US ambassador opens agent’s office in Cayman

(CNS): The United States Ambassador to Jamaica, Pamela Bridgewater, visited Cayman last week to officially open that country’s consular agent’s new office in Grand Cayman. The new better equipped and secured facility, which is located in the Cayman Centre on Smith Road, is expected to enhance how the local consular agency engages and works with US citizens. Matters include passports, registration of births, as well as services for US citizens who break local laws,and are imprisoned. Consul General Michael Schimmel explained the various features, including a vault to secure the local assets of intestate US citizens who pass away in the Cayman Islands on behalf of families.

Last year, there were 17 deaths and 70 births of US citizens in the Cayman Islands, she reported. There is also a facility to better cater to emotionally distraught US citizens seeking the consular agency’s services.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Bridgewater highlighted the close cooperation between her country and the Cayman Islands on several matters, notably law enforcement, security and legal jurisdiction of children.  The ambassador also pointed to the “enduring friendship between the people and government of the United States and the people and government of the Cayman Islands” as she and Franz Manderson the deputy governor snipped a ribbon to open the new office Thursday.

Expressing his delight at the consular agency’s expanded operations the Deputy Governor said that the humanitarian assistance provided by the US authorities for those wishing to leave the Islands during Hurricane Ivan’s aftermath helped further cement the Cayman Islands’ relationship with the US. This relationship, he went on to say, has moved “from strength to strength”. “The Cayman Islands Government (CIG) looks forward to a continued working relationship with the Consular Agency in the Cayman Islands,” he added.

While here, the ambassador also had her first meeting with the new governor, Helen Kilpatrick and later that evening, the Deputy Governor led government attendees at a reception for invited guests hosted by the Ambassador at the Wharf.

The office’s new location is Unit B1, Cayman Centre, Smith Road. The mailing address is PO Box 12204, Grand Cayman KY1-1010. The office phone is (345) 747-8172 and fax is (345) 945-8192. The web address is: http://kingston.usembassy.gov