Archive for February, 2013
Minister admits past mistakes
(CNS): Cline Glidden, the tourism minister in the minority government, has admitted that mistakes were made during the previous UDP administration and offered an apology for the failure of government to hold weekly press briefings. He spoke of the minority government’s commitment to openness, transparency and cooperation and indicated that the interim team wanted to be accessible to the media. The weekly press briefings were introduced by the former PPM administration and acted as a forum for government to communicate its work and allow the press an opportunity to ask specific questions in a public forum. Although the UDP continued the briefings at first, it was not long before the former premier put a stop to them.
McKeeva Bush began taking aim at the media in early 2010 and soon after stopped the regular briefings and called them on an ad hoc basis. But before long he was speaking to the people via statements broadcast on television and radio and stopped speaking directly to the media in collective public forums. While he would sometimes speak to certain journalists or respond to direct questions, he abandoned the open public forum.
Bush also began to seek other ways to have better control over the message he was trying to deliver on behalf of his government. He explored the idea of a UDP sponsored newspaper and website but in the end settled on a government television channel, which now broadcasts the Legislative Assembly proceedings as well as carrying other government programming and news broadcasts. Ironically, the channel now also carries the weekly press briefings, which have been reinstated by the interim government.
Following the fall of Bush’s administration in the wake of his arrest in December, the break-away former UDP five under the leadership of the new premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, immediately convened a press briefing and have continued to hold a meeting with the local media every week since.
During Thursday’s briefing several of the ministers in the minority government mentioned the Cabinet’s support for the continued regular meeting with the media, pointing to its importance in terms of communicating to the public and transparency. Asked why, given that support, they did not speak out when the former premier stopped the weekly press briefings when they were all part of the UDP administration, Cline Glidden put his hands up and admitted it was a mistake.
“Going forward, we are committed to the press briefings,” Glidden said, adding that the failure to hold regular meetings with the press had to be put down to “one of the mistakes made in the past” as he offered apologies for those mistakes.
Deputy Premier Rolston Anglin added that while the weekly briefings had stopped, individual ministers had still met regularly with the press regarding the work specific to their ministries. However, he too echoed his ministerial colleagues’ commitment to the press briefings and keeping the lines of communication open.
During his time in office Bush, the former premier, indulged in a number of attacks on the media and pointed the finger at different publishing houses at different times, even barring CNS from the few briefings that were held.
Although he criticised the media in general he saved his most scathing attacks for Rooster's morning call-in show, Crosstalk, and CNS — in particular the ‘bloggers’, a term Bush used to describe the regular commenters on this media site, which appears to have stuck.
The former premier criticised the local press for its use of Freedom of Information and often made personal attacks on individual reporters and displayed his obvious frustrations when he believed the local media had not delivered his message in the way he had hoped.
Related articles:
Elected politicians vote against VAT in TCI
(CNS): The governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands will need to decide this week if he will go against the locally elected parliament just three months after the reinstatement of democracy to the UK overseas territory. Local politicians from both sides of the political divide voted to repeal the controversial Valued Added Tax (VAT) law which was imposed by the interim UK administration and due to be implemented on 1 April. During a special sitting of the House of Assembly in the Island’s capital Grand Turk politicians rejected the imposition of an 11 per cent tax on goods. The islands’ new premier said he was well aware that the governor does not have to accept the advice of Cabinet but he suggested the imposition of the tax when the people were not represented was “tyranny.”
Dr Rufus Ewing, the TCI’s new premier and leader of the ruling Progressive National Party said that all of the people who were elected and the general public of the TCI were opposed to VAT. “We are all saying NO to VAT,” he said in the debate. “We are all giving advice to the Governor and the FCO that VAT is bad for the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
The sentiment was shared by the local opposition leader and the new parliament voted in favour of a motion overturning the new law.
In the wake of the vote the governor’s office released a short statement from Ric Todd, who said he was aware of the decision of the House of Assembly.
He pointed out that he had the power to stop the efforts by the parliament to overturn the law but said he intended to discuss the issue with his colleagues in Cabinet this week.
In a recent review of how the new government is progressing after its first three months leading the territory Todd reminded the people that the UK had made a loan guarantee of $260 million after what he described as the maladministration of the past. Todd warned that the territory’s national debt, while smaller than at the height of the financial crisis, “has to be brought down by the government,” reminding that, not too long ago, the government was “essentially bankrupt.”
He said the “advantages of VAT” had not been well communicated and pointed to the privately funded and orchestrated campaign against it. He said UK Ministers have consistently made clear that they are open to credible and sustainable alternatives to VAT, but no proposals have been received. Todd added that the UK believes VAT is “good for public finances,” but the overseas territories minister had suggested its implementation as scheduled with a review twelve months later.
UK cops get £8.5m to probe overseas corruption
(BBC): Specialist British police units working to combat overseas corruption will receive government funding until March 2016, the international development secretary has announced. Justine Greening said parts of the Met and City of London Police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) will be given about £8.5m between them. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will also receive nearly £399,000. Greening said the funding will help "step up" efforts to combat corruption. The teams investigate crimes such as bribery and money laundering by foreign or British criminals in developing countries in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia and the Caribbean.
The CPS will form a new taskforce of British legal and investigative experts, to help recover stolen assets across the Middle East. The inquiries are separate from efforts to ensure UK aid is not lost to corruption, which is managed by a counter fraud unit within the Department for International Development (Dfid).
Visitor air arrivals break new records
(CNS Business): The final statistics for Cayman Islands air arrivals in 2012 have revealed record breaking visitor numbers as a result of a combination of successful marketing campaigns and greater airlift officials have said. The air arrivals for 2012 turned out to be the best since 2001 with 321,650 passengers flying into the Cayman Islands. This represented a more than four per cent increase on 2011 which was also a great year for stay-over numbers. December 2012 was the best Christmas month since 2000 when more than 35,000 guests came to stay in Cayman a 6.2% increase on 2011. However the good news from the airport was not matched by the George Town port. Read more on CNSBusines
Three Jamaicans charged over 300lb ganja haul
(CNS): Police have now charged three Jamaican nationals who were all arrested last week (22 January ) following the interception of a drug canoe in East End. An RCIPS spokesperson confirmed that the men aged 57, 44 and 43-years-old men have beencharged with importation of ganja and possession of ganja with intent to supply. The men have already appeared in court charged with immigration offences and currently remain on remand as they await their next court appearance on Tuesday in connection with the drug offences. Police said they recovered 300lbs of ganja during the operation as well as ammunition.
Officers from the Marine Unit intercepted the boat at about 9:40pm on 22 January. Officers on patrol aboard Niven D in the waters off the coast of East End spotted a canoe inside the reef and immediately initiated a land, air and sea operation involving officers from the Eastern Districts, the Uniform Support Group and the RCIPS Air Operations Unit. As the drugs boat landed, officers chased and arrested the three Jamaican nationals who had been on board the canoe.
Credit where credit is due
The primary difference between the two political parties in Cayman is that one is clearly better at managing the economy than the other. Here is the evidence: Everyone knows that our country has been in a recession for the past several years; however, theheadlines of the February 1 Caymanian Compass clearly confirms that our economy is finally on the right track towards recovery.
Air arrivals were up by 4.1 per cent in 2012 – the highest in 11 years. Cruise arrivals were also up, with an increase of 7.6 per cent over 2011. We are actually now spending 35 per cent less on the Department of Tourism and the results have been the best they’ve been in 12 years.
And the economic picture even gets better. Property sales are up, three new hotels are being considered for development; expenses for the public service are lower than expected and revenues are higher than expected; and major developments like the East End hospital project and Cayman Enterprise City are well under way.
Even the Compass’s Editorial of February 1st had to commend that “positive things are starting to happen; our country is on the right track toward recovery and economic success”.
But who really deserves the credit for this turn around? Politicians often get the blame when things go wrong; however, if we are truly being fair they should also get the credit when things go right. While there are those who will never admit it – Hon McKeeva Bush is the person who deserves the credit for engineering this economic turnaround. Minster Cline Glidden cannot claim the credit for this success because although he was a member of UDP he was actually a back bencher during this period and not a minster.
Despite all of the usual political rhetoric and mudslinging that will come during this election season, let’s give credit where credit is due. Running a country in the current global economic environment is no easy task. Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm; but the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
We all know that the primary reason our country was in a financial mess was because the PPM government engaged in a wanton spending spree between 2005 and 2009. But now that the UDP has turned the country’s finances in the right direction, even hardline PPM supporters and the usual Hon “McKeeva Haters” will have to reluctantly admit that the UDP is better at managing the economy than the PPM.
The facts speak for themselves.
Lawyers fund CIFA’s grass roots programme
(CNS): Local offshore legal firm Maples and Calder as made a $120,000 commitment to the Cayman Islands Football Association Grassroots Programme over the next four years. The programme aims to bring football to the very early stage of children's development with an all-inclusive structure where the priority is to develop the love for the game and provide all participants enjoyment and fun in the appropriated atmosphere. Maples formally announced their involvement at a press conference recently with representatives for the local football association including local football boss Jeff Webb the current CONCACAF President.
"The promotion of grassroots football has always been one of FIFA‘s priorities and the internaiotnal body’s president Joseph Blatter has said its main objective for its grassroots football programme is to bring football to as many people as possible and develop the game.
The local programme aims to develop young players to start competing on CIFA Youth Competitions at the right age so develop skills, discipline, basics and fundamentals of the game are the most important aspects with the “winning at any cost engagement” completely out of plans. There is a tiny line between “pursuing wins going beyond the fairness of the game, pressing young players to achieve victories no matter they do on the pitch” and “developing a winning attitude,” local football experts said.
Maples and Calder said it strongly believes in the ability of sports to develop focus, commitment and discipline in our youth.
“We actively support sports initiatives in the Cayman Islands and work with all stakeholders to develop appropriate instructional, developmental and competitive programmes for their needs,” a spokesperson for the firm stated. “Work in the community has always been part of the culture of the firm and our support of sport organisations and events provides an opportunity for our staff to undertake voluntary activities, which promote healthy lifestyles.”
Under the initiative players will get instructions regarding the laws Of The game earlier so when they get to the competition age level their coaches will not spend too much time teaching the rules and can concentrate more in tactical matters and technical details.
Players will be evaluated since young age. Their records, stats and football life data will be kept for future reference and strategies for improvements will be drawn based on their performance. As a long term program, in the next 10 – 15 years Cayman Islands will have players with better discipline, techniques, game understanding and closer to the international level.
There will be three different age levels and players only can participate in other different age level then their own if there is not enough number of participants. Players cannot change or attend different groups otherwise authorized by the respective age level’s coach.
The age levels are:
U6 – players born in 2007 and after.
U8 – players born in 2006 and 2005.
U12 – players born in 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001.
Coaches will be instructed and trained to deal with young players and must have at least one coaching course approved by CIFA on their profile. The coaches must attend all instruction sessions to be able to start working. At the instruction sessions, coaches will be informed about the program, procedures, coaching aspects and technical matters and receive FIFA teaching material.
Players will be grouped by their age and skills. Coaches will not pick players by their own, they will be drawn in a way that teams will be well balanced to provide enjoyment and fun games for all players. No medals or trophies will be given at awards ceremonies, players will receive diploma of participation with grades based on their attendance.
There will be many different venues for training, weekend practice games and tournaments. Saturday’s events will be scheduled at different venues every week. All Cayman Islands districts, including Cayman Brac, will be covered.
Aquatic club takes to the open water
(CBAC): Get set for the 2nd Annual Camana Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC) Open Water Swim Series. Swimmers of all ages and abilities are invited to join the local competitive swim club for a three-part series of family-friendly open water events, starting Saturday 9 February. Taking placeat Governor’s Beach over the course of six weeks, the series is open to the community and is a great way to learn a vital life skill, enjoy a great workout, get wet and have fun. “It’s open to everyone,” says CBAC Head Coach, Katie Lambert. “Swimming is an essential skill that every person living in the Cayman Islands should have.
“Our Open Water Series is all about encouraging new swimmers to come out and experience a new sport, build open water confidence and basic swim skills, in a social safe environment,” she added.
All Open Water Series events are beginner-friendly and non-competitive. On Saturday 9 February, little ones will enjoy a 200 metre Lollipop Dash, designed for swimmers 10 and under who are new to open water swimming, while more experienced swimmers can take part in a 400 metre Sea Swim. Not ready to swim but still want to join in the fun? Water Walk participants will walk the full race distance in water at waist height. Each week, the Sea Swim and Water Walk will increase in distance as participants build open water confidence.
On Saturday 2 March, the second event in the series will start with a 200 metre Lollipop Dash, followed by a 600 metre Sea Swim and a 600 metre Water Walk. The series concludes on Saturday 23 March with a 200 metre Lollipop Dash, and a rewarding 800 metre Sea Swim and 800 metre Water Walk. While the series allows new swimmers to improve their skills, it also gives more confident swimmers an opportunity to test the waters of competitive swimming.
“We want swimmers to come out and try a race, and see what the sport has to offer,” says Lambert.
For Cayman’s active competitive swimming community, the CBAC Open Water Swim Series is the perfect way to kick-start training for CIASA’s 800 metre Open Water Race this summer. All races will start at Governor’s Beach, and competitors will swim north to finish on or before Public Beach. There will also be random prize draws and complimentary post-race refreshments at each event.
The Camana Bay Aquatic Club marked its second-year anniversary in December. In two short years, the Club has grown to almost 150 members and enjoyed a number of swimming achievements, including travelling abroad to prestigious international meets, hosting a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) swim team and joining some of Cayman’s best swimmers at the CARIFTA 2012 Swimming Championships in Nassau, Bahamas in April last year.
Earlier this year, the Club launched the Camana Bay Aquatic Club Swim School which offers beginner to advanced swim classes for children and adults, as well as water safety classes for adults working with children around water. “Lessons are centred on developing strong foundation skills today, to create successful swimmers tomorrow,” explains Lambert.
“The new programme provides an environment where the enjoyment and practice of water-based skills leads to happy, confident and competent swimmers.”
“It’s exciting to see how far swimming locally has come since the Club’s inception in 2010,” says CBAC President, Jeffrey Wight. “New initiatives, like our Swim School and Open Water Series, have helped to advance the sport by providing more swimming opportunities to swimmers of all ages, abilities and needs. We are pleased to be able to offer introductory level swimming to the local community interested in learning to swim – whether competitively or just for fun.”
The Camana Bay Aquatic Club Open Water Swim Series takes place Saturday 8 February (400m), Saturday 2 March (600m) and Saturday 23 March (800m). For more information on the series and upcoming CBAC events, visit www.camanabayaquaticclub.com or email cbac@camanabay.com. To stay up to date with the latest Club happenings, like Camana Bay Aquatic Club on Facebook.
Registration is CI$30 for a Series Package (all three races); CI$90 for a Family Series Package (2 adults and 2 children, including all races); and CI$15 per individual race. All swimmers will receive a CBAC Swim Cap, and those who sign up for the Series or Family Package will each receive a CBAC Open Water Series T-Shirt. Registration can be made on the day at the event, online at www.caymanactive.com or at The Discovery Centre in Camana Bay.
Cayman free diver wants to see free turtles
(CNS): Local free diving star Tanya Streeter has joined the campaign to end the farming of endangered sea turtles in Cayman and was with representatives from the World Society for the Protection of Animals when they handed in apetition with 144,000 signatures to the Cayman government this week. The free dive world champion and world record holder has also spoken out against the Cayman Turtle Farm, which is currently housing around 7,000 endangered sea turtles in cramped, unhealthy and diseased conditions. The WSPA was visiting Cayman to pick up a report commissioned by the CTF following the charity's own findings about the problems at the attraction and to talk with management and government about changing the facility from a farm to a real conservation facility.
Although that goal continues to find little support among officials in Cayman, the campaigners have at least made the CTF management address some of the major animal welfare issues at the facility. As well as finally admitting that disease and health problems exist among the captive population, the CTF has begun the process of recruiting a vet.
The WSPA is not only pressing for better welfare conditions but to transition the facility into a fully-fledged conservation centre. However, as the ultimate goal of the Cayman Turtle Farm is to produce meat as a means of discouraging people from poaching turtles from the wild, the charity is up against significant opposition.
During a year-long undercover investigation the WSPA brought to light the extent of the problems at the CTF, from turtles with damaged flippers and missing eyes to cannibalism in the the overcrowded, dirty tanks in which the turtles are held captive. As a result the turtles are distressed, diseased and damaged.
Streeter, a Women’s Diving Hall of Fame free-diver, who handed the petition to the CTF and government on Tuesday 29 January, said turtles should not be kept in the overcrowded, dirty, concrete tanks at the Cayman Turtle Farm.
“I grew up on the island and it was my home for a long time,” she said “Free-diving in the waters off the Cayman Islands is a beautiful experience. It is also one of the few places you can get up close and personal with the magnificent endangered green sea turtle. I’m supporting the World Society for Protection of Animals as turtles are solitary animals, and are most at home when they are swimming free in the ocean,” Streeter added.
See Streeter talk about the conditions at the CTF here
Countdown begins to Nomination Day
(CNS): Although several candidates have already declared their intentions to run in the May General Election from across the political arena, the Elections Office confirmed this week that Nomination Day, the official start of the election campaign, will take place on Wednesday 27 March in all six electoral districts. Candidates must submit their nominations between 8am and 3pm, after which nominations will be closed. Returning Officers from the various districts, with exception of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, will return to the Elections Office to present all nomination forms to the Supervisor of Elections. All nomination stations are open to the public and the fulllist of candidates will be available that evening.
This will trigger the start of the official eight week campaign, ending 22 May when Cayman decides its next government. Many candidates have already declared their hands in what is expected to be a record-breaking election when it comes to the number of people expected to run as well as the number of people entitled to vote.
Over 18,550 people are now on the electoral roll across the six districts, where they will vote for 18 people to send to the Legislative Assembly. Six of them will come from the capital of George Town, where more than 7,450 people are now registered to vote.
With four seats also up for grabs in Bodden Town as well as West Bay, these districts are expected to see significant numbers of candidates seeking election. Both the UDP and the PPM have signalled their intention to run a full slate of candidates in the district of West Bay, where the former premier, McKeeva Bush, and Capt Eugene will be running against their former colleagues in government, Cline Glidden and Rolston Anglin, as well as at least two Progressive candidates, as the opposition party runs its first candidates formally under the party banner. A myriad of independent candidates have also been tipped to run in the district and at least two candidates will be representing the Coalition for Cayman.
In Bodden Town minority government candidates Mark Scotland and Dwayne Seymour will be battling four candidates from the PPM as well as a promised full line up from their former political party, the UDP. So far, no independent candidates have declared for that district but C4C candidates as well as a number of independent candidates running on the ‘dump’ issue are also expected to declare their hand in the district. The PPM has already revealed its four candidates for Bodden Town and is confident of a good result in that district battle.
Meanwhile, it is in the capital of George Town where the Elections Office will be spending the bulk of its paper and printing budget on ballot papers, which could be extremely lengthy. With the UDP and PPM running six people each, as well as the three coalition candidates who have already declared, the capital could see a record number of would-be politicians entering the political fray. So far however, the interim government group has given no indications of its intention to fight any of the seats, making the group members’ chances of returning to the front benches of parliament unlikely.
Ezzard Miller is expected to run unopposed in North Side in the single member constituency, while in the neighbouring district of East End his independent colleague Arden McLean will likely be in a head to head battle with John McLean Jr, who is supported by the UDP but who may still run on an independent ticket.
In Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, although Moses Kirkconnell and Juliana O’Connor-Connolly are expected to be returned, it is likely that several other candidates will also be on the ballot sheet fighting for one of the two seats.