Only an Order in Council could bring about changes to the Dart deal signed with government, a matter that would have to be presided over by current governor HE Duncan Taylor, or his successor.

Only an Order in Council from the United Kingdom can exempt the government from the legal obligations of the deal entered on 15 December 2011 between Dart Realty (DRCL) and the government of the Cayman Islands.

According to note 141 of the agreement between the two parties, if the government or the NRA is unable to meet any of its obligations by reason of any matter or thing beyond its control, such as, without limitation, a law of the United Kingdom that has been extended by Order in Council, directive measure, action or order from the United Kingdom, or an obligation arising from any international treaty or convention, the Cayman Islands government shall not be deemed as breaching the agreement.

An Order in Council is a statutory provision that forms part of the Great Britain’s reserve powers as ruling country, to the Cayman Islands as an overseas territory. This enables Britain to legislate in any of its overseas territories when it deems it necessary. The move is normally used by the UK when it has a stalemate with a territory’s political system.

The public and private partnership has been a landmark example in the Caribbean where the government has entered into agreement with a private entity for the construction of the road infrastructure that is regulated by the government and is to the benefit for the public. In the agreement that was made public recently the government of the Cayman Islands is obligated to ensure that staff and departments concerned will be informed in writing on necessary timeframes provided.

“Such departments and staff shall use their best endeavours to deal with such matters in an expeditious manner the agreement reads.

The agreement was a partnership entered between the Cayman Islands government and Dart Realty to stimulate the economy and put people back to work and to create opportunities for Caymanian businesses in the short term and in the medium to long term.

This deal has been a basis of much political debate and opposition, with most politicians saying that the deal was skewed in favour of the Dart Realty. However, with receding cash flow locally and a wait-and-see attitude from international investors, stemming from austerity in Europe and recession in the United States, government saw the deal as a way to boost the economy.

“Government believes that the best strategy for achieving sustainable growth in the Cayman Islands is to inspire the private sector to do what it does best. The investment alliance provides incentives to Dart to redevelop a defunct Seven Mile Beach Hotel and in so doing, provide a large and immediate economic stimulus — one that creates jobs and generates wealth across several industries, by utilising businesses of all sizes by investing large sums of capital in developments that will benefit the country,” according to a statement on page one of the agreement.

Dart Realty is expected to inject up to US$515 million over the next five years and in excess of US $3 billion over the next 30 years. The projects are to stimulate the construction and operation of at least two or more hotels across Grand Cayman, which may be brand aligned and help to enhance the tourism product to retain destination’s leadership position in the Caribbean.

The agreement allowed the DRCL to construct two full roundabout accesses into the West Bay Road, a T-junction at Batabano Road and the Esterly Tibbetts Highway (ETH) extension and at least two one-foot entrances on Governor’s Way, Raleigh Quay and Batabano Road.

However, only last week, a third amendment to the Dart deal was scuttled, when the developer withdrew from negotiations, which Cabinets ministers said were aimed at providing the country with more value for money under the agreement.

“Dart Realty remains supportive of the new components in the proposed third amendment, which includes the widening of the southern portion of the ETH through Camana Bay to the Butterfield roundabout, and land transfers to Government adjacent to Smith Cove and Barkers,” read a press release by DRCL.

“Dart Realty does not believe discussions on the third amendment should hold up the finalisation of the Independent Review any longer as the components could form a separate agreement between Government and Dart Realty at a later date,” the developer stated in the release, raising questions once again about the value for money that Cayman will receive as part of the wider ForCayman Investment Alliance and whether the widening of the last part of the road will now be tied to the relocation of the George Town landfill.

The independent review, referred to in another story, shows that government had ceded ground to the company that is to construct a hotel along the Seven Mile Beach corridor.

With the election season in full swing, further action relating to the agreement has will effectively be passed on to the next government.

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A new speed bump has been installed in the Patrick Island area.

Residents of the Patrick Island area have been complaining about a new speed bump that has recently been installed on Patrick’s Avenue leading into the community by the National Roads Authority and which provides no waning signs to motorists.

Some users of the road observed that there should be sufficient warning about this speed bump, because it has been catching them unawares.

Cayman Net News visited the area and found no evidence of warning signs that a speed bump has been erected.

“A motorist will not realize (whether day or night) that it is a speed bump until they are going over it. Crossing a speed bump even at the given speed limit could cause serious human bodily harm,” said one resident, who spoke to Cayman Net News on condition of anonymity.

Other speed bumps in the area were painted some five days after they were installed, the resident noted.

“Why does it take so long for this speed bump to finally be painted?” the resident questioned.

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Sagicor (Cayman) General Manager Mr Norman Wilson presents a cheque to Ms Vickie Frederick, Principal of Red Bay Primary School. Also pictured are Merrick Plummer and Mary Rodrigues, Chief Officer in the Ministry of Education, amongst the pupils.

Sagicor Life of the Cayman Islands has donated US$15,000 to assist Red Bay Primary School with its sports and education programmes as a part of the company’s Adopt-A-School Programme.

Sagicor’s Alysia White, who handles the company’s sponsorship and public relations, said that the programme started in Jamaica where it was greatly needed and moved to Cayman where it has also fit well with the company’s corporate social responsibility.

Ms White spoke with Cayman Net News on 30 April at Red Bay Primary School during the cheque presentation ceremony.

“We have focused on development work in terms of infrastructure and our advisors visit the school and inspire the children. The programme has been very successful,” she said.

“This school is the second in line for Sagicor’s donation, with George Town Primary School being the first beneficiary.

“The Adopt-a-School Programme started a few years ago. We choose a school and adopt it for a year. Adoption means donation of $ 15,000 per year and a donation of time. Our insurance advisors run mentorship programmes in the school and assist in sports and overall youth development.

Merrick Plummer, Sagicor’s Assistant Vice President for Individual Insurance Sales and Distribution, stated: “Two years ago we launched our Adopt-A-School programme with George Town Primary. We are pleased to be making another significant contribution to an institution which upholds the standard needed to instill the solid education and lifestyle practices needed to hone our young people into productive and principled adults.”

Elaborating on the programme, Ms White said that after the group has received business from the community, then school sponsorship is a way of giving back. “We got business already and what we should do as good corporate citizens is give back and that is what we have done,” she said.

Chief Officer, in the Ministry of Education, Mrs Mary Rodrigues commented: “The Ministry and Department of Education have been a part of this initiative since its inception in 2011 and are happy to continue our partnership with Sagicor to assist the youth of our country.”

Vickie Frederick, Principal of Red Bay Primary said: “Our school is indeed grateful to Sagicor for this demonstration of kindness. We would also like to thank the company for recognising the importance of education and sports and how it affects the community.

“We applaud Sagicor’s full commitment to listening to our students read; supervising and assisting students with their homework; actively volunteering as class parent; showering RBPS staff with kind gestures such as an appreciation evening and a few tokens of thanks for their commitment to educating our future,” the principal said in her speech.

She also thanked the company for helping the school in the upgrade of the playing field that has enabled the school to host home football games, instead of travelling to a different venue.

Sagicor Life of the Cayman Islands Limited is the leading life insurance company in the island. The Sagicor Group operates in 22 countries throughout the Caribbean region, the United Kingdom and North America.

Others who spoke during the launch include: Julia Swanson from Sagicor, Norman Wilson, the Branch Manager for Sagicor. Chante Pryce rendered the National Song.

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Ezzard Miller looks set for a second consecutive term as the representative for North Side.

North Side and East End voters are confirming their support for incumbent candidates Ezzard Miller and Arden McLean for the 22 May election, according to data from a recent poll in both districts.

A survey conducted 14-16 May polled residents on their preferred choice on candidates. In North Side, 82 per cent of respondents indicated that they would be voting for Mr Miller. Twelve percent of respondents said they would make their mark for candidate Joey Ebanks and six percent declined to say.

In East End, Arden McLean is well on course for a fourth term, with 77 per cent of those polled signaling their intention to return “the action man” as the district’s representative. Twenty-eight per cent of respondents said they would vote for challenger John McLean, Jr and five percent were non-committed.

The survey was conducted via telephone and tapped voters in each district and was commissioned by both candidates.

Arden McLean is seeking a fourth term as the representative for East End.

Commenting on the survey data, Mr McLean said the results reflect the enthusiasm and support that voters in East End have been showing for his campaign. “I am very encouraged by the numbers and by what my campaign is seeing on the ground. The people of East End and I have worked well together over the past three terms and I am thankful for their support in yet another campaign.”

For his part, Mr Miller noted that prior to Nomination Day, many in North Side has expected an uncontested election, but given the presence of another candidate on the ballot, voters were just as supportive of his campaign and of returning him to the Legislative Assembly.

“Despite the distractions of the other candidate, the people of North Side have indicated they wish to continue with the representation they have had for the past four years, which has allowed them to participate in the political process, perhaps like no other district,” Mr Miller stated.

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1. Young Brac students who participated in the Rotary E-Club writing competition, along with their parents.

A young Cayman Brac pupil has emerged as a winner in a story-writing project for Caribbean students. A first project of Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean 7020, the writing competition was developed for young emerging writers in the Caribbean. The story had to be “a tale of good deeds and of doing the right thing” and had to be of 300-750 words, by students between the ages of seven and 11 years.

A total of 142 entries were submitted with 10 of the stories being selected as winners. These stories have been published in a ‘Caribbean Butterfly E-Storybook’.

One of the top 10 story winners was submitted by the Rotary Club of Cayman Brac and written by seven-year-old Catrise Connor of the Creek Infant School. Catrise placed third place overall in the competition. Her story is titled, ‘When I became a mummy to eleven baby chicks’.

Catrise received a certificate of participation, a winner’s certificate and $50.00 to purchase books. The other participants were Janae Scott, Kyan Dilbert, Taejha Solomon, Joshua Negapatan and Abbey Walton. Each child received a certificate of participation and a letter from the Provisional President of the E-Club, Kitty Bucsko.

The Rotary Club of Cayman Brac hosted a reception at the Brac Reef Beach Resort on 6 May for the six participating children and their parents. It was a very enjoyable evening for all.

The E-Storybook is now available online at: http//issuu.com/rotary7020/doc/ buttely_e-storybook_2013.

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Moses Kirkconnell is seeking another term as the PPM representative for the Sister Islands.

Seeking a third term as MLA for the Sister Islands, Moses Kirkconnell is once again leading the charge for the Progressives’ (PPM).

As part of its election coverage, Cayman Net News sought the views of the two incumbent representatives for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, seeking to share with readers how they propose to further represent their districts, should they be re-elected. Premier Juliana O’Connor-Conolly cancelled the interview, but Mr Kirkconnell was able to respond to the questions raised. Below are the excerpts of the interview.

Q. What do you see as the best way to stimulate the economy in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman?

A. For government to lead the way by moving some of its back office work to Cayman Brac. Our idea is to create an incentive to bring this about. The efforts to create back office work for the government were disrupted by Hurricane Paloma (2008), which changed our priorities. After the 2009 elections, I cannot speak on behalf of another government.

We also need to improve our air service in order to fill hotel rooms and grow tourism. Cayman Brac has to diversify its economy, as 75 per cent are employed in government jobs

Q. Airlift has been identified as a major issue and a reason for the economy of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman being so stagnant. How would you go about addressing this issue?

A. The answer is to add more flights to US and Grand Cayman. We have hotel rooms that are empty, because we do not have air service. We have to stimulate supply, since we don’t have many people in Cayman Brac. My idea is that if we add more flights, we will get more people.

Q. What would be the first item on your agenda for the creation of jobs to prevent all the young people from having to move to Grand Cayman, as not everyone wants to move?

A. Quickly establish a work programme for beautification of the island in preparation for our initiatives to increase tourism. We would also work with Dr (Devi) Shetty or another group to open a medical or vocational school on Cayman Brac and work with Cayman Airways (and CIAA) to route Cuba flights through the Brac.

Q. Young college graduates are having difficulty finding jobs when they return home, as they are told in some cases that they have no experience, despite having their qualifications. Without any opportunity to get the necessary experience, they will always be left behind. How would you go about fixing this problem?

A. Unfortunately, this is a challenge that all recent college graduates face and it is not unique to Cayman Brac. We need to develop an internship programme that includes not just government, but also private-sector internships. Government should take the lead on this with initiatives such as providing matching salary subsidies (50 per cent private sector-50 per cent government) for three-month and six-month internships. It is also important that we provide tangible experience to the college graduates during their internships.

Q. Small businesses have been called the hub of the economy. If elected, in what ways would you help alleviate the current burden of fees that they now have to bear (work permit, trade and business licence, health insurance and pension)?

A. Reduce or roll back the most damaging fees. We would offer a small business development programme, which would include loans of up to $50,000 in conjunction with support for business planning. The Sister Islands are at a different stage in the development of our economy and as such we need to tailor our programmes and regulations to support our needs, which are very different than those of Grand Cayman.

Q. If elected, would you be willing and how would you support private sector-initiated business in the Sister Islands?

A. I would seek to offer incentives to small four or five-star hotels and encourage the financial sector to relocate back office jobs to the Sister Islands.

Q. If you get elected and the UK tells the government to impose certain taxation, such as property or income tax, what would be your response?

A. I will not support property or income tax. There are better ways to increase revenue. We need to give the UK comfort that we can competently manage our fiscal policy with a five-year plan that demonstrates fiscal responsibility.

Q. If the Cayman Islands is forced into independence for whatever reason, what measures would you put in place for the people of Cayman Brac to survive, given the economic challenges they already face?

A. With competent, conscientious leadership, the Cayman Islands would not be forced into independence.

Q. There has been talk of a cruise ship berthing facility for Cayman Brac. How close it this to reality? What impact will it have on the local economy?

A. I have worked and will continue to work to attract small cruise vessels and a berthing facility. This is a medium-term initiative due to its complexity because of our geographical position.

Q. Would you be willing to open up the shipping monopoly to competition?

A. There is no shipping monopoly. The way to have more shipping choices for the Sister Islands is to have more demand for the service, which requires an increased population in order to increase the need for shipping.

Q. There is more that you have already done for the people of Cayman Brac than can be captured via these questions. Is there anything that you would like to add?

A. Thus far, we have improved our community from our youngest going to day care, to our students with upgraded curriculum, to our athletes with enhanced sports facilities, to our school leavers and adults attending the Brac Campus of UCCI, to increased benefits for our veterans and seamen, and finally, to expanded accommodations for our seniors at the KCCC.

We created a functioning Affordable Homes Programmes, providing families quality homes to live in and affordable loans to manage the cost of living. We established branch offices of the Cayman Islands Investment Bureau and Cayman Islands Development Bank for providing free business counselling locally and low interest loans for entrepreneurs.

My vision for the Sister Islands includes a comprehensive plan to stimulate development and improve everyone’s standard of living. I will use this plan as a road map for organised and sustainable growth. I will continue to work with the RCIPS and the community crime watch volunteers to address the crime issues we are currently facing. I will also pursue the establishment of a marine unit on Cayman Brac to assist in these efforts.

Cayman Brackers and Little Caymanians mandated that we preserve our local culture, traditions, and environment yet still provide sufficient development to increase employment for school leavers and returning young professionals. The Progressives have promised to support this plan if we are elected on 22 May.

The post A moment with Moses Kirkconnell appeared first on Cayman Net News.

Mr Kirkland Nixon is surrounded by members of his family (right) and friends, supporters and officials of the Tourism Attraction Board and the Ministry of Tourism.
(L-R) Mr Nixon with Mr Oswell Rankine and former Deputy Governor Mr Donovan Ebanks.

Retired Chief Fire Officer Mr Kirkland Nixon was honoured last Friday evening (10 May) at the Queen Elizabeth Botanic Park in a ceremony that saw the Visitors’ Centre renamed for him.

A large granite sign marking The Kirkland Nixon Visitors’ Centre was unveiled by Mrs Melba Nixon, wife of Mr Nixon, and witnessed by several family members and a large group of friends, supporters and stakeholders in the tourism sector.

The renaming of the Visitors’ Centre was a project proposed by Tourism Attraction Board’s CEO Gilbert Connolly in December 2012, in “recognition of Mr. Nixon’s connections and contributions to the Botanic Park, his involvement and contribution to the community through service on numerous Government boards and committees.

Mr Nixon served as the first chairman of the Steering Committee that was set up in 1994 to establish the Botanic Park and as Chairman of the Tourism Attraction Board since 2002.

The project proposal received the support of the National Trust, the Orchid Society, the Department of Tourism and was approved by the Tourism Minister Hon. Cline Glidden, Jr.

Acting as the Master of Ceremonies for the unveiling ceremony, Mr Connolly told the gathering that the Botanic Park has been a success story and the product of 21 years of hard work, commitment and sacrifice by several individuals.

“It is that hard work and sacrifice that we acknowledge and it gives me a tremendous sense of pride to know that we are making this effort and taking the time to honour our own Caymanians who were dedicated to the development of the Botanic Park. Mr Nixon provided the leadership for the development of the Park from its inception,” Mr Connolly stated.

He also paid tribute to several other individuals who had been instrumental in the Park’s development. Special mention was made of Consuelo Ebanks, who served on the original committee to develop the Park, and who recently passed away.

A moment of silence was observed in Ms. Ebanks’ honour.

Also honoured were the other founding members the Botanic Park — Mrs Karen Hunter, who served as the Deputy Chair and played a major role in the design of the Colour Garden, Mr Harding Watler, Ms Pat Ulett, Ms Joyce Hylton, (deceased), Dr Joseph Jackman, Ms Theresa Leacock and Ms Margaret Barwick.

The event also recognised the contributions of scores of volunteers, past and present board members and several named contributors: Margaret Stelling, Golde Chesler, Heather McLaughlin, Robert “Bobby” Bodden, Frank Roulstone Jr, Dace Ground, Andrew Guthrie (first general manager), Gloria McField-Nixon, Dewayne Ebanks, Trevor Leslie (first employee) and Teddi Ebanks.

In a message read by Mr Ezzard Miller to the gathering, Minister of Tourism Hon Cline Glidden, Jr congratulated Mr Nixon on being recognised with the renaming of the Visitors’ Centre.

“Honouring one of our own Caymanians in this way will send a positive message, not just to us who live here, but also to the thousands of tourists who visit this very popular attraction,” the Minister stated.

Former deputy governor, Mr Donovan Ebanks, a close friend of Mr Nixon’s who also spoke on his behalf, noted that he had been a model civil servant who operated with integrity at all times.

In response, Mr Nixon thanked the many volunteers who made the development of the Park possible. Recalling some difficult days at the beginning of the project, he said he had been questioned by Mrs Joanne Scott, wife of the then Governor on how he intended to build the Park.

“By doing it the Cayman way — one brick at a time,” Mr Nixon said he responded.

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Dr Livingston Smith

It is generally easy to agree and to give arguments to demonstrate that corruption is harmful to a democracy and also to an economy. For example, this column has argued that in a society where there is rampant corruption, citizens lose their right to public services if they don’t pay bribes.

As Professor Mauel Balan, a corruption scholar at McGill University explains, corruption is damaging because important decisions, instead of pursuing public interest, are shaped by the corrupt actors to maximize their private benefit. In this process, corrupt actors show no concerns over the consequences to the wider community and where corruption is pervasive its costs reach just about every sector of government and society. The society as a whole pays for the cost of corruption, even if certain people never come into direct contact with corruption.

He argues further that corruption affects us all. “From increasing poverty, to changing social norms, to the environmental degradation contracting the economy, corruption constitutes a dangerous bias that raises the cost of goods and services and distorts the distribution of resources.”

Yet, not many take time out to understand the complexity of the different activities that may properly be referred to as corruption and to actually reflect on whether or not they themselves are involved in or are encouraging corrupt practices.

A succinct definition of corruption is that it is abuse of public office for private gain. However, people both in public office as well as people who are not in government positions are responsible for corruption. This second group includes people who are in positions of leadership in the private sector, civil society, and as ordinary citizens.

I pose the question to the reader as well as to myself. Are you engaging in corrupt practices? How do we know when?

We are corrupt when we engage in any one or more forms of corruption. The classification of corruption includes conflict of interest, bribery, nepotism, embezzlement, fraud, clientelism, state capture, extortion, rent seeking and graft. So, simply put, if I am engaged in any of the 10 of these, whether in a public or private capacity, then I am corrupt.

Here I explain the specificities and differences between each of these classifications of corruption with the hope that the ability to identify each of these actions and behaviors helps to establish their negative effects and most importantly understanding these practices will both help to avoid participating in them as well as help design specific measures to end each of these corrupt actions.

Let’s start with bribery. This is a very ‘popular’ form of corruption. Bribery is an offer of money or favour that seeks to influence a public official. It generally involves two actors, one who offers the bribe and is committing active bribery, and another who is receiving the bribe and altering their behavior as a result and thereby committing passive bribery.

A popular form of bribe is giving money to a policeman to forget about a traffic ticket.

Bribes can actually come in the form of a fixed sum, as a percentage of a given contract, or any other favour in money or in kind. These are usually paid to state officials who have the power to make decisions on behalf of the state. Some of these decisions might involve buying political favors in order to escape taxes, environment regulations, monopolies or licenses. This is occasionally considered an informal form of taxation.

Another common form of corruption is nepotism, which occurs when a public official favours relatives or close friends for positions in which they hold some decision-making authority. This type of favouritism is based on a common proclivity to give preferential treatment to friends and family and occurs in both the public and private spheres.

For example, a government worker in charge of the postal services receives many job applications, but is rarely guided by the applicants’ qualification but makes sure to mainly employ far and near relatives and friends.

Embezzlement takes place when public officials steal money or other government property or when disloyal employees steal from their employers in the public and private sectors.

When embezzlement occurs in the public sector, it affects the citizen, given that public officials are misappropriating resources meant for public services. Embezzlement is not limited to money, but rather extends to all goods that are meant for the people. For example, Rosie is in charge of the Dietary Department of a large hospital and so no longer goes to the supermarket to buy food for herself. Instead, she regularly helps herself to the foodstuff bought by the hospital to be prepared for the patients.

Fraud takes place when there is an intentional deception made for personal gain. It is usually a financial crime in which someone manipulates or distorts information and facts. Some examples include when information is distorted through false advertising, identify theft,

counter feeding and racketeering, smuggling and when public officials manipulate information for personal profit. Information can be distorted through false advertising, identity theft, counterfeiting and racketeering and smuggling.

Public fraud takes place when government officials play a role in activities considered to be fraudulent. Some examples are when they deposit public money in personal accounts, when they liquidate banks to steal from people, print large amounts of money through the central

bank to create the impression of a strong economy, receive private loans that will never be paid back, issue falsified certificates, and when they enable counterfeit goods to be bought and sold.

Corruption is also said to take place when there is a conflict of interest between a decision maker’s duties and his or her personal self‐interest. Even if there is no evidence of improper actions, a conflict of interest can create an appearance of impropriety that can undermine

confidence in the ability of the public official to act properly. This can occur through influence meddling or other forms of corruption.

So how did you do with these five? Without desiring to sound preachy, it would make for a great society if for each it can be said: ‘Everyone has his fault, and honesty is his.’ William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act 3 Scene 1.

Dr Livingston Smith is Chair, Social Sciences, Director, Research and Publication and Associate Professor at the University College of  the Cayman Islands. He can be contacted at lsmith@ucci.edu.ky. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of UCCI.

The post Taking the corruption test appeared first on Cayman Net News.

Mahalia Seymour

Mahalia Seymour is an architect in the making.

The recent high school graduate, who wanted to have a career in modeling, was discouraged because she has not attained the height of 5’4”.

Mahalia has moved on and found an interest in designing buildings and homes.

She told Cayman Net News that she want to dedicate herself to the exterior design of buildings around the Cayman Islands.

The post Mahalia Seymour appeared first on Cayman Net News.

Further, government would provide $24 million abatement as an incentive to Dart Realty (DRCL) whose operations would have kick started the economy.

DRCL was going to embark on a $90.8 million value uplift that would have no cost to the government of the Cayman Islands.

The replacement value of the infrastructure was CI $620,000 because of the age of this portion of the road, which was built in the 1950s. The road lacks sidewalks, drainage facilities and the last time it received asphalt was 13 years ago, according to the report made public recently.

The report on value for money of the ForCayman Investment Alliance (FCIA), which is largely owned by Dart Realty, proposed a partnership with the government to stimulate the economy and put people to work.

The report shows a series of horse-trading measures, which leave Dart Realty with most of the risk since it is not guaranteed that business from the yet-to-be constructed hotel will be successful.

“PwC believes that in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it should be assumed that the CIG and DRCL have equal bargaining power and neither is more compelled to act that the other. In such a situation, the most reasonable approach is to assume a 50:50 sharing of the uplift, that is the mid-point between the two values,” the PwC report read.

The agreement was to give Dart Realty an incentive to redevelop a defunct Seven Mile Beach Hotel through the creation of a highway in the environs or the property as well as have a legal closure of the West Bay road.

Since both the Courtyard Marriot and Holiday Inn did not have direct beach access, Dart Realty wanted to a section of the West Bay Road closed to ensure the best beach experiences/scenes, according to the report.

However, opponents dismissed the deal as one in which government was not getting value for money but was going to enrich Dart Realty by their property appreciating up to tenfold, according to some politicians and advocates against the road closures.

The report released by the government showed that the government would get import duties to the tune of $10.5 million.

The net present value following the uplift of the West Bay would be $2.0 million and the further increase of $1.7 million that had been suggested was not accurate.

According to the Cayman Islands Development and Planning regulations, a landowner seeking permission for a hotel or tourism development on a beach must prove for every 100 feet of shoreline a minimum of six foot right of way (ROW) allowing public access to the sea from the public road. The Dart Realty had already provided for two parts of such access.

In exchange for the DRCL transferring land in Barkers for a new public beach, the Cayman government was to extinguish the requirements of Dart Realty in providing the two ROWs that would have brought a value of $4.8 m.

The report noted that the land relating to these ROWs is not owned by the Cayman Islands government, but by Dart Realty.

“Only DRCL can derive value from the extinguishing of these actual or potential (ROWs). Since DRCL are the only potential beneficiary, PWC has applied a 50 per cent discount to the value calculated by Department of Lands and Survey to $2.9 million,” read the report.

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