Archive for May, 2011
Save Cayman in push for poll
(CNS): The man leading the charge in the campaign to prevent government from dredging the North Sound said that he believes there is now a real possibility of achieving enough signatures to trigger a people initiated referendum. Capt Bryan Ebanks said the campaign has gained enormous support from the community. Despite the fact that many people feel they can’t sign the petition because they are civil servants who do not know if they are allowed to sign, many others have been willing to put their names to the cause. With plans for another major push on 21 May, Ebanks said that he hopes to encourage even more people to sign or become involved in the fight in some other way to save the North Sound and in turn the whole island.
Ebanks is opposing government’s proposal to create a channel in the North Sound for mega yachts as he says the risk of losing Stingray City and the Sandbar could be catastrophic for the country’s entire tourism product. Aside from the dangers cutting into the reef would present for West Bay and George Town, in the event of a major hurricane, Ebanks said, dredging would cause significant damage to the entire Sound.
Although the campaign has a wider goal of trying to persuade government to rethink the choices it makes about development in general, the primary motivation is to collect enough signatures to trigger a referendum specifically on the dredging of the channel before the premier makes any deals with developers.
“We have already collected around half the number we need, but we are now making another major push to get the rest,” said Ebanks. He said that he understood the difficulties some people felt they had signing given the ambiguity surrounding the situation with civil servants but he said people could help in other ways.
“Not everyone feels comfortable signing the actual petition,” he said. “We understand that and I would never say that people should do anything that would threaten their livelihood or their businesses but there are many other things that can be done behind the scenes.”
Given the amount of support there is for the campaign, Ebanks said one of the reasons why the petition has not reached the required 3,500 or so signatures yet is because of the manpower required in getting the signatures and collecting up petition sheets. He said he really needed anyone who supports the campaign but had to stay out of the limelight to come and help with the backroom work.
“We are really grateful to those people who have already been helping but we do need more hands on deck,” Ebanks said. “We cannot give up on this campaign, it is very important to all of us in Cayman. It’s not just about the West Bay boat captains that work in the Sound itself this is far wider, it affects everyone. The North Sound is an economy in its own right that trickles down throw the wider community and to lose it is unthinkable.”
The people initiated referendum, a concept introduced in the new 2009 constitution, is the only sure-fire way the people have to stop a government from going ahead with a specific course of action they oppose. The opposition cannot stop a government that has the full backing of its members and no amount of vocal objections or marches, or even the petition in its own right, can lawfully prevent government from going ahead with a legal proposal of its choosing.
However, Ebanks pointed out that triggering a referendum would enable every voter in the Cayman Islands to go to the poll and say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the channel and if more than half of those who vote say ‘No’, government is constitutionally obligated to respect that result and would not be allowed to dredge the channel.
“This is a powerful tool and we intend to use it as there simply is no other choice,” Ebanks added as he encouraged everyone who was against the proposal to dredge the Sound to get in touch and either sign the petition or come out and help in some other way.
Captain Ebanks can be contacted via email savecayman@gmail.com on 916 3048 or via the Save Cayman Facebook page.
More delays on budget debate
(CNS):The date for the state opening of the parliamentary budget session has been pushed back once again. Officials did not say why government has postponed the ceremonial opening a further three days but stated Wednesday that the date had been moved from Tuesday, 17 to Friday, 20 May. The premier is expected to deliver his strategic policy statement for the next fiscal year and reveal the details of expected operational expenses and earnings. Last week the premier issue directions to senior civil servants to finish this current fiscal year with a surplus in the wake of figures which revealed a potential year end deficit, but government has not said if this is the cause of the delay.
With no further borrowing allowed under the three year fiscal plan approved by the UK government last year in order to allow government to borrow in this financial year it will need to present a financial plan for 2011/12 that does not anticipate a deficit.
Speaking at a UDP public meeting on Tuesday evening McKeeva Bush who is also the finance minister and responsible for delivery the budget said that under the terms of that three year plan he is obligated to show and achieve a small surplus by the end of 2011/12. Bush indicated in his memo last week that the five of the $15million surplus he wanted for this year end would go towards this new budget.
The premier has said that government’s finances have been stabilized as a result of the work of his administration and that it had been successful in reigning in public spending.
Although government ministers have indicated there will be no fee cuts in the forthcoming budget it has not yet stated if there will be a need to introduce any new fees or taxes to ensure government makes its surplus or whether there will be further cuts in operational expenses.
Good turnout for Cinco de Mayo fun run
(CNS): The usual spirited group of Cinco de Mayo celebrants were on hand for the annual run/walk on Thursday, 5 May. Although a plethora of activities scheduled for that date cut into the number of entries on this occasion,the organizers kept to the tried-and-true elements of the event which make it a one-of-a-kind presentation. Sponsored by Carlos and Martin's Tex-Mex Cantina, event shirts commemorated the activity. Performance and random awards followed the theme for the day, as the Glassblowing Studio provided chili pepper paperweights for the first five male and female finishers,as well as earrings and necklaces in the form of chili peppers,maracas,and cacti to random winners.
Cayman Taffy offered a selection of sweets made up of red,green and white confections-the colours of the Mexican flag-which were claimed by finisher number 55-Tommy Williams-,and Eziethamae Bodden,whose finish time was closest to 55 minutes.
Jacques Scott donated the hydration materials and post-race refreshments. The Phoenix Athletic Club, organizers of the action, thanked all participants and volunteers, and wished all present an enjoyable and safe continuation of the festivities to the music of Los Tropicanos during the evening.
Fleetest of foot over the out-and-back course at Safehaven were:
1.Marius Acker (17:21);2.Russell Coleman (17:35);3.Derek Larner (18:01;
4.George Mirica (19:24);5.Scott Norman (19:59)
8.Tiffany Cole (20:16);9.Caroline Cahill (20:29);13.Ashley McLean (21:02);
17.Emily Davies (21:19);22. Lucy Nicklas (22:38)
Times for all finishers are available at www.caymanactive.com
Ministers offer Mac support
(CNS): Cabinet ministers rallied round the premier and the UDP government as a whole last night at a mid-term political meeting. Rolston Anglin, Mike Adam and Juliana O'Connor-Connolly all said they believed McKeeva Bush was the right man for the job in the face of a no confidence motion filed by the opposition. Deputy Premier O'Connor-Connolly said the people had demonstrated their confidence in the premier when they voted for the UDP two years ago as they “were sick and tired of the extravagance and thoughtlessness of the last regime,”and voted for change. She said democracy was an “awesome thing” and the people should not let the PPM persuade them they had made a mistake at the polls. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
Offering her backing to the premier, she said Bush was a great leader and was working hard to get the finances and economy backon track while the opposition had the audacity to bring the no confidence motion.
“Who in God's earth would bring a no confidence motion at this time?” she asked the crowd gathered outside the courthouse. “Who would dream up such a vicious weapon in the pursuit of power.”
O'Connor-Connolly said the opposition had “gotten on the fighting side of her” as would anyone who was trying to tear down the Cayman Islands.
The Sister Islands representative said that while some people were suffering and there had been unemployment, Bush could not be blamed for that. Asking the people to put their confidence in government, she said the UDP team was the best. She asked for a chance to prove the opposition wrong and to prove that the voters did not make a mistake in the election.
“Thank God for democracy,” she said, noting that because the government had the numbers in the Legislative Assembly the no confidence motion would fail. “The Cayman people are not fool fool and they don't want to go back to the previous administration,” O'Connor-Connolly added.
Mike Adam also offered his backing to the premier, saying he believed he was “a capable leader with the right approach”. The community affairs minster said government finances were on track, tourism was up and major projects were to come on-line to give a boost to the economy. He called on the people to give their support to Bush as he had stopped the deterioration. Adam said a number of people in the tourism business had told him they believed this winter season was the best in the tourism sector for a long time.
Adam, however, spoke mostly about the achievements in his own ministry over the last two years, pointing to the development of affordable homes and the extensive assistance given to the most vulnerable people in the community. He said that during 2010 the Department of Children and Family Services had assisted more than 8,000 people.
Rolston Anglin focused on his predecessor, Alden McLaughlin, the former education minster and now opposition leader who had filed the no confidence motion, which dominated the night's proceedings. Further highlighting the government's concern over the motion filed last month, Anglin said it was not just aimed at the premier but all of the members of government.
The minister said that a no confidence vote was one of most important tools an MLA has at his disposal and it should be used wisely and responsibly, but this motion was “reckless and immature”.
He added that he expected the opposition would point to the motion that he had brought in 2001 but he said he had thought that through carefully and made sure he had a potential government in place and the votes to see it through. “When I did move the motion it was about you the people and it was not about Rolstin Anglin,' he claimed, while McLaughlin's motion, he said, was all about him and his arrogant attitude.
“It's about him and what he wants; it's about power,” the minister said, adding the motion was doomed to failure.
Hotline to protect nesting turtles
(CNS): While sea turtle remains a popular national dish in the Cayman Islands, the public is being asked to join a world wide effort to halt the decline of these endangered species. The Department of Environment (DoE) is appealing to the public to aid in the recovery of Cayman Islands sea turtle nesting populations by reporting turtle nests to a new DoE Turtle Hotline 938-NEST (938-6378) whenever sea turtle tracks or nests are found. The goal is to find all turtle nests and protect them from the time they are laid until they hatch two months later.
DoE Research Officer Dr Janice Blumenthal explained that during the turtle nesting season DoE staff and volunteers patrol beaches four days per week finding and protecting nests but they are not able to visit every beach every day so rely on the public to assist them.
She added, “While sea turtles spend the majority of their lives in the ocean, from May to November females make their way on shore to lay their eggs. On the beach, nesting turtles, turtle nests, and baby turtles are extremely vulnerable. We hope that with the new and easy to remember Turtle Hotline number, members of the public will be better able to assist in sea turtle conservation efforts.”
Data collected by DoE over the past decade show that Cayman Islands sea turtle nesting has begun to increase but many nests are in highly developed areas such as Seven Mile Beach. This makes nests susceptible to threats such as lights near the beach, beach driving, heavy equipment operation, bonfires, and poaching. The Turtle Hotline makes it possible for members of the public to help by alerting DoE when they spot turtle nests or see a nesting turtle or baby turtles in danger.
In addition to reporting nests, beachfront property owners and residents can assist by following the DoE’s guidelines for making beaches safe for turtles:
- Reduce beach lighting: turn off, redirect, or shield any lights that can be seen from the beach during the turtle nesting season (contact DoE for more information). Lights near the beach can lead baby turtles away from the sea and result in their death. Lighting may also deter nesting females from coming ashore.
- Remain quiet and stay at a distance if you see a nesting turtle. Flashlights, loud noises, or getting too close might cause the turtle to abandon her nesting attempt.
- Remove obstacles such as beach chairs and recreational equipment from the beach at night.
- Do not drive on the beach—this can crush turtle nests. Contact DoE before using beach cleaning machines or heavy equipment.
- Protect beach vegetation. Vegetation blocks light from buildings, stabilizes the beach, and encourages turtles to nest.
- Do not have bonfires on the beach in the summer—use a designated BBQ pit.
- Do not rake or cover turtle tracks. Department of Environment staff and volunteers use the tracks to find and protect nests.
- Call DoE’s Turtle Hotline if you find a turtle track, nest, or babyturtle.
- Remember that sea turtles are protected under Cayman Islands Law and turtle poachers face steep fines and imprisonment. If you see persons harming or taking sea turtles or their eggs call DoE Enforcement or the police (911).
Contact Janice Blumenthal at DoE for more information or to volunteer for the Marine Turtle Beach Monitoring Programme. DoE Turtle Hotline: 938-NEST. General: 949-8469. Emergencies: 916-4271 or 911. Email: DoE@gov.ky.
Man stabbed in West Bay
(CNS): A man is recovering from stab wounds to the chest and police have arrested a 33-year-old woman, who police say stabbed the 57-year-old man during the altercation between the two of them in Dixie Lane, West Bay. Police received a report of the incident shortly after 9.00 pm last night, Tuesday 10 May, and the injured man was conveyed to the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town, where his injuries are described as non-life threatening. The woman was arrested on suspicion of Assault GBH and remains in police custody while enquiries are ongoing.
No plan details at UDP rally
(CNS): The premier has failed to deliver details about the new cruise port developers that are offering to undertake a number of other infrastructure projects on island. Despite saying in his Monday night TV and radio broadcast that he would be updating the country on government’s plans for the cruise berthing facility and other new developments at the public meeting outside the courthouse on Tuesday night, McKeeva Bush reviewed the past but offered few details on the future. Although he said he planned to start some projects, he did not say which or when. He offered support for the oil refinery proposal again but failed to say if government had entered into a deal with the developers. (Photo Dennie WarrenJr)
Despite opposition from inside the civil service, as well as the PPM, their supporters and others who opposed the development proposals, Bush insisted that he would be going ahead with some new projects soon. He said the people of the country had voted for the UDP to deliver economic growth.
“The projects have to go through otherwise the country is going to go belly-up,” the premier warned as he accused the opposition of putting every possible barrier in place to prevent development. He said the PPM leader knew these developments would bring jobs and economic prosperity and he was attempting to stop all that with his no confidence motion.
The premier said he would be revealing the details of the projects before the end of the month but said nothing about the cruise berthing facilities and the recent decision to cancel the deal with GLF. He simply stated that government was in negotiations with a new group of developers that would deliver multiple infrastructure projects.
He did, however, state firmly that Dart would be capping and remediating the dump and “government would work with them” as it had been an unsightly mess for years, despite the situation with the CTC process. He said people could "cuss" him out but he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Bush also raised the possibility of an oil refinery once again, insisting this was a modern version that would be clean and not give off dirty emission. The premier said if this had been developed many years ago as he had suggested people would not be paying so much now for fuel.
In what turned out to be a mid-term political rally for the United Democratic Party, Bush ended a long night of political speeches, MC’d by Ellio Solomon, and focused on the shortcomings of the PPM and in particular the party leader, the no confidence motion filed by the opposition and what he said were the successes of his administration so far.
Aside from taking political swipes at Alden McLaughlin, the opposition leader, Bush also questioned the loyalty of the civil service, pointing to the recently leaked memo he had sent to heads of department. This illustrated the difficulties his government had to deal with in getting things done, he said, when the civil service were leaking things to the press, who were making headlines before he was able to deal with issues.
He also answered a number of the criticisms railed at him and his Cabinet colleagues, though not all of them. Bush said that while people were criticising and saying they weren’t free, he had never heard so much criticism in his life and wondered how much more freedom to criticise people wanted.
Bush also defended his travelling, which has been a particular focus for his critics, but he said he would continue to travel when it was needed. The premier said he had to work tirelessly going “from country to country” and had to “beg them for business” because of the state the PPM had left the public finances and the country in general. “We didn’t have money,” he said and added that Cayman was being watched and when its name was called by international bodies and G20 countries he had to be there to defend the financial sector.
He also defended his deputy, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, and said there was nothing wrong with paving the private driveways in Cayman Brac as it was often done when the main roads were being paid to level the areas off so water would not run on to them.
Referring to his demands that civil servants find a surplus before the fiscal year end, the premier, who is also minister of finance, said it was completely puzzling that in March there was a surplus of around $15 million and then a few weeks later the country was running a deficit. He would not tolerate that and warned that he would not allow unnecessary spending and did not care which public servants weren’t happy.
Focusing heavily throughout his speech on the previous administration, he said his government was hindered by having to rectify the problems of the last one. Things, however, were now getting on track, Bush told the audience of around one hundred people, and that was why the PPM leader had brought the no confidence motion — because he knew things were set to turn around and he did not want to see the UDP government succeed.
“They know we are going to bring a better budget soon,” he added.
Lund lives in hope of projects
(CNS): Local realtor Kim Lund has pointed to fifteen development projects that he says will start this year or next that will get the property industry back on track. In his latest report, the agent, who is known for maintaining an upbeat approach to even the worst state of the real estate market, included four projects that have started but listed the cruise dock in George Town, the special economic technology zone and a new 5 star hotel resort in Colliers at the eastern end of Grand Cayman in his wish list. He said after “a decade of paralysis, government has committed the country to an economic stimulus package” that would lead Cayman back to prosperity. Lund said major decisions had been made on projects but action was now needed, not more bureaucracy.
Supporting some unpopular projects, such as the dredging of the North Sound channel, the moving of the West Bay Road and the East End Seaport, Lund said that after the last “two very difficult years, the country needed to bring to fruition the positive impact from these initiatives, within the economy, this year.”
The realtor said the lack of development over the last ten years had led to Cayman falling behind the curve, but he believed an aggressive plan was now in place to build Cayman’s economy back up.
“A major element of the stimulus is to fast track some new development and improvements to the country’s infrastructure, which will provide a more immediate boost to the economy, while creating a positive longer term impact on jobs and businesses,” he said in his summer report.
Lund was particularly hopeful about comments made by government about allowing the Dart group to move the West Bay Road to facilitate the redevelopment of the former Courtyard Marriot as a new beach front resort. He said this was a “bold move” by government.
“The impact for development on Seven Mile Beach, which was virtually stalled, is enormous, not to mention providing more land for the very popular Public Beach,” Lund said. “The area impacted is the section of road between West Bay and George Town that is very close to the sea.”
He added that aside from being vulnerable to storms, the road limited the prime beachfront land, which was too narrow to be developed, but he said now it could provide a great economic benefit to the country.
“With the road being moved further inland, this land can now serve as another location that will provide a long term economic gain. It will do so by enabling development and creating thousands of jobs through construction and, eventually, hospitality industry and affiliated positions,” he argued.
Not everyone agrees with Lund, however, as concerns recently have been raised that the moving of the West Bay Road will signal the end of access to the famous beach for locals.
MLA tried to trick wife to lure her from lover
(CNS): Dwayne Seymour tried to trick his wife into thinking he was in the hospital the night he went to find her at a Seven Mile Beach hotel, where he believed she was in a room with her lover. On the second day of his Grand Court trial for attempting to pervert the course of justice, the Bodden Town MLA took the stand and admitted that he had cooked up a plan that he had been hit by a car in an effort to tear her away from Garrone Yap, whom Seymour believed she was with on 1 May last year. Seymour told the court that he had attended the Batabano celebrations earlier that day and learned afterwards that his wife had been seen with Yap and was probably having an affair.
Seymour said he did not know where his wife, Melanie Seymour, was that day but someone who worked for him as a security guard at the airport had seen Yap there and implied he might be with Seymour’s wife. The MLA denied using his public office to find out where Yap was staying via immigration records at the airport and said he had not headed straight to Beach Suites. The MLA said he had called a number of hotels first before he had gone there and seen his wife’s car parked outside.
The Bodden Town representative said there were problems in his marriage which he was trying to resolve. His original goal when he arrivedat the hotel, he said, was to get a picture as evidence of her infidelity. With that in mind, he said, he called his friend Hartwell Minzett so that they could swap cars. Then Melanie would not realize he was there and when she came down he could get the picture.
Seymour denied going to the hotel to confront Yap but said, “I was concerned and I was trying to find my wife. We had two kids at home and I didn’t know where she was,” he told the court. He revealed, however, that he and his wife had communicated by text but she would not say where she was.
Seymour told the court that he implied he had been run over by a car and was in the emergency room in a text to his wife as he waited in the car park of the Grand Cayman Beach Suites in the hope that she would come down.
He explained how he then asked his friend Minzett to answer the phone once Melanie began calling him to make what he called the “plan or the scheme” more authentic.
Seymour denied that this ‘plan’ was a lie, despite the fact that he said it was not true that he had gone to the hospital or that he had been hit by a car. Seymour said he did not tell lies as he went to Sunday school until he was twenty-five, and this was a plan or a scheme and he refused to acknowledge it was a lie. “I drummed up a plan to get her to come down, saying it was an emergency,” he said.
Seymour revealed that soon after that he caught sight of someone who might be Yap coming toward him and Minzett. Admitting that he had fought with Yap, Seymour denied having started the punch up and said he was merely defending himself against a man he believed to be a martial arts expert who was being very aggressive towards him.
Once the altercation was over as a result of the security guard breaking up the fight, the MLA said he walked away and said nothing to the security officer. He denied provoking Yap or calling his wife a whore as he said she was the mother of his children. Nor, Seymour said, did he introduce himself to the guard as an MLA before the incident but he admitted that he had asked about the key for a room. That, he said, was because he was concerned about his wife’s safety.
As he gave evidence from the witness stand it became clear that the narrative was different to the one he had given to the police when he went to the station to make report about the fight with Yap. Crown counsel drew attention to a number of inconsistencies. Seymour said he was in a state at the time he gave the report and attempted to explain the various differences in the account he had told in the courtroom to the one he gave to police a year ago.
It was also revealed he had told officers that Yap was a black belt in Karate. He acknowledged that he did not know that to be a fact but he had assumed he was some kind of expert in martial arts. He said he had wanted the matter investigated when the police asked him but denied the crown’s suggestion that he had asked the police to arrest Yap in order to keep him from his wife.
“That’s preposterous” Seymour said in reply.
The case continues in Grand Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Former teller admits stealing from Brac bank
(CNS): A Brac woman pleaded guilty to twelve counts of forgery, fraud and theft in Grand Court on Friday. Takeisha McLean admitted to various offences, including forging deposit slips, stealing bank cheques and making false document transfers when she worked as a teller at the Cayman Brac branch of Cayman National Bank. The court heard that the various offences all took place in August 2008 and although McLean was charged with twenty counts, including the transfer of criminal property under the proceeds of crime law, she denied attempting to send stolen money via Quikcash to Jamaica. The crown accepted the guilty pleas and agreed to leave the remaining counts on file.
McLean was released on bail after her attorney asked for a social enquiry report. She will return to court for a sentencing hearing on 17 June.