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Year in Review
SYNOPSIS OF MAJOR
DEVELOPMENTS
Government Changes
In October, the Minister for Planning, Communications,
Works and Information Technology, the Hon. Linford
Pierson, exchanged roles with the then-Speaker, the Hon.
Julianna O’Connor-Connolly. As the first elected member
for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, Mrs. O’ConnorConnolly was also granted responsibility for her home
district. To take these changes into account, her Ministry
was renamed the Ministry for Planning, Communications,
District Administration and Information Technology. To
complete the changes, responsibility for the Public Works
Department was transferred to the Hon. Gilbert McLean,
whose ministry then became Health Services, Agriculture,
Aviation and Works.
This was the second name change for Mr. McLean’s
ministry. Earlier in the year, “Aviation,” at the time one of the
ministry’s responsibilities, was added to the ministry’s name.
Cayman’s former Solicitor General, Mr. Samuel Bulgin,
who acted as Attorney General for the brief period when
the post was vacant, was formally appointed Attorney
General in July.
Boundary Commission (EBC). The order also provided
for the Executive Council to be renamed the “Cabinet.”
The Minister for Tourism, Environment,
Development and Commerce, the Hon. McKeeva Bush,
who already had the informal title of Leader of
Government Business, was formally designated thus on
30th June. HE the Governor, Mr. Bruce Dinwiddy, CMG,
appointed Mr. Kurt Tibbetts as Leader of the Opposition.
In conjunction with these changes, the Executive
Council Secretariat became the Cabinet Office. The new
office’s responsibilities include providing policy advice
to the Cabinet and strengthening government’s crossministry policy co-ordination. The office’s aim will be to
foster a politically neutral policy development and
coordination culture. Then-Chief Immigration Officer
Orrett Connor, JP, MBE, was appointed as Cayman's first
Cabinet Secretary.
Electoral Boundary Commission (EBC)
The UK Order-in-Council called for the Leader of
Government Business and the Leader of the Opposition
to each advise the Governor on an appointee to the EBC
and for the Governor to appoint the chairman. At the end
of June, Leader of Government Business, the Hon.
McKeeva Bush, recommended Mr. Eddinton Powell; the
Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Kurt Tibbetts,
recommended Ms Adriannie Webb; and the Governor
chose Mr. Carl Dundas as chairman. A Jamaican barrister
who works as an elections consultant, Mr. Dundas was,
for over ten years, employed by the Commonwealth
Secretariat as its special legal adviser responsible for
technical assistance in electoral matters.
The commission’s terms of reference directed it:
• To recommend the boundaries of 17 (there are
currently six) electoral constituencies with each
constituency returning one member to the Legislative
Assembly.
• To consider natural boundaries and existing electoral
districts.
Constitutional Modernisation
Since circulating its Partnership for Progress and Prosperity
between Britain and Her Overseas Territories White Paper, the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has encouraged
constitutional advancement in its Overseas Territories (OTs).
Cayman’s Constitutional Modernisation Commission worked
throughout 2001 and produced a report and a draft constitution
early in 2002. There followed a period of public discussion,
followed by debate in the Legislative Assembly. Then in
August 2002 a collection of documents was sent to the FCO. In
February 2003, after talks in London in December 2002, the
UK Government sent a draft constitution and a draft interim
Order-in-Council to Cayman for public discussion.
In June 2003 the interim order was put into effect,
amending the Cayman Islands Constitution to provide for
the appointment of a Leader of Government Business, a
Leader of the Opposition, and a three-member Electoral
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Year in Review
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concerned about putting the Islands' interests first, wanted
these words removed from the UK’s draft: “to be
inconsistent with any obligation of HM or HM’s
Government in the UK towards any other state or any
international organisation.”
To ensure that each constituency contains an
approximately equal number of persons qualified to
be registered as electors.
To return at least two members to the Assembly from
Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.
To take no account of the racial distribution of electors.
The commission began work in July and finished a
month later.
Alternative Forms of Self-determination
Concurrently with the legislative process, Government
sought to inform itself on alternative forms of selfdetermination, stopping short of independence. In May
2003 Cayman attended a UN meeting in Anguilla with
other non-self-governing territories (NSGTs). In June 2003
the Leader of Government Business the Hon. McKeeva
Bush addressed the United Nations Special Committee
Meeting on Decolonisation at the UN in New York City.
Mr. Bush later asked the Chamber of Commerce to appoint
a bi-partisan committee to investigate other constitutional
frameworks.
Constitutional Change: How Much and When
In November 2003 the EBC’s report and the UK’s draft
constitution were debated in the Legislative Assembly. A
Committee of the full House proposed 14 changes to the
draft and approved these amendments on 24 November.
It was expected that they would be discussed at a further
round of talks in the UK early in 2004. The amendments
were to:
• phase in the implementation of one person/one vote
in George Town for the 2004 elections, and in West
Bay, Bodden Town, and Cayman Brac and Little
Cayman for the 2008 elections;
• divide George Town into six one-person/one-vote
constituencies, based on the EBC’s report, for the 2004
elections;
• impose no term limit on the Chief Minister;
• appoint Deputies for the Chief Minister and the Leader
of the Opposition;
• stipulate that the Governor appoint the deputy to
perform the functions of office if the Chief Minister
were unable to do so.
Government also requested amendments to the section
regarding questions brought to Cabinet by ministers,
believing that questions should be brought and recorded,
after which the Governor could say whether or not they
were accepted. The UK’s draft constitution stated that
questions brought to Cabinet by ministers had to be preapproved by the Governor.
Government preferred to describe the Cabinet
Secretary’s function as “co-ordinating and implementing”
government policy. Furthermore, it wanted the qualifier
“of which four are voting” added to the draft’s statement
that no business should be conducted if there were fewer
than five members present.
Expressing the view that current qualifications for
elected members of the Legislative Assembly under the
1972 Constitution are adequate, government did not want
to include the words “and British citizenship." Regarding
the Governor’s assenting to a bill, Cayman’s leaders,
The EU Savings Directive
In November 2003 the Leader of Government Business the
Hon. McKeeva Bush reported to the House on the
Government’s discussions with the UK about the EU
savings directive. Mr. Bush reported that he stressed that
he would not compromise the future of Cayman’s financial
services industry.
Mr. Bush met again with officials in London during
the first week in December and after further intensive
discussions between officials the two sides reached an
agreement in January 2004. Cayman would enact
legislation before June 2004 that would allow for the
disclosure of information. Negotiated agreements between
Cayman and EU member countries would also be
completed before the same date. In return the UK would
recognise the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange, actively
promote Cayman’s financial industry and its tourism
industry (particularly to EU member countries), and
include Cayman in international meetings that may impact
the Islands’ interests.
Throughout the negotiations, Government
underscored that the Cayman Islands desired a level
playing field and expected that relevant measures of the
European Union Savings Directive would come into effect
at the same time in European Union member states, other
countries and overseas territories with financial services
industries.
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Year in Review
500 Years of History, Culture and Beauty
viewed its exhibits, and watched a parade of tall ships
from the second-floor National Museum’s porch prior to
touring that facility.
He also opened the NCVO Nadine Andreas Residential
Foster Home and attended church at Elmslie Memorial.
On Cayman Brac the Earl opened the Veterans and Seamen’s
Centre and visited Faith Hospital and the Kirkconnell
Community Care Centre. The Prince hiked trails on the
Brac, admired the FCO-sponsored nature tourism project
in Little Cayman and dedicated the site of the Central
Caribbean Marine Institute’s Little Cayman Research
Centre. On Saturday, 10 May, the Earl presided at an
investiture. On behalf of HM Queen Elizabeth II, he
conferred an OBE, two MBEs and four Cayman Islands
Certificates and Badges of Honour. On Monday, 12 May,
he awarded the Duke of Edinburgh gold award to five
young residents.
Since his visit, the Prince attended Government’s
Quincentennial Celebrations reception in London and
consented to be the Patron of the Central Caribbean Marine
Institute.
Columbus sited the two Sister Islands, Cayman Brac and
Little Cayman, in 1503. He sailed on without stopping but
their mention in the ship’s log brought the Islands into
history’s written record, providing a reference point for
the celebration of their Quincentennial year.
The year began with a state occasion, as the “Wall of
Honour” was unveiled, celebrating persons past and
present who contributed to the Islands’ stability and
growth. A new public holiday was created, National
Heroes Day (to be celebrated the fourth Monday in
January), and families attended the first celebration of this
holiday to see beloved ancestors and distinguished citizens
honoured. Previously enshrined largely in memory, the
names of these honoured forebears are now carved in
stone in recognition of their significant contributions to
the development of these Islands.
Special Quincentennial events such as the
International Festival, Technology Expo, FLAVA 500
Sandcastle Competition and Gospel Concert, and the
Christmas Festival, drew crowds. Regularly scheduled
events such as the Agricultural Show, the Queen Elizabeth
II Botanical Park’s Orchid Show, and Pirates Week were
all flavoured with Quincentennial spice.
Each district had a special day to celebrate and unveil
a monument surrounded by “pavers” – bricks engraved
with current and past residents’ names. Bodden Towners
filled their Civic Centre with antique possessions, so the
older people could remember and the younger could
learn. On Cayman Brac in a special Quincentennial park
on the Bluff, there is a Sister Islands Wall of Honour and
a memorial to Columbus.
Immigration
Who is Caymanian? Who can reside in these Islands? How
many times should an expatriate’s work permit be
renewed?
These and other questions had been the subject of
national debate for years. On 25 September a draft
Immigration Bill was tabled in the Legislative Assembly,
allowing for a period of public consultation before the bill
went before a committee of the whole House in November.
A seven-member Immigration Review Team (IRT)
had worked for two years to produce legislation that
would address long-term planning, human rights, and
growth management issues. In tabling the draft, Leader of
Government Business the Hon. McKeeva Bush encouraged
people to speak out on what IRT Chairperson Sheri BoddenCowan called, “One of the most important pieces of
legislation in advancing Cayman’s development in the
next ten to 20 years.”
The new Immigration Law was passed by the
Legislative Assembly in December 2003 and took effect 1
January 2004. Among its provisions were new requirements
for persons wishing to visit, reside, work, conduct business
or study in the Cayman Islands. The law also defined who
was Caymanian as of right, and introduced powers,
procedures and mechanisms to improve efficiency in
A Quincentennial Royal Visit
The Earl and Countess of Wessex were scheduled to be
Cayman’s special guests at May’s Seafarer’s Festival. A
week before the festival, the Palace announced that the
Countess was pregnant and the doctor had advised her
not to travel. However, Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth’s
youngest son, was able to visit as planned.
He arrived on Friday, 9 May, and left on Monday, 12
May. During his visit, the Prince visited all three islands, all
five districts of Grand Cayman, commissioned two new
parks, and attended an official dinner at Government House.
As planned, the Prince was the guest of honour at the
Quincentennial Celebration’s Seafarers’ Festival. He
dedicated the Wall of History in Heroes Square, unveiled
the Mariner’s Memorial, officially opened the festival and
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Year in Review
administering the system. For example, three smaller
boards now replace the Immigration Board. The boards,
which operate independently of each other, are the Work
Permit Board, the Caymanian Status and Permanent
Residency Board, and the Business Staffing Plan Board.
One of the more sensitive immigration issues has been the
granting of Caymanian status to residents whose
attachment to the Islands comes only through residency,
and not through kinship. Government Immigration Boards
had for years avoided filling quotas set by the law for the
granting of status on the basis of residency.
During the year, Cabinet exercised its right to grant
2,850 (mostly long-term) residents Caymanian status.
Cabinet defended its actions, saying that it sought to
address a substantial accumulation of persons who had
been resident between 10-20 years and that the grants had
been made in the spirit of the Quincentennial anniversary.
Data Systems, focuses on school improvement through
computerised resources, activities and lesson plans for
students. March saw the launch of the Learning Village
Portal through which teachers share resources. Shortly
after, teachers from pilot schools Bodden Town, Red Bay,
John A. Cumber primaries, and George Hicks and Cayman
Brac high schools began training. A public meeting was
held to inform parents and a team of Education Department
and school personnel continued to work on ITALIC lessons
and unit plans to enhance the teaching of language arts
and math, work they’d begun the previous year.
Achievement
On 8 September, then-Deputy Police Commissioner Buel
Braggs, RVM, CPM became the first Caymanian
Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Islands Police.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II honoured Mr. Leonard
Edward Kendal (Kenny) Ryan, naming him a Member of
the British Empire in her 2003 New Year’s Honours List.
Locally, His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Bruce Dinwiddy,
awarded three residents with the Cayman Islands
Certificate and Badge of Honour: Mr. John Bothwell, JP,
Mr. A. J. Miller, and Mrs. Annie Lou Scott.
The Queen’s Birthday Honours in June recognised
the Governor, Mr. Bruce Dinwiddy, who was made a
Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George
(CMG). Mr. David Ritch, JP, and Mr. Linton Tibbetts were
made Officers of the Most Excellent Order of the British
Empire (Civil Division) (OBE). Mr. Orrett Connor, JP, and
Mr. Carson Ebanks, JP, were each made a Member of the
Order of the British Empire (MBE). The Colonial Police
Medal (CPM) for meritorious service was awarded to
Detective Chief Inspector Denzie Carter. Governor
Dinwiddy awarded the Cayman Islands Certificate and
Badge of Honour to eight Caymanians: Mr. Carl
Christopher Godet, Mr. David Neils Godfrey, the Reverend
Stanwyck Myles, Pastor Clement Ransford Reid, Mr. Selbert
Percy Jackson and Mr. Laten Moreland Bush.
The Cayman Islands Representative in London, Mrs
Jennifer Dilbert, was elected chairman of the Londonbased United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association
(UKOTA). The Association plays an important coordination role for the OTs and provides a forum for
debate on policy and issues of mutual interest.
Three postgraduate students, Paul William
Parchment, Yolanda Banks-McCoy and Casandra Hibbert
were awarded scholarships under the UK’s Foreign and
Liberalisation in Telecommunications
In 2003 Government and Cable & Wireless entered into
negotiations that would end the company’s governmentgranted monopoly. In June the parties reached agreement
and the then-Minister of Communications and Information
Technology the Hon. Linford Pierson outlined the timetable
for liberalisation.
When the agreement was formally signed in July,
applications for all types of telecommunications licences
could be received and reviewed, and the licences issued.
New entrants to the market, if licensed to provide services
such as mobile, could begin immediately to construct their
networks. Actual commercial operation was to be phased
in. In November, Internet service providers could begin
commercial operation; however, alternative domestic mobile
providers had to wait until February 2004, and international
(i.e., long distance) telecommunications, until April 2004.
The Information Communications Technology Authority
received 21 applications and by early September had entered
into detailed licensing discussions with nine applicants.
The agreement gave Cable and Wireless the time it
needed to adjust its operations. In a popular move, the
company lowered international direct-dial long-distance
rates by 40% on 1 December 2003.
ITALIC
ITALIC (Improving Teachers and Learning in the Cayman
Islands), an initiative developed by the Ministry of
Education with assistance from IBM affiliate Cayman
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Year in Review
Commonwealth Office (FCO) Chevening Scholarship
Scheme. The awardees will respectively be undertaking
studies in engineering, finance and tourism.
The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands chose ten
year-old Brandon Beckett and his artwork entitled Me in the
New Millennium to represent Cayman at the 2003 Children’s
Art Festival in Washington, D.C. The festival is an initiative
of the International Children’s Arts Foundation (ICAF).
The Ministry of Culture’s 2003 Cultural Scholarship
found an apt candidate in 16 year-old Jonelle Ebanks. She
plays eight instruments including the flute, piccolo, steel
pan and saxophone and is heading to the Repton School in
Derbyshire (UK) for two years of A-level studies.
In November, Creek/Spot Bay student Nathaniel
DaCosta spelled “vicissitudes” and won the Royal Bank of
Canada Primary School Spelling Bee. Another Bracker,
high school student David Wahler, was the champion
speller with a perfect score when the older students
competed later in the month at the Lions Club of Grand
Cayman Spelling Bee.
The International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI)
held its 31st Commencement Exercises in December and
conferred honorary degrees on the Leader of Government
Business, the Hon. McKeeva Bush; Minister of Education,
Human Resources and Culture, the Hon. Roy Bodden; and
North Side MLA and women’s rights advocate, Mrs. Edna
Moyle. The college also honoured former MLA and
community activist, Ms Heather Bodden; historian and
writer, Mr. Percival (Will) Jackson; and posthumously,
MLA and Executive Council Member Mr. James M. Bodden,
who donated the land on which ICCI is built and who was
later declared Cayman’s first national hero.
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Year in Review
The first phase of Government’s affordable housing initiative
Leroy Bodden, age 12, is a 911 hero for using the system
was launched in March with a ground-breaking ceremony
in a quick and proficient manner to save his mother. (L-R)
for Windsor Park’s 30 homes. Among the group turning the
Mary Ann McField, her son Leroy, and Minister
first shovels are the Leader of Government Business, the
responsible for Emergency Communications, the Hon.
Hon. McKeeva Bush, OBE, JP; Dr. the Hon. Frank McField
Linford Pierson, OBE, JP.
JP, the Minister responsible for the programme; members of
the National Housing and Community Development Trust;
contractors and other officials.
From left, Deputy Chief Secretary Donovan Ebanks,
Christine Wright of the Chief Secretary’s Office, Kate Joad
of the Governor’s Office, Scott Wilson from the Legal
On 17 December Cayman Airways started scheduled
Department and Chief Secretary the Hon. James Ryan
flights to Chicago. Local guests on the inaugural trip
take part in the National Security Committee’s
landed in a snow-covered city and were welcomed by Sir
counterterrorism exercise, which raised awareness of the
Turtle and Chicago residents, who bombarded them with
increased need for security and of the necessity for a plan of
questions about Cayman and begged to trade places.
action in the event of a terrorist attack.
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Year in Review
June’s Quincentennial Signature Event was an International
Festival that celebrated Cayman’s diversity (below and at
left). As the gentleman from the Netherlands demonstrates,
countries showcased their arts, crafts, and traditions. What
the photos don’t show is the food: Dutch cheese and
cookies, Brasilian barbecue, Thai sate, Filipino fruit punch,
Ukrainian pastries and more.
In a collaborative effort, government, the private sector
(among which the Dart Foundation was a major sponsor) and
local communities have developed park facilities in West Bay,
Mr. Buel Braggs RVM, CPM became
Frank Sound, North Side and East End. Here children enjoy
the first Caymanian Commissioner of
the slides at East End's Capt. George Dixon Park.
Police on 8 September.
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Year in Review
FLAVA 500 was an all-day Quincentennial
Signature family event, beginning with sand
sculpting on Seven Mile Beach and ending
with a gospel concert.
An international effort was launched to
save Grand Cayman’s endangered Blue
Iguana. Jointly the National Gallery and the
National Trust began the Blue Dragon
Project which started with the arrival of 17
fibreglass iguanas.
At East End’s Quincentennial celebration,
the wall of lifetime achievers drew the
attention of (from left) Leader of Government
Business, the Hon. McKeeva Bush; East End
District Quincentennial Chairman Alvin
McLaughlin; and Minister for Planning,
Communications, District Administration
and Information Technology, the Hon.
Julianna O’Connor-Connolly.
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Year in Review
Gladwyn Klosking Bush, known as Miss Lassie, attended
a retrospective of her work in September. In honour of
the Quincentennial, the Cayman National Cultural
Foundation hung 117 paintings (above) in the Harquail
Theatre, over 100 from the Foundation’s collection.
Cayman’s visionary intuitive artist, seen at left signing a
copy of My Markings, passed away two months later.
In central George Town, Celebration Park, the third and
final phase of Quincentennial Square, was dedicated on a
November night.
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Year in Review
November brought the Quincentennial’s Cayman 500 Car Show, featuring NASCAR driver Donnie Neuenberger, two
professional car show models, and celebrities (and their vehicles) from the USA motor show circuit. Here a Mini Cooper
shows off its Quincentennial style.
Cayman Brac, to honour the Quincentennial, built the Christopher
Columbus Gardens on the Bluff, home to the Brac’s District Monument
(right), Wall of Distinction, and memorial (above) to the Islands’
discoverer and the park’s namesake, Christopher Columbus. The park
features walking paths that weave around cliff rocks and caves.
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Year in Review
Before officially opening May’s Quincentennial Seafarer’s
Festival, HRH The Earl of Wessex (right) dedicated the
Cayman’s long established scouting tradition was
Wall of History (hidden by blue wrappings) in Heroes
honoured by the Islands choice as host (for the first time in
Square. At left, representing one of the Quincentennial's
the Caribbean) for the World Scout Foundation’s Board of
sponsors, Cayman National Group, is President and Chief
Directors meeting and the 46 World Baden-Powell
Executive Officer Eric Crutchley.
th
Fellowship event. This meant a visit by His Majesty, King
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, honourary president of the
World Scout Foundation, here surrounded by local scouts.
Bodden Town's Quincentennial celebration featured its Civic Centre filled with precious family heirlooms and founders'
portraits. Here members of the district's Quincentennial committee and QCO Executive Director Angela Martins enjoy a
vocal contribution.
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Year in Review
GIS provided official photographers and videographers
The National Gallery’s major Quincentennial event was
for the Quincentennial Celebrations. Ward Scott, framed
Soundings: Selected Works 1989-2001, paintings by
by the Wall of History, operates a GlideCam, a video
Bendel Hydes. Caymanian Hydes has lived and worked
camera mount that allows the cameraman to move yet still
in New York since 1982 and has staged several solo
produce smooth video footage.
exhibitions in New York, England and the Cayman Islands.
Local musicians entertain the crowd at sunset during the Ministry of Tourism’s Quincentennial Awards Night.
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