Archive for October, 2012
Beatle backs call to stop turtle farming in Cayman
(CNS): One of the world’s most famous musicians, Paul McCartney, has offered his public support to the international campaign being spearheaded by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to stop turtle farming in the Cayman Islands. The former Beatle member announced on his website and ‘tweeted’ his backing for the campaign as he asked his fans to also support the goal to stop the farming and move towards conservation. Meanwhile, the Sea Turtle Conservancy has also joined the WSPA in asking the Cayman Turtle Farm to end the farming and is encouraging members of the public to take action.
Tweeting about the campaign on Wednesday, McCartney said there was no humane way to farm sea turtles. “Support @WSPA campaign to #stopseaturtlefarming,” McCartney posted on his Twitter account.
The WPSA’s campaign is attracting worldwide attention and at 2pm on Thursday 46,881 people had signed a petition on the website, which was posted only at the weekend.
A spokesperson for Sea Turtle Conservancy, which is based in the US, said Thursday that it had objected repeatedly to the Cayman Turtle Farm’s release of captive-raised turtles into the wild because of the potential impact on wild populations in the broader Caribbean.
“Well-documented diseases found primarily in captive turtles can be spread to wild populations,” the world's oldest marine turtle research and conservation organization said. “The turtles that are breeding at the Cayman Turtle Farm originate from many different oceans and nesting colonies, which means they have very different genetics. If their offspring are allowed to mix with and mate in the wild, it could have far reaching impacts on sea turtle navigation abilities and genetics.”
The group also said the release programme gives a false impression that conservation can be accomplished simply by breeding turtles in tanks and the releasing them.
“The Cayman Turtle Farm tries to promote its operation as something beneficial to wild turtle populations,” said David Godfrey, Sea Turtle Conservancy Executive Director. “Despite the lack of evidence that the turtle release program actually benefits the wild population, countless individuals around the world are led to believe that the program works and that it is a successful option for saving and restoring wild sea turtle numbers.”
Godfrey also pointed to the recent death of about 300 green turtles at the Farm during the repair of a leaking seawater pipe and said the turtles had been left to die in the heat.
“In essence, once the tank was drained, the turtles were left piled on top of each other to cook to death under the Cayman sunshine,” said Godfrey. “It’s time to turn things around at the Cayman Turtle Farm, and there really is an opportunity to do something positive for sea turtles at this historical site.”
The group said it was joining the World Society for the Protection of Animals in publicly asking the Cayman Turtle Farm to permanently end sea turtle farming and encouraging members of the public to take action at www.stopseaturtlefarm.org
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Labour office teaches business about the law
(CNS): Officials from the new labour department have said that one of its main objectives is to promoting a culture of workplace excellence and as a result has begun hosting training sessions for local businesses into upholding and applying the Labour Law (2011 Revision) when dealing with their employees and work environments. Director of Labour and Pensions Mario Ebanks who facilitated the course and said it was about promoting a culture of workplace excellence and compliance.
“If we can train business managers, owners and HR practitioners to properly understand and apply the Labour Law, we can achieve many things including: improve productivity in the workplace, promote tranquillity and good employer-employee relations, and also reduce the time and expense for all parties with dispute resolution, conciliation, and Labour Tribunal Hearings,” he said. “A good partnership between the Department and the business community is critical, while at the same time being clear as to the Rights of the employee.”
The Fundamentals of the Labour Law one day course was held on 12 September and was atte4nded by business owners and staff members from: Roper’s Enterprises, Phoenix ltd, Mike’s Ice and Refrigeration, Maples and Calder, Grand Caymanian Resort, Prestige Motors, and Larry’s Hardware. The DLP said it will continue to host courses on the Labour Law throughout the rest of the year, with another course planned for both October and November.
Businesses or employees wishing to Register for these courses, or seeking information or training in other areas of Labour or Pensions should contact the Department of Labour & Pensions, located on the 2nd floor of Mid Town Plaza on Elgin Avenue. The department is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday; telephone: 945-8960, fax: 945-8961, confidential hotline for labour and pension complaints: 945-3073.
Mac ‘knocking on doors’
(CNS): Admitting that the premier is travelling in Asia, his office has released a statement with limited details of his latest extended overseas trip. Following criticisms from the opposition about his continued absence and his failure to inform the country where he was and why as well as the neglect of domestic matters, the premier said he was “knocking on doors” in Asia, a “land of expanding economies where investors are looking for new opportunities.” Bush said that no government, including his, could change the economic situation Cayman faces over four years given world conditions, “but we must try,” he said. “In today’s world, that means knocking on doors.”
In the statement which was not sent to CNS directly from the premier’s office, as is now customary, but forwarded via another source, Bush attempted to justify his travelling as well as that of the deputy premier.
“Every government must travel to conduct business. Whether it’s a lot of travel or little, all depends on the business that has to be conducted. My travels and that of the Deputy Premier don't normally overlap however this time it could not be avoided because of the nature of the meetings, hers for postal matters and mine for finance, both of which had agendas which were set by the international bodies, each in their very different but significant areas of responsibility,” Bush's statement read.
“We have to go to the right places, to knock on the right doors; whether that is to try to stop the EU from forcing us to 'converge' our financial services legislation with theirs, as we have had to go all the way to Greenland to do, or it is to seek the right kind of investment, as I am now doing,” he added.
Blaming the opposition for the financial woes of the country, the premier said he could not bring new opportunities “using the same old strategies that the PPM used,” and as the finance and tourism minister he could not find new business “by sitting down in the Government Administration Building” or “playing dominoes in some bar”.
Although the details of the trip were limited in the statement, as reported on CNS previously, the premier’s office revealed that Bush had been to meetings related to the IMF and World Bank conference, which had taken place in Tokyo. The office also stated that the premier was “pursuing business opportunities” in other places in Asia, including Hong Kong and China.
According to other sources the premier is expected back on 28 October.
The Legislative Assembly will return on 5 November, and addressing the opposition question about the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility — the agreement he has already signed with the UK — and the need to pass it into law, Bush said that it and “any Constitutional matters” would be dealt with in what he called a “manner that is to the benefit of the people” but he did not explain what that meant.
Since the 21 day deadline for any legislation coming before the House at the next meeting has already passed, the premier will not be able to bring the FFR without falling foul of that constitutional requirement.
Meanwhile, CNS has submitted FOI requests regarding the travelling by both the premier and deputy premier, including the destinations, the reasons for the various trips, the delegates that accompanied them and the cost to the public purse. The request has been acknowledged but no information has been released in connection with the request.
See the premier’s full statement below.
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Jamaica watchdog alarmed over CHEC contract
CNS): Jamaica’s contractor general has expressed alarm over the latest revelations regarding corruption in government over private sector contracts. According to comments in the Jamaican press, attributed to Patrick Wong, the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Works Agency, the government is choosing contractors, and Greg Christie said that, if true, it “depicts a very worrisome state of affairs” for Jamaica’s contracting system.” In a Gleaner article Wong had said that the selection of sub-contractors on the US$400 million mega-contract awarded to China Harbour and Engineering Company (CHEC) was guided by an “unwritten protocol” of political interference.
"The unwritten protocol was established by former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson that MPs must be consulted … The recommendations of the MPs were, therefore, considered in accordance with the unwritten protocol that existed," Wong states in the Gleaner article.
Christie stated that if what Wong has alleged is true it would confirm that there is a “systemic, irregular, widespread and potentially corrupt interference, by politicians, in the disbursement of scarce public financial resources to certain selected works contractors who may be aligned to the said politicians.”
Such an “unwritten protocol” would “significantly undermine the good governance principles of impartiality, fairness, merit, transparency, competition and value for money,” Christie added as he expressed his concerns in a statement Wednesday.
He said it invited the inescapable question as to whether the “protocol” was used to facilitate corruption in the form of ‘kick-backs’ from the selected contractors to the politicians. This, he believed was further evidence of "institutionalized corruption” in the country.
“The fact that a multi-billion dollar state contract, such as the JDIP contract, was awarded without competition to CHEC, which is a foreign contractor, and was then subsequently sub-awarded by CHEC to several local sub-contractors without competition, and outside of the remit of the OCG, should now be cause for concern for all Jamaicans, particularly having regard to Mr Wong’s assertions that the selection of the said sub-contractors was politically inspired and engineered,” he added.
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This is the same company with which the Cayman Islands government has signed an MOU in connection with a proposal to construct the much anticipated cruise berthing facility in George Town. Although there has been very little information in recent months about the progress on the project, throughout the talks the Cayman premier has stated that CHEC will be sub-contracting local workers for the job and not importing labour.
Related article on CNS:
Mac insists CHEC to do port (29 June 2012)
Governor joins civil service bosses for weekly meeting
(CNS): The governor joined the civil service heads recently during the deputy governor’s regular weekly meeting with the ministerial chiefs. Duncan Taylor was there to explain the details of an on-line training programme available to all civil servants which will be paid for by the UK for a six month trial period. The minutes released by the deputy governor’s office show that the course are part of the commitments in the Overseas White Paper to increase engagement and to help develop the capacity of the public services in the Overseas Territories. “It is a goodonline learning programme which offers hundreds of training courses,” the governor told the CS bosses.
The latest minutes also show the various other issues discussed at the meeting including a recap of the status of projects undertaken since the weekly CO Meetings commenced was discussed including the GAB Work Hours Policy, Cultural Day, the Employee Orientation Programme, the Deputy Governor’s Awards, the New Performance Management Template, use of GAB as a Shelter, civil Servant Voluntary Activities Policy and the submission of Policies to the AG for Bill of Rights.
See minutes below
Young Cayman sailors sail-on with support from bank
(CISC): For the sixth year in a row, Scotiabank is the title sponsor for the Cayman Islands National Youth Sailing Championships. The two-day regatta, to be held on 20th and 21nd October 2012, will determine Cayman’s top sailors under the age of eighteen. The championship will be sailed in four different types of sailboats: Laser, Picos, Feva and Optimists. The Optimist division will also include a beginner class for novice racers (Green fleet). All races will take place on the waters of North Sound in front of the Cayman Islands Sailing Club in Red Bay. Spectators will be able to watch the racing from the balcony at the clubhouse and private motor boats are welcome to view the racing from the water.
“There has been a resurgence in youth sailing in the Cayman Islands in the last twelve months, and this year it looks like we are going to have the biggest ever turnout of youth sailors for the National Sailing Championship”, said coach Raph. All youth sailors with sailing experience are invited to attend the regatta. The races will begin at 1pm each day and there will be an awards ceremony following the racing on Sunday 21st October. All competitors will receive a t-shirt and there will be prizes for the top three sailors in each class. There will also be special prizes for the winner of each class.
To register and reserve a boat, please email Raph Harvey at coach@sailing.ky. Boats are limited and will be available on a first come first served basis.
For more information about sailing in the Cayman Islands, please visit www.sailing.ky
Heineken 7s slippery when wet!
(CRFU): Cayman rugby action continued at the South Sound ground on 6 October under heavy rain and on a water logged pitch. Whilst the day started with glorious sunshine no-one would have predicted the deluge which followed and threatened to halt some very fun and exciting Rugby 7’s. The Heineken 7’s, the longest running beer sponsored sporting event on the planet kicked off with a new 2 pool format and features a re-vamped women’s league. In Pool A of the Men’s division The Peter O’Neill Wolfhounds joined the Queensgate Pigs Trotters and team Maples whilst Pool B saw the likes of the Café Patron Barbarians, the CML Ama Tsotsi and the Cayman Pal Thunder. (Photos Caroline Deegan)
With much interest on whether the Pigs Trotters would continue their run of form from the ARScott 10’s into the 7’s it was the Patron Barbarians who got the action under way against the Cayman Pal Thunder in the opening game. The Thunder looked likely to take out the Barbarians, a team with a spread of age and ability but the Thunder struggled to contain even the likes of Ron Arscott and Grizz Adams who, whilst not the archetypal 7’s players, recorded the opening points of the tournament and helped secure a win over the Thunder. The Wolfhounds got the action fired up with a huge 53 point win over team Maples as the Likes of Jon Murphy and Alistair Lum were simply too fast for the Maples boys who could not stop the points from piling on.
The Women’s league, playing in a round robin format between the GCM Cayman Storm, the GCM Pigs Trotters and the GCM Iguaccaneers (a joint venture of the Iguanas and the Buccaneers) started with a close match between the Pigs Trotters and the Iguacaneers. Whilst there are sprinklings of experience throughout the women’s league the vast majority of players are new to the sport of Rugby but nevertheless impressed with hard tackling and strong running in front of an appreciative local crowd. The Iguacaneers opened the scoring but were outdone late in the 2nd half to lose 7-5
The Men’s games continued with the Ama Tsotsi taking on the Barbarians who looked to build on their win over the Thunder but the younger more rounded Ama Tostsi were victors before the Wolfhounds faced off against the Pigs Trotters in a nail biting game which ended in a draw!
Back on for the Women the Cayman Storm took on the Pigs Trotters and impressed with strong running up the middle of the park to see off the Pigs who rounded off the day with one win under their belt. In the final round of women’s games the Iguacaneers succumbed to the strong running ofthe Storm team who rounded off the day with 2 wins in the bag.
In the 5th place final for the men’s division Maples earned a hard fought victory over the Cayman Pal Thunder, The Pigs Trotters dispatched the Patron Barbarians to take third place whilst the Wolfhounds won the tournament with a wet finish against the Ama Tsotsi. The Wolfhounds played the closing stages of the game with only 6 players but managed to hand on for a well-earned win.
FFR law misses LA deadline
(CNS): The most recent expectation for Premier McKeeva Bush to put the agreement he signed with the UK, the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility, into law was at the next sitting of the Legislative Assembly. However, this is not likely to be met as the 21 day constitutional deadline for bringing the legislation to the parliament for the next meeting has passed. Government must circulate and gazette all the bills it intends to put before the LA three weeks before the sitting opens. Members are next scheduled to meet on 5 November and government has gazetted a number of bills that it will be presenting at that meeting but the FFR law is not one of them.
Bush has missed several deadlines given to him by the UK this year and the latest indication had been that the new UK minister with responsibility for the Overseas Territories, Mark Simmonds, expected the premier to bring the relevant bill in this forthcoming parliamentary session.
However, if the premier is to bring the bill in this sitting he will need to suspend Standing Orders to overcome the issue of the 21 day constitutional requirement of public notice and consultation. If he does so after the 6 November, when the country’s Bill of Rights is finally implemented, it could open government to potential for legal action by the Caymanian public for passing an unconstitutional bill that did not involve the public’s right to consultation on new legislation.
Ezzard Miller, the independent member for North Side, said Tuesday that he believed the premier was about to miss another request by the UK to implement this agreement into law as no one had yet seen a copy of any possible draft legislation that could be brought in time for the next sitting.
“The FFR law should have been distributed to members on Monday 15 October and published in the gazette if the premier had intended to bring the law,” Miller said. “Of course, he could suspend Standing Orders but he cannot suspend the constitution. But I suspect he will not be bringing it anyway and, going by history, it appears Bush is going to defy the UK again. My concern about this is that the UK will get tired of this and simply send it down by Order in Council in the exact form as it is in the agreement without the LA being able to amend anything to suit us locally or to have a discussion about the best way to implement the agreement into law.”
The North Side MLA said he could not see any justifiable reason that this law wasn’t drafted because Bush has had the agreement for almost a year. “Really, it’s not that difficult,” Miller added.
The agreement was signed by McKeeva Bush with the former OT minister, Henry Bellingham, almost a year ago and he has admitted doing so reluctantly. Although he was asked to pass the law in June this year, when he failed to do so the UK made it a condition of the budget approval that it was enacted by the end of September. However, the premier revealed last month that he had told the new UK OT minister, Mark Simmonds, during a 20 September courtesy call while Bush was in London that he needed to consult with the business community about the FFR before he brought the bill.
The governor’s office said at the time that Simmonds was under the impression that the premier had made a commitment to bring the FFR into local law no later than 9 November, which would be at the next scheduled meeting. However, the premier denied that he had made any such commitment and said that the governor’s office had created a misleading picture of what was discussed. The premier claimed he never intended to pass the entire agreement into law and had not given a specific date, but had alluded to it taking only a few days once the legislation was drafted.
CNS contacted the governor’s office for comment when it became clear by Tuesday morning that the FFR bill was not being circulated in time for next legislative sitting but the office said it had decided not to comment yet on the on-going issue.
However, sources close to the FCO told CNS that the UK minister has made it clear to the Cayman Islands premier that he expects the FFR to be passed into local law shortly after the LA meets on 5 November. The enactment and ratification of this agreement formed part of the conditional approval by the UK of the Cayman government’s 2012/13 budget and is one of a number of commitments that the government has made to the UK in connection with the budget and addressing the country’s increasingly problematic public finances, which it appears to have failed to keep.
It is not clear at this point what will happen if the FFR is brought after the 21 days and the constitutional issues are sorted nor is it yet clear what will happen if Bush does not bring the bill at all in this forthcoming session. The only thing that is clear is that the premier will either be forced to defy the country’s own constitution with a later submission or defy the UK by not making one at all.
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Mangroves perish under fill
(CNS): Although an appeal has been filed with the Central Planning Authority regarding the on-going dispute over a proposed costal development in South Sound, it appears to be too late for the mangroves in the area. A mangrove replenishment project that was partially funded by an overseas grant to the Cayman government began disappearing this week under a pile of fill, which the developer is tipping into to the sea to reclaim his 2003 land boundary as a result of what activists say is a legally erroneous decision by the CPA. RC Estates was given permission to begin the work under which the replenished mangrove buffer is now vanishing.
Although Protect South Sound, a group of local residents and local activists trying to preserve the coastal area, is waiting to have their appeal over the CPA decision heard, attempts at an injunction to stop the work by the government’s own Department of Environment appear to have failed.
The activists and the DoE believe that the CPA has made a decision which is not, as it claimed, based in law and that no costal boundary can be fixed, which means RC Estates' efforts to reclaim a 2003 land boundary which has since been lost to the ocean is wrong. However, while the legal arguments continue, the failure of the Attorney General’s Chambers to respond to the application for an injunction means the fill is continuing to be poured into the ocean and on top of mangroves replanted in 2006.
“Protect South Sound contacted government ministers on Monday to stress the urgency of the injunction application which has been before the AG for weeks,” said a spokesperson for group. “While we wait for a decision truck loads of fill are being dumped into and bulldozed out into the sea and over young mangrove trees. The CPA's 15th August 2012 decision, which erroneously approved the developer to extend his lots 50 feet out into the water and build a 9-foot high seawall only 2 feet in from the 2003 boundary, has been appealed and the developer was served with the notice and grounds of appeal last week on 10th October.”
Despite the notice of appeal, with permission from the CPA in hand, RC Estates is proceeding lawfully at present with the development regardless. It will require an injunction to stop the coastal works, since the developer has avoided the need for a Cabinet granted coastal works licence because of what is seen as a misguided decision by the CPA. Having accepted the claim that the 2003 boundary is still valid, despite the fact that the sea took it, the CPA had indicated that work is not really coastal works but work on land which the developer is reclaiming.
The 50 feet of recovering mangrove buffer that runs for 2,000 feet along the existing coastal lots of the proposed development in the South Sound was funded in part by a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Migratory Bird Conservation and Reef Ball Foundation. The Cayman government via the DoE received around $30,000 towards the project, which has proved to be a success. While replenishing mangrove buffer is notoriously slow and difficult, the project, which began in 2006, was beginning to make significant progress.
In what is becoming a problem for conservation in Cayman, the DoE had managed to raise much needed funding for a conservation projects while another arm of government has completely undermined its efforts. Not only has government persistently failed to demonstrate any real commitment to environmental protection, in this case one agency of government has given permission to a developer to entirely destroy a project undertaken by government’s own environment agency.
During the recent hearing the DoE presented extensive evidence to the CPA of the recovery of the mangroves and a catalogue of environmental issues relating to the removal of the recovering buffer, as well as the importance of continuing to replenish the area and not remove more. As the marl continues to be dumped into the ocean in South Sound this week, local marine life there is also under threat. The DoE also pointed to the sensitivity and significance of the area as a Marine Replenishment Zone and as a protected Scenic Coastline Zone.
In addition the planning department had also advised the CPA against the removal of the mangrove, pointing out that the preservation of mangrove buffer at the high-water mark was best planning practice. “From department’s perspective, the 50’ buffer should be retained,” the planning department said in its recommendations.
The Development Plan (1997) designates this area as being a ‘Scenic Coastline Zone’ and Section 20 of the Development and Planning Regulations (2006 Revision) requires the CPA to ensure that the open character of scenic coastline land is preserved and to safeguard the public’s right to use the beaches and to gain access to them through public rights of way. In addition, the plan states that “the panoramic views and vistas provided by these coastlines are natural assets which are to be safeguarded for present and future generations.”
Despite the recommendations from the two government departments, the CPA said it was swayed by the presentation given by the applicant’s lawyer that the owners had a legal right to develop the land. The attorney argued that his client’s land had a fixed boundary, which the sea had eroded, but it was still his client’s boundary.
However, it is understood that the law does state that coastal boundaries cannot be fixed — an issue that the CPA did not acknowledge when granting the developer planning permission and paved the way for him to begin tipping fill into the ocean.
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Fourth fatal road victim of this year named
(CNS): Police have now confirmed that the 59-year-old woman killed in a road smash yesterday morning was Beverley Elaine Ramsay from Bodden Town. The mother of a serving police officer, Ramsey died at the scene of the accident on Esterley Tibbetts Highway Tuesday at around 6am. She was driving her Hyundai van, which was travelling towards West Bay, when she was hit by a Nissan box truck close to the AL Thomson roundabout. The driver of the truck, who was unhurt, remains in police custody while enquiries continue into what they suspect was a case of drinking and driving. Ramsey is the fourth victim to die on Cayman’s roads this year and one of many killed over the last few years on this stretch of road.
The fatal accident follows the death of 21-year-old Corey Seymour from Prospect in May, who was killed when the truck he was driving in the early hours of the morning collided with another truck near the San Sebastian complex on South Sound Road.
Before that a 33-year-old man was killed in the early hours of the morning of 19 April in another suspected drink-driving crash. The Honda Civic he was a passenger in traveling on the West Bay Road left the highway and overturned close to the Coral Stone Club. In that case the 28-year-old driver who was also injured in the smash was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and suspicion of DUI.
At the start of the year Herman Byrd from George Town died in the single vehicle smash on Sea View Road in East End on Friday 27 January. Police believed speed played a part when he lost control of his car, which was travelling west, as he negotiated the right-hand corner bend just past Cottage.