Business
Bermuda allows cruise ship casinos to open in port
(CNS Business): Bermuda’s House of Assembly passed the Cruise Ship (Casino) Act 2013 Thursday, allowing visiting cruise ships to keep their casinos open between 9pm and 5am when in port. Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell said the concession would ensure Bermuda remained competitive as a cruise destination, according to the Royal Gazette. He said the move would economically benefit the cruise companies from an increase in their on-board revenue, and Bermuda, which would collect licence fees. Casinos activities are limited to cruise passengers. No local residents or visitors to the ship will be allowed to participate, and cruise ships would have to be in port for one night or more to qualify for permission. Read more and comment on CNS Business
HBO & Weststar still in dispute over broadcast rights
(CNS Business): Negotiations between HBO Latin America and local cable television operator WestStar TV have reached an impasse, the international TV channel has stated, pointing the finger of blame at the WestStar management for not accepting proposals from HBO that would legalize the cable company’s rebroadcast of HBO programming under a licensing agreement. According to a release from HBO are hoping that either the Cayman government or its regulator the ICTA will step in before the TV channel takes action in the courts. However, the local cable firm has said that it signed all 9 agreements with HBO Latin America requesting minor changes which were rejected. Read more on CNS Business
Caymanians warned over long reach of FATCA
(CNS Business): Although the implementation date for America’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has been pushed back to 1 July next year, local experts are warning Cayman residents with US connections to ensure they are FATCA compliant as soon as possible to avoid severe penalties. Even those who have never lived in the States or had anything to do with the country other than being born there could still be impacted by this far reaching legislation. To help those affected by the planned implementation to be compliant, Cayman Finance and the Ministry for Financial Services have joined forces to hold a seminar on the subject this Thursday (3 October) at The Westin Grand Cayman Resort. Read more on CNS Business
Beach erosion concerns at Dart hotel
(CNS Business): The problem of beach erosion, the challenge to turtle nests, run-off from the elevated site, as well as the proposed height have not stopped the Central Planning Authority (CPA) from granting the Dart-owned company, Blossom Estates Ltd, planning permission for a proposed hotel development on Seven Mile Beach. The Dart Group was given the go-ahead to begin constructing its 140-foot hotel, some 15 feet above the lawful height, on the eleven acres of land that now straddles the West Bay Road and the former Courtyard Marriott site, despite environmental concerns and an ongoing law suit challenging the legality of the road closure that created the beachfront site for the project.Read more on CNS Business
Shetty shifts target market to Caribbean
(CNS Business): Although the original goal of Dr Devi Shetty’s Health City medical tourism facility in East End was to attract patients in need of tertiary care from North America, at a special update lunch yesterday there was no mention of the United States as a target for patients. Instead, Shetty spoke about the 39 million people in the Caribbean, and of course the small market in Cayman, that the Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital would now be seeking to service. Shetty focused very heavily in his presentation on the principle of affordable healthcare for all and reaching out to those who were in need in the region. Read more on CNS Business
Airport denied permit for new HR boss
(CNS Business): Following the public controversy over the decision of the Cayman Islands Airports Authority to appoint an ex-pat to the post of chief human resource officer, the acting director confirmed that the work-permit application has been denied. Jan Peters, the former head of HR at the Department of Tourism wasawarded the post following a recruitment and interview process in which she was the only non-Caymanian shortlisted. Although there were several local human resource specialists who appeared to be qualified, because of Peters' experience and the work she had done at the DoT solving their HR problems, she was identified as the best person for the job. Read more on CNS Business
Back-to-work programme for jobless Caymanians
(CNS Business): A local recruitment agency has developed a not-for-profit programme to help find jobs for local people who are registered as unemployed, maintaining that this will lower unemployment, which stands at around 10.5% for Caymanians, and expand the local labour supply. Alan Brady, operations manager at Baraud, said the agency will launch a 13-week pilot back-to-work programme, Re-Start, on 14 October for 20 Caymanians looking for work and they are hoping it will be rolled out nationally if the pilot programme goes well. “Employers very often overlook people who have been out of work for a period or have a gap in their resume, particularly in times such as these with an abundance of people on the market,” Brady said. Read more on CNS Business
Booze laws under review after conflicts exposed
(CNS Business): Government is reviewing in the process by which liquor licenses are awarded and managed, as well as the current moratorium on new licenses, officials have revealed. Following a chaotic meeting of the Liquor Licensing Board last week, when conflicts of interest caused the chairman and two board members to recuse themselves, which stalled proceedings because there was then no quorum, officials have acknowledged the problems relating to liquor licenses but said they are entrenched and complex and cannot be fixed overnight. With an uneven playing field, licensees fighting among themselves and board members and their families seen to have advantages over other holders, the licensing process seems to have broken down. Read more on CNS Business
Conflicts for members and chair of booze board
(CNS Business): Potential conflicts of interest for three of the five voting members of the liquor licensing board caused proceedings of the annual meeting to grind to a halt on Thursday when they recused themselves. With only two voting members left the board was unable to form a quorum and couldn’t hear 12 applications from five different George Town retail liquor license holders who had applied to extend their opening hours to 10pm and create a level playing field for booze stores on Grand Cayman. Long held concerns about conflict on this board came to the fore when a member who is also a licensee and one applying for an extension said he felt he had to recuse himself from the deliberations. This was followed by the exit of the chairman and another member as they were also perceived to be conflicted. Read more and comment on CNSBusiness
E-Government coming soon to Cayman, says Suckoo
(CNS Business): The very survival of the Cayman Islands’ financial services industry depends on the development of e-government, according the man now heading this branch of government. Working towards the day when individuals and businesses can do all their government business online, including work permit and trade and business applications, Alva Suckoo said the vision for the future – and coming soon – is to make standing in line or having to physically go to a government department a rarity. With Cayman lagging behind competing jurisdictions in moving government interaction with the public online, Suckoo, a first term Bodden Town MLA with a wealth of private sector experience in the field, has been appointed as councellor in the Home Affairs Ministry to coordinate and advise on this initiative. Read more on CNS Business