Headline News
Youth justice facing change
(CNS): Consultants contracted to help overhaul the local youth justice system have arrived in Cayman to begin working with government and related agencies to start addressing the country’s youth rehabilitation problems. The community services minister said this week that his ministry has been working towards a shift in practice and has turned to the award-winning Missouri Model. Mark Steward, the director and founder of the now critically acclaimed youth system, along with members of his team are here to help with the development of a young offenders’ facility and to assist with an interim programme already started to intervene with at risk youngsters in Cayman in an effort to keep them from the criminal justice system in the first place.
Speaking at the opening of the working session on Tuesday, which drew together participants from government, NGOsand support groups, Mike Adam said the country had not been providing the best possible “therapeutic interventions and facilities necessary to turn these children around” as he explained why his ministry was looking to the Missouri model.
“The issues that our youth face are as diverse and complex as you can imagine and, therefore, our response as a country cannot be a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Innovation, creativity and a little ‘thinking outside the box’ is required,” he added.
The Missouri model is a philosophy, explained the creator Mark Steward, who added that while it is not about locking kids up, it is by no means a soft approach. The model’s success by comparison to other youth justice systems is quite remarkable.
Steward revealed that 70% of the youngsters that go through the Missouri system stay out of trouble, while between 40-90% of kids in other systems go back to jail. Because of the model’s emphasis on safety, youth in other correctional facilities are 4.5 times more likely to be assaulted and staff 13 times more likely to be assaulted. Moreover, young people in the regular prison system are 200 times more likely to be locked in isolation for one reason or another that in the Missouri system.
“The Missouri facilities are safer and it’s about helping kids not hurting them,” Steward said. He said that in many cases the first reaction to the systemwas that it was coddling the youngsters who had committed serious crimes.
“There is nothing soft however about the model as the youngsters who come to the facilities are forced to face and deal with the issues that led them into crime or the behavioural problems and no one gets out until they begin to really change,” he added, stating that although some kids try and fake it the intensity of the programme soon sees through those attempts.
Steward said the fundamental philosophy behind the model is to change the behaviour of the young people and improve outcomes, no matter how terrible their family situation, the drug abuse, the neglect or the violence that the young people have suffered. The model equips them to deal with the circumstance differently.
The model was developed in Missouri over 30 years ago as a result of the terrible youth correctional system in the state. With St Lois one of the most violent cities in the US, Steward said the state was forced to examine how it was dealing with some of the country’s most serious delinquent young violent offenders. As a result it moved away from a traditional prison environment and began developing a system that looked at long term change. “Even the most serious offenders and toughest kids improve in this system, which produces tremendous results,” he added.
The model has evolved over a long time period and offers different levels of care, from a family scenario to the more secure level for youths given adult sentences. Although housed securely and safely, the young people are not locked in cells (although each facility has one cell room for emergency situations) but they are very closely supervised by staff and peer groups at all times. The centres, Steward explained, are home environments not prisons, which is a stark contrast.
Steward’s colleague, Director of Consulting Dr Pili Robinson, said the Missouri model was not a set programme. There is no book or manual but the model offered an individualized process for kids and their families that was all about self exploration and getting below the tip of the iceberg of the acting out behaviour. “It is not cookie-cutter approach,” Dr Robinson said, adding that it wasn’t about simply passing through levels of good behaviour or certain achievements; it was about change and real growth. “It’s not just a check off list, it’s not come here and be good; we want them to come here and change.”
The youngsters participatein highly structured daily activities, which the experts said was crucial. Giving young delinquents lots of free time, which is what happens in other youth correctional facilities, gives them the opportunity to get into trouble. Once in a peer group, the youngsters stay with that group and do everything together. When a kid misbehaves, Dr Robinson revealed, the situation is dealt with then and there. They are never asked to leave the room, for example, during a lesson, as would happen in usual school. He explained that everyone in the group stops what they are doing and gets involved to deal with the behaviour or problem.
The model is, after three decades, finally beginning to catch the attention of numerous other states. Steward said that it was about ten years ago that the model came to national prominence and many other places are now looking at how they can introduce the system, but he warned that it takes time because it requires a great deal of change for the administrators of the youth system.
“The work for staff is a lot more challenging than simply locking kids up in cells and keeping them confined,” and he said it’s hard for government administrations and the people employed by the state to buy into the hard work required for the model to succeed.
Mike Adam noted that it would also take time to adapt the philosophy here in the Cayman Islands and warned the shift in practice was not a “magic pill”. He said there would be challenges ahead as it was a multi-dimensional treatment approach which has evolved over many, many years of trial and error. “We must also remember that this model will have to be “’localised’ to capture our cultural nuances,” Adam said, but the working session was the first step on the journey.
East End dock may threaten blues
(CNS): The developers of the proposed East End Seaport are being advised that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) must pay close attention to the signs of iguana presence that have been noted in the shrubland along the southern ridge of the proposed site. A preliminary assessment of the area by government officials showed some evidence of a possible pair of the island’s indigenous and critically endangered blue iguana in the terrestrial part of the development, which the DoE says warrants further investigation. The terms of reference for the EIA, which were published by the East End Seaport developers this week, point out the possible presence of the ‘blues’ and recommend special attention be paid to the area.
Joseph Imparato proposes to site a commercial sea port in the High Rock area of East End, where there are believed to be some blue iguanas living wild. Although the islands’ indigenous iconic iguana is mostly confined to the recovery programme areas at the Botanic Park and the Salina Reserve to the north of the proposed development site, there are thought to be a few remaining wild pairs scattered throughout the East End interior.
The terms of reference, which are expected to guide the planned EIA for Joseph Imparato’s proposed port, reflect the recommendations made by the Environmental Advisory Board and point to the need to pay special attention to the possibility of the iguanas at the site, as well as the impact on other fauna and flora in the terrestrial part of the development.
The director of the Department of Environment said the advisory board was formed especially to look at this project’s potential EIA and comprised representatives from the Water Authority, the planning department, the roads authority and the DoE. “This was a truly collaborative effort following the model that has been laid out in the proposed National Conservation Law,” Gina Ebanks-Petrie said.
Although there is still no sign of the national conservation law reaching the Legislative Assembly, Petrie said the agencies involved worked in the way that the law envisioned when it comes to projects and developments of this magnitude. The director added that she hoped that the terms of reference (ToRs) were comprehensive enough and that the public would take a look at them and offer their comments.
The ToRs are now available on the East End Seaport website and will be posted on the DoE’s site on Thursday, where the public will be able to send comments about the document. At present it covers a wide range of issues and recommends that the EIA examine human and cultural resources as well as the more obvious potential risks to terrestrial and marine environments. At the very outset the ToRs spell out the need to describe the rationale for the development and its objectives and offer an explanation of why the proposed project is needed.
It asks that the assessment also look at the alternatives to the proposed project that would achieve the same objective as well as the “no action alternative” — one which many people in East End and North Side are likely to support given the wide opposition that exists to the project.
According to the TOR document, the EIA will need to look at wave height, wave period, wave direction and wave climate in the vicinity of the site, based upon records in longterm wave model databases. An analysis of the impacts of the proposed entrance channel and jetty on sediment transport under normal and extreme conditions will also be conducted, it states.
Those undertaking the EIA will be committed to conducting a survey of local corals and other benthic habitats in the project area, as well as of fish and marine organisms, the water quality and the impact the development would have on them.
The ToRs say that possible sources for any current degradation of water and sediment quality will be identified and analysed in respect to existing water borne activities and upland land uses. “Water and sediment quality conditions required to support a healthy and functional fish, wildlife, and benthic community structure will be identified along with any noted deviations from acceptable scientific standards,” the document states.
Air, noise and hazard vulnerability are all listed as areas for the EIA to examine but there are some key points in the TORs that people will be closely watching with regards to the dredging and the quarrying that will be required if the development goes ahead.
As the proposed excavation will remove subsurface material that forms an integral part of the system that maintains the water lens in the area, the ToR document says an issue of concern is that the presence of “joints and fractures, evidenced by photolineaments, may well be the most controlling factor in the properties of the lens,” but the document reveals these are “the hardest to model.” In other words, it will be hard for the EIA to predict with any certainty what may happen to the water lens during the quarrying and dredging.
There is considerable opposition to the development not just in East End but in the neighbouring district of North Side, as well as across Grand Cayman. Both of the elected representatives in the districts are against the project, as Arden McLean and Ezzard Miller say that they believe the proposed port is merely a front for the real purpose, which is to extract the valuable marl from the land at the proposed site.
The potential contamination of the water lens, the dangers of dredging, the impact on the reefs and the potential increased risk to the surrounding communities that such a deep channel would have during hurricanes in an area known to experience very high wave activity, have all been raised by many of the islands’ experienced mariners.
But the site is also home to a significant amount of the islands’ endangered flora and fauna – including the blue iguana — as well as some of its most pristine underwater environments. Once completed, the EIA is expected to offer a more comprehensive picture of exactly what such a development could mean to this location and give the people a better understanding of what may be sacrificed if the project were to go ahead.
Spoof tweets rile Mac
(CNS): The obvious spoof Twitter account of ‘Mckeeva Bush345’, which has been making numerous local followers chortle with its comedy tweets recently, has not found favour with the premier, who has failed to see the funny side. A joke tweeter who has been posing as the Cayman Islands’ premier used an official picture of Bush but was posting tweets that were quite clearly not made by the country’s leader. The tweets appear to have riled Bush, however, as his office has filed a complaint with the social networking site. His press office issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon threatening legal action against people using the internet to defame. The statement also revealed that Bush does not have a Twitter account.
“An account on the social network Twitter that claims to be the account of Premier McKeeva Bush is an impersonation which is against Twitter’s rules,” press secretary Charles Glidden stated. “An impersonation complaint was filed today with Twitter which acknowledged the complaint and an investigation is underway.”
The statement went onto reveal that the “government intends to look at the possibility of putting legislation in place that addresses the misuse of the internet to the detriment and defamation of
others. Such legislation would not obstruct internet connection in the Cayman Islands,” the press secretary added.
According to the Twitter site it is against the rules to impersonate others through the Twitter service in a manner that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others.
With the explosion of the internet and social networking sites, some US states have introduced legislation to deal with online impersonation. The state of California’s law – SB 1411 – went into effect on 1 January this year making malicious digital impersonation a misdemeanor that comes with fines up to $1000 and/or up to a year in jail. Senate Bill 1411 made it unlawful to knowingly and without consent credibly impersonate another person through or on an internet website or by other electronic means with the intent to harm, intimidate, threaten or defraud another person.
However, Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) who created the bill claims that his law protects the free speech rights of those who impersonate for parody, satire and political speech.
Cop pursuit ends in crash
(CNS): A fifteen year old boy who was involved in a serious motor cycle collision in the early hours of Wednesday morning has sustained serious head injuries. The teenager, who was riding pillion behind a sixteen year old driver when the motorbike crashed into the rear of another vehicle while being pursued by a police car, is currently waiting to be airlifted to the US for treatment. The teenage driver sustained injuries to his arms and legs and is being treated at the Cayman Islands hospital, along with the pregnant, female driver of the car who was admitted with neck injuries. An RCIPS spokesperson said that the officer involved in the pursuit has been suspended from driving duties while the investigation is underway.(PhotoDennie WarrenJr)
Police say that the teens were spotted by a patrol car at around 3am this morning riding along the West Bay Road with no lights. The marked police vehicle was heading north in West Bay Road, close to Pizza Hut when the officer reportedly saw the motorcycle with two people on board, driving south towards George Town with no lights on.
“The officer immediately turned his vehicle around, switched on his blue lights and sirens, and signalled the motorcycle to stop. A short time later, as the motorcycle approached the vicinity of the St Matthews University residencies, it collided with the rear of a car which was also travelling south,” a police spokesperson stated.
The 34-year-old female driver of the car, who is several months pregnant and her three passengers were all taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital suffering from head and neck pain. The passengers have since been treated and discharged but the driver remains in the hospital, police said at lunchtime.
The West Bay Road was closed for several hours following the collision to allow the scene to be processed causing problems for early morning commuter traffic. Superintendent Adrian Seales is overseeing the investigation and police said that in accordance with standard practice the driver of the police vehicle has been suspended from driving duties until all of the circumstances surrounding the collision are investigated.
Kidnappers claim duress
(CNS): The two men on trial accused of kidnapping Tyson Tatum for ransom last March have admitted they were involved in the plot but said they did so under duress. During the judge alone trial, which is expected to conclude Wednesday, Charles Webster and Allen Kelly said that they had taken part because they were threatened by Wespie Mullings. Webster says he was lured from Honduras by Mullings, who he said was an old friend, to do some constructionwork, while Kelly says he believed he was going to work on a boat when he was taken to a meeting to plot the kidnapping. They claim that when they told Mullings they wanted no part in the crime, he produced a gun, threatening to kill them if they tried to pull out of the scheme.
They also each claim to have received threatening messages after their arrests against them and their families, which they believed came from Richard Hurlstone, who was also charged with the crime but who absconded while on bail.
However, in her closing statement Solicitor General Cheryl Richards QC said that the claim of duress by the defendants came very late in the day after their arrests and neither of the men had revealed the claimed threats when they gave their first statements to the police or mentioned anything about the gun they claimed Mullings, who has already pleaded guilty to the crime, had.
She pointed out that, despite having ample opportunity to pull out of the plan and take evasive action, neither man did because, she said, they were willing participants motivated by money.
The bungled kidnapping plot eventually fell apart when their victim, whom they left alone in the house where he was being held, escaped, but not before the four men accused of the crime had abducted, assaulted and robbed Tatum.
The men had then contacted Tatum’s mother and demanded $500,000 otherwise they would kill him and warned her not to go to the police as they had connections in the RCIPS. However, Angelica Tatum did contact the police after the first call she received from her son saying he had been kidnapped. As a result law enforcement officers were able to record further ransom demand calls, which were produced as evidence during the first days of the trial.
As Richards closed the crown’s case on Tuesday afternoon, she said she believed the crown had proved the six counts against the defendants and that the evidence showed that the men had taken part in the joint criminal enterprise willingly. She said Wespie Mullings, who has pleaded guilty to the crime, never had a gun and the claims by Kelly and Webster were not credible. The crown’s leading advocate pointed out that no one else saw a gun during the episode and the weapon, according to the defendants, was only ever produce when they were alone with Mullings.
She queried why it had taken the three men — Kelly, Mullings and Webster — over five minutes of physical assault to subdue their kidnap victim and get him bound and gagged if Mullings all along had a gun. She pointed out how Kelly claimed Mullings had threatened him with the gun only minutes before Webster arrived at the house with the victim, who believed at the time he was coming to repair wave runners.
Richards pointed out that it was difficult to believe that, as Webster pushed Tatum into the house and all three men began wrestling him to the ground, Mullings would have hidden the gun away and not used it to threaten the victim, as surely that would have ensured the victim’s compliance with the kidnappers wishes far more quickly.
At the start of the trial when Tyson Tatum gave his evidence to the court he revealed that during the evening and the night when he was being held by the men at a house in North Side, he had was tied up on a bed but sat around talking and smoking ganja with Mullings and Webster until around 11pm. Richards said this was not behaviour consistent with men carrying out the crime under duress.
“The crown submits that the defence of duress has to be rejected on the evidence,” Richards told the judge as she summed up her case against the two defendants. The late claims that they did it because Mullings had threatened them and they were in fear of their lives was “inconsistent and incredible” as the numerous calls both men made to Wespie after the criminal scheme went wrong do not show the actions of men who were afraid for their lives.
Richards statedthat the men had countless opportunities to get away, go to the police or take some form of evasive action during the several days of planning and then during the kidnapping itself, which lasted over a two day period.
She also referred to other people who were at the early planning meetings who had given evidence during the trial that were asked to take part in the criminal scheme but had evaded involvement by simply not taking calls from Mullings or Hurlstone, whom the crown have claimed was the mastermind behind the crime but is now believed to be in Honduras.
Both defence attorneys were expected to make their closing arguments on Thursday morning before Judge Harrison, who is expected to deliver his verdict towards the end of the month. The men are both facing six counts relating to the incident, which include kidnapping, assault, robbery, blackmail, unlawful confinement and threatening violence.
Bridger’s complaint dismissal remains a secret
(CNS): Complaints made by the senior officer in Operation Tempura, a discredited undercover police operation that took place in the Cayman Islands through 2008/09, have been dismissed by the Cayman Islands governor. However, the reasons why will remain under wraps, Duncan Taylor said on Tuesday. Martin Bridger, the leader of the special police investigation team (SPIT) that came to Cayman to investigate corruption in the RCIPS complained to the UK Foreign Office that his investigation was deliberately blocked. Today Taylor revealed that he had rejected “all aspects of the complaint” but his reasons will not be made public. He said he had revealed his decision to Bridger, who has reportedly also agreed not to reveal the reasons for the governor’s move.
“I have provided detailed written reasons for my decision to the complainant, Mr Bridger,” Taylor stated in a release on Tuesday morning. “Because of the sensitivity of some of the material in the written reasons I do not propose to make these public; in the circumstances, at my request, Mr Bridger has signed a confidentiality agreement in which he undertakes not to share the reasons with any other person except his legal representative.”
The governor first received the details of the former UK cop’s complaint from the FCO just before Christmas and he stated then that he did not think the complaints against the judiciary were valid and had rejected those. He said he would be taking legal advice about other aspects regarding Bridger’s claims about Operation Tempura before making any more decisions.
“I have now concluded my consideration of that complaint and the legal advice I have received in relation to it. I have dismissed all aspects of the complaint,” Taylor stated.
Bridger left Cayman after the fumbled investigation failed to secure a single conviction or any evidence of corruption and ended in a $1.2 milllion pay-out from the Cayman public purse to Grand Court judge Alex Henderson as a result of his unlawful arrest.
However, on his return to the UK Bridger, along with Martin Polaine, who worked as the legal adviser to SPIT and who was later debarred as a result of his role in Operation Tempura, lodged a number of complaints about the local judiciary with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. A report in the Financial Times in January revealed that the former UK cop, who had been a member of the Metropolitan Police Service in London, had accused the Cayman Islands judiciary, including the chief justice, of inappropriate actions. He also questioned the role of Sir Peter Cresswell, the former UK judge who presided over Henderson’s judicial review and was later appointed to the Cayman Financial Court.
Bridger and Polaine had claimed that Sir Peter made findings of bad faith without supporting evidence and questions why the judge met with Chief Justice Anthony Smellie after arriving on the islands to hear the review. Cresswell maintains that he remained independent throughout and kept a distance from those involved.
When Polaine dropped out of the complaint, Bridger pursued the grievance and also questioned the role of Larry Covington, a Foreign Office law enforcement adviser whose part in the Operation Tempura fiasco has never been fully explained. Stuart Kernohan, the former police commissioner who was sacked during the investigation, had reportedly told Covington about the Cayman Net News office search, which was the start of the SPIT episode.
The complaint dossier included allegations, which were later supposedly examined under Operation Cealt by the temporary police commissioner, James Smith, which Bridger claims were allegations of local police corruption that were not followed up on. The alleged hours and hours of taped interview, which Bridger had said documented complaints about corruption and misconduct in the police and elsewhere, have still not been made public. The outcome of Operation Cealt, which was taken over by the current commissioner after Smith left, has never been revealed.
In his complaint Bridger had reportedly implied that, rather than unravelling as a result of SPIT’s incompetence and a lack of evidence, the investigation was deliberately blocked.
The full story of Operation Tempura and SPIT, which began in September 2007, has still not been told. What is widely known, however, is that the investigation cost the Cayman public purse more than $6 million and according to an auditor general’s report, Bridger was paid more than $500,000 in salary, benefits and expenses during his time here.
Mac to attend royal wedding
(CNS): The premier and his wife will be heading to London in April as a guest of the queen to attend the wedding of Prince William and his bride, Catherine Middleton. According to Cayman27, McKeeva Bush has received his official invitation to attend the royal nuptials taking place at Westminster Abbey on Friday, 29 April, and he has accepted. He is unlikely, however, to be one of the 600 guests that will attend the lunch reception at Buckingham Palace. Although foreign royals and heads of Commonwealth countries are attending the wedding, the palace has stressed that this is not a “state wedding" but a "royal wedding”.
The wedding list has created a certain amount of controversy over who was on it and who was not. The US president, Barack Obama, and his wife Michelle are not on it, while Victoria and David Beckham, a reported friend of William, have both been invited. While the former wife of Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, will not be attending her nephew’s wedding, Elton John, who sang at his mother’s funeral, has made the coveted guest list.
1,900 gilt-edged invitations were sent for the Westminster Abbey service but only six-hundred of the guests will go on for lunch thrown by the queen. And an intimate 300 will dine and dance that night at the palace.
New law may spell trouble
(CNS): A new bill dealing with medical negligence that will be debated in the Legislative Assembly when it reconvenes on Wednesday may spell trouble for the financial sector, the independent MLA for North side has warned. Ezzard Miller said he wants the assurance of the attorney general that one of the clauses in the law won’t impact other legal awards cases going through the local court system. Miller, who is objecting to the bill on a number of other grounds, also says it will do nothing to address the growing malpractice insurance rates as government claims but is being brought to the LA merely to satisfy one of the many demands of Dr Devi Shetty for the proposed health city.
Miller, who will be holding a public meeting in his district on Tuesday night just before the parliament’s sitting, which has now been postponed to Thursday, said he wants to talk to his constituents about the Medical Negligence (Non-economic Damages) (Amendment) Bill, 2011, as well as a change made public just last week that will provide for deportees to return to the islands and the current situation regarding the proposed East End Seaport and dredging in the North Sound.
The MLA told CNS that he has several concerns about the medical negligence legislation. Aside from not addressing the issue of medical insurance, the clause relating to the $500,000 capon awards greater than that made in foreign jurisdictions could have implications for Cayman’s court system and other awards unrelated to medical cases.
“I need a clear indication from the attorney general that his office was fully consulted over this law and that the judicial arm of government is completely comfortable with the bill and that it will not undermine the standing of our courts in the international arena and that this does not impinge on any international or bi-lateral agreements,” he stated.
He said that he suspected the bill, and in particular clause four, is there purely to satisfy the requirements of Dr Shetty and the proposed hospital, despite being sold to the public as a way of reducing health care costs because it will reduce malpractice premiums for doctors.
“That’s hogwash 101,” Miller stated. “All the evidence I can find reveals that there has never been a medical malpractice case in the Cayman Islands where the award exceeded $300,000, so how can a higher cap reduce the premiums?” he asked rhetorically. “If anything, it could increase them.”
Miller stated, however, that the problem of high insurance premiums for medical malpractice insurance, especially for obstetricians, had to be addressed but he said this law was not the way to go about it.
He noted that the first thing government should do to tackle the problem was reverse the recent changes to the health practitioner’s law, which introduced a second tier of medical staff who would not be required to reach the normal practice standards, as that was likely to lead to further increases in premiums for all doctors. Secondly, he said, doctors had to be limited to practicing in their specialist fields, and thirdly the country needed to perform regular medical standard reviews to prove the quality of care.
Aside from the medical practitioner’s bill, Miller also revealed that he was very concerned about the new immigration amendment which will allow people who have been deported to return to the Cayman Islands.
“Why would we want to bring back non-Caymanian criminals?” he asked. “We have enough crime of our own.” Miller said he couldn’t understand government’s motivation behind the change.
He also warned it was another move by the government to override the courts, as he said by far the majority of deportations were ordered by judges and he raised concerns that the administration was in danger of undermining the wide respect commanded by Cayman’s judicial system on the international stage.
Miller also noted that he was not letting up on his goal to introduce a minimum wage and this time when the LA met he was planning on bring the same motion that was rejected in the last sitting to introduce the basic rate via a private members motion. “We will see what happens with that,” he added, as he waits to see if the motion will appear on the order paper during the next session.
Teenager charged with tourist robbery
(CNS): A 17-year-old boy has been charged in connection with the robbery of two tourists on Barefoot Beach in East End last month. The teenager, who was arrested on Saturday, joins two other men who have already appeared in court charged with the crime in which the suspects stole $20 in cash and an underwater camera. The robbery occurred around noon on Monday, 7 February, at the remote location. The couple, who were visiting the Island from the US, were confronted by three men wearing T-shirts around their faces. Two of the robbers were armed, the victims reported, one with a baseball bat and another with a knuckleduster.
One of the men grabbed the male tourist, placed him in a headlock and demanded cash. The victims then handed over a wallet containing the small sum of cash. As the suspects were making off from the scene, they smashed the window of the couple’s hire car with the baseball bat and stole the camera.
Police said that the 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of the robbery on Saturday during an operation in the Eastern Districts. He has now been charged with the crime and is expected to appear in court today, Tuesday 15 March.
Michael McLaughlin and Trent Bodden, the two other men accused of the robbery, appeared in Grand Court on Friday under the new system which allows serious crimes to be sent up to the higher court within days of charges being laid. However, neither of the men have yet answered the charges as the crown’s case against the men was not prepared. McLaughlin also appeared without representation.
ESO reveals BOP deficit rise
(CNS): The country’s balance of payment deficit has increased, according to the latest statistics from the Economics and Statistics Office (ESO), despite a fall in imports. The overall current account balance of the country was CI$422 million at the end of 2009, the first calculated using a full national survey. The BOP had decreased by $9.3 million over the 2008 figure, which was calculated using secondary data. Although imports fell to $640 million from the previous year’s high of $771million, receipts from services were also down from just over $633 million in 2008 to less than $458 million, leading to the increased deficit.
As the ESO begins its campaign to encourage local business to take part in the survey for 2010, the office revealed the results from the 2009 BOP, which was based on data collected from the first ever full business survey. The office explained that calculating an accurate BOP is not just an important part of complying with the country’s Public Management and Finance Law but that it is also a key indicator for evaluating the potential and actual macro-economic impact and sustainability of monetary and fiscal policies.
“The overall BOP has a direct bearing on the changes in foreign currency reserve balances of the Cayman Islands currency board system, which is mandated by law to support the fixed exchange rate system currently in effect,” the ESO said in the report.
A negative balance of payments implies a decline in currency reserves, which could undermine the fixed exchange rate, hence the need for banks and governments to produce and monitor BOP statistics as a pro-active instrument for monitoring the sustainability of their exchange rate system. ESO also noted that it was just as important for the private sector, other analysts and regular people to monitor the statistics as unsustainable balances impact on everyone’s well-being.
Cayman’s BOP is made up by examining figures from four areas: firstly, the balance of trade in goods, which was -$640.5 million; secondly, the balance of trade in services, which was $457.9 million; then the balance of income transactions, which was -$57.0 million;and finally the balance of current transfers, which was -$182.5 million.
The ESO said the trade in services, which includes the financial sector and the tourism industry, was the only account in surplus for the country, demonstrating the importance of services to Cayman’s economy.
The ESO pointed out that Cayman’s BOP deficit is not unexpected as the economy is highly dependent on imports for consumption, intermediate goods, fuel and capital goods. However, aside from the significant amounts Caymanians spent on imported goods, the BOP reveals that people here also paid out some $681.9 million on direct investment, which comprised the largest net payments by residents to non-residents, even larger than net payments for merchandise goods.
Money was also flowing out of the country from workers, who sent some $181.1 milllion of their wages overseas, though that was less than in 2009. However, money Caymanians received from people working overseas also fell by $2.5 million to $62.4 million.
Download the Balance of Payments report below or visit the ESO website