caymannewsservice

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Police attend 61 crashes in first days of safety campaign

(CNS): During the first five days of Operation Winter Guardian, which began Monday, the police attended 61 crashes and have arrested nine drunk drivers. The annual holiday safety campaign has got off to a worrying start as the increasingly poor standard of driving across Cayman appears to get worse by the month. Drivers continuing drinking before getting behind the wheel, using their phones and…

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Bigamist pilot gets greenlight to fly ahead of sentence

(CNS): William Gonzales Bodden, a Caymanian pilot, who pleaded guilty to bigamy was given permission to travel outside this jurisdiction after the court agreed to a variation in his bail conditions last week. The crown objected given the pilot is based in Florida where he married a colleague earlier this year despite still being married to his Caymanian wife who he wed in 2012 and with whom he…

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C3 secures legal hearing over CI$1.4M unpaid fees

Photo from social media (CNS): The internet provider, Infinity Broadband known as C3, the only locally owned communications firm in Cayman is locked in a legal battle with the utilities regulator OfReg over CI$1,400,000 in unpaid fees. C3 believes government hasn’t properly legislated to collect this coercive revenue from ICT firms, which it contends is a 6% tax on profits. As a result it…

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Conservation NP opens shoreline community park

Melanie Carmichael (CNS): The local conservation advocacy non-profit, Sustainable Cayman has opened the first of its own community shoreline parks in South Sound. It was officially opened on Tuesday evening with government officials joining members of the public and those who helped to create the space and plant the local flora and help re wild the area. The Pirate Cove Shoreline Park is a…

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High street banks expected to cut interest rates

Butterfield Bank, George Town (CNS): Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Limited is the first of Cayman’s high street retail banks to announce an interest rate cut following the reduction in the US Federal Funds Rate yesterday by a quarter point. Butterfield said it has cut its Prime Rate for US and CI dollar lending for residential mortgages, consumer loans and corporate loans by 0.25% to 7.50% effective…

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Referendum bill to come to parliament in New Year

Kenneth Bryan at pro-port demo (Photo credit: Advancement of Cruise Tourism) (CNS): Kenneth Bryan, the tourism minister and deputy premier, who is spearheading the government’s planned referendum next year has said that the legislation has been drafted and a bill paving the way for the national poll on General Election Day will go before parliament when in meets on 31 January. Bryan told members…

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Radar back in action after annual maintenance

Kearney Gomez Doppler Weather Radar (CNS): The Cayman Islands National Weather Service has said that the Kearney Gomez Doppler Radar is now fully operational following its annual maintenance. The work was done earlier this month between 4 and 6 December. The radar plays an important part of regional weather forecasting but has been plagued with technical issues as well as sustaining damage from…

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Parliament adjourns with passage of new BO regs

(CNS): Premier Juliana O’Connor-Conolly who recently added Financial Services to the largest portfolio ever held by a Cabinet minister steered a government motion through parliament, Monday night, that enables people, with what is confirmed as a legitimate reason, to access beneficial ownership information about companies registered in the Cayman Islands. The Beneficial Ownership Transparency…

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Scammers create fake Cayman Crypto Bank website

(CNS): Fraudsters have created a fake crypto bank claiming to be based in the Cayman Islands in yet another effort to separate people from their hard earned cash. The Financial Reporting Authority (FRA) became aware of the “Cayman Crypto Bank” through the website http://www.caymancryptobank.com that fraudulently claims to be: “The Banking of the Future. Based in Cayman Islands. Cayman Crypto Bank…

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80lbs of ganja seized at ORIA from two Canadians

Cannabis leaf illustration (CNS): Over the last two weeks Customs and Border Control (CBC) have seized just under 80lbs of ganja from two separate smugglers at Owen Roberts International Airport. Both were Canadian nationals who are currently on remand at HMP Northward and Fairbanks. Officers stopped the first of the two on his arrival at the airport from Toronto, Canada on 28 November. An x-ray…

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Cuban migrant chooses to land as 9 others press on

(CNS): One Cuban migrant opted to end his dangerous journey in Grand Cayman, yesterday, when a boat carrying nine ten people came into local waters. The vessel was spotted off the coast of Pedro Castle on Grand Cayman, Wednesday, at about 1:30pm. The group were traveling west and a Cayman Islands Port Authority boat was the first to establish contact and initially monitored the situation at…

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Child and two adults injured in three car pile-up

(CNS): Just one day after the police launched their Christmas safety campaign they were on the scene of yet another major collision on Grand Cayman’s roads involving three vehicles that may have been caused by drivers racing each other. The crash took place on Bodden Town Road in the Midland Acres area at about 10:10 on Tuesday evening and involved a white Honda Civic, a white Mazda Verisa, and a…

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UPM in mystery talks to give Barkers land to Dart

(CNS): The government has issued a brief statement about the approval of a mystery Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the islands largest land owner Dart Enterprises Limited. Dart has been looking to secure beachfront property in Barkers reserve in order to develop a luxury, exclusive resort in this West Bay, largely untouched, natural beauty spot with enormous cultural significance for local…

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New acts advance social development

(CNS): Parliament adjourned on a relative high note, Monday, after government steered through a collection of bills advancing Cayman’s social development safety net. The amendment bills were largely the work of the former minister, Andrè Ebanks (WBS) and deal with improvements to child safeguarding and protecting the elderly. Continue reading New acts advance social development

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Recycling still stalled as depot returns to Foster's

DEH staff sort items for recycling (CNS): The department of environmental health has relocated the West Bay recycling depot back to Foster’s Republix so shoppers no longer have to make an extra trip to the Ed Bush Stadium site which will now close. But it remains one of only nine locations where the public must make the effort to sort and deliver their own recycling. As a result more than 97% of…

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Voter drive underway as deadline looms

(CNS): The Elections Office is hosting a series of voter registration drives across multiple locations in the lead-up to the voter registration deadline on 15 January. In order to vote on Wednesday 30 April in the General Election and what could be a referendum on cruise facilities, ganja and gambling qualified potential voters need to register by that deadline as required under the election…

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Pro-Caymanian motions pass but 2% tax rejected

(CNS): Four private members motions designed to protect local people from a catalog of social problems that have emerged in Cayman over the last two or more decades were steered through parliament last week but MPs voted against a 2% property tax on foreign owners to finance a healthcare fund for children and seniors. The rapid population rise fueled by both foreign cheap labour and an increase…