Archive for February, 2012
$2.6 billion vanished in pension funds via Cayman
(CNS Business): About 200 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in pension funds managed by Tokyo-based AIJ Investment Advisors Co has disappeared after it was transferred to a fund in the Cayman Islands, followed by a trust bank in Bermuda and then moved to the Hong Kong account of a major European bank, Japanese media is reporting. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) has not so far been able to trace where the money went after reaching Hong Kong but the Japanese financial regulator plans to unravel the complex flow of money from the investment advisory firm and find out how the money disappeared. SESC suspects that AIJ may have used the Cayman Islands to hide information on its investments. Read more on CNS Business
MLAs want November vote
(CNS): Both Ezzard Miller and Arden McLean are sticking to their position that the national ballot on one man, one vote must take place in November — before the next general election — as a people-initiated referendum, which is provided for in Cayman’s constitution. The two MLAs say past evidence shows that McKeeva Bush is offering nothing more than an empty promise. Miller also noted that a general election result based on the multiple voting system could not be considered legitimate if at the same time the majority of electors were voting for one man, one vote.
Thanking the premier for his support for a referendum on the issue, following Bush’s announcement on Friday evening, Miller and McLean said it was “nothing but a naked attempt to stymie the current petition process,” which the MLAs said was receiving wide support.
“We remind Caymanians that the premier has made this promise before and has not delivered,” McLean and Miller said in their joint statement issued on Saturday afternoon.
“In 2003 as leader of government business, he expended considerable public funds to have the Electoral Boundaries Commission draft up the 18 single member constituencies in preparation for the 2004 elections, only to abort the implementation for his own political expediency, in spite of his party's support for its introduction.
“The premier then offered to placate the PPM who supported the introduction of one man, one vote by introducing it for George Town as a test case, again only for his own political purposes.This never happened and the Premier is now merely offering up yet another empty promise on this matter,” the MLAs said.
The two men, who are currently the only single members in the Legislative Assembly, asked why the premier would propose that the people of the Cayman Islands must wait five years to enjoy true democracy, better representation and greater accountability of politicians.
“Anyone who opposes the implementation of single member constituencies before the 2017 elections is selfish and is not acting in the best interest of the country at this time. Do not trust any of the politicians to implement this system after you vote them into office. This has not worked over the past 10 years. The only way one man, one vote will ever be legislated is through this referendum and the concurrent enforcement of the provisions of the constitution,” McLean and Miller warned.
Encouraging everyone to come and sign the petition which asks for the referendum by 30 November this year, in time for the 2013 election to be conducted on the basis of one man, one vote and single member constituencies, the MLAs pointed out that there would be no additional cost to conduct the 2013 election on this system as the Elections Office is already fully prepared for the one man, one vote system. They admitted that there would be a cost to conduct the referendum, but not as much as the premier claims
“The benefits achieved by winning the referendum are certainly worth the money spent. How much is too much to allow Caymanians to express their democratic rights and freedoms?” they asked. Miller said he believs that the general election result in 2013 could not be considered legitimate if people in George Town were allowed to cast six votes and there was, as is anticipated, overwhelming support for one man, one vote.
However, speaking with CNS on Saturday, he said he believed this was an attempt by the premier to ensure his own re-election for what may be the last time.
The MLAs added that there was now a pressing need to get on with the petition and ensure there would be a referendum in November to give the government ample time to make the necessary changes to the Elections Law, which are very simple and direct, as they encouraged Caymanians to use this announcement by the premier as clear proof that everyone needs to sign this petition. "Let’s get it done for 2013," they said.
McLean told CNS on Friday, before the announcement by the premier, that he was excited that the policy issued by the deput governor paved the way for civil servants to sign the petition. “I think the most important thing about this petition is that the civil service can now sign,” he said. “This is democracy at its best and what I’m really excited about. They should be equal and are equal in the eyes of the law. I really hope they embrace this opportunity to sign not just because their right to do so has been clarified but so that everyone can be equal in the sight of democracy.”
Organisers now believe they are close to 2,000 signatures all of whom are registered voters — over half way to the figure of 3,800 which would trigger the constitutionally enshrined people-initiated referendum. But Mclean and Miller have set a target of 5,000 to ensure that there is no doubt about the support for the initiative.
The campaigners hope to submit the complete petition that calls for a November referendum to Cabinet by the 1 April with the stated goal of having the 2013 election conducted under the democratic and equal system of one man, one vote in 18 single member constituencies.
Vote in the CNS poll:
If the petition for one man, one vote triggers a referendum, how soon should this take place?
See related article:
Bush wanted port cop probe
(CNS): The Cayman Islands premier told the Port Authority director that he intended to ask the police to investigate the leakof an MOU he had signed with China Harbour Engineering Company last year as he believed it had come from the port. The revelation comes from the minutes of a Port Authority board meeting in June, which was released on Friday. Following the FOI request made by CNS for access to documentation regarding the collapsed negotiations with GLF Construction and the talks with CHEC over the development of the George Town cruise berthing facilities, the port has posted on its website the minutes from meetings between 30 April and 25 June dealing with the controversial events.
McKeeva Bush accused the Port Authority on 25 June last year of being the source of the leaked MOU. Expressing his disappointment, he told Paul Hurlston, the port director, and his deputies, Clement Reid and James Parsons, that he was going to have the police look into the leak as it was a serious matter.
However, an RCIPS spokesperson confirmed Friday in the wake of the release of the minutes that the police had never received such a request from the premier.
It was also at this meeting that the premier revealed that he intended to remove some members from the board as he had lost confidence in their ability to be impartial about the cruise facility negotiations when it came to GLF and CHEC.
The documents show the extent of the tensions between all of the board members and in particular the board’s chair, Stefan Baraud, with the premier over the decision to pull out of talks with GLF construction and begin negotiations with CHEC.
The members were particularly concerned about the implications of the legal action which GLF Construction had threatened to take. The legal issues caused alarm to the board members because of the liability they believed they could face as well as the detrimental impact such action could have on the country as a whole. The members also believed that it could hold up the development of the facilities indefinitely.
As a result, they had all agreed at a meeting on 24 June, the day before the meeting with McKeeva Bush on the 25 June, that they would tell the premier they wanted to go back to the GLF proposal.
According to the minutes, members had unanimously agreed they could not support the premier’s decision to negotiate with CHEC. Baraud told the members that he had met with the Chinese firm and in his opinion they were “not fully prepared to commence the project in a timely manner.”
The deputy chairman,Woody Foster, stated in the 25 June meeting that he had been uncomfortable with the way the process had gone since the initial selection of DECCO and had already expressed those concerns to the premier. As a result of not planning to serve a full term on the port board, the minutes record that Foster took the opportunity to step down there and then.
Despite the position of the board, the legal advice from the authority's lawyers and a report from KPMG all advising against the premier’s decision, the board membership was changed and Bush continued on with the CHEC negotiations. Although he had taken charge of those talks initially, more recently George Town back bench MLA Elio Solomon has been at the forefront of the talks with the Chinese.
At this stage, some ten months after GLF said it was weeks away from being able to mobilize and begin the pier development, there is still no agreement in place with government and a developer for the cruise facilities.
See related CNS story Port releases disputed papers
See minutes here
Port releases disputed papers
(CNS): The documents that had been at the centre of a controversial freedom of information request, which almost turned into a court room drama, have finally been released by the Port Athority. The publicauthority informed CNS on Friday afternoon that the documents that were the subject of the information commissioner’s December hearing were all now in the public domain. In a release defending its right to take a “cautious and considered” approach to the disclosure of “commercially sensitive, confidential or legally privileged information”, the port said it was committed to transparency.
Minutes of the Port Authority board meetings between April and June relating to GLF Construction have now been posted on the port’s website, as well as the statement about the port's handling of the particular request and the subsequent public comment.
The authority had originally declined to release the documents in response to an FOI, but after a hearing Information Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert ruled that the documents should be released.
After 45 days the documents were still not public and because the original applicant withdrew the request the commissioner did not force the authority to publish the documents, many of which by this time had already been leaked into the public domain.
However, CNS made a new request for the document and Dilbert ordered the authority to immediately release them as per her original decision. But the minutes, which had still not been leaked, remained under wraps.
Dilbert contemplated court action but in the interests of a speedier resolution she advised that the authority could follow the usual process with the CNS request, giving them up to 30 days to release the documents from the date of the request.
The Port Authority posted the minutes on its site on Friday afternoon inside the thirty day time period and notified CNS.
It also posted a statement in which it said the port had been the subject of comment and speculation over the request, and although it believes it has no obligation to respond, it said it was committed to the principles of accountability, transparency and public participation, as enshrined in the Freedom of Information Law.
“The FOI Law itself contemplates that requests for disclosure of information shall only be made after due compliance with the principles of independence, fairness and due process," the authority stated. “In responding to requests for commercially sensitive, confidential or legally privileged information, the Authority has adopted, as it is lawfully entitled to, a cautious and considered approach to disclosure. Regrettably, some information has been leaked by persons unknown to the local media before the Authority's own review of the issues had concluded.”
After what it said was “due completion”, it had posted on its website the minutes of the board of directors' meetings and it hoped the release “would end speculation and prevent further and unnecessary diversion of Authority resources.”
The minutes reveal the dispute and tensions which emerged between the premier and the board members over his decision to cease talks with GLF Construction and move into negotiations with the China Harbour Engineering Company for the development of the cruise berthing facilities in George Town.
The minutes also show that Bush had planned on reporting the leak of the MOU between him and CHEC to the police as he believed it had come from inside the port. The documents confirm the wide speculation about the significant level of concern the members of the board had over the premier’s decision to partner with CHEC and the unanimous support that the board had for continuing the talks with GLF.
See related CNS articles:
Courtroom battle not quickest route to records
See the minutes and port statement here
Mac aims to usurp petition
(CNS): In the face of mounting signatures on the petition for a people initiated referendum on one man, one vote, the premier announced Friday evening that government would hold the national ballot at the same time as the 2013 May General Election. Despite the petition organiser's goal to trigger a legally binding people's referendum by November so that the next general election would be based on single member constituencies, the premier has pointed to cost and the opposition leader’s alleged failure to support the idea of a referendum before the election as reasons to hold the ballot next year.
Bush said in a short statement released to the press that “the United Democratic Party government will hold a referendum on ‘one man, one vote’ at the May 2013 general election.”
He added that this was a previously stated position of the UDP and the benefits of holdingthe referendum as part of the general election next year would avoid duplicating “costs at a time when there is tremendous pressure on public finances.” The premier stated that if the one man, one vote passed at what would be a 2013 referendum, this allows for an orderly implementation of the system.
“Furthermore the call to have such a referendum this year obviously does not have the support of the leader of the opposition given his comments,” Bush stated as he referred to an article published in the Caymanian Compass earlier this month.
Despite Alden McLaughlin’s position that the only way to get one man, one vote was to vote in the PPM, his party colleague Arden McLean and fellow single member for North side, Ezzard Miller, have both taken the view that they can push for the 2013 election to be held under the principle of one man, one vote. They both say the extra seats added to existing constituencies, creating a six member constituency in George Town, is simply undemocratic and will undermine the legitimacy of the next election result.
See related article:
Vote in the CNS poll:
If the petition for one man, one vote triggers a referendum, how soon should this take place?
US prosecutors want 20+ years prison time for Coke
(CNS): American prosecutors are seeking to lock 42-year-old Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke away for more than two decades. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have asked a judge to hand Coke, the Jamaican drug lord, the maximum sentence. Coke was arrested and sent to the US in 2010 after violent street battles, in which over 70 people were killed, raged for a month in Jamaica’s capital, Kingston. According to media reports from the US, he is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday based on his guilty plea last year to charges including racketeering and conspiracy to supply large quantities of ganja.
In a sentencing memorandum filed this week, US attorney Preet Bharara said the federal advisory sentencing guidelines call for a sentence of slightly less than 22 to 23 years in prison.
Bharara’s office wrote in its memorandum to Judge Robert P. Patterson Jr. that Coke was so powerful in Jamaica that he enjoyed “virtual immunity from the reach of law enforcement” there. The office said Coke led a drug trafficking ring from an armed stronghold called Tivoli Gardens in Kingston, moving guns and drugs between Jamaica and the United States, and ordering murders, shootings and beatings.
“Coke’s soldiers often began their service to him as teenagers, drawn from the community and trained by Coke and his lieutenants to guard the streets of Tivoli Gardens with guns, and to engage in acts of violence at Coke’s direction,” prosecutors wrote.
Last September Coke wrote a seven-page letter to Judge Patterson accepting responsibility for his actions and asking the judge to sentence him below the guideline.
New UN chair calls for end to colonialism
(CNS): The newly elected chair of the Special Committee on Decolonization at the United Nations has called for new strategies to ensure the “final disappearance of the archaic concept of colonialism”. Speaking after his election at the committee’s first meeting for 2012 Diego Morejón Pazmino from Ecuador called for frank and sincere dialogue and a focus on economic and environmental considerations. The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon spoke about “constructive involvement” between the committee, the administering powers and the non-self-governing territories.
The process of decolonization remains incomplete as there are still sixteen Non-Self-Governing Territories, ten of which are British, and 2 million people still colonised. Remaining on the list territories are Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Montserrat, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos, United States Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, American Samoa, Guam, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Tokelau and Western Sahara.
“The Special Committee is in a position to develop innovative approaches and generate new dynamics,” said Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, on Ban’s behalf. He added that the populations of the 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories on the United Nations list has suffered and continues to suffer from the financial crisis and climate change.
The Special Committee elected its officers for the year: Diego Morejón Pazmino ( Ecuador) Chair; Pedro Núñez Mosquera ( Cuba) and Shekou M. Touray ( Sierra Leone) Vice-Chairs; and Bashar Ja’afari ( Syria) Rapporteur.
Cayman swimmers get over 100 personal bests
(Stingray Swim Club):Stingray Swim Club travelled to Jamaica last weekend to compete in the FINA sanctioned Walter Rodgers Age Group Swimming Championships. The team of 15 Stingray swimmers was joined by two members from Camana Bay Aquatic Club and along with Coach Paul Swaby-Ebanks, Team Manager Mr Derrick Westerborg and a number of parents the young swimmers represented Cayman Swimming admirably both on deck, in the pool and in the stands. With competition taking place form Thursday -Sunday Stingray swimmers swam a combined 111 personal best times, with each swimmer contributing a minimum of four to that total.
Individual and team accolades are many, with some of the highlights including:
-Four swimmers added their names to those under consideration for the 2012 Cayman Islands CARIFTA Team by attaining the relevant consideration times: Cole Morgan (100 Backstroke, 1:14.30 "A"), Alice Narborough (50 Free, 31.56 "A"), Jonathan Key (50 Free, 34.02 "BB") and Kyle Fraser (50 Free, 28.79 "A").
-Two Stingray records fell by the wayside, both to Corey Westerborg in the Boys U8 age group who broke his own 50 free record witha 39.30 and also broke the 200IM records set in 2003 by Alex McCallum, lowering it by an astounding 25-1/2 seconds to 3:52.96.
-Stefanie Boothe swam her first "A" time and Jayde Solomon compiled 5 "BB" time standards as well as a third place finish in the 200 back.
-Iain Macrae continued his steady climb to the top, dropping time in four of his events and posting four top 8 finishes and Ella Plunkett had an astounding 8 personal best times and led off the girls 11-12 bronze medal winning medley relay team with a solid backstroke leg.
-Andrew Smilley, the veteran of the team, added seven personal bests to the team total as well as seven top eight points scoring finishes.
There were also a number of swimmers who were swimming overseas and in a 50M pool for the first time: Wunyae Crawford, Liam Henry, Alex Dakers, Sarah Jackson and Lauren Williams all competed hard, took on new events, earned points for the team with top 8 finishes and achieved official BB times.
Camana Bay Aquatic Club also had two swimmers at the meet; swimming veteran Danielle Boothe and, on the other end of the spectrum, Rory Barrett, who competed in a 50M pool for the first time. Danielle set two meet records in 50M Breast and 400 IM and finished solidly in all her events. Rory achieved top 8 finishes in the 100M Breast, 50M Freestyle and 100M Freestyle events, and was only half a second away from achieving an “A” time in the 50M Freestyle. Rory also added his name to the list of CARIFTA hopefuls by reaching the necessary consideration times.
“The Camana Bay Aquatic Club is very proud of Danielle and Rory’s achievements in Jamaica,” said Camana Bay Aquatic Club President, Jeffrey Wight. “Danielle’s hard work this season has paid off with fantastic results at the meet and we wish her the very best as she represents Jamaica at the CARIFTA Games. Rory rose to the occasion and performed extremely well for his first time at a long course meet. Weare very grateful to the Stingray Swim Club for their support of our swimmers in Jamaica.”
With the 2012 CARIFTA Games taking place in the Bahamas from April 12-15th, Cayman’s younger swimmers are training hard, focusing on achieving FINA approved qualifying times at the Pete Ribbins Memorial Swim Meet which starts on February 29th – hosted at the Lions Aquatic Centre by Stingray Swim Club.
“We could not be prouder of all our swimmers,”said Stingray President Brenda McGrath who was at the airport to meet the returning team. “They swam hard, had fun and represented the very best of Cayman Swimming while they were in Jamaica. It was great to have swimmers from Camana Bay Aquatic Club there too and we are hopeful that as both clubs become more settled that there will be other opportunities for us to travel together, representing not just our clubs but most importantly the Cayman Islands in the international arena.”
For more information on Stingray Swim Club and on the upcoming swim meet visit www.caymanswimming.com .
About Stingray Swim Club: The Stingray Swim Club, a non profit club, run by an elected Board of Directors. Stingray Swim Club is a year round competitive swim team offering high quality professional coaching and technique instruction for all ages and abilities.
Global coalition launched for marine protection
(The Guardian): A new partnership to raise $1.5bn (£633m) for the world's oceans, double marine protected areas and rebuild fish stocks was launched on Friday by the World Bank. The Global Partnership for Oceans, a coalition of governments, NGOs, scientists and businesses, is a political boost for the world's overfished, heavily polluted and increasingly warming oceans. More controversially it proposes the expansion of aquaculture (farmed fish) to provide two-thirds of the world's fish, up from half today, to alleviate pressure on wild fish as a growing human population increasingly looks to the sea for protein.
Unveiling the plan, the World Bank president, Robert Zoellick, warned that marine ecosystems, which cover more than 70% of the surface of the planet, have deteriorated to a perilous level.
"The world's oceans are in danger, and the enormity of the challenge is bigger than one country or organisation. We need co-ordinated global action to restore our oceans to health," he told the Economist's World Ocean Summit in Singapore.
The alliance brings together many nations and organisations that are already attempting to alleviate what is, after the climate, the ultimate "tragedy of the commons" – the running down of resources that are largely owned by no one, exploited by anyone and woefully unregulated.
Brac farmers and crafters prepare to show their wares
(CNS): Following the success of the Grand Cayman show on Wednesday, Brackers will be enjoying all the fun of the farm this Saturday with the Cayman Brac Agriculture Show at the Agriculture Grounds off Songbird Drive on the Bluff. The show starts with a traditional Caymanian breakfast at 8 am and the opening ceremony will be around 10am. As well as the livestock and crop displays, arts and crafts, there will be a host of musical talents, such as C Level Band, Layman Scott High School Steel Band, Barefoot Man, Andy Martin the Cayman Cowboy, Dexter Bodden, Tammy Banks-DaCosta and many others.
Organisers said that the entertainment runs continuously throughout the day, with dancing from the Koalition group. There will also be various demonstrations by HM Customs K-9 Unit, Fire Department, Health Services and the Police Department.
One of the stalwarts of the Cayman Brac Agriculture show is Coleen Gibson, whose craft ambitions keeps pulling in a crowd and titles each year. Gibson keeps a dying art and a part of the Caymanian heritage alive by producing works of art using thatch and Caymanite and passing on her skills to generations of her family.
At 64 she was the 2011 Top Exhibitor at both Agriculture Shows – Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. “I enjoy the competition. I work hard on my stuff and I am proud to win. I am proud of my island, Cayman Brac, and I like being a part of the shows,” Gibson said.
The 2011 Top Farmer for Cayman Brac, Margartio “Merch” Chantilope, will also be displaying his best crops. A second generation farmer, with nine fields under operation, Merch now supplies Foster’s Food Fair and Kirk Supermarket with yams and papayas. In addition, he grows yams, cassava, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, mangoes and avocados and raises pigs.
“I don’t use fertilizer – just rain water and I rotate my crops,” he said. “Over the years I have found out that the best months to plant potatoes are August and September. You get a better yield of crops. You can plant in June, but you won’t get a high yield or quality crop,” he explained. “I like the idea of shade-house farming. Not a lot of land is needed, but you can get a good crop and I support that kind of farming. Things are getting hard throughout the world and we in Cayman Islands need to do what we need to do.”
Admission to the Cayman Brac Agriculture show is $8 per person (ages 11 and up), and $4 for children (ages 4 – 10). Raffle tickets are $10 and includes admission – 1st prize is US$2,500. Gates open at 7:30am.