I was shocked to read the story on CNS today (Fri 14) at trouble in Paradise – the Paradise Club being Morritt’s Tortuga Club in East End.

It was only earlier in the year when I was present, at the invitation of then Operations Manger, William Connolly, appearing as the Town Crier at the opening of The Londoner.

The big slap backing by everyone present was the huge Caymanian work presence at the resort. North Side MLA Ezzard Miller was there alongside Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell, and East End MLA Arden McLean.

The owner, David Morritt, also heralded the large number of Caymanians being employed and complimented them on their hard work. He spoke about the solid and experienced Caymanian management team.

Now we have learnt William Connolly has been sacked and that is probably the reason why my promised weekend at The Londoner for two gift voucher never arrived in the post!

The CNS story tells us many Caymanian workers have been sacked and David Morritt’s son-in-law was now the Operations Manager who immediately fired Connolly who had been transferred to the post of Assistant Resort Manager to make way for him.

Miller said both his wife and his brother Jerris Miller had worked at the resort and had both since resigned as a result of the management changes and the job terminations. Jerris Miller was there at The Londoner opening.

Only last Tuesday iNews Cayman announced the appointment of Willy Giger as the new General Manager (see “New Manager for Cayman Islands Morritt’s Resort” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/new-manager-for-cayman-islands-morritts-resort/).

CNS says they have actually seen documentation showing “government has been investigating allegations that the management at Morritt’s Tortuga Club in East End is falling foul of immigration and labour rules and has been sacking Caymanians without cause. But while the director of the labour unit has documented serious concerns about the new management practices, the deputy governor has dismissed many of the allegations which are all also denied by the new management team”.

The story also says, “In what appears to have been a more than four month probe over a stack of allegations into the goings on at the popular East End resort, the deputy governor recently told Miller and McLean that there are some issues but among them, the main trigger of the complaints which was the permit granted to Johnson, was legal. He said that officers who granted the permit did not know, at the time, that a local worker was actually in the post when the application was made.”

“Officers who granted the permit did not know, at the time, that a local worker was actually in the post when the application was made”?

But isn’t their job to make sure that when a work permit is granted it isn’t already or cannot be filled by a Caymanian?

20 long standing Caymanian employees have now lost their jobs claims the story.

Morritt’s denies the claims and seems to have strong support from Franz Manderson. In a statement to CNS a Morritt’s spokesperson boasted the resort has “one of highest percentages of Caymanian employees of any company in Grand Cayman with a staff comprising over 100 Caymanians out of a total staff of 125 persons.”

“Because of the seriousness of these false accusations, Morritt’s has not only been cooperating with the government but has been proactive in seeking counsel and advice from the government at the highest levels, including within the Departments of Immigration and Labour. Fortunately the government confirmed last week, after conducting a lengthy evidentiary review including a comprehensive review of our permit applications, personnel records and conducting interviews of our staff, our management and our stakeholders, that these allegations have no basis in fact and that Morritt’s has been and still is operating in compliance with the laws of the Cayman Islands,” the spokesperson added.

With that number of Caymanians being employed, if that is correct, I suppose making 20 others ‘walk the plank’ isn’t worth bothering about – except to the 20 who once had a job.

I have to disagree. Certainly Miller put it all in perspective when he said he “was deeply troubled by the hesitant position taken by the government authorities and that the power and influence of the resort was undermining what should have been a more thorough investigation into what has happened.”

“The more employees complain about what is happening the more local people are losing their jobs”, he said.

For writing this I suppose I have lost my job as Town Crier there if there is another need for that position. Mind you the pay wasn’t that good and I didn’t even get one bite offered to eat in the five hours I was there. I even had to beg for a glass of water. And my gift certificate is still waiting to be posted.

I still find the CNS revelations shocking.