Archive for October, 2012
Accounting for nothing
In his latest report the auditor general has attempted to be kind to government over its continued failure to be accountable to the people for the money it has taken off them and spent. No doubt this is to encourage the tiny glimmer of possible improvement after the deputy governor committed to providing leadership on the problem plaguing government since 2004. But kindness is unlikely to help.
The fact that Alastair Swarbrick is only able to report the tiniest of improvements, which remains a far cry from any real accountability, after the government’s proverbial hands have been held in every possible way to get these accounts sorted speaks volumes.
Even after the creation of a task force, specialist teams, overseas intervention, amendments to the law, advice, help and recommendations by the bucket full from the public audit office, pressure from the Public Accounts Committee and even a fair dose of public outrage, nothing has really changed. The people have no more idea today than they did at the start of this administration where the money went.
Because the starting point was so bad, Swarbrick was encouraging in his report but the reality of the situation cannot be avoided.
While statutory authorities and government companies have for the mnost part made an effort to catch up and provide more timely and better quality information to the Office of the Auditor General, the portfolios and ministries, which spend and collect the bulk of taxpayers’ money, have failed to make any noticeable improvement. This means the consolidated accounts, or entire public sector financial report, cannot be produced. In turn — and this is the crux of the matter — the people cannot hold the government to account for what it has earned and spent.
One of the most fundamental issues for any electorate to understand is how the administration it voted for raises taxes and spends public money. The basis on which many people vote is on this very issue. But the Caymanian electorate has not been able to consider the tax and spend record of its governments for two elections and is about to head into a third.
While we know from the budget documents what government says it has collected and how it plans to spend money, the electorate has no idea how accurate those budget predictions really are or, more importantly, how closely each individual entity is following the appropriations. What we do know is that every year since 2008/09 the government has got its predictions wrong because each of those fiscal years has ended very differently from the forecasts made at the start.
For democracy to really work government must be accountable and transparent, otherwise the electorate, as is the case for the voters in Cayman for the last two elections, are engaged in nothingmore than a lottery. This is not democracy. There can be no choice when no one really knows how well ministers have presided over the tax and spend of their relevant departments.
There is no way for any voter to know when he or she goes to the polls next May if the candidates they select are being effective custodians of the public purse and spending money on successful policies or a they are a bunch of idiots that have no clue what they are doing or, worse, a gang of charlatans robbing the people blind.
On Tuesday in a report by CNS Ezzard Miller, the former PAC chair, repeated his call for the prosecution of, or at least some form of legal sanction against, the relevant senior civil servants who have failed to account for spending for the last eight years or failed to implement the systems that would allow them to account for public spending.
At this point there is no way to know who or what is really causing the problem. It could well be the political masters that are blocking the process because of fear of being exposed of being incompetent or worse. It may be senior civil servants who are afraid of their own inadequacies and failures coming to light. It could even be just one or two individuals who have key roles in the process that continue to undermine the attempts to sort out the situation.
But whatever the real cause, the result is untenable for the public. While Swarbrick may be pursuing a carrot approach in his latest report, the public needs a stick. Whether punishment will work or not remains to be seen as it has never been tried, but giving praise where it is certainly not due gives a distorted picture.
The improvements seen by Swarbrick and his office are academic when the man in the street remains ignorant over what the government is doing with his taxes. While praise should be given where it's due, praising someone for not doing their job properly but doing it ever so slightly better than they did several years ago after significant assistance is unlikely to produce the desired result.
Whether Miller is right about the threat of prosecution being able to help is something we are unlikely to find out since, other than the North Side MLA, there is no political will to pursue that route.
In the end, with the systemic failure of government on such a critically important matter, the only thing left is to give up on ever being able to hold the government to account and to stop kidding ourselves we live in a democracy.
In the interests of honesty, perhaps it’s time for Cayman to call it like it is and be the first country to rename its political system to ‘incompetocracy’. At least then, when we go to the polls next year we will all know where we stand.
Local swim coaches mix with Olympic winners
(CNS): Two of Cayman’s local swimming coaches are honing their own skills in Russia this week at the FINA World Aquatics Convention in Moscow. CIASA Technical Director, Coach Ian Armiger and Coach Katie Lambert, from Camana Bay Aquatic Club are representing the Cayman Islands at the convention which opened with a two day World Coaches Clinic featuring presentations from coaches whose swimmers struck gold at the London 2012 Olympics. Armiger and Lambert are rubbing shoulders with world class coaches at the specialist international swimming event as noted below.
Roman Barnier from France who coached 50m freestyle champion Florent Manadou; Graham Hill from South Africa who guided Chad le Clos to victory over Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly; Todd Schmitz from the USA who was coach to Missy Franklin and Xu Guoyi from China who prepared Shiwen yi for her onslaught of the 400m individual medley World Record, are among those at the convention.
"To interact with many of the worlds’ leading coaches in such an environment is a superb opportunity. Our attendance also helps promote Cayman Swimming and put us firmly on the aquatics map," said Armiger.
The Convention, which lasts for 4 days, culminates with presentations on aquatic developments and an exhibition of the latest equipment for swimming and swimming pools. As CIASA delegates the attendance of Coaches Ian and Katie is fully supported under FINA's Development Programme.
Prosecute, says ex-PAC boss
(CNS): The former chair of the Public Accounts Committee has called for those responsible for the persistent failure in government to account for the spending of some $2 billion of public money to be prosecuted. Ezzard Miller said that the latest report from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) reveals that, despite every assistance rendered to the various government entities, the results of the update on public accounting show nothing has really changed. The independent member, who chaired the parliamentary committee for the first two years of this current administration, called the situation a “shambles” and said the report was no different from the five that had preceded it.
“It’s like the PAC was talking to empty chairs,” Miller told CNS following the publication of a report from Alastair Swarbrick’s office regarding the state of government’s financial accountability to the taxpayer.
Prior to his resignation from the committee, following what he described as the persistent failure of the UDP members to turn up for meetings, Miller had warned senior civil servants responsible for producing government accounts that he would be seeking to prosecute those who failed to comply with the Public Management and Finance Law after they had been given numerous opportunities to do so.
However, he said the Attorney General’s Chambers did not seem to have the will to go forward nor was anyone sure exactly who under the law was responsible. With no one accountable, Miller said, there has been no impetus to address the problem.
Despite the claims by the premier that he had presided over an improvement in public accounting, government has still failed to produce consolidated accounts for 2010/11 that can be audited and are unlikely to be able to produce any meaningful account for the 2011/12 year either.
“During the last committee meeting I held I warned the chief officers and financial officers that there was provision under the law for them to be prosecuted and I believe that unless someone is held to account the public will never see a set of accounts telling them what government has done with their money.”
Miller said nothing had changed and it was unacceptable that $2 billion could remain unaccounted for.
“The situationis terrible and the report reveals that one of the worst offenders is the finance, tourism and development ministry,” Miller said. Despite breaking that ministry down there are still issues with the accounts for the premier’s areas of responsibility. “The fact that the finance ministry is one of the worst offenders speaks volumes. The premier’s ministry should be setting the example. This is an appalling state of affairs.”
The most problematic ministry, however, is the one presided over by the deputy premier. Audits for the Ministry of District Administration, Works, Lands & Agriculture continue to be disclaimed, which means Swarbrick’s team was not given enough information to work with and could not complete an audit.
As a result of the persistent failure, the independent member said the electorate would not see any sets of consolidated accounts relating to government finances during an entire administration before another election.
Miller said the latest report by Alastair Swarbrick demonstrates that almost none of the various recommendations that the audit office and PAC has made over the last three years have been implemented and the minor improvements the auditor’s office has seen have not translated into any kind of meaningful information for the voting public and taxpayers.
In the report Swarbrick points to an improvement in the timeliness of the accounts being delivered to his office with most of the government entities obligated to produce reports meeting the statutory deadline. However, in many cases Swarbrick said, information is still missing, which means his office cannot offer unqualified opinions. This has had a knock-on effect on the consolidated accounts, and despite claims that it would produce consolidated accounts for 2010/11, government will not meet that commitment.
The entire public sector financial statements are meant to report all of government’s financial activity in a given fiscal year and is one of the most important documents an administration should produce in order to meet standards of good governance and transparency.
Local man denies rape and possession of gun
(CNS): A man accused of raping a woman at her home last year while in possession of a gun has denied having a weapon or forcing the woman to have sex. Dwight Wright said that he was invited to the complainant’s house, where he had consensual sex and was unarmed. However, the victim said that Wight kicked in the door of her home, as evidenced by his foot print on it and the damaged frame, and then forced himself upon the woman. The victim said she did not scream or try to fight off her attacker, whom she once had a relationship with, because aside from living in a remote area, she felt she would have still come off the worst.
Clearly distressed and reluctant to given evidence at first, the victim told the court she did not want to pursue the complaint as she was so nervous and just wanted to put the incident behind her. However, questions put to the witness by the prosecuting counsel, Trisha Hutchinson, saw the woman relent and repeat the evidence from the witness stand that she had given to the police the morning after the incident.
She told the court how she was watching TV at her home on the evening of 13 June when Wright crashed into her home by kicking in the door. She said he had a small gun in his pocket and although he did not threaten her with it she was frightened about what he might do. Taking her phone from her he forced her into the bedroom where the sexual assault took place. The victim revealed that Wright had persisted with the assault throughout the night and left around 5:30 the next morning, when she called 911 and reported the attack.
The victim told the court that she and Wright were at one time intimate but when she realized there was "something not right about him” and that he was "unstable”, she ended the relationship some four months before the rape happened. Despite this, she said, Wright continued to stalk and harass her, damaging her property, stealing from her and constantly calling her. She said she had reported his harassment to the police on many occasions but little was done to help her.
Under cross examination she admitted that she had called Wright herself on the day in question but she said it was when she stopped returning his calls and texts in the evening that he had then come to her house. The victim also admitted calling the defendant after the incident while she was driving with a female police officer to the hospital for the post assault rape-kit. She said this was totell him she had reported him to the police and that this time he was not going to get away with it.
The victim denied the suggestions placed by defence attorney John Furniss that his client was unarmed and that he had gone to her home at her invitation where consensual sex had taken place.
The case, which is being heard in a judge alone trial before Justice Alex Henderson, continues Tuesday and is expected to last three days.
Wheel thieves target Honda cars, cops warn
(CNS): The RCIPS has issued a warning to the owners and drivers of Honda motor cars following more than a dozen reports of stolen wheels. A police spokesperson said Monday that owners should be extra vigilant following this spate of wheel thefts in the George Town area. Since the beginning of September thirteen reports have been received by police regarding this unusual theft. Senior PC Fran General, of George Town police station, said drivers can protecttheir wheels relatively inexpensively with locking wheel nuts and by avoiding parking cars in poor light.
“One set of locking wheel nuts can protect all four wheels on your car”, she said. “You should also try to park your car in a well-lit area to deter potential thieves.”
Although the recent thefts have been from Hondas, SPC General urged all car owners to invest in locking wheel nuts. “Although Honda is the vehicle of choice today, tomorrow the thieves may decide to target other makes and models of cars, so my advice is that it’s better to spend a few dollars now than face the huge expense of having to replace your wheels and tyres.”
Anyone who wants to speak to a police officer about crime prevention matters should contact their local police station.
Inaugural conservation nominees revealed
(CNS): The list of people and companies that have been nominated to receive the first ever Governor’s Conservation Awards has been unveiled. The shortlisted finalists in the Conservationist of the Year category are Arie Barendrecht, Bonnie Scott Edwards and Mike Vallee. Finalists in the Corporate Conservation category are Cayman Islands Brewery, Montessori-by-the-Sea, and Yellow Pages. And Peter Hillebrand, Neil van Niekerk and Sea Elements are in the running for the Tourism Conservation award. In the Heritage category the finalists are the Cayman Islands Catboat Club, Deborah Truchan, and Roy Bodden.
The panel of judges convened by Cayman Islands Governor Duncan Taylor released the shortlist of the finalists this week ahead of the awards gala celebrating the National Trust’s 25th Anniversary at Grand Old House on Friday, when the winners will be announced.
National Trust General Manager Christina McTaggart said the Trust, which launched the awards in liaison with the Governor’s office, was delighted by the response.
“We were very impressed with not only the number but also the calibre of the nominations,” she said as she thanked everyone who took the time to nominate.
Nominees in each category had to meet a comprehensive set of criteria in order to be considered as a finalist. The winner in each category will be announced the evening of the Trust Gala, which is an important fundraiser for the organization which is in critical need of financing to help it conserve Cayman’s dwindling natural resources and heritage.
Tickets to the Gala and Awards are still available. To book a table or purchase tickets please contact Basia McGuire at 749-1129 or bmcguire@nationaltrust.org.ky.
$584k added to Tempura bill
(CNS): Although lead investigating officer Martin Bridger and most of his special police investigation team (SPIT) left the island well over three years ago, the discredited enquiry he led into alleged corruption within the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is still costing the local tax payer money. According to information released by the Portfolio of Legal Affairs, since the last public trial relating to the investigation in October 2009, the attorney general has run up a bill of almost $600,000 dealing with other legal claims and battles that relate to both former police commissioner, Stuart Kernohan, and Bridger in an effort to prevent the former Scotland Yard cop from using documents to clear his own name in Kernohan’s law suit.
The investigation into the RCIPS, which was paid for by the Cayman tax payer, failed to uncover any wrongdoing. It began as an undercover operation in September 2007 and reached the height of notoriety when the team wrongfully arrested Grand Court Judge Alex Henderson. The arrest was found to be unlawful following a ruling by Sir Peter Cresswell, who now sits in Cayman’s financial services court.
Two more major courtroom dramas followed, the first involving former MLA and Cayman Net News reporter, Lyndon Martin, for breaking and entering into his own workplace, and the second in which former deputy commissioner ofpolice, Rudolph Dixon, was charged with misconduct in a public office. Both men were cleared and the investigation was eventually closed down.
Since then, however, Kernohan has filed a wrongful dismissal claim and Martin Bridger has gone to battle with the Cayman authorities over documents he holds regarding the corruption investigation, which he believes was prematurely halted.
In response to an FOI request by CNS, the Portfolio of Legal Affairs wrote to the news website stating that three separate matters relating to Operation Tempura were on-going since the Dixon trial, two of which are taking place in Cayman and one in the UK. The total cost to the public purse so far is $584,107.42 but these cases are far from over.
Although there has been no official confirmation regarding the status of thevarious on-going cases, it is understood that Burman Scott is still waiting on a settlement on damages he claimed from the Cayman government relating to his arrest in the Dixon case.
In addition, Kernohan is continuing his case against Bridger and the Cayman government over his dismissal, which he says was unlawful. The former top cop was dismissed by the then governor Stuart Jack when he refused to return to the island during his suspension in connection with the investigation.
Finally, Bridger is now engaged in a legal battle with the attorney general as the authorities here try to prevent him from using certain documents in his possession in the Kernohan case. The documents relate to the investigation and some believe they might prove embarrassing for the Cayman and UK authorities.
CNS understand that the documents may support Kernohan’s contention that both Stuart Jack and the overseas territories security advisor, Larry Covington, were well versed about the plan that Kernohan and his officers were following in connection with the trigger that resulted in Operation Tempura.
The investigation centred on claims made by Lyndon Martin to Rudolph Dixon that the Cayman Net News editor and proprietor, the late Desmond Seales, was engaged in a corrupt relationship with Deputy Commissioner Anthony Ennis. On hearing the accusations, Kernohan had informed the governor and Covington, telling them both that the police were working with Martin and his reporter colleague, John Evans, to try and find evidence for the very serious accusations before action was taken against Ennis.
Given the sensitivity of the accusations and the involvement of the media, Kernohan wanted to move with caution before issuing a warrant to search the offices of the newspaper, which could have easily have been misinterpreted as a threat to free speech.
As a result, Kernohan and Chief Inspector John Jones sanctioned a late night exploration by Martin and Evans of the newspaper offices where the men both worked before taking the step of issuing a warrant.
The bungled attempt by Evans and Martin to find corroborating evidence failed to recover any supporting documentation for the allegations but set off a train of bizarre events which resulted in the Operation Tempura investigation, which has already cost the Cayman public millions of dollars and is likely to cost it much more.
Visit the CNS Library for documents relating to Operations Tempura and Cealt.
Local artist triggers petition for conservation law
(CNS): Guy Harvey has joined the growing chorus of voices pressuring the Cayman government to pass the National Conservation Law. The internationally renowned marine wildlife artist is leading a petition drive asking government to immediately put the law into effect following the recent discovery of several stingrays from Cayman’s famous Sandbar at a captive dolphin facility. Harvey is now publicly backing the law as it will close the loophole that currently only protects stingrays from being taken when they are actually in Cayman’s designated Wildlife Interaction Zones. The petition was launched earlier this month and at the time of posting this story had attracted just over 1,200 names. (Photo Claudio Gazzaroli – Barcroft media)
Harvey’s campaign, which is targeting 10,000 people, comes after the four tagged rays found at Dolphin Discovery were returned to the wild after a public outcry. However, the facility still holds six other rays that were not tagged but were believed to have been taken from local waters. Dolphin Discovery is holding on to the six untagged stingrays.
“The well-being of stingrays affects every single person in the Cayman Islands,” said Harvey, as he pointed to the half a million visitors per year from around the world that come to swim and interact with the rays at the famous natural attraction. “By signing this petition you are speaking out against the unconscionable acts of harming stingrays, especially when taking them out of their natural habitat,” Harvey added. “Maintaining the ecological health of these stingray populations for the long-term will require management and conservation programs based on a thorough knowledge of the biology of these animals.”
Harvey was involved in local research work on the Cayman stingray population this year in which anecdotal evidence that the population at the Sand Bar and Stingray city was in decline was confirmed.
The Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) based at Nova Southeastern University conducted a census in January and sampled only 61 rays in the standard three-day research period at the Sandbar, which represents a significant 38% decrease in number of rays compared to the last census in 2008. This summer GHRI returned with the support of the Georgia Aquarium veterinary staff.
Over three days the team, working with Department of Environment staff and several volunteers, sampled 57 rays, down from 61 in January, and found only 5 males at the Sandbar .
The team spent a day at the original Stingray City and sampled 11 rays, including 2 males. They also sampled 3 rays at Rum Point, including one male, bringing the total to 71 rays sampled. However, the low number of males generally is cause for concern.
“These iconic animals have given so much to benefit the Cayman Islands that it's time the government returned the favour by immediately approving the National Conservation Law,” said Harvey.
Successive governments have continued to stallon the NCL, despite the wide support for its implementation and a critical need for legislation to protect Cayman's threatened natural resources.
The proposed legislation covers the marine environment but also deals with Cayman’s land-based resources, much of which is seriously endangered from a range of threats, in particular the persistent and relentless pace of development. Although successive governments have discussed the implementation of an environmental law for over a decade, none have had the political will to see it through because of strong opposition based on the misguided claim that it would stop all development.
Meanwhile, as the fight continues to protect all of Cayman’s wildlife, the Sandbar received extremely positive coverage in the UK media Monday, when the Daily Mail published a collection of beautiful photographs from the Sandbar and Stingray City by photographer Claudio Gazzaroli. The collection of pictures depicts just how unique and beautiful the attraction is.
Sign the petition here.
See Daily Mail article here.
Locals face ‘reinforced concrete’ ceiling, says Miller
(CNS): The introduction of ten year work permits and the exclusion of a wide range of posts from work permits at all in the insurance industry will create a “reinforced concrete ceiling" for Caymanians, says North Side MLA Ezzard Miller. The glass ceiling that has existed for many years as a result of successive governments' failure to properly enforce existing immigration laws has gradually turned into a concrete one, he said, and the UDP government has now reinforced that concrete with this latest change to the law. The independent member described the amendments to the immigration regulations as yet another move by government to put Caymanians out of work.
Miller said that the offer to the insurance sector for work-permit free posts for secretaries and support staff was an outrage given how many Caymanians are already out of work, underemployed or unable to get promotion. He questioned the logic of giving new firms access to benefits that existing firms do not have and wondered how long before they would depart and come back as a new company to access the benefit.
“We have a saying in Cayman that one fish in the basket is worth a hundred of them in the sea,” he said, as he pointed to the move for government to allow new insurance firms setting up shop access to benefits that those here and paying their dues will not get.
“We are likely to see a surge of overseas workers coming here now, which will make it even harder for Caymanians to get work,” he said.
Miller described the ten year permits as a serious impediment to progression for Caymanians in the financial sector where they already faced many barriers to advancement.
“This turns what was once a glass ceiling into a reinforced concrete one when it comes to the advancement of local people in the country’s main employment sector,” he said. “This is another typical UDP immigration policy to keep Caymanians out of jobs. Every change the government has made to the immigration law since it came to office has made it more difficult for locals to get work or get promoted.”
The latest regulations have now passed through Cabinet and have been published in the local gazette. The publication of the regulations follows the latest immigration law amendment, which is not expected to be the last. Government is still working on the most significant changes to the law, which will address the temporary suspension of term limits, known as the rollover policy, making the suspension long term.
UK won’t let up on good governance in TCI
(CNS): Despite the introduction of the Turks and Caicos Constitution, which paved the way for a return to democracy for the local people, the UK has made it clear that it will not be taking a back seat. Ric Todd, the territory’s governor, said the administrative arm of government will have a vital role to play in “ensuring transparency and good government” on the islands. He also warned there would there no let-up in the investigation following the findings of the corruption inquiry which triggered off direct rule in 2008. Meanwhile, the TCI’s business council has started the second phase of its battle against VAT, which was introduced by the UK interim government in the run-up to the elections.
Governor Ric Todd said Monday that significant progress had been made in the corruption investigation following the commission of enquiry. He said that since the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) and a Civil Recovery Programme were set up 13 people, including four former cabinet ministers, had been indicted with serious criminal offences, including bribery, conspiracy to receive bribes, conspiracy to defraud the TCIG, conceal or transfer the proceeds of criminal conduct, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
“International arrest warrants and Interpol Red Notices have been issued in respect of the former Premier Michael Misick and the developer Kem Cinay. Collectively, 2,462 acres of Crown land have been recovered and various financial settlements received,” he added.
“There will be no let-up in the prosecution of those who have been indicted and of any further accused who may be charged,” Todd said, adding that the work of the team would continue, directed by the Special Prosecutor Helen Garlick. He promised resources for the Royal Turks & Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) to improve its capability to investigate serious and organised crime, including drug trafficking, money laundering, bribery and corruption, as the special team is integrated into the local police force.
“In order to assist the RTCIPF and pass on their expertise, over the coming months, the Special Investigation Team will be gradually integrated as a self-contained team within the RTCIPF. The SIPT will be tasked with supporting the on-going prosecutions, ensuring that the current outstanding corruption investigations are concluded and equally important ensuring that their expertise and the information it has gathered is passed to specialist RTCIPF officers,” he said. “I have the constitutional authority to ensure that necessary investigations and prosecutions continue and the necessary resources are allocated for this.”
Meanwhile, as the country prepares for elections next month, the business community is not letting up either, as it continues its opposition to VAT. Business leaders are deeply concerned about the adverse effects the implementation of VAT will have on the islands’ economy and local businesses and have accused Governor Todd of a high handed, arrogant colonial-style attitude and failing to consult business stakeholders.
“The London-imposed interim government is currently in power in Turks and Caicos. However the people will have their own free elections on November 9th and the leaders of both parties have publicly opposed the introduction of VAT. The TCIBC believe that VAT should be a decision for the newly elected government,” officials from the group stated in a release.
The business community says that the interim government hastily introduced a complex tax that is expensive to implement, expensive to collect and places additional burdens on the business community. Over half of the country’s electorate have signed an anti-VAT petition demanding that the government delay the VAT for more analysis on the impact it will have on the local economy.