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Port will reclaim 8 acres for upland destination

Port will reclaim 8 acres for upland destination

| 10/09/2010 | 63 Comments

(CNS): Tourism stakeholders heard on Wednesday that the project to create cruise berthing facilities in George Town will reclaim some eight acres from the ocean for the upland development. West Bay MLA Cline Glidden said that DECCO, the developer, will be recouping its investment in the project by a combination of usage fees from the cruise lines and from its own use of the upland area. Although government says it is restricting DECCO from flooding the upland with retail units, the developer will be free to create a other facilities within this new waterfront development. Glidden said that it may include a mega yacht marina, an amphitheatre a hotel and restaurants. 

Glidden said that the negotiations and the processes which government faced to make this project happen were fraught with bureaucracy. With many stages still to go through, he said the wheels were grinding slowly. However, Glidden, who is spearheading the project, said that DECCO (The Dart Group’s construction company) were still on board and that they were now considering what exactly they would be creating on the eight acres of reclaimed, residual land that would ensure they would make back their investment.
 
Glidden told the stakeholders at the special lunch held at the Marriot that following the first agreement (the MOU between Dart, the Port Authority and government) came the framework agreement which solidified the commitment to the development by all parties. The government backbencher said that the framework would be valid for four months and the aim was to reach this agreement by October of this year while still aiming for the project to be completed in October 2012.
 
He explained that the developer would be given a lease for the new upland waterfront destination related to the cruise port, which would be determined by the amount of investment in the project DECCO made less the money collected from the cruise usage fees from the cruise lines.
 
That shortfall would form the basis for the lease to enable Dart to have a reasonable time to recoup that investment which they would have to justify to government. The investment Dart intends to make is estimated to be more than $200 million.
 
How DECCO would do that is up to the developer, provided it dovetailed with government policy. “Government also wants to see local participation in this project so the developer has to agree to give Caymanians jobs and local businesses access to the work,” Glidden added. He noted that government was absolved of the risk of the project and Glidden also emphasised that retail units, which could compete with existing down town businesses, would not be an option.
 
He also stated that the additional land won’t interfere with the cargo operations area but that there would be some enhancement and improvements to that port during the development.
 
The overall goal, he said, was to create a world class waterfront destination with a number of attractions to enhance and compliment the down town George Town area, which would also be improved and transport would be moved away from the facility to underground parking garages. Glidden said there was no firm plan yet as the developer was still considering a number of options but that would be finalized after the framework agreement.  
 
“This has to evolve beyond the norm,” Glidden told the tourism stakeholders at the special lunch. “We are creating a new waterfront that rivals any other in the region and works for Caymanians as well as tourists.” (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr:  – speculative port plans)

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Ebanks takes stand and denies murder

Ebanks takes stand and denies murder

| 10/09/2010 | 0 Comments

(CNS): Following the closure on Thursday morning of the crown’s case against Brandon Leslie-Ebanks, Osbourne Douglas and Patrick McField for the murder of Omar Samuels, the defence attorneys were given the opportunity to call witnesses. Attorneys for Douglas and McField opted not to do so, but Leslie-Ebanks took to the stand himself and also called two witnesses to vouch for his whereabouts on the night Samuels was killed. Leslie-Ebanks told the court he did not kill Samuels and repeated the same account of his activities that night as the one he had given to the police twice before. Despite being pressed by the solicitor general that he had shot Samuels, Ebanks said, “No ma’am I had no part in shooting anyone.”

The court heard that the only previous convictions the 24-year-old Leslie-Ebanks has had were one six week sentence for possession of ganja and a $150 fine for possession of a pocket knife. Leslie-Ebanks said he was a plumber by trade and has two young children — a daughter who is two and a half years old and a son who will have his second birthday tomorrow (10 September).
 
Asked questions by his attorney, Leslie-Ebanks said that on the night in question he visited his friend George Powell’s house, as was usual, played pool, dominoes and drank. At a few minutes before midnight he walked from Powell’s house in Central to Jah’t’s a few minutes walk away. On the way he admitted seeing Omar Samuels sitting in the porch area around Harlem with two men and a woman. Other than a passing hail, Leslie-Ebanks said they did not speak and he went on to the restaurant to buy food.
 
When he returned to Powell’s house with the roast conch purchased from Jah't’s, he followed the same route but did not see Samuels again. When he was close to returning to Powell’s, he passed Patrick McField in the Zodiac Bar and then later saw Douglas walk by Powell’s porch, where he was sitting eating food. He told the court he knew both McField and Douglas as they grew up together and had lived in the same area, but they were not tight. Although he said he had once been close with Douglas, they had an argument some years before over a girl and had not really hung out since. However, Douglas lived right by Powell so he often saw him.
 
After eating the conch at Powell’s, Leslie-Ebanks said his "baby-mother" had come to collect him and they had then driven on to Smith Cove, where they had argued for a while before she had taken him home. He said he learned about the shooting via his girlfriend, who received a call when they were at Smith Cove.
 
He denied having anything to do with the shooting and said he could not understand why the two witnesses would have identified him as knew neither of them. He said he knew who Martin Trench was but had never spoken with him or had any disagreement with the man.
 
During cross examination by Cheryl Richards, QC for the crown, despite her suggestions that he was there with a gun and had shot Samuels, he repeatedly denied having anything to do with the shooting.
 
Following Leslie-Ebanks' evidence, both George Powell and his girlfirend, were called to the stand by his attorney, and they corroborated Leslie-Ebanks' account of his whereabouts on the night Samuels was shot.  Richards accused them of making a false alibi with Leslie-Ebanks in order to help him but they both denied the accusation.
 
It was also revealed to the court that neither his girlfriend nor Powell ever spoke with Leslie-Ebanks following his arrest and before he gave his statement to the police, offering no time for the three to concoct a story.
 
Following the evidence given by the two alibi witnesses, the defence teams closed their cases and the trial will now move to hear closing arguments from all four legal defence teams. The solicitor general will begin her closing statement at 10:30am on Friday morning.

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Cops say killing gang related

Cops say killing gang related

| 09/09/2010 | 36 Comments

(CNS): Police have appealed for witnesses to the killing of Tyrone Burrell (20), who was shot in Birch Tree Hill area of West Bay last night. Detective Superintendent Marlon Bodden said the shooting was believed to be gang related and it took place in the same yard as the killing of Damion Ming in March. Bodden said Burrell was shot during a social event attended by a number of people, who all scattered when the shots were fired. Police have spoken to a number of people but are asking others who were there that have not yet spoken to them to come forward. The senior officer said police are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry, including the possibillity Burrell had knowledge of Ming’s death. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)

He said the young victim was not a police witness in the case but the RCIPS had reason to believe that he did have information he had chosen not to disclose.

Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday afternoon Bodden stated that extensive enquiries have already been conducted and he was pleased that there was some improvement in the willingness of the community to help the police. He also asked the community to remain calm and appealed for anyone else who could assist to come forward.

 He said it is understood that Burrell’s mother dropped him at a friend’s house earlier that evening and he was later seen at a social event which took place in a yard in Birch Tree Hill – the same location where Ming was gunned down in March. While at this event witnesses say they heard a shot and Burrell fell to the ground. At the sound of the gun shot people fled from the scene in different directions. The shooting was reported to emergency services and Burrell was pronounced dead at the scene.
 
Bodden stated that the victim was known to associate with gang members and the belief that he knew something about Ming’s murder is an avenue of enquiry which the police are following. He noted that while Burrell had revealed no information to the police he may still have been killed because of that knowledge and had he come forward it may have been possible to place him under protection.
However, Bodden said investigators were keeping an open mind about the motive for the young man’s shooting and were aware that it marked the year anniversary of Carlos Webster’s murder in a West Bay Road night club.
 
He said it was sad that once again the police had to pass bad news on to the family of a young man and noted that his mother was distraught and collapsed on hearing of her son’s death and had to be taken to hospital.
 
Adrian Seales from the West Bay Police Station said that officers in that district would be increasing their foot patrols but residents would also see more road blocks in the area as investigations continued. “We won’t allow the relative peace of West Bay to be destroyed again,” he said, adding that all of the West Bay force would be working hard to find those responsible for the murder.
 
Anyone with information about the shooting or was in the yard in question last night is asked to call 949 3990 or 949 3999 or 949 7777. The public can also call crimestoppers 800 TIPS or speak to a police officer they trust and feel comfortable with.
 
 

 

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Carers cleared to stay

Carers cleared to stay

| 09/09/2010 | 45 Comments

(CNS): The country’s premier says he has a legal opinion which has cleared the introduction of a special certificate to allow domestic workers looking after the sick and elderly to bypass rollover without have the right to claim residency. As government pushed through the amendment to the Immigration law in parliament yesterday, McKeeva Bush stated that he had been advised that every state is allowed to determine its own conditions of residence. The question was raised by the opposition benches when they said that, while they supported the idea of allowing special care givers the right to stay, there were concerns that this method would lead to a number of legal challenges.

Bush, however, said legal opinion had been sought in London and government was able to determine these issues.  “Our law is supreme and there are no international obligations telling us that we can’t so this,” he added.
 
The question of law surrounds a special residency certificate which will enable “specialist care givers” who are on work permits and who qualify under the criteria of the amendment, to stay past the normal seven year term limit for five years. It also allows for one renewal, which means the workers could stay for as much as seventeen years in continuous residence here, but Bush maintained they would not be able to apply for PR under the certificate. (See law here)
 
Presenting the bill to his legislative colleagues, he stated the goal was to find a way to ensure the most vulnerable in Caymanian society did not lose those on whom they were most dependent. Bush said he and other MLAs had all received countless representations over the years about the loss of special carers who were part of people’s families to the rollover. He said in some cases these workers were critical in tending to the needs of the elderly, disabled or sick children and believed government had to address the problem. He illustrated the problem when he gave the example of at least one Caymanian family that left the islands and moved to Jamaica in order to stay with their helper who was rolled over.
 
“If there is a way to address the problem then there is no reason not to do it,” Bush told his legislative colleagues as he set the bill down for its second reading. The premier said the country had adopted the seven year rollover to address immigration issues but the government could not be inflexible about it. As these workers could never qualify for PR because of their financial circumstances, he said this certificate would bypass the problem and allow them to stay with the families and vulnerable people who needed them.
 
However, the opposition pointed out a number of potential pitfalls from the legal problems of continuous residency to the repugnance of potentially keeping a foreign worker resident here for as much as 17 years with no rights and on low pay before deporting them at their most vulnerable time.
 
The question of “why not for other sectors” also arose as the opposition benches noted that this would raise the question that if it can be done for one it can be done for any job. In addition, he question was asked, if this certificate was not going to fall foul of human rights laws of the UK’s concerns, then where was the need to retain rollover.
 
The law has reached the committee stage and is expected to become law this morning when the Legislative Assembly resumes its sitting.
 
See more on this on CNS at the weekend

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Man shot dead in West Bay

Man shot dead in West Bay

| 09/09/2010 | 53 Comments

(CNS): Police now have confirmed that a twenty-year-old man has been shot dead at a home in the Birch Tree Hill area of West Bay this evening (Wednesday 8 September). Offices are currently at the scene where it is believed the shooting took place a little after 8pm. Officials were unable to give any more details about the circumstances of the shooting but say they have launched a murder investigation. A police spokesperson  stated that the RCIPS expects to be able to update the public with more details tomorrow morning but did not say if any arrests had been made. The police helicopter was deployed in the area soon after the incident.  (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

This is the sixth murder of 2010 and the seventh death as a result of a gun. The last murder was that of Damion Ming in the same area of West Bay in March. Harryton Rivers was then shot and killed by a homeowner who was a licensed firearms holder during an attempted burglary in July.

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PPM complains laws rushed

PPM complains laws rushed

| 09/09/2010 | 18 Comments

(CNS): The opposition says that government is rushing laws through the legislature without proper consultation and closing down public discussion periods on important new bills. PPM member for George Town, Alden McLaughlin, complained in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday morning that, once again, government was rushing laws through the House by suspending Standing Orders and giving little or no time for these new laws to be properly considered by the opposition as well as the wider community. The former Cabinet member said this constant suspending of Standing Orders was not only resulting in poorly crafted laws but it was also unconstitutional. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

Following the entire opposition bench’s vote against the suspension of Standing Orders, he pointed out that there are already major complaints coming from the financial services sector over the recent dormant accounts legislation, which was just one example of why legislation needs a period of consultation. Despite that, he said, here government was again seeking to rush through all the stages of consideration on four new pieces of legislation without offering any opportunity to the opposition or anyone else to consider their implications.
 
Speaking about the amendment to the immigration law, which will usher in a news certificate for domestic helpers who are taking care of the sick and elderly, enabling them to bypass the rollover policy without the right to permanent residency, McLaughlin said the opposition had only received what is a very important legislative change on Monday morning.
 
“We voted against the suspension because, again, on such short notice government proposes to go through all stages of the bill in one sitting without any public consultation, without giving any opportunity for consideration by the opposition, let alone an opportunity for us to consult with our constituents,” McLaughlin observed.
 
He said the increasing practice of the current administration to suspend Standing Orders to rush bills through was resulting in poorly drafted legislation, adding that he had heard the dormant accounts bill “was a disaster” and would have to be returned to the LA for a number of significant, amendments.
 
“Unless there is a genuine emergency thepeople in the community need time to consider legislation that will impact their lives and the future of this country,” McLaughlin said.
 
He also pointed out that the new Constitution sets out the need for government to provide adequate notice of bills to be debated under the Standing Orders and they could not be suspended without very good reason. However, government was suspending the Standing Orders on a regular basis, closing down debate and public consultation on new laws and significant legislative amendments.
 
Premier McKeeva Bush hit back at the opposition member, however, and said the PPM would not even let him speak when he was in opposition because of their speaker. He claimed that there were not enough people to help draft the laws as the country had such a small legislature. The laws needed to be passed, the premier stated, so whenever they were ready government had to bring them to the House. He said that his government intended to get work done so had no choice but to bring the bills as soon as he could to get them passed and implemented.

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Population too small says Mac

Population too small says Mac

| 09/09/2010 | 123 Comments

(CNS): According to the 2009 edition of the Cayman Islands Compendium of Statistics, the country’s population had fallen to 52,830 at the end of 2009. This 7.3% drop is too few people, the premier said today when he and the country’s legislators returned to the Legislative Assembly after a two month break. McKeeva Bush said the fall might be welcome to some people but for a country dependent on services a fall in the population also meant a fall in its economic fortunes. He said that, as people left Cayman, other jurisdictions were benefiting from the country’s losses. While the global recession was taking its toll on the economy, he said, the fall in the number of people here was also major contributor to the economy’s poor performance.

As the premier laid a copy of the compendium produce by the Economics and Statistics Office, which falls under his Ministry of Finance, Bush said the loss of people from the financial services here was a gain for competitive jurisdictions. He said that in the past Cayman had succeeded because of other country’s mistakes; when foreigners were driven out because of immigration or other policies this country benefitted. But now, he said, people were benefiting from Cayman’s mistake of driving people away.
 
“To some people the decline is satisfactory but one of the reasons why we don’t have a good economy is because we have lost people,” he said, adding that with the loss of people the country also lost their purchasing power. He said rentals were lost, property sales were lost, as well as takings at the supermarket, restaurants and gas stations, because those people have gone.
 
The premier lamented the fact that he had been saying this for a long time and people were not listening when he said a bigger population was better. He said that keeping the population small may seem attractive and he used to think it was preferable to keep the place small, but it’s not so.
“21,000 Caymanians can’t sustain this economy and the way of life that we are now used to,” Bush told theLegislative Assembly members.
 
He said that when there was a decline in consumption the entire economy suffered as it was all interdependent, and people needed to be aware that the economic suffering here was not just connected to the global fallout but because people had been driven away as a result of the immigration decisions, and then spending had gone down.
 
“We have lost millions. I would guess as much as $100 million has been lost in expenditure because of people who have left,” Bush said, as he added that there was a need to encourage more people to come back and stop driving others away.
 

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Last minute witness called

Last minute witness called

| 08/09/2010 | 0 Comments

(CNS): Another teenage girl has now said that she also witnessed the murder of Omar Samuels in July of last year. The 17-year-old girl gave evidence from behind a screen during the trial of Brandon Leslie-Ebanks, Osbourne Douglas and Patrick McField on Tuesday saying she saw three men, two of whom were carrying guns, approach Samuels and shoot him at a house off McField Lane. The last minute witness said she was with her best friend that night, a girl who gave evidence at the opening of the trial. However, after she had given her account of the night’s events to the court it was revealed that this last minute prosecution witness had given a different account in her statement to police a few weeks after the crime than the one she gave to the court.

Although the crown had indicated on Monday that it intended to close its case against the three defendants with the reading of admissions, the jury was confronted with a new scenario when they arrived in the court on Tuesday morning.
 
The second teenage witness who said she was also at the scene of Samuels’ murder said recalled that she and her friend had encountered the deceased man on McField Lane at around 11:30pm on 4 July. She said they had been to visit a friend, who was not home, and were walking back toward the first witness’s home when they met Samuels.
 
The teenager said the two girls walked back with Samuels to the house they had just left, and sat with him there for a short time. Three men then appeared, two of whom were armed with guns, and they began arguing with Samuels. She said she only recognised one of the men, whom she knew as Patrick, as she did not know the other two, although during her narrative she said they were named Brandon Leslie and Osbourne Douglas.
 
She said the men were arguing with Samuels over something he had done at a club with Patrick, and then a man with a scarf pulled out a gun from his waist and began waving it around. Then the second man, who was wearing a hat, pulled out his gun. Samuels walked towards them and then the men started shooting at him by the fence.  She told the court the men were all close by each other when the gun was fired.
 
The court heard that the witness and her friend had hidden by the side of the house and the Laundromat but then ran away as more shots were being fired. A few minutes later, she said, they saw the three men jump over the wall and run away through a parking lot.
 
After the incident, the teenager said she saw Brandon Leslie riding by her friend’s yard, where she was living at the time, on a number of occasions. Eventually, the two teenagers went to the police to report what they had seen as she said they were scared.
 
However, it was revealed that the teenager did not identify either McField or Douglas when she went to the police station, only the man she came to know as Brandon Leslie, a name she learned, she admitted, from her friend. She had also described Leslie in her statement as having twists in his hair but then in court said he was wearing a hat. It was also revealed that when she made her original statement to the police she had told them she only heard the gun shots but had not seen the men fire the guns.
 
The teenage girl also admitted knowing Martin Trench, the man whose palm print was found at the scene, as he was a friend of hers but she said she did not know that he had also been the boyfriend of her best friend.  The witness also denied speaking to the crown’s main witness this week and said no one had told her what to say. The teenager said she was telling the truth about what had happened that night.
 
Further police witnesses were also called on Tuesday and the court heard that during the night before he was shot, Samuels had reportedly approached six other people who say he had threatened them when he was armed with a gun.
 
Following the last live witnesses to be called by the crown the prosecution read a number of admissions agreed between the two teams of lawyers related to the various evidence sent for DNA analysis before the court was adjourned.
 
The judge will hear legal arguments this morning, Wednesday, in the absence of the jury before the crown is expected to formally close its case and make way for the defence on Thursday.

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Woman dies from injuries suffered in road hit

Woman dies from injuries suffered in road hit

| 08/09/2010 | 14 Comments

(CNS): A 59-year-old woman died yesterday (Tuesday) in the US following an accident on Grand Cayman in April, the RCIPS has reported. Jane O’Neill from Massachusetts, who was visiting the island, was struck by two vehicles in West Bay Road on the 19 April just after 7:00 in the evening as she tried to cross the road by the Strand Shopping Centre. The victim received multiple injuries and was initially treated in the Critical Care Unit at the George Town Hospital. As the investigation has now changed status police are asking for any witnesses who were in the area to come forward. (Photo courtesy of News 27)

Following the accident, in which O’Neill was hit by one car and then reportedly knocked into the path of a second, was airlifted to Jacksonville Memorial Hospital in Florida for treatment. She was subsequently transferred to the Brigham Women’s Hospital in Boston, where she passed away yesterday, Monday 6 September.

A 48-year-old man was arrested following the incident on suspicion of dangerous driving. He is currently on police bail. Police said enquiries into the incident are ongoing and have asked for further information from the public.
 

See News 27 video

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Cops made to face lie detector

Cops made to face lie detector

| 08/09/2010 | 85 Comments

(CNS): At least forty serving RCIPS officers have been forced to take a polygraph test, sources have revealed to CNS. The reason for the testing is unclear but it is said to be causing real concern among serving officers, who believe those who fail will be discriminated against. The police management has neither confirmed nor denied that the testing is taking place and a police spokesperson stated that it is not RCIPS policy “to comment on vetting procedures”. However, it is understood that the testing is ongoing and more officers are expected to be subjected to the lie detector test.

The polygraphs have reportedly been taken by senior as well as junior officers, including some who have served for over twenty years. Several sources have confirmed to CNS that the testing is taking place, but when CNS contacted the Police Association, the body which represents serving officers, a spokesperson said they had no comment to make about the issue at this time.
Details about the questions being asked or about who has passed and failed remain sketchy and it is not known which outside agency is conducting the tests or how much money is being spent on them.
CNS has been told that some officers have been informed that they have failed the polygraph, which has undermined morale. It is understood that some officers have raised fears about their future in the service and how it will affect their careers. They believe, sources say, that promotion opportunities could be denied to those who fail or that they could even lose their jobs on what has been described as a flawed test.
Polygraph results are considered unreliable, even in law enforcement, and of little real value. The tests are widely rejected as pseudo or junk science by the scientific community.  A number of variables can impact the results, which are based broadly on changes in breathing rates and pulse as well as blood pressure and perspiration during questioning. It is possible for the results to be wrong both ways. People who can lie well can pass while being dishonest and equally those who are nervous but telling the truth can fail.
CNS is continuing to pursue information about why the officers are being asked to take the polygraph. At present sources were unable to indicate a motive for the decision to make serving police officers undergo the test. We will also be attempting to find out what the information will be used for and what is happening to officers that are deemed to have fallen foul of the lie detector.

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