LETTER TO THE EDITOR

C&W Chief Executive clarifies his personal position

Timothy Adam

Friday, September 24, 2004

Dear Sir:

This is a follow-up to the copy of my letter that was posted on the Cayman Net News website. I would be very grateful if you could arrange for this to be posted on your website as soon as possible, and in your newspaper.

Let me make it very clear: this is being sent from me in my personal capacity, not in my position in my company. Please do not interpret anything I have said in my previously published letter, nor in this one, as being necessarily representative of the position of my company or its top management.

First I should clarify that what was posted on the website was an extract from a message I sent to someone high in the ranks of my company, at 8:06am Cayman time (Eastern Standard Time) on Wednesday September 15 2004. The objective of the message was not publicity or media exposure, and it was not designed for publication. It was posted because I stood by my word. Despite officials in Britain having been notified of the letter well before the noon deadline I had set and the extended deadline of 2:00 pm, up to 3:00 pm that day I still had heard nothing in response from any British (or US) official.

Late Wednesday evening, I got a message from a Cayman Islands Government official who was very concerned about the risk of negative impact to the Cayman Islands, resulting from the letter on the web. We had a long but good discussion, in which the official assured me that help would be coming although not as quickly as I had hoped. I am typically very cautious by nature, so on the understanding that the help was indeed coming and on condition that the government would not come after me, my company, the publisher, his website or webmaster with legal or any other action (realising we are officially in a State of Emergency), I agreed with the official to issue a letter requesting that the web article be removed immediately from the websites (caymannetnews.com and caribbeannetnews.com). So said, so done. It was never my aim to have this letter made public in any case, but to ensure that we got action fast I allowed for public pressure as a last resort.

The local officials in the Cayman Islands are doing an outstanding job considering the extent of the storm damage and the resources they have. The progress in recovery so far is nothing short of miraculous. My sense of the situation is that they are simply getting on with it, they’re not sitting there helpless waiting for outside assistance, but frankly I believe they are less inclined to ask for help or expect any rapid assistance especially from Britain given their experiences over the past week.

This is not something that can be sorted out in the media, although perhaps some truths may be revealed if it becomes the subject of intense media attention. I must admit that given what I have been engaged in over the past few days especially from September 11 2004 onwards, I have not had the time to follow up on much of what is going on in the media although I have heard there has been some coverage of this issue. I only hope the truth will be told.

I realize that the publication of my letter caused unnecessary anxiety. To anyone impacted by this, my sincere apologies. As anyone who read the letter would see, from the beginning I was very concerned that in the event of publication “it would cause a lot of unnecessary panic, it will get blown way out of proportion and so will the response.” All I was asking for was a bit of help for the RCIP to give us a margin of safety as a temporary measure, and hence my precaution to use publication as a "last resort" to see that we get some help. It is disappointing that in the end the circumstances were such that the letter was published.

Nevertheless it is very important that people in the island and overseas should know that the security situation in the island is much more stable now, and in that regard the island is pretty much “back to normal”. The RCIP did a tremendous job of getting things well under control, and that to me is a tremendous boost to the reputation of the Cayman Islands considering the huge obstacles they faced and the lack of help from outside for the first several days. In addition, the promised help has arrived.

The Recovery Committee is also making a lot of progress addressing the various issues. They are organized, and they are dealing with each aspect methodically. They are also very willing to accept outside help, and firms on the island are doing their part too to get on with the recovery. For example some companies operating on the island are assisting by making arrangements for physicians to do health checks, primary health care and tetanus inoculations for their staff at their place of business. Several companies have pitched in to help with charter flights to evacuate people who are not absolutely essential to the recovery effort. This is the Caymanian way: the private sector fully engaged and taking initiatives to move things along, and the public sector getting on with its tasks too.

Just in case anyone misinterprets the evacuations: this is not about security concerns etc. It is all about making the very best use of resources available to get the island up and running again, by ensuring that the resources available on the island are focused on supporting the recovery work. My family is a prime example: I accompanied my wife and young children to the US to get them settled in accommodation and schooling, but my eldest son has remained on the island to assist in the recovery effort.

The pictures can’t portray the story of just how much storm damage was done, but on the other hand miraculously there are many useable buildings both residential and commercial, many of them were basically untouched, much of the core infrastructure is intact, and the spirit in the country is very much ‘can-do’ and we are doing it. The world will be amazed at how quick the recovery will be, and I for one am very excited about the new Cayman Islands that will be born out of this experience. We are working together in a spirit of cooperation and common objectives, and it’s exhilarating to be a part of this.

I know several people may be upset with me because of my previous letter, but this is “all in the family” that we call Cayman and I hope some day they will forgive me. I did it only because of my absolute determination to do everything in my power to see the country regain a firm footing and recover quickly, and to seek rapid help in doing so.

We are making swift progress, but frankly we still need help – and a lot of it. Our characteristic pride and conservatism may inhibit us from asking too openly, so whether you are a country, a company or an individual, “listen loud” and lend a hand in whatever way you can.

God bless,

Timothy Adam

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