Public contracts examined

The newly created Commission for Standards in Public Life has started examining the awarding of public contracts in Cayman.

The work is part of the commission’s constitutionally-mandated efforts to police the activities of public officials to ensure that proper standards are maintained and that perceptions of corruption within the public sector are rooted out.

Commission Chair Karin Thompson said members will examine all contract-awarding procedures currently used by the Central Tenders Committee, but will pay particular attention to smaller dollar-value contracts.

Right now, any contracts under CI$250,000 do not require review and approval by central tenders. Thompson said the commission, which has so far met in secret, has identified several areas where improvements in local laws need to be made to assist and enhance the commission’s ability to do its work.

Company registrations drop

The number of companies registered in the Cayman Islands declined slightly last year, but there was a sharp drop in new company registrations.

According to the government’s 2009 Annual Economic Report, which covers the calendar year, there was a 33 per cent drop in new company registrations between 2008 and last year. New company registrations since 2007 had declined by nearly 50 per cent according to the report.

Tenders issued

The government has issued tenders for the installation of concrete at the new John Gray High School campus in George Town.

Interested firms were given until 5 August to bid on the works, which include the laying of concrete in three separate buildings of the school construction project site. Earlier in the year, Education Minister Rolston Anglin had stated his intention to get the school construction projects moving again, and the 5 August bid deadline was an indication that things were getting under way.

Company goes into liquidation

Hadsphaltic Ltd., a major construction company in the Cayman Islands for 44 years, has closed its doors for good. Chris Johnson, the managing director of Johnson Smith Associates Ltd. confirmed last week that he and Russell Smith had been appointed liquidators. Hadsphaltic came to the Cayman Islands in 1966 to work on the airport runway project. Some of its major projects over the years included both Holiday Inn hotels, the Hyatt Regency hotel, the Hyatt Beach Suites, the Westin hotel, the Port Authority Building, the Cayman National Bank Building and several schools. The $4.5 million MRCU hangar project is only about half completed. It is unknown who will complete the project.

Work permits drop

For the first time in the past two years the number of work permits being renewed in the Cayman Islands has fallen by a significant number,foreboding a slow period for the local economy.

By 30 June, 2010, the Immigration Department had recorded 21,527 people on work permits in Cayman, including those who were working in public sector jobs, a drop of about 19 per cent in less than two years. The permit numbers have continued to slide steadily since reaching a high of 26,659 in November 2008.

The June figures also reveal that the decline is not just due to the typical summer exodus of temporary positions, such as hospitality industry workers and teachers. Rather, the figures indicate that permanent jobs are leaving the Cayman Islands.

Police warning

Police are warning parents and care-givers who leave children unattended throughout the school holidays that they could end up in court facing charges of neglect.

Detective Inspector Christsandra Mitchell of the RCIPS Family Support Unit said: that some children were being dropped off at local libraries sometimes for hours on end without food or contact information. She said that this type of abandonment could lead to criminal investigation.

New roads for Cayman Brac

Work has begun on repaving Cayman Brac’s roads for the first time in 30 years.

A new asphalt plant installed on the Bluff is supplying the material to ‘blacktop’ the island’s roads. Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, who is also minister of district administration, works, lands and agriculture, joined her ministry’s chief officer, Kearney Gomez, District Commissioner Ernie Scott and Deputy District Commissioner Mark Tibbetts for a visit to the asphalt plant site on 30 June.