West Bay 4 say CIG stalling
(CNS): The Cayman Islands government is stalling in its attempt to throw out the legal action by four local women opposing the closure of the West Bay Road, the ladies claimed Friday. The lawyer representing them said that the strike out application, which was withdrawn on Thursday, was misconceived in the first place, as it claimed that the plaintiffs had no cause of action. Attorney Irvin Banks said the crowns lawyers had implied that the women's action was an abuse of the process of the court without evidence other than the statement of claim itself in support of their application, he said this mistaken position served to delay the case while the former Cabinet proceeded to close the road.
The four West Bay ladies, Alice Mae Coe, Annie Multon, Ezmie Smith and Betty Ebanks, the plaintiffs in the case, also revealed that they have not yet received a response to a letter they set to government in March asking why the previous minority Cabinet gazetted that closure despite the court action.
Following their first victory last week, when the office of the attorney general halted its attempts to have the action thrown out and the case was set for trial, the women revealed that they are still waiting for an answer to a letter sent in March asking why the government and the National Roads Authority (NRA) had proceeded, even though the action alleges serious irregularities with the whole agreement signed by former premier McKeeva Bush in December 2011.
According to Banks, the controversial ‘NRA agreement’, which was meant to be part of a wider deal with the Dart group known as the ForCayman Investment Alliance, cannot be a ‘stand alone’ agreement, as it has been referred to, if that agreement itself is flawed, irregular and illegal.
“It is now possible that the Plaintiffs will file and serve their own summons to address the fact that the National Roads Authority et al feel they can continue with the NRA Agreement despite the delays in the Writ Action, which are not the fault of the Plaintiffs in the matter,” the ladies warned in a statement released Friday.
In the meantime, the plaintiffs are preparing to move forward with their writ action in accordance with the orders of Justice Alex Henderson, the judge presiding over the action.
The ladies said that if their action is successful, it would not be just for them but “an even greater victory for the more than 4,000 individuals who signed the 2011 petition as well as the many other supporters of the cause, and for the wider Cayman community.”
More than 2,300 registered voters and almost 1,400 residents signed the petition against the roads closure. It was given to the governor but his office passed it on to the premier at the time, McKeeva Bush, who had signed the original deal and ignored the petition.
The NRA agreement has divided the community, with some believing that it is a step towards a development that will stimulate the economy. However, many people do not believe that the deal represents value for money for the public purse, and further negotiations behind closed doors after the deal was signed have failed to rectify the imbalance, which was noted in the recent PricewaterhouseCoopers review of the deal.
The situation has been further complicated by the gazetted closure of around a third of the stretch proposed to be closed in the deal and the fact that it is now partially underneath an artificial beach made from crushed rock, which is understood to have been imported from South America.
The new government has re-opened talks with Dart and is seeking ways in which some form of road access can be reconstructed in the area. During and after the election campaign the PPM proposed that the West Bay Road be retained and if necessary redirected behind the proposed new hotel and condo development on the site of the former Courtyard Marriott.
However, the government has also inherited the ladies' suit, and despite their own reservations about the deal, is at present continuing to fight against the claims made by the women that the agreement and the closure is unlawful.
Category: Politics
Before any further negotiation, let him donate another $50mio into our children education fund and I don't mean for those high end, rich kids, but more for our new technical vocational school (old George Hicks Campus) we need to get that started. That way we can train our students to work in Mr. Dart businesses. If that can be accompulished, then I would say its a better deal for Cayman, as it stands now, Dart has the better deal. This deal should not involve moving the dump anywhere, either. Let us come together and remediate it right where it is. Something needs to be done too about that traffic bottle necking right by Camana Bay. Its horrible in the mornings, as primarily Dart's CIS school traffic cause the traffic jams in the mornings and afternoons.
Why? Give me, give me, give me. Why should he donate? Ridiculous.
I beg to differ with your reasoning. I take my granddaughter to school at Grace Academy and the bottlenecking at Camana Bay has nothing to do with the CIS traffic. The people coming from West Bay, turn into Camana Bay at the dirst ntrance on the orgeend and race through the center, past the big building and then exits into the CIS roundabout turning left to head on into George Town. Place the blame where it belongs. I am not a Dart supporter, but some of the most attrocious drivers on this island seem to driving into George Town from West Bay in the mornings. That is why we need the old West Bay Road as an alternative, since so many of there idiots do not realise that if they crash they still will not get where they ned to go.
"primarily Dart's CIS school traffic cause the traffic jams in the mornings and afternoons."
05:59, I beg to differ on your statement.
Traffic is caused by every man, woman and child travelling in the same direction, to the same location, at the same time, everyday without fail.
Try going to work a bit earlier or leaving later and hey presto, no traffic!
Mr D don't give a ray's Axx about a traffic jam. If you're not coming to patronize his city, drive around it!
But that might mean arriving at work 5 minutes before start time or heaven forbid 5 minutes later than contract end time. That is not the way. I love the George Town 5.01 gridlock half hour.
This is getting better every day. Quite fun following these ladies and seeing how they are pulling out one can of Whoop *ss after another.
The arrogance and ignorance of those behind this "deal" mess are finally going to get their well deserved beat down in court.
I'd like to donate $$ if they have a way to do this. I'm behind them 100%
The great irony in all this is that it was mainly the West Bay politicians that the West Bay voters put into office who "done the deal" that the West Bay ladies are challenging.
Most West Bayers must approve of the deal because they just endorsed 3 out of Team Mac's 4.
Umm you forgot to mention the other more clever party in the deal… Dart. Hello?
if you think there is overwhelming public support for this 'cause'….please get a legally binding petition going….. however based on the 150 turnout for the public demonstration i don't think you will get very far…….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
You obviously slept through the petition drive that was signed by 4,000 people not to mention the National elections in May 2013 that included over 18,000 registered voters, the majority of who voted out the fools who put this “deal” together. National Election legally binding enough for you?
Just keep sleeping now……..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
"4,000 people not to mention the National elections in May 2013 that included over 18,000 registered voters"
That still leaves 33,000 people who couldn't give a rats a**. They are quite content with the new roads and proposed facilities that are currently being built by DART.
And 18,000 people did not vote Mac out. Only people who live in West Bay could do that and guess what? They didn't. He is still still an MLA the last time I checked as are 3 other members of his party from the district of WB.
Who will we all thank if these ladies fail? Them or Mac? Can this country afford the damages that DART will seek?
It was still an illegal deal. 33 thousand or 33 million people not caring doesn't make bush and dart in bed holy matrimony.
Pure and simple B.S. It's a good thing the "33,000" dont give a whatever, those are exaclty the kind of people who should NEVER have a say in ANYTHING to say about what goes on around here if they ALL shared your backwards bumpkin reasoning. The reality is the all don't. A great amoount of them actually do have some respect for the country they are guests in. Keep digging your lonely hole with that attitude.
See the Gazette if you can figure out how to find it. Dart paid NOTHING for the road. DART should receive NOTHING for the road when the judge rules. Give it up already scaremonger.
XXX TCI is in recovery mode and these fine ladies are just part of the larger effort that are pushing Cayman further into the countries own recovery mode.
Bashing the rich is easy and cheap to do. Investing in Cayman is risky and expensive. Sometimes I wonder why Mr Dart even bothers.
My pledge: Everytime any one of you mentions poor MR. Dart, I will weep a tear into a small vial and offer it up to The Lord jesus for his financial salvation.
Investing in Cayman is not one iota more risky and expensive than it is anywhere else in this world. In fact investing in Cayman seems to be very considerably LESS risky and expensive for "Mr Dart" than anywhere else in this world at our eternal expense and thanks to gullible simpletons just like you.
I take my hat off to these brave ladies.
Why are they "brave"?
Bike/walking trails and a boardwalk vs a strip of asphalt. You choose. Enjoying the view walking/cycling vs driving by in a car. You choose.
Just don't get it……..
Let's try to understand this one more time. Listen to me now. Are you listening? Okay, here we go: it's the sneaky, underhanded, probably illegal way it was done. Okay, don't say anything, just breathe and let that sink in….the sneaky, underhanded, probably illegal way it was done.
Think if mummy and daddy gave you a nice new red bicycle just because you are a sweet and good diddums. Now what if they found that bike by the road after the bicycle truck just drove by. Now you may CHOOSE to keep that shiney new bike, but you must also be aware of how you got it, no matter how much you can't understand.
What a bunch of nonsense.
Would you like me to explain it to you, or are you more comfortable just leaving it as 'nonsense'?
i sure wouldn't want to cause you any discomfort.
You have no idea of what a 'value for money' report is; otherwise, you would have understood the conclusion. You have no idea what you are talking about, fool.
Think you might be putting your response under the wrong post….
Did you even read the PWC Value for Money Report?! What bike paths and a boardwalk?!
The record shows that DART refuses to register these paths and boardwalks. As result, these lines currently on a piece of paper could be gone at any given time due to "changes" necessary for the success of the overall development!
Having read through the Value for Money Report, it is not unreasonable to believe that these so-called bike paths and boardwalks may never ever be built.
DART is getting in excess of $100 million in up lift value to his properties, to further compound the frustration that our previous Government gave away valuable monies and opportunity as highlighted by the PWC Report. DART refuses to pay the 50% of the uplift value to the people of the Cayman Islands as determined by Case law. So don't think for one second good ole DART is so benevolent.
Ignorance is not always bliss!
Bike walking trails and a boardwalk is your justification? Get back to reality and realise that you are on a Caribbean Island, not somewhere on mainland America. Hence the reason we detest the new "city road" road that wasbuilt as the alternative to taking away our old "strip of asphalt" that you refer to. I back these four West Bay ladies 1000%!!
Thanks Mrs. Annie, Mrs. Ezmie, Ms. Alicemae and Ms. Betty. You have the support of the Caymanian community behind you and we will support you either vocally, behind the scenes, publicly or otherwise. BUT YOU HAVE OUR SUPPORT!!! Go and get our road back from the them vultures!!
No they don't!
Yes they do
I think the old ladies are out of their depth and have missed several valiant points, many of which have been raised by the more intelligent of the island.
Time stands still for no man and indeed it never did along West Bay Road. You ladies need study where it started along the ridge some of which went through my garden! Then the road was moved immediately before the swamp where it is today.
Quite obviously no one could build anything meaningful along a beach with a depth of one hundred feet. In the eighties the owners of a lot of the beach tried to move the road back as Mr Dart has done. Unfortunately the land owners could not agree with the concept, probably because one or more was too greedy.
Today there is no real scenic view because of grape trees planted many years ago. Moreover with cars speeding over the limit and the use of cell phones, no one sees the beach. The old ladies live in fairyland and in the past. I am not the greatest supporter of Dart but please give us a constructive argument before wasting court time and tax payers monies.
The concept of additional hotels will bring considerable additional employment and revenue to this island, which without a road running thru their front door.
Meanwhile the road to Morgans Harbour remains closed. PPM you need fix all of this. That is why we voted you in. No more heads in the sand, please.
The grape trees AREthe view. Any thoughts on the slick way the whole deal was (is still being) pulled of Mr. J?
Do you mean a constructive argument like "no one" sees the beach??? How to heck do I even know its there?
Chris, I agree with you often (and you'll forgive me for posting anonymously; I'm not such a known quantity), but on this occasion, there is a big point you are missing too.
People are often talking past each other in this debate. Supporters say the road floods, view isn't great anyway, economic benefits. Detractors say the land is our birthright, concerned about facilitating Dart hegemony, the benefits are unevenly distributed whilst everyone bears the costs. All valid. The real point is this agreement was negotiated by someone who had long before lost his mandate (which made locals feel powerless and therefore angry and demoralised), did not strike a commercial bargain for the benefit Dart would receive (shown by all the amendments they were willing to entertain after the fact), and had all the hallmarks to many eyes of a politician selling something that does not belong to him for less than it is worth to gain something that benefits him personally in aid of his re-election efforts. That's the bottom line. He thought it was a good deal because it was – for him. This was Boatswain Beach, Act 2. That's all it ever was. It's very easy to give away other people's stuff. If you want proof that that is how these guys operate, read the transcripts of Michael Misick's evidence to the TCI Inquiry. He gave the same excuses for why bad deals are necessary to spur development, and is now an international fugitive. Ask around about who bought a certain Ritz condo, too.
Dear Reality Checker:
The land is not their birthright. The road is a public right of way and the lands either side of it are all privately owned, except for the public beach.
When negotiating either side has the option of walking away if the terms do not meet their expectations. CIG and Dart were not forced to accept these terms. They worked together to make a workable compromise – plain and simple.
If we had 20 people standing in a line to make the same investment as Dart has then I could understand your point. But we didn't.
Ask yourself how that it is that people have purchased billion dollar businesses for a single dollar? It's down to what it is worth at the time of the deal. Not the day before or theday after.
Funny how one close-minded person can profess to represent the entire Cayman public. Get serious
Oh, did you mean Willie mak bush?
Did a multi million dollar payment into the infamous Nation Building Fund play into this? Why are some churches paying money back to the CIG if it never was the CIG’s money?
the community is not divided….from my experience there is overwhelming support for the re-developmen and then there is a minor backward vocal minority against it…
Speak for yourelf Bobo.
Agreed. I for one prefer the planned bike/walking trails to a strip of asphalt. Going for a nice walk/ride is a MUCH better way to enjoy the view than 10 seconds in a car (Google the development plans. What do you prefer?).
10 seconds. Maybe you should not speed!!!
Right on 09.33…you look at any development on this Island it is generally Dart behind it…a little more transparency would be useful from both sides, however his projects are always well though out and he employs many Caymanians…
In my view these ladies have got this wrong…development is a good thing…I think now that most of the island has seen what is going on, and the new road, and how quiet and pleasant it is by public beach… it is hard for the majority not to like it..but there are always a few..
Or maybe the billionaire behind it all is paying people to drown out the majority of actual Caymanians who oppose the deal, and the rest are all expats and tourists who just want more restaurants and bars to amuse themselves with? Can you not see that Dart is creating an empire buying and building things that are primarily enjoyed by expats and tourists, and the government is giving him incentives to do it out of locals' pockets? Where will that lead? Don't you care?
From your experience with who and what? Your fraudsters friends, criminal network or the two or three haters you talk to once a month? Oh forgot to mention the sub 100 or so vocal minority you see repeating themselves over and over on CNS and other media. G.A.L.
indeed 06.14…supporters who are vitriolic…oh, wait, exactly like you!! Thank you. Only nerds who are so daft they cannot see thier own petty hatred would write such drivel. You did not disappoint on that score.
Sees like the truth hurt someone on Tue, 07/30/2013 – 14:43. Ouch!!
Finally we seem to be seeing signs of the rule of law, thank goodness.
The present govt is negotiating behind closed doors just like UDP. They are using the 4 ladies law suit and general anger against Darts capturing of local businesses ( liquor , tour bus, hotels,downtown reatil), as a tool. But PPM is wrong to think that the voters are fools. So far they have shown that it is business as usual. They are giving away status , negotiating secretly etc just like every govt. has.
Why are Caymanian not allowed to participate in these projects that can reap economic benefit? Why cannot Caymanians put together a fund and own our assets. PPM wake up and Kurt /Alden stop being a bottleneck.
Hey, they got elected. It's time for them to get rich now. If you want to get rich, I suggest you do the same.
Capture of local business? That reminds me… Think i will stop by that fancy place they opened on Eastern Avenue for the $4.50 lunch special.
You can be a bit of a racist jerk sometimes, can't you.
If Caymanians did things like this there wouldn't so many foriegn investors own most of Cayman.. No one in the CIG stops Caymanians from pooling and investing thier money in Cayman.
Pooling and investing what money??…that dollar in your pocket came here with an investor…without them you would still be digging cassava like your grandfather did…wake up
Boycott Dart.
What does this even mean? Dont show up for work if your office is within Camana Bay? Dont go to restaurants and stores at Camana Bay (which of course are are not owned by Dart)?
What a ridiculous statement. Then please stay away from Camana Bay. More room for others (such as myself) that love going to Camana Bay.
Me. Love. Camana bay. Must have Caymana Bay. If not have Caymana Bay, all. Is. Lost. Cannot. Happy. Gasp…. Things. Give. Me. Things
You make no sense. The commenter prior to you was questioning the ridiculousness of "boycott Dart" rhetoric. Dont go to Camana Bay if you dont like it. Other people enjoy it and many are proud that this development is in Cayman.
Pride is a good thing, right?
And what — go to the Coop Hall and watch a movie — lol —
There's that racist tone again
Yeah, let’s boycott the company that is proving more employment that any other, the company that is dragging Cayman into the 21st Century, the company that are providing the infrastructure that our Gowament can't.
Good idea buddy, great thinking
…. He loved big brother.
Go ahead and boycott Dart. Why are you guys so obsessed with this man's money and his wealth.
Shut him down, lets see who else out there are going to put money in the ground, for some of you ungreatfull people.
What a sick bunch!!
Sounds like you're the one obsessed with his wealth. Think about it.
Seems like you are the one obsessed with this man's money and his wealth since you apparently have no opposition to him ignoring the rule of law or squashing the rights of the little man. Not to mention how "ungreatfull" you are for what these ladies are doing for law and order.
Truly pathetic.
dont be silly….you need to think who will pay for the new by-pass if these ladies win the case…I know Dart not just walking away from $60-70,000,000 like that no matter how rich is is.
That's a bit of a lame reason to let him do whatever he wants to do. You can bet he knew exactly what he was doing when he teamed up with wild bill bush. Why should he be compensated for being caught?? Why?