Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands News

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August 2002

Kareem Streete-Thompson won the Cayman Islands only medal at the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England. With a jump of 7.89 metres, he took away a bronze medal (behind Nathan Morgan of England with a jump of 8.02 metres and Gable Garanamotse of Botswana with a jump of 7.91 metres).

The Lighthouse Restaurant at Breakers has had some major reconstruction work. You can now enjoy a meal on the screened oceanfront patio, the brand new deck area set directly over the sea, or in their air-conditioned Chart Room with ocean views.

New stamps celebrating the life of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, were released on August 5th 2002. For further information, contact the Philatelic Bureau on cistamps@candw.ky.

Tanya Streeter, a former Caymanian resident who was the Governpr's Social Secretary, has set a new free diving record. She descended to a depth of 525 feet on just one breath of air. Tanya now holds six world records for free diving in various categories.

July 2002

Changes in legislation now mean that the cinema can open on Sunday's, but only to show certificate "G" and "PG" films between 2pm and 9pm. The first showings under the new legislation took place on Sunday 21st July.

A new sports centre, Kings, located near to the Lions Centre east of George Town, has now opened. The centre is open from early morning through to 10:30pm every day of the week. Facilities include a large gym with Cybex equipment, aerobics sessions, two squash courts (CI $15/hour), video games area, table tennis and rock climbing.
Roller-skating is on most of the day until about 6pm on weekdays when the arena is given over to soft touch football, roller hockey and basket ball. Admission for skating is CI$5.00 and skates are CI$3.50-CI$4.00 to rent.
The centre also has a food and refreshments area, and has private rooms for hire. Facilities to be added soon include a nursery and babysitting service and a massage therapy area. For more information call (345) 945-5464

On 10th July 2002, the Department of Tourism and the Police staged their first road closure day as part of a pilot programme to provide cruise visitors with a more memorable experience while in port. Harbour Drive and a portion of Cardinall Avenue were closed-off to traffic, with an island-style marketplace offering arts, crafts, food and entertainment set up on Cardinall Avenue. A second similar day was run on 24th July 2002. Visitors were surveyed to assess their opinion of such events, and the Department of Tourism is keen to receive further feedback. They can be contacted on phone (345) 244-1252, fax (345) 949-4053 or email cruise@caymanislands.ky.

The Cayman Islands 2001 Annual Report and Official Handbook has been published. It contains a wide range of information including:
626 babies were delivered in the Cayman Islands in 2001, while 133 residents died
the economy grew by an estimated 2% in 2001, while the rate of inflation was 1.1 percent
At the end of 2001 CI$51.35 million of currency was in circulation
The 244-page report also contains a list of chief officers in the Cayman Islands Public Service. The Report is available from Government Information Service, located in Cricket Square, for a cost of CI$40. For more information contact (345) 949-8092.

June 2002

Another diving death from a visitor to the islands. This time, William Reynolds, a 61 year old visitor from houston, Texas encountered breathing difficulties when returning to the Little Star dive boat off Cayman Brac. Shortly afterwards, he collapsed. became unconscious and stopped breathing. The boat crew performed CPR, but even with police and medical help at the Faith Hospital, were unable to revive him. Mr Reynolds was on holiday with his wife.

Following the introduction of new government revenue measures, proprietors of timeshare properties must now pay the government US$10 for each day or part of a day for each occupied room if the occupier is the owner, guest of the owner or timeshare or a person who has exchanged his timeshare for that timeshare. In other cases the proprietors will have to pay a tax of 10% of the charges paid. More details can be found in the official press release at [hit]

http://www.gov.ky/pls/portal30/docs/Folder/SITE83/PRESSRELEASES/200206PRESSRELEASES/TOURACCOMTAX.PDF

May 2002

The Governorship of the islands changed this month. The outgoing Governor, Mr. Peter Smith, CBE is retiring from the British Diplomatic Service. His replacement will be Mr. Bruce Dinwiddy who has been serving as the British High Commissioner in Dar-es-salaam.

Cayman Airways Ticket Counter at Tampa International Airport has moved to a new location. It is now located next to Continental Airlines on the ticketing level, on the Blue Side of the main terminal.
Cayman Airways uses gates F-88 and F-90 for both departing and arriving flights; and arriving baggage is returned on Belt 5 in the Baggage Claim Area of the Main Terminal Building.
Cayman Airways are also in the advanced stages of launching a schedule to fly to Havana, Cuba. Current plans include three weekly flights on Wednesday's, Friday's and Sunday's. It is hoped that the new flights will start in mid-July or early August 2002. The airline is looking at code-sharing with Island Air for it's flights to/from Cayman Brac, including a new schedule from 1st June 2002. For further details see [hit]

http://www.caymanairways.com/news/newbusinessh.html.

Another death on the waters around Cayman. A West Bay resident went into the water off the Public Beach to retrieve a ball for a group of friends. As this was in the evening, it was some time before his disappearance was noticed. When this was notified to the police, a search was carried out by divers and his body was recovered 40 minutes later. No cause of death has yet been announced.

Disney Magic, the corporation's new cruise ship, made it's first visit to Cayman on 14th May with 2,4000 passengers. The ship will now be visiting the island every fortnight.

The Islands economy is still in a poor state. A report recently published indicated that the unemployment rate could hit the 10% mark.

Next time you visit the islands you will have to complete a new Immigration Form. The new "International Embarkation Disembarkation (ED) Card" contains serial numbers that can be recorded by new passport-reading equipment upon exit and entry. This is designed to reduce human error while speeding up the immigration process and allowing very efficient tourism statistics to be gathered.
Some of the sections to be filled in have been revised. For example, the "Purpose of visit" category has been expanded with "Recreation" being subdivided into: Leisure, Dive vacation, Visiting friends and relatives, and Wedding/honeymoon sections. Visitors are no longer required to state their specific job titles.

A 50 year old English resident insurance manager disappeared during a flight to Little Cayman. John Smith was the sole occupant of his Cessna plane on Friday, 24th May travelling from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman. At around 2.50pm he reported experiencing engine trouble and turned back for Grand Cayman, but the plane lost altitude before disappearing from radar screens. The plane went down in 8 foot seas about 15 nautical miles north of East End. Despite extensive air and sea searches no plane, wreckage, or body has been found.

April 2002

According to William Gray, an atmospheric scientist at Colorado State University, the climatic ingredients are in place for intense hurricane development. Gray expects the upcoming hurricane season to be busier than an average season, which has 8 to 11 named storms, including 5 to 7 hurricanes. Predictions are for the season to extend well into October 2002, with 12 named storms, 7 of which will develop into hurricanes, 3 of them major. For further information on Dr. Gray's forecast, check out [hit]

http://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/.
For information on hurricane tracking, check some of the links on my FAQ at [hit]

http://www.gotocayman.com/gcmfaq.htm#WEA

The Cayman Islands Tourism Association has announced their occupancy projections for the second quarter of 2002. Hotel occupancy for April is expected to be at 58%, compared to 66% last year. The figures are bleaker for condos; 29% compared to last years 55%. The average occupancy projection is 55%, a 10% drop from last year's 65%. May's average occupancy projection decreases to 47% and 44% in June compared to last year's figures of 55% and 50%. For further statistics, check out [hit]

http://www.caymanislands.ky/statistics/

The Bank of Bermuda has announced plans to cut back it's operation in the Cayman Islands, with the loss of 42 jobs.

In August 2001 a special series of Charity stamps were issued. The National Council of Voluntary Organisations (which was featured on one of the stamps) has produced a special cover of 'their' stamp on a specially designed envelope and featuring signatures of both the governor and the artist of the stamp. The limited edition of 200 signed and numbered covers are now on sale at CI$100 - proceeds going to the National Council. If you are interested in purchasing a set let me know!

March 2002

The Post Office has issued a new set of stamps featuring Snoopy and other characters from the Peanuts cartoon strip.

American Airlines has announced it will commence direct non-stop flights twice weekly from New York’s JFK airport to Grand Cayman on June 15th 2002. The flights will leave JFK on Saturday and Sunday at 09:00, arriving 11:55. The return flight will depart Grand Cayman at 13:00, arriving in New York at 17:34.
Cayman Airways have announced that their ticketing desk at Miami Airport has moved to Concourse E near the Information Kiosk and Food Court from Monday 18th March 2002. Flights will continue to depart from the gate on Concourse F.

The Department of Tourism will not be involved in the annual Aviation Week activities in June as they have in previous years. However, the organisers of Cayman Caravan are proceeding with their plans for a June fly-in - see the schedule of events at [hit]

http://www.caymancaravan.com

St. Mathews University School of Medicine, has agreed with Government to open a satellite campus, to be located in SafeHaven. The University, which has a main campus in San Pedro - Belize, with a subsidiary campus in Standish - Maine, and two administrative offices in Florida. It has tie-ups with hospitals in the US and in England. Due to open in May 2002, it is expected to have facilities for about 200 students. The main web site for the School of Medicine is at [hit]

http://www.stmatthews.edu/

The main construction crane at the Ritz-Carlton has now been moved to the beach side of the property, indicating that the project is entering a new phase.

The Cayman Turtle Farm web-site at [hit]

http://www.turtle.ky/ has undergone a redesign. It includes an FAQ, several WebCams, and news on the redevelopment of the farm.

February 2002

The Cayman Free Press has increased the cover price of the Caymanian Compass by CI$0.25. The Monday to Thursday issues will now cost CI$0.50, and the Friday edition goes up to CI$0.75. Cayman Net News has announced plans to publish three times a week; on Tuesday's Wednesday's and Thursday's.
Bus fares have also increased. The top fare remains at CI$3.50 (George Town to North Side), but some of the shorter rides (eg around George Town), have increased from CI$1.50 to CI$2.00.

Another diving death. This time a female cruise ship passenger, Joan Franklin Smith, aged 66 from Baltimore, encountered problems when diving at 80 feet. This follows on the death of another cruise ship passenger, Ponciano Gazmen, aged 58 from Ontario Canada who died after a snorkeling trip to Stingray City Sandbar at the end of January, and the two deaths already reported in the January news.

American Trans Air has started flying to Grand Cayman. From mid-February to August, they will be flying every Saturday from Chicago's Midway airport.

What do you do when you run out of land to build new properties? Build up! The Minister for Planning revealed that consideration is being given to changing the existing rules. Currently the limit of five stories for hotels will rise(!) to seven floor, and for condos the three floor limit will be increased to five floors. These proposed limits will apply to properties along Seven Mile Beach and other tourism area including East End and North Side. The new limits will also apply to commercial properties in George Town.

The Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) has agreed with the Cayman Islands Government to help fund the redevelopment of the George Town cruise ship port, making funds of up to $10m available. The FCCA has also said it is prepared to assist with the technical assessment on the facility that is being Cruise Ship facility being considered for West Bay.

Construction work on the new Turtle farm has begun. After the damage caused by Hurricane Michelle last year, government gave the go-ahead for the farm to move to the land-side of the property owned by the Turtle farm. Excavations for the main breeding pool has started, and the whole project (including a new visitor centre, the breeding pool, reception buildings and parking area) should be completed by May 2003 at a cost of approximately CI$9m.

The post office has released five stamps and a souvenir sheet to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Accession of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Details can be obtained my e-mailing cistamps@candw.ky

January 2002

Fees for applying for status or residency have been increased. The application fee for status is CI$250, residency is now CI$100, and the application fee for temporary work permit is now $35, with renewal fees now $35.
The fees for work permits for senior staff in professional firms has also increased. For the first five partners, directors or associates (not having Caymanian status), CI$10,000 per work permit; for the next five (ie 6-10), CI$20,000 per permit; for the next five (ie 11-15), CI$30,000 per permit and for the next five (ie 60-20), CI$40,000 per permit, up to a maximum of CI$500,000 per business. There is also a fee of CI$10,000 per year for a permit for a Chief Executive Officer, General Manager or Managing Director. However, the above fees are reduced for any relevant staff working in Cayman Brac or Little Cayman.
Fees for dependents of those on work permits increases to CI$250 per year for those on lower grades, and CI$500 per year for those in higher positions.
Note that there are also big increases in temporary work-permit fees; these vary from CI$250 for a skilled worker, up to CI$1,000 for someone in a professional or managerial role. As temporary permits are valid only for three months, there is talk that this will discourage business men coming to Cayman for meetings/short term appointments, and will result in more business meetings taking place in Miami.
The fees for visas has also increased. For those that require visas, the fee for one entry has risen from CI$30 to CI$75. The fee for two entries has increased from CI$45 to CI$80, and for multiple entries, the fee has gone up from CI$70 to CI$150.

British Airways announced that they will introduce an extra flight on their London-Nassau-Grand Cayman route. From 2nd April 2002, the service will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority will issue new and improved fifty dollar bills this month, replacing the existing blue bills. It is hoped that their new colour (bright green on the front, blue on the back) will make them unlikely to be confused with the blue one dollar bills. The note will also feature a filigree foil stingray.

The body of 31 year old American, Mauricio Solis, was found off the shores of Sunset House. An experienced diver employed by Atlantis submarine, Solis had gone free diving with a full body suit, mask, snorkel and fins. A post mortem concluded that he died by drowning.
A 53 year old visitor from Voorheesville, New York drowned off Driftwood when he got into difficulties snorkeling. The area he was swimming in is apparently subject to strong currents under certain conditions.

A new CI$1 stamp has been issued reflecting the Cayman Islands support for the US's fight against terrorism.

Financial sector news:
One of the largest financial firms on the islands. UBS, announced that it will close it's private banking operation within the year, transferring the private banking and trust business to the Bahamas.

A new street atlas of the Cayman Islands will be available from the beginning of February 2002. The spiral-bound, full colour, 169-page paperback will sell for CI$29.95. It will have maps of all three islands, with every street and building (as of June 2001) marked - many of the larger buildings are named. Proposed new toad improvement schemes are also indicated. The atlas will also feature a full street index, a general index, a Land Registry maps index, marine and land conservation maps, and mileage chart.