prince Andrew allegedly called the Serious Fraud Office "idiots" for daring to investigate claims of corruption in a £43billion British arms deal with Saudi Arabia, (according to) The Sun. The UK Royal and Britain’s roving trade envoy is said to have condoned offering bribes for lucrative contracts during a meeting in Kyrgyzstan two years ago. The claims are among 250,000 secret US diplomatic documents commenting on other countries and world figures obtained by WikiLeaks. The site sparked fury by releasing them yesterday. Prince Andrew is said to have given an "astonishingly candid" performance at an official lunch in the former Soviet state in Central Asia.
Savannah Primary and Cayman Prep share trophy
(CISC): The primary division in the 2010 RBC School Sailing Championship was a thrilling event for students and spectators alike. The regatta was sailed on 26 November 2010 at the Cayman Islands Sailing Club (CISC). Each school had a team of ten sailors who raced a total of eighteen races. Conditions were perfect and competition was fierce. The overall lead changed hands a number of times and there was very little to choose between any of the schools. Cayman Prep started well in the individual team events but were not as strong in the team relays although they held the lead going into the final race.
Savannah Primary had a very organised team with some very enthusiastic teacher/coaches and overall showed the most consistent sailing. Red Bay Primary showed good strategy in several races but didn’t have the consistency in depth. Prospect Primary, who have on their team two of the best youth sailors in Cayman, sailed well but the pressure seemed to get to them and their challenge fell off towards the end.
With all teams very close on points the championship went down to the wire with the final Gold Medal race counting for double points. Red Bay won the race but it was not quite enough. Savannah took second which was just enough to tie Cayman Prep on points overall. The championship was shared for the first time in the twelve year history of the event.
Coach Raph praised the children and their teachers for their efforts over the year in preparing for this regatta. “Each year the schools programme grows bigger and the standard of sailing and levels of teamwork were outstanding today.”
Ms Annie Manderson from Royal Bank was on hand to present the trophies and she too praised the kids for putting on such a great display of discipline and team work.
As always CISC is grateful for the support of the Ministry of Health, Environment, Youth, Sports & Culture for continuing to support our school sailing programme and to RBC for being our longest serving sponsors who make this marquee event possible every year.
Final results
1st= Cayman Prep & Savannah Primary
3rd Prospect Primary School
4th Red Bay Primary School
The RBC High School Championship is scheduled for Friday 3 December
Scotland ignores conservation law in climate speech
(CNS): The issue of the country’s National Conservation Law (NCL) was conspicuous by its absence in the environment minister’s opening remarks at the third National Climate Change Workshop this morning. In stark conference to last year’s opening address when the minister emphasized the pressing need for the law to protect the environment, on Thursday Mark Scotland made no mention of the derailed legislation. This time he spoke about working towards a National Climate Change Policy for Cayman, rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification threats.
Speaking at the Marriot resort in Grand Cayman where the conference is being held he said it was critical to identify and implement appropriate adaptation measures across all sectors of the economy.
“A glance at the Green Paper on the climate change issues facing the Cayman Islands confirms this need for a comprehensive and collaborative approach,” Scotland told the delegates. He added that the document offered an idea of how to lessen the local impact of this global issue.
“I believe many people shy away from discussing climate change because as an issue it is just too big to grasp. This Green Paper however highlights possible solutions that are within our reach. It also identifies how we can adjust other policies and legislation to accommodate climate change adaptation and mitigation. Finally, it shows how our combined, pro-active actions can cost-effectively achieve national adaptation and mitigation goals,” Scotland said as he shied away from mentioning what part the NCL will play in achieving those goals and what had happened to the law.
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He noted that during last year’s conference beach erosion, reef and fish decline, and rising energy, food and water costs were at the forefront of concerns.
“None of us living here can claim that we will be able to escape any of these impacts, and so I hope that the final climate change strategies will include practical targets for the entire population,” the minister said.
Last year Scotland himself had stated that the country had to have comprehensive and updated environmental protection legislation. “We in Cayman need to understand that the time has come to make sacrifices to protect our Islands for future generations,” was the position the minister had taken 12 months ago but today there is still no national conservation law.
The conservation law has been in discussion for almost a decade the most recent draft of the law which many conservation experts say has been severely curtailed in the protection it offers to the environment is still being criticized after considerable public consultation during the summer of 2010. It is unclear how much further the next draft will undermine the potential protection required to preserve the countries dwindling natural resources, or if a second draft has been prepared.
Although the minister had also acknowledged last year that the proposed NCL undertakes to implement the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, Scotland completely ignored the point in this year’s presentation.
The local workshop comes in the wake of news from the UN climate conference in Cancun, Mexico, Tuesday that rising sea levels caused by climate change are set to cause damage of billions of dollars to the islands states of the Caribbean by the middle of the century, including wiping out more than 300 premium tourist resorts.
CNS Note: For those readers who saw the earlier post this was based on the minister’s speech from 2009 which was circulated in error as this year’s presentation. The above report is based on the actual remarks made by the minister on 2 December 2010. CNS has also attached both presentations to enable readers to compare the two presentations made one year apart.
Tax law change worries MLA
(CNS): Unable to attend the government’s original presentation of theamendments to the Tax Concessions Law in the Legislative Assembly recently, the MLA for North Side says he will be raising his concerns when the House returns on Monday. Ezzard Miller told CNS that he is puzzled by both the amendment itself and the timing, as the law is designed to protect offshore or exempted companies from any future new taxes that a government may introduce. Miller said he was worried that the amendment does not specify which companies would now be exempt, why and what benefits a local company may receive from the new exemption.
Miller, who was absent because of a CPA conference in the UK, warned that the change on the surface could present a situation where tax exemption became politicised. “This exemption would be a subjective decision by the elected officials in Cabinet. While this government may not be unduly influenced by any local pressure groups or associations, we could have a government in the future that might be and then tax exemption would become a political favour,” Miller said.
The North Side MLA said he would be suggesting some committee stage amendments and intended to ask government why it was that the law was being brought at this time. “I will be seeking an explanation from government about what has brought it about now,” Miller stated. “I would like to know if the amendments are to meet a request from any new potential investor the government is trying attract. I need to know more about his before I decide if I can support this or not.”
The law raised considerable controversy when it was raised in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday 24 November. A heated verbal exchange between Premier McKeeva Bush, who was presenting the amendments, and the representative from East End, Arden McLean, who had queried what government’s intentions were regarding the changes, resulted in the speaker ordering McLean to withdraw a comment about the premier. McLean refused and was then asked by the speaker to leave the chamber, which he did, accompanied by the entire PPM opposition team, who all said they backed the East End member’s position.
Alden McLaughlin, the PPM member for George Town, said the opposition had very real concerns about the amendments and their implications. He said there were no details or criteria about how the exemptions would be given and why local companies would be included. “Why now and what for?” McLaughlin asked. “There are already provisions in the law to give concessions to existing taxes.”
He also raised the issue that with the amendments these concessions would be given without public scrutiny. “What this is all about is conferring yet another power on Cabinet to make decisions behind closed doors,” McLaughlin said.
FTC backs plan to honour privacy of online users
(New York Times): Signaling a sea change in the debate over Internet privacy, the government’s top consumer protection agency on Wednesday advocated a plan that would let consumers choose whether they want their Internet browsing and buying habits monitored. Saying that online companies have failed to protect the privacy of Internet users, the Federal Trade Commission recommended a broad framework for commercial use of Web consumer data, including a simple and universal “do not track” mechanism that would essentially give consumers the type of control they gained over marketers with the national “do not call” registry.
CPA will hear rejected quarry request
(CNS): Residents in Mahogany Estates in Lower Valley are again fighting to retain the short lived peace and quiet of their neighbourhood as the developer of their sub-division has re-submitted a planning application to quarry in the area. The Central Planning Authority will be hearing an application for quarrying and blasting in the residential zone at its meeting next week. Home owners in the area who object said that they believe the application by White Rock Investments Ltd is the same one that was refused in 2008 on the grounds that it was illegal, and was not appealed. As a result, they are puzzled as to why it is being considered again. There is nothing, it appears, in the new planning law that allows large scale quarrying in a low density residential area.
The original application was turned down in accordance with a specific regulation in the law, which states: “No use of land in a residential zone shall be dangerous, obnoxious, toxic or cause offensive odours or conditions or otherwise create a nuisance or annoyance to others.” The regulation remains in the new Development and Planning Law Amendment and regulations, which were passed in the Legislative Assembly in July.
The application to quarry the land down to around 10 feet above sea level to make way for a new sub-division is seeking to remove almost 300,000 cubic yards of fill on the 44 acre site. Aside from the obvious implications to the residents living by what would be a commercial quarry where blasting will be taking place, there are also environmental concerns.
Part of the Lower Valley forest is situated on the site, which is home to several endangered and red listed species. Evidence from the Department of Environment demonstrated that the forest is home to the white shouldered bat, which was once thought to be extinct but was rediscovered in the area in 2001. The DoE is hoping the area will become one of the country’s first critical habitats under the new conservation law, which has yet to be passed.
With no conservation law in place, when the CPA hears the application next week there will be no compulsion for the members to consider the environmental implications, nor will the landowners be under any obligation to carry out an environmental impact assessment if the CPA was to grant permission.
The developer has stated in the application that it will move some of the native trees and that it believes the species at risk would move to the surrounding area, so the environmental impact would be minimal.
Residents in the area, who thought their ordeal was over with the rejection in 2008, are once again concerned for their future well-being as well as the environment in which they live. They have battled with the developer for some time as a result of illegal quarrying that had taken place at the site for over a dozen years and are once again dismayed that their homes are at risk.
MLA launches petition
(CNS): The opposition representative for the district of East End, in partnership with the independent member for North Side, will launch his official ‘no’ campaign to the East End Sea Port on Saturday. Arden McLean, who has said he is vehemently opposed to the proposed development of the commercial dock in his district, says he will be starting the petition against it in Frank Sound, which is in the middle of the three districts most likely to be affected. He explained that he would eventually go door to door with the ‘no’ petition island-wide but the campaign will be launched at the heart of the communities that will be directly impacted.
The development is a proposal by local landowner, Joe Imparato, which has been submitted to government for consideration and involves cutting a channel into the island in East End at High Rock and digging a basin for a commercial shipping dock that would deal with oil and gas, offer home porting for cruise ships, transhipment, a container port and a mega yacht marina. The proposals has raised enormous concern in the area about the potentially catastrophic damage to the environment, the potential contamination of the fresh water resources in the area, as well as the dangers levels of surge and flooding it could cause in bad weather.
Both McLean and North Side MLA Ezzard Miller are campaigning against what they both have said is nothing more than an excuse for a quarry that will offer little or no benefit to their constituents. McLean said Saturday’s rally would be the start of the public opinion campaign and their goal to raise awareness about the problems associated with the proposal.
“We want to provide a way for people to register their objections to this proposed project so that government will know what the public thinks before any decisions are made,” McLean said of Saturday’s public rally. “If this project goes ahead it could cost the country millions. The developer may be saying he is giving it to the government but there is nothing for free and the roads alone will cost the public purse as much as $200m.”
McLean said recently at a public meeting that he would do all he could to stop the project as his constituents were opposed and if he had to he was prepared to lie in front of the bulldozers. "We have to stop this now," he said, warning that as a member of the minority opposition, if the proposal gets as far as the Legislative Assembly then he could not stop it. "I am here to lead you right up front and we need to send a message and we need to say it loud enough."
His legislative colleague Miller is also strongly opposed and intends to hold a public meeting in North Side on 7 December. Miler said that one of the problems he has was that no proper analysis over the need for such a development has been made by government.
“Rather than a business plan, what we have is an often controversial investor who, having bought large tracts of essentially useless land, has now decided he can make money by quarrying the rock and shipping it over seas,” he said.
Miller suggested that, having now seen the plans, he estimated there was as much as half a billion dollars worth of fill to be gained, given the depth of the basin the developer proposes to dig.
“He is then going to donate that hole in the ground to government to turn into a port,” Miller added. “I don’t think that is the way we should be developing our infrastructure. Moreover, Grand Cayman is not that big of a land mass that we can afford to add a piece of it to Texas.”
The anti-port petition rally is scheduled to begin at 7am and will last throughout the day at the junction of Frank Sound Road and Bodden Town/Seaview Road. The Young Progressives will also be there and President Denise Miller called on all the young people in Grand Cayman who care about the future of the island to come and sign. She also indicated that there is now an online petition.
Visit the developer’s website at www.eastendseaport.com