Mac goes to court

Cayman Islands ex-premier McKeeva Bush was completely silent as he stood by the dock when he made his first appearance in the Summary Court last Friday (12) morning.

His case, in which he is facing eleven charges relating to theft, misconduct in a public office and breach of trust, was moved to the Grand Court. He was not called upon to go into in the dock.

Bush’s next appearance at the Cayman Court House will be on Friday 26^th April despite his lawyer, Michael Alberga, requesting the case be mentioned after the election.

Bush remains leader of the United Democratic Party, which is fielding twelve candidates in this election including himself.

The ex-premier denies all of the charges against him claiming a conspiracy by the UK and the Cayman Islands governor, Duncan Taylor.

Church in Brac gives back the cash

Soon after Cayman Islands Premier, Hon. Juliana O’Connor Connolly, defended the

$100,000 grant to the Church of God Holiness in Red Bay, George Town, Grand Cayman, the $50,000 donation she had also approved to the Hillside Chapel, Cayman Brac, the church pastor, Rev Audley Scott, returned the cheque to the government.

Scott said in a statement that he had chased the church’s application for a grant of funds from the National Building Programme a year after it’s application last February with O’Connor Connolly who was at that time Deputy Premier. She had told him it had been approved.

Scott’s statement said:

“On February 14, 2012 a request was made to the then Hon. Premier Mr Bush for the grant of funds under the ‘Nation Building Programme’. We never received a reply to this request.

“In July 2012, I spoke to the Hon. Deputy Premier Ms O’Connor-Connolly about our request. She asked me to give her a copy of the letter again, which I did. On February 10, 2013, I was informed by the Hon Premier that the amount of $50,000.00 had been approved. On March 31, 2013 the cheque was received.

“The request for funds was made out of necessity of on-going works as a result of Hurricane Paloma. Our church is very grateful to the government of the Cayman Island and to the Hon Premier Ms. Juliana O’Connor Connolly for these much needed funds. However, because of all the negative publicity and political spin, the church membership at a joint meeting with the church council on April 10, 2013 took the decision to return the $50,000.00 to the government of the Cayman Islands, through the good office of the Hon Premier. Our need is great, but our God is greater.”

The adverse publicity was mainly at the larger donation to the Church of God Holiness, Red Bay, on Grand Cayman. This church is where O’Connor Connolly occasionally attends.

Waterman, 90, picked Cayman to make his last dive

Internationally renowned diver and underwater photographer, Stan Waterman, said at the age of 90 he saved his last dive for the Cayman Islands as this is where he shot his first film in 1980 about the Cayman Islands dive tourism.

Mr. Waterman chose Cayman to start his dive film career aboard the “Aggressor” because, the local owner, Wayne Hassan said, it provided the best platform for filming and had a lot more space than other boats of its kind at the time

From the Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Log

Log Date: Saturday, Apr 06, 2013

Entry By: Cayman Crew

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report April 6 – 13, 2013

Celebrating Stan Waterman’s 90th Birthday

Water temp 79f+

Air Temp 80s

Vis 80ft+

Wetsuit 3-5mm

Saturday.  What an exciting week is upon us! Not only is this Owner’s Week with Wayne B & Wayne H onboard, but we also have the pleasure of Stan Waterman and his lovely daughter Susy to celebrate his 90th – YES 90th birthday, and sadly his last week of diving! L surrounded by many of his close friends. We boarded everyone on the south side of the island and after unpacking several tons of camera gear we enjoyed Chef Kingsley’s BBQ, a safety briefing and a good night’s sleep.

Sunday.  A flat calm morning was a perfect start for our week of diving Aggressor style. Bullwinkle is always a great place to start with its beautiful archways and swim thrus, clear waters, and no current, and schooling tarpon!  A lunchtime cruise along the Southside put us on the Tunnel of Love on the east end. Wow, here we enjoyed the several pinnacles that reach up from the depths, as well as the many cuts, cracks, crevices, and not forgetting the beautiful Tunnel of Love crevice that heads from the sandy shallows to the drop off! The weather was improving so we decided to make the 8-hour crossing to Little Cayman.

For more on the Aggressor log go to:

http://www.aggressor.com/captainlogsview.php?log=3129

Caymanians only for bus tour drivers

After the government announcement that all drivers of tour buses must be Caymanians, some of the tour operators have said it is difficult to find Caymanians who can pass the test to be a bus tour operator.

Cayman Islands Tourism Minister then made the surprise announcement that he will be asking for the test to be reassessed as he had been told there is a 95% failure rate on the test, and therefore he thinks the bar may be too high!

He also said the fee requirement for Caymanians will be removed.