Headline News
Cruise workers arrested as cops seize 2Ks of cocaine
(CNS): Three cruise ship workers have been arrested following a Cocaine seizure in George Town this weekend, a police spokesperson revealed on Monday. At around 2.00 pm on Saturday, 5 March officers from the RCIPS Drugs and Serious Crimes Task Force stopped and searched three men who were acting suspiciously in the waterfront area. The searched revealed that the men were in possession of approximately two Kilos of Cocaine. Two of the men are from St. Vincent (aged 27 and 41 years) and the other is from Jamaica (aged 31 years). All three are employees of a cruise ship which was visiting George Town on Saturday.
The men are still in police custody in George Town on suspicion of drugs offences while enquiries continue but the ship left port on schedule on Saturday.
The RCIPS stated that the chief of security on the ship was immediately notified of the arrests and RCIPS officers are liaising with the cruise line in relation to the enquiry. Police did not say which of the three ships that were in port employed the men. There were three ships in port on Saturday Jewel of theSeas, AIDAluna and Oceana.
Nor have police revealed if the suspects are believed to have brought the drugs to Cayman for sale here or whether they had bought the drugs here and intended to leave with them. The drugs would have an estimated street value of around $180,000 if they were destined for sale on the street in Cayman.
The police commissioner David Baines recently stated that police believe that Cayman is becoming a hub for cocaine transhipment as a result or major efforts to stem the flow of the drug in neighbouring jurisdictions.
Cops tackle w/end crime spike
(CNS): The police had their hands full throughout the weekend with more robberies as well as arrests of suspected robbers. Between Thursday and Sunday there were three armed robberies and an attempted armed robbery, in which the gunman left empty handed. The police arrested a man suspected of robbing Three N’s grocery store on Saturday night and formally charged the two men who were arrested in the wake of Monday’s Tortuga Robbery on Friday afternoon. However, the cops are still hunting for the two armed men who robbed the Countryside Pizza Hut on Friday night and the two robbers of the DVD Store on Walker’s Road Thursday evening, one of whom pistol whipped the cashier. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
The weekend crime spike comes at a time when, despite significant arrests by the police, robberies of small businesses continue to soar. The crimes are taking place day and night across a number of districts on Grand Cayman and in most cases the perpetrators are escaping with only small amounts of cash. Saturday’s grocery store robbery was the 17th robbery of 2011, making an average rate of one incident every 3.2 days.
Last week started with a robbery in the middle of the afternoon when two men entered the Tortuga Rum shop by the Cracked Conch restaurant around 2:30pm, on a busy cruise ship day in West Bay’s tourist hub. The men threatened staff before fleeing with cash but no one was hurt and no shots were fired. The men were reportedly spotted leaving the crime scene in a green Hyundai motor car, which police stopped shortly after the robbery on Easterly Tibbetts Highway and three men were arrested. Two men, aged 22 and 33, are expected in court this morning (Monday).
On Thursday evening at around nine o’clock two masked men entered the DVD Store on Walkers Road, one of whom was armed with what appeared to be a gun. The robbers threatened the store clerk and demanded cash. Despite receiving money, one of the robbers hit the cashier before leaving the store with the gun but no shots were fired and the cashier did not require any medical attention. The suspects are described as both being around 5’5" in height. They were wearing dark clothing and had their faces covered and so far have not been apprehended.
On Friday afternoon a man wearing a t-shirt around his face attempted to rob a small landscape business in George Town. At around 2:45 pm he entered Qualscape Ltd, in the DMS Building on Eastern Avenue, threatened a female member of staff and demanded cash. According to a police spokesperson, the woman hid under a desk before managing to run from the building. The suspect then threatened other staff members without success. After failing to get any cash, the would-be robber fled empty handed into nearby bushes. The suspect was described as being around 6’3" in height, slim build, and dark brown complexion, wearing a white shirt and blue pants.
At about 9:15pm on Friday night two suspects entered Pizza Hut, one armed with what is believed to be a gun and the other with a machete. Police said the robbers threatened staff with the weapons and demanded cash before making off with the money towards the rear of the building. Described as having white masks covering their faces, the first robber was said to be about 5’4" in height, skinny build, wearing a dark long sleeved top and grey pant suit and his accomplice about 5’7" in height, medium build, wearing a long sleeved top and grey pants.
Then on Saturday evening a lone gunman entered Three N’s grocery store in Batabano Plaza, West Bay, at about 8pm. According to the report, a man wearing a mask threatened staff and demanded cash. The suspect made off with what was described as a “small sum of money” but no shots were fired and no one was injured in the incident. A short time later, following a police operation in the West Bay area, a man was arrested on suspicion of robbery. Police said that he remains in custody.
Police have also confirmed that two jewel thieves that may have arrived by cruise ship walked away with expensive jewellery from a downtown store in George Town last week. “We received a report late Monday morning that two men, suspected to be tourists, had stolen a high value bracelet and necklace from Effy in Fort Street,” a police spokesperson said. Enquiries being made with cruise lines and hotels in the area but as yet no arrests have been made.
Anyone who has any information which could assist any of the enquiries is asked to call West Bay police station on 949-3999, Bodden Town on 947-2220, George Town on 949-4222 or the confidential Crime Stoppers tip-line 800-8477 (TIPS).
Cayman signs up to save North Sound
(CNS): Organisers of the Save Cayman campaign were out on Saturday looking for support for their petition to stop the dredging of the North Sound. Captain Bryan Ebanks, who is spearheading the campaign against government’s proposal to dredge a channel in the sound, was in West Bay collecting signatures from the premier’s own constituents, many of whom are opposed to the channel, despite the premier’s comments on Thursday when he asked people not to sign. Claims by the premier that a channel will protect the Sound and won’t put the Sandbar at risk don’t seem to have convinced all of the wider public.
Speaking to CNS outside Foster’s Republix on Saturday afternoon, Cptain Ebanks said he hoped the petition could make a difference. “We have no choice, we have to do this and we are aiming to collect enough signatures to trigger a referendum,” he said. “Once the dredging is done and we see the damage, it will be too late then.”
Under the country’s 2009 Constitution, if 25% of the electorate support a referendum on a specific topic then the government is legally obligated to pass a law to allow a people initiated vote to take place and is bound by its results.
Despite hoping to get the necessary 3,000 or so voters’ signatures, the Save Cayman campaign is not limiting signatures to those who are on the electoral register. They have also been including frequent visitors to Cayman as well as residents, work permit holders and Caymanians that are not registered to vote in order to demonstrate to both the governor and the government the wide opposition to the proposal to dredge the channel they believe exists.
On Thursday the premier moved from his previous position that the channel was necessary and he would be going ahead regardless to stating that if an environmental impact study showed the Sandbar was at risk he wouldn’t go ahead. However, he has stated frequently that he believes the channel will do no harm and again in his Thursday evening television broadcast he said he believed it would be good for the North Sound.
The Save Cayman campaigners have raised concerns that unless the environmental impact assessment, (EIA) is independent and the Terms of Reference set down fully by the Department of the Environment it could produce skewed results. In the petition the campaigners ask for an independent EIA, an economic impact study and a feasibility study all to be made public before the project is considered.
Over the years a number of reports and studies have determined that open water dredging of the North Sound and its coastline has resulted in increased turbidity and a significant decline in water quality and underwater visibility, and more will not, the campaigners say, improve the situation as the premier has suggested in a number of speeches recently.
This new project proposes a 200 metre wide channel cut through the reef, which the premier claims will be no more than 20 feet deep, and envisions two artificial islands that are said to be a mile in diameter. Dredging to remove a portion of the reef and to create artificial islands in the North Sound will cause changes to current patterns and to water quality, the campaigners say.
As far back as 1998 the people who worked on the Cayman Islands National Strategic Plan – Vision 2008 – said then that legislation had to be passed prohibiting further dredging or excavating operations in the North sound and it should be placed on a National Registry of Environmentally Protected Areas, none of which happened.
Print off the petition below or non-residents can go to the online version
See more about the campaign to save the North Sound here or vote in the CNS poll
Electric hybrid beats law
(CNS): The first electric car which is legally allowed on the country’s roads was handed over to its new owners, CUC, on Friday. The Chevy Volt, which has a generator to recharge the batteries that drive the car, is a unique hybrid that has escaped the Cayman Islands’ law, which normally prohibits electric cars, because of this engine. John Felder of Cayman Automotive realized part of his dream on Friday at a special ceremony at the vehicle licensing office, but while the Volt was licensed by the authorities, the Zenn, which is a purely electric vehicle, is still not legally allowed on the roads. However, the chief officer in the ministry promised the law would be changed by May to facilitate all types of electric cars. (Photos Dennie Warren Jr)
Felder has been trying to bring electric cars to Cayman for many years, following Sonny Ryan, who brought the first electric car to Little Cayman in 2004 but who died before he was allowed to use it on the road.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, I was so excited,” Felder said as the car was unveiled. “But I’m not doing it for me I’m doing it for the people of the Cayman Islands,” he added, as he described the long road to getting the car to Cayman.
The Chevy Volt smart car is at least a step in the right direction, Felder said after the ceremony in which he announced that Cayman Automotive would be establishing a scholarship in honour of Sonny Ryan for young people who want to study modern auto-mechanics. “The industry is changing and we need young people who will be able to repair and maintain this kind of vehicle,” he said.
The car, which is highly sought after and has a waiting list in the US of over 200,000 drivers, can be plugged in at home and has a range of over 35 miles before the generator has to recharge the batteries. When running on gas the car gets the equivalent of around 90 miles per gallon, which is believed to be highest ever for a car made in North America.
As the stylish vehicle was unveiled, the premier, who drove it to the inspection pit, said he would talk with his Cabinet colleagues to see if the duty on the car could be reduce by 10% as cars in its class currently have a duty of around 40% on them. Although a welcome gesture, with so many people on the waiting list it will be some time before anyone other than CUC employees will be enjoying the pleasure of this green and silent vehicle.
Felder has not given up on his goal to bring in fully electric cars that have no combustion engines and use no gas, which Kearney Gomez said will be legal by June. Once these cars (a fraction of the cost of a Volt) are allowed on the roads, Felder said he would be pursuing the goal have having solar powered charging stations on the island offering a truly green alternative to drivers. These cars are also expected to have a greater reduction in duty as they are considered fully green items.
Gomez said that there had been a lot of complex changes to the traffic law, which was why it had been a long time coming. “We are very, very close to finishing this comprehensive piece of legislation and it will make it to the Legislative Assembly before June,” Gomez promised.
Cops hunt for more robbers
(CNS): Police are on the hunt this morning for three masked men after an attempted robbery in George Town on Friday afternoon and a successful heist at Pizza Hut in Countryside Village on Friday night (4 March). At about 9:15 pm two suspects entered Pizza Hut, one armed with what appeared to be a handgun and the other with a machete. Police said the robbers threatened staff with the weapons and demanded cash before making off with the money towards the rear of the building. Earlier in the afternoon another man failed to get any cash after attempting to rob a small landscape business in George Town with a suspected handgun. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
About 2:45 pm the man entered Qualscape Ltd, in the DMSBuilding, in Eastern Avenue and threatened a female member of staff and demanded cash. According to a police spokesperson, the woman initially hid under a desk before managing to run from the building. The suspect then threatened other staff members without success and after failing to get any cash, the would-be robber fled empty handed. The man then tried to enter a burgundy coloured car which was outside the premises but the driver who was in the car drove away. The suspect ran off and was last seen disappearing into some nearby bushes.
No shots were fired and no one was injured in either of the incidents. The suspect who attempted to rob Qualscape is described as being: around 6’3" in height, slim build, and dark brown complexion. His face was covered by a white t-shirt. He was wearing a white shirt and blue pants.
Both of the men who robbed the Countryside Pizza hut (the 15th robbery of the year) were described as having white masks covering their faces. The first was about 5’4" in height, skinny build, wearing a dark long sleeved top and grey pant suit and his accomplice about 5’7" in height, medium build wearing a long sleeved top and grey pants.
Bodden Town detectives are appealing for anyone who was in the Countryside shopping centre at the relevant time and saw anything suspicious to contact them. Information can be passed via the Bodden Town police station number 947-2220.
Meanwhile, George Town detectives are appealing for anyone who was in the Eastern Avenue area at the time of the attempted robbery and saw anything suspiciousto contact them. They also said they were keen to speak to the driver of the burgundy car who drove off from the scene. Information can be passed via the George Town police station number 949-4222.
People can also report any information on either crime to the confidential Crime Stoppers number 800-8477 (TIPS).
Cops charge West Bay Tortuga robbers
(CNS): Police brought charges against another two robbery suspects on Friday in connection with a hold-up that took place at the Tortuga Rum store in West Bay earlier this week. The men, aged 22 and 33, are accused of entering the store by the Cracked Conch restaurant armed with what appeared to be a gun and making off with an undisclosed sum of cash. The men have been charged with robbery and are expected to appear in court on Monday, 7 March. The incident occurred at around 2:30pm on Monday, 28 February, on a busy cruise ship day in West Bay’s tourist hub close to the Cayman Turtle Farm, the Cayman Car Museum and Dolphin Discovery. The men threatened staff before fleeing the scene but no one was hurt and no shots were fired.
The men were reportedly spotted fleeing the scene of the crime in a green Hyundai motor car, which police stopped shortly after the robbery on Easterly Tibbetts Highway when three men were arrested. Police confirmed that the third man had now been released from custody.
This is the second group of suspect robbers police have charged this week following yesterday’s court appearance of two men charged with the mugging of tourists at Barefoot Beach in East End last month.
Store clerk pistol whipped
(CNS): In Cayman’s latest armed robbery one of the two suspects pistol whipped a member of staff with his gun before he and his accomplices left the store. Police said that at around nine o’clock on Thursday evening, 3 March, two masked men entered the DVD Store on Walkers Road. One of the men was armed with what appeared to be a handgun. The robbers threatened the store clerk and demanded cash. Despite receiving money the man with the gun hit the cashier with the gun before leaving the store, though no shots were fired and the cashier did not require any medical attention. The suspects are described as both being around 5’5" in height. They were wearing dark clothing and had their faces covered. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
This is now the 14th robbery of 2011 since a report of a street mugging on Wednesday could not be verified by police. This brings the country’s current robbery rate to one incident every 3.8 days.
Anyone with information about the crime, or who saw the suspects before the incident or leaving the scene, should call George Town police station on 949-4222 or the confidential Crime Stoppers number 800-8477 (TIPS).
Mac hits out at petition
(CNS): The premier has said that the petition which is being organised against the North Sound Channel may put other investors off from doing business in the Cayman Islands. In another televised statement on Thursday evening McKeeva Bush hit out at those people who have voiced their opposition to a proposal to dredge a channel in the North Sound. Bush said that investors may question whether Cayman wants investment when they see petitions. He told the nation that people should wait until they have all the facts before they sign it as he believed the channel would not harm the North Sound but will help protect it.
“You probably will be asked to sign a petition against this channel. I ask you to wait until you have the facts before you make up your mind for it or against it,” Bush said in his third broadcast in just over a week. “When investors see petitions being circulated, they will question whether in fact these islands want investment. A petition might be against a channel but what next? Condos, hotels, a refinery? When will the negative and destructive talk end? It makes investors uneasy,” he added.
He also asked where the people who were “against everything” had got their facts from and said that besides being critics they had no answers on how to make the islands sustainable.
Bush pointed in particular to the independent member for North Side, Ezzard Miller, who, Bush said, had suggested that plans he found left on his car windshield were the proposed plans for the channel and which have now been posted on the Rooster website. Bush denied that these plans had anything to do with the project he had been discussing and accused both Millerand Rooster of being irresponsible for circulating them.
“Some people are prepared to oppose everything because they are satisfied with how they are surviving,” he said, adding that it was because they don’t care about other people. “Those politicians who get on the radio weekly to oppose everything don’t care how you are able to live – if you believe them, and then re-elect them – no matter what group – then you pay – they are satisfied – and you will not get ahead. That is what happened in 2005 to 2009.”
People had to accept that businesses had to be successful so that the country can have jobs, live decently, have money to spend, but sacrifices had to be made to get something, Bush stated.
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Defending the latest proposed projects, which include the North Sound channel and the creation of an oil refinery, he said he not believe the channel would destroy the North Sound. The proposal was not for more than a depth of 20ft and it would be more than two miles away from the Sand Bar, he said.
Contrary to expert opinion, Bush said the channel would help protect the North Sound, improve the clarity of the water and the two islands which are now associated with this latest project proposal would prove to be buffers for the shoreline.
“While we must consider ‘what if’, we can’t live our lives in fear of ‘what if’. But I urge everyone not to talk before you have the facts. Be careful of who you listen to out there no matter how good it sounds,” the premier stated in defence of his controversial plans.
He promised that an environmental impact assessment would be done by the best marine scientists and the channel will only go ahead if the environmental study says it will not damage the North Sound. “There will not be a channel before an environmental impact study is conducted. If the study, and good reason, says that we should not go ahead, it will not move forward,” he told the people of the country.
See the full broadcast statement by the premier below.
For more details on the campaign against the North Sound Channel visit the savecayman facebook page or email savecayman@gmail.com.
Go to the CNS poll:
Are you in favour of dredging a channel in the North Sound to accommodate mega yachts?
Seaport plans still coming
(CNS): Although the premier made no mention of the proposed East End Seaport in his most recent presentations and appears to have turned his attention to other potential projects, the developer says he still intends to submit a formal proposal to the Cayman Islands Government. The controversial proposal to develop a commercial port in the High Rock area was not raised last month when the premier reviewed the latest project ideas in the Legislative Assembly and focused his attention on an oil refinery and a channel in the North Sound. Despite the premier’s omission, Joseph Imparato says plans for the commercial port will be given to government in the next few weeks.
The developer did, however, indicate that the plans may be modified as a result of the consideration government is now giving to the possibility of dredging a channel in the North Sound to facilitate mega yachts.
“In the event that the North Sound channel proceeds, as announced, then it is likely that the mega yacht berthing facility would be eliminated in order to avoid a redundancy; however, the repair and service facility for medium to large sized private vessels would remain,” Imperato’s public relations company AtWater told CNS in response to enquiries regarding the current status of the proposed port.
The developer has proposed a maritime infrastructure project that includes at least five different types of marine based commercial activities and a selection of complementary land based activities. The project had proposed to include a marina for yachts as well as fuel storage tanks, however the developer has stated that it did notinclude an oil refinery.
The project, if given the go-ahead, would be constructed on privately owned land and would be funded by the developer, who has said he would recoup his investment from the sale of fill which would be extracted from the site during the development. It would then be handed over to the Cayman Islands Port Authority to manage. It is not clear how much of the upland infrastructure would be undertaken by the developer and what would be the responsibility of government in order to make the port operable.
So far, Imperato’s proposal has met with a considerable amount of opposition from the people of East End and North Side and the wider community. Both the political representatives for those districts strongly oppose the project for a variety of reasons — environmental concerns as well as the impact on the lives of people living in the district — with what they say will little benefit in return to most local residents.
Although the developer has met with small groups of people from the district, he has not yet held any open public meetings. AtWater said in a statement that once the EIA is complete and the findings submitted to the government, Imparato plans to hold larger public meetings with the residents of the relevant districts.
Pain at the pump as oil soars
(CNS): With world oil prices soaring due to the growing unrest across the Middle East, the international price hikes will be hitting local pumps today (Thursday), according to the petroleum inspectorate. While people are still reeling from the government’s 25 cents duty increase last summer, drivers will soon be feeling more pain at the pump as they pay as much as CI$5:25 for a gallon of fuel, and it won’t stop there. With oil passing $102 per barrel on Wednesday, customers can expect another ten cent increase when the next tanker docks. The cost of fuel has a direct impact on all goods as well as the cost of power from CUC and CBP&L, leading to an increased likelihood of price hikes everywhere as global experts say oil prices could still climb further.
Oil prices jumped 2.6% Wednesday to close above $102 a barrel for the first time since September 2008 before dropping back slightly to just over US$101 but predictions are for further increases.
With the local economy still in the doldrums and a 10% unemployment rate, today’s 10 cent increase will bite hard for most people in Cayman and will do little to improve matters in the local economy. According to the latest local consumer price index figures from the ESO, inflation in Cayman was up 0.3% at the end of 2010 despite the recession. Transportation costs alone increased by over 8%, with the average price of fuel and lubricants up by 25%, according to the December 2010 figure.
One local environmentalist said that the increase in world oil prices demonstrates that Cayman really needs to lessen its dependency on oil instead of considering the installation of its own an oil refinery.
“Having our own oil refinery wouldn’t help in these circumstances as the crude oil would still be purchased at these high rates,” the source stated. “We need to seriously rethink our dependency on oil and move towards greener sources of energy now.”