Archive for January, 2014
President’s Cup semifinals set
(CIFA): George Town SC and Bodden Town FC aim to recapture the goal scoring form in the President’s Cup Semifinals, after finding out their opponents on Wednesday. George Town drew Elite Sports Club and ever improving Sunset meets Bodden Town. Both first leg matches will take place at the Annex on Sunday 9 February, 2014. At the semifinal draw George Town Captain Ian Lindo expressed his desire to return to action with the same form his side ended 2013. In the opening round a double strike from Miguel Simms helped Lee Ramoon’s men kick Scholars International out of the competition.
Lindo said, “When we return to action we have to get back the focus we had before the break. At George Town we are a fun club and we have mixed that with a much more focused mentality. This combination has led to more success on the pitch which we hope to recapture against Elite.”
Elite Sports Club’s Dwayne Wright expects a stern challenge from the George Town unit.
“We are comfortable with the draw against George Town. Every team brings a challenge but we are ready,” said Wright, the reigning Most Valuable Player of local football.
In the evening’s opening fixture Bodden Town lines up against Sunset FC. Elbert Mclean’s Bodden Town side was propelled by double strikes from Theron Wood and Ricoh Brown in a 6-0 drubbing of Academy Sports Club.
Manager Kennedy Kelly said good preparation is key to his team’s chances of winning.
“We have to prepare the best we can. Sunset is a good team holding their own in the Premier Division and the first time we met this season they held us to a draw. We intend to let our playing do the talking.”
Sunset FC Defender John Bruton and General Secretary Kevin Poole represented the club at the draw.
Bruton said, “Bodden Town is a strong opponent and we expect a difficult game. One our day we can match any team and progress to the final. Before the season’s break we were on a bit of a run which we hope to continue. It starts with the belief that we can do it.”
“Sunset has done well since our promotion to the Premier League. We look forward to the challenge of facing Bodden Town,” Poole said.
For more on local footbal visit www.caymanfootball.com
No progress in Dart talks, says premier
(CNS): The talks between the PPM administration and Dart Realty have made no progress, the premier has confirmed. After months of silence on the subject, Alden McLaughlin stated Wednesday morning that the talks between his government, which began shortly after the election last year, are ongoing but they were not making any progress, which was why ministers had remained silent. The talks are focused on efforts by the CIG to renegotiate the deal between it, the NRA and Dart signed by then premier McKeeva Bush in December 2011. The PPM government is on record as describing some elements of the deal as unacceptable and wide concerns remain that it is heavily in Dart’s favour and does not represent value for money for the public purse.
The discussions are understood to include talks about the remaining stretch of the West Bay Road as well as the issue of the hotel accommodation tax rebate, which appears to be one of the major stumbling blocks in the talks.
The PPM did state on the campaign trail that it would be seeking to renegotiate what is now commonly known as the NRA deal. It was hoping to have some form of through access in the area of the West Bay Road, which is now completely blocked since the previous interim administration and former UDP members gazetted the closure. However, the Progressive administration admitted shortly after being elected that the closure appeared to be irreversible. While the remaining stretch is still in its hands, no one from government has said whether or not that remaining strip of road can be saved because, despite the existing deal, the government will still need to gazette any closure and so retains a strong negotiating tool.
At a PPM public meeting shortly after the election, Works Minister Kurt Tibbetts, who now has responsibility for the NRA, made it clear that the 50% accommodation tax concession given to the developer in the deal, which spans a thirty year period on any hotel or tourist accommodation Dart buys, builds or otherwise acquires was not acceptable.
The concession will see Dart keeping half of the taxes charged on all accommodation for ten years after the opening date, not just on the proposed $200 million hotel and condo resort on the West Bay Road but any other tourist accommodation it owns in the future, which could have a serious impact on the public purse if the developer was to acquire any existing accommodation. It also undermines potential earnings for government in future, given the potential buying power of Dart as the island’s largest land owner and investor.
Tibbetts has also previously stated that such a generous concession was presenting problems to government as it entered into talks with other developers, who all now ask for the same concession before discussing any potential tourism investments.
It is not clear if the lack of progress in the talks will have an impact on Dart’s plans for the proposed hotel on the site of the former Courtyard Marriott, which the developer says is due to open as a Kimpton Hotel in 2016.
As the talks stall, four ladies from West Bay are also still waiting on a Grand Court decision from Justice Alex Henderson regarding the legal action they took against the government over the way that the West Bay Road was disposed of under the NRA agreement.
A judicial review application regarding the same issue was denied last year as a result of timeline technicalities before the substantive argument over the legality or otherwise of the roads closure was ever considered.
Alice Mae Coe, Betty Ebanks Annie Multon and Ezmie Smith managed to take the issue further and although both government and Dart’s lawyers had argued that the law suit was the wrong way to deal with the complaint, they were able to present their full case before the judge at the end of last year.
The hearing took place between 9 and 13 December but no date for the ruling has yet been confirmed.
OMOV not a priority for CIG
(CNS): The Cayman Islands premier has stated that the implementation of one man, one vote and single member constituencies is not a current priority, which is why it has not featured in government’s legislative agenda for this year. Even though all of the government members, including those elected on the Coalition for Cayman ticket, campaigned on changing the local voting system, it will not be happening anytime soon. Alden McLaughlin said Wednesday that government has other priorities and no timeline has been established for when it will be bringing the necessary legislation to parliament. The premier said the top priorities were getting people back to work, the local economy and stabilizing the country.
The premier has been repeatedly accused of not fully supporting the concept of single member constituencies, although many of his party members and C4C government colleagues have all been staunch advocates. However, McLaughlin has denied any lack of support for the voting system and has repeatedly stated he supports both one man, one vote and single member constituencies.
Nevertheless, the premier made it clear that his government would not be dealing with it in the near future and there was no timeframe for when the legislation would come before the Legislative Assembly.
The premier will have to discuss the issue in the LA shortly, however, as Arden Mclean, the independent member for East end has filed a private members motion in the Legisaltive Assembly seconded by Ezzard Miller asking the government to make the necessary and relatively small amendments to the elections law within the nexxt three months. This would enable the Elections Office to begin its work in making the new constituencies a reality and embarking on the education campaign for voters.
Miller told CNS recently that if government does not make the amendments to the election law before the end of this financial year he was prepared to go to the expense, if necessary, of having the legislation drawn up and presenting a private members bill to the House.
Workers recognize each other in customs awards
(CNS): To add to the growing list of honours, gongs and awards being given to public sector workers, the annual recognition awards for Customs Officers have been reinstated but with a new twist. The awards have moved away from a purely top down evaluation or a customer assessment but are instead a more egalitarian award via peer selection. Those receiving the awards were first nominated by their work colleagues and then, from the pool of 25 nominations, the winners were selected by a management committee in six categories. Lauding the winners, Collector of Customs Samantha Bennett said recognition by peers could be one of the greatest motivators.
Promising this would be an annual feature, she explained that the criteria included attitude and professionalism towards both colleagues and the general public to mark qualities including communicationskills, sociable personality, positive approach, courteous behaviour, ability to carry out work requirements and willingness to accept constructive criticism.
She said the officer of the year was “nominated by a number of his peers in recognition of his leadership, his supervisory skills and especially the quality of his service to our customers. It was inspiring to see other staff members nominate their colleagues and recognise them for their efforts and diligence at work."
The first awards in six categories in 2013 were:
- Officer of the Year: Senior Customs Officer (Sea Freight), Glarman “Bobo” Grant;
- Administrative Support Officer of the Year (Admin/Accounts/Cashier/Tally/IT): Accounts Officer Michael Bartlett;
- Customs (Junior) Officer of the Year: Customs Officer (Narcotics Enforcement), Tina Campbell;
- Senior Customs Officer of the Year: Senior Customs Officer (Freight Security Initiative), Philip West;
- Assistant Collector of the Year: Assistant Collector (Airport), Gidget Powell;
- Porter/Warehouse Officer of the Year: Porter, Robert Scott.
The chosen officers received awards and certificates of appreciation.
Wreck of the ten sails provides backdrop for novel
(CNS): The National Museum is welcoming maritime historian and author William H. White as its next Speaker Series guest. White’s most recent work of historical fiction, Gun Bay, which hit the bookshelves last summer, is based on the ‘Wreck of the Ten Sail’, an historical event well known in Caymanian tradition. In Gun Bay, White’s fictitious narrator Edward Ballantyne tells the story of the disastrous event in February 1794, when ten ships – nine merchants, and a Royal Navy frigate – wrecked on the reef at the east end of Grand Cayman. The ships were part of a convoy of fifty eight vessels bound for North America and Europe from Jamaica
After a brief presentation on the historical wreck led by Museum Director and Underwater Archaeologist Dr. Peggy Leshikar-Denton, White will discuss how he transformed history into a fictional adventure, and sign copies of his book.
For more details see flyer posted below.
Local service club gives $5k for school meals at CHHS
(CNS): The Cayman Islands may have one of the highest standards of living in the region but children in its schools are still going hungry and under-nourished. Grand Cayman Sunrise Rotary Club made a $5,000 donation recently to Clifton Hunter High School to help finance school meals. The club said in a release that it’s Youth Services Director, Donald Aitken, and his committee recognized a need in the community to help students at the school who were struggling in their studies due to a lack of nutritional meals. The cash will be used for healthy meals that will allow students to receive the nutritional basics they need to encourage improved learning in the classroom.
“Students cannot learn when their stomachs are hungry and as an organization committed to youth, education and literacy the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Sunrise has recently made a donation of CI$5,000 to Clifton Hunter High School in support of school meals,” the club stated in the release.
Ministry seeks consultants for cruise port EIA
(CNS Business): The Ministry of District Administration Tourism and Transport has issued a request for tender from qualified and eligible environmental and engineering consultants for the next stage on the path to development of cruise berthing facilities. Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell, whose ministry is overseeing the development, said that this accords with the schedule in the Outline Business Case, which was released to the public and openly discussed during public meetings held in November 2013, and noted that procurement for the cruise berthing facility is following an open, transparent and competitive process as required by the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility (FFR). Read more on CNS Business
‘We’re taking OAG seriously’
(CNS): Following the release of more reports from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) that show government is falling below standard when it comes to good governance, transparency and accountability, especially over how it spends tax payers money, the political and administrative arm of government has committed to improvements and doing a better job. In the past government in general has done badly at responding to the OAG's reports, Premier Alden McLaughlin told the press Wednesday, but said he wanted the public to know that his government took the reports and findings seriously. He said they would consider very carefully all the recommendations made and in many cases CIG was already working on improvements.
Search ends as diver lost at sea
(CNS) Updated Wednesday: After three days of looking for 57-year-old David Byles, who went missing following a dive on Sunday morning, the local authorities have called off the search. Inspector Ian Yearwood, who made it clear yesterday that no one expected him to be found alive at this stage, said Wednesday that everything possible had been done to try and recover the body. The police have been in contact with Byles' wife and the decision to end the search was discussed with her. Thanking all the volunteers who helped, the senior officer said their assistance had been invaluable. With the recovery of Byles' tank, his BCD and clothing, Yearwood explained the decision to stand down the search.
"It’s always a difficult decision to call off any search, but having reviewed the search patterns followed to date, tides etc, it’s clear that we have done as much as we can do at the moment in our attempts to recover David’s body and bring some closure to his family. Our thoughts are with his wife and family at this time," he stated..
Some 28 people were involved in the search, including local divers and police personnel, who were searching yesterday and this morning in the Barracuda Wall area. Police and divers had recovered Byles dive tank, BCD and an item of clothing on Monday but there has been no trace of Byles.
The US national was visiting the Cayman Islands with his wife on vacation from North Carolina. The couple, along with several others, were on a dive off Seven Mile Beach on Sunday but after surfacing safely 100 yards from the dive boat, Byles disappeared.
CIG failing on governance
(CNS): Values and ethics are not embedded and are only being applied selectively in government, Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick has found after an audit of Cayman’s governance systems. In a much wider review than the focused assessments of government spending, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) released five reports Wednesday that reveal a catalogue of problems. Swarbrick said that while the governance framework is sound, government is simply not following or properly implementing the rules as designed. Government is failing to tell the story of how it spends public money and is not being accountable. He also said there was no strategic policy development to support its strategic policy statement.
In other words, the auditor general has found systemic and structural problems in government that are impacting overall governance caused by a variety of problems. The upshot is the public purse remains open to abuse. Fundamental controls that should ensure lawful expenditure are not robust enough to prevent that abuse and are not good enough to even say if budget appropriations are accurate. No one can be sure that the money legislatures vote for government is the money that is really required or spent.
In the reports the auditor general makes 12 recommendations, which he said would present a significant challenge to government, which is now said to be working on improvements.
Although the existing laws provide a good basis and framework for good governance and management of public resources, Swarbrick indicated that the legislation, such as the Public Management and Finance Law, the Public Service Management Law and aspects of the Constitution are not being properly implemented.
Swarbrick’s team found the ethics meant to guide decisions and the behaviour of public servants was not embedded and in some cases the governance systems are too complicated for public servants to fulfil. Government, he said, had become focused on the activities rather than the outcome of those activities. Among the many criticisms and problems identified, he found that roles and responsibilities are not properly outlined and that government has failed to adopt a framework to hold its companies and statutory authorities accountable, and they are being badly managed.
See the reports posted below and check back to CNS later for more on the findings and government’s reaction.