Thursday, 10 February2000

CommercialReal Estate still active - Residential sales continue to slump

It appears that some of the old homesteadssmack in the middle and along the perimeters of downtown, arenext targeted to make way for further commercial office and retailbuildings.

According to an informed Commercial RealEstate analyst, one area which will see some renewed activityis Mary Street , which is in the back of Caledonian Bank in theHome Insurance building block. It is understood that all the tenantsin this building were given notice to vacate by the end of April.

In the North Church Street area, a coupleof commercial sites have had deposits tendered, and the MacDonaldRestaurant site has been acquired, no doubt for development.

The insurance arm of one of the retail/clearingbanks may have decided to acquire already built space in the newCayman Corporate Centre on Hospital Road (this will be an over$4 million dollar deal) instead of putting up their own buildingon Elgin Avenue.

The fact is, while the market may be sluggish,it is obvious that some big players are astutely making commercialacquisitions now, while prices are on hold ... rather than thecontinuing spiral as it has been in the past five years.

One luxurious home in the Spotts area overlookingthe sea sold for $4.95 million
Is this confidence in Cayman or what? It must be.

It is a known fact that some very, verybig money is parked here in Cayman ... and more is on it's way- legitimately. The territory still has one of the best run FinancialCentres in the world.

Furthermore, unlike other territories likethe Bahamas (102,000) and the British Virgin Islands (over 300,000)have attracted these $250 per year International Business Companies(IBC's), Cayman seems to be the place of choice to do businessand visit, because it still is one of the safest places in theworld.

Supported by an experienced field of professionalsin matters of banking, trusts, company administration ....andrecently a growing mutual funds portfolio, the Government of theday goes the distance to ensure that all the checks are balancesare in place for good order in conducting business. To their credit,the professionals in the Financial Industry have also institutedself-policing guidelines in accord with Government.

The recent efforts by the Bankers Associationto sponsor accredited courses at the Community College is a sounddemonstration of partnership with those who are prepared to makea career in Cayman's continuing growth as a Financial Centre.

Appointed Membersof the Immigration Board are aware of employers' woes

They may not be able to speak out candidly... as so, like many others in the 'Government system' ... several... and in some cases even uniformed Immigration Officers, haveexpressed their frustration of not being able to make decisionsbased on common sense ... because there is no leeway ... or publishedguidelines from which they could work making uniform decisions.

It is hoped that the Legislative Committeenow studying the revisions of the Immigration law, will be ableto bring it's report to the Legislative Assembly and thereafterenable Legislation to correct some of the abnormalities whichseem to generate havoc because of some inexplicable decisionswhich affect so many lives, before the next General Election whichis only 40 weeks away.

This would be a fitting gift for the newLegislators ... and the beginning of a solid foundation, fromwhich the Cayman Islands could press forward.

REPORT FROMTHE HOUSE:

Local Farmersget boost from
Members of the Assembly

During debate in the Legislative Assemblythis morning, MLA for WestBay, Mr. John Jefferson brought forwarda motion regarding the problem of the local farmers in the communityand emphasized that the Cayman Islands is heavily dependent onsources abroad while local farmers are struggling to make a living.

Mr. Jefferson said that the Farmers Marketshould not be the only outlet but that supermarkets should beencouraged to sell our local produce. Because of lack of sales,farmers have been forced to cut production and they are cryingout for assistance.

Mr. Jefferson suggested a working councilconsisting of the Chief Veterinary Officer, members of the FarmersAssociation, members of the Agricultural Department, and someof the larger merchants.

MLA Mr. McKeeva Bush added: "We needto support farming. We have a fine facility and show ground costingmuch money. What good is all that if the farmers can't earn agood living?"

Dr. Frank McField, Member for George Town,commented: "If we look at our society, we find that farmersare the foundation to (our) commerce.

"People don't mind paying more fororganically-grown foods because they are health conscious",Mr. Jefferson said. "Government should be willing to assistfarmers financially."

The Minister responsible for Agriculture,the Hon. John McLean, said that he has met with the farming communityand there is ongoing dialogue between Government, the FarmersMarket and the large supermarkets. Mr. McLean said he will supportthe motion to offer assistance to local farmers.

'Gridlock'on the Roads have eased some ... but not when it comes to affordablehousing

However, unfortunately it is apparent thatthe gridlock in meeting demands to maintain many households isquite wide spread.

In many countries, housing - whether itis rental or mortgage, averages one quarter of an average salary.In the Cayman Islands, it is not unusual such commodity eats uphalf or more of the average person's income.

And because there is still a considerableamount of inventory of new apartments for sale, some developersare having to rent units ... and in some case forced to drop rentto service their construction loans.

Because of the surplus of cash around lookingfor investments -- it may be possible for the financial industryto help jump-start what seems to be a gridlock of meeting paymentsby local developers who must still continue to work for othersor themselves ... by restructuring loans, so that mortgage paymentscould be lowered ... and rents will be less strenuous ... andmore apartments will be rented ... and more families would literallyhave more space in which to raise and spend more quality timewith their families.

This could be a win (the banks) ... win(the developers) .. win (the families) ... win (for Government)who are desperately trying to find a ways to sponsor low costhousing.
The bottom line? Everyone wins.

NEWS BULLETIN

Another Man Arrested in connection withthe Murder Investigation of Curtis Seymour
Following the arrest of one man last Saturday, the Police Service
have issued the following release:

"The Criminal Investigation Departmentof the Royal Cayman Islands Police have arrested another man inconnection with the murder inquiry of Curtis Seymour."

The release continued: "A spokespersonfrom The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) stated that Policeare following a 'positive line of enquiry'.
It has also been learnt, that the second man was arrested yesterday,while he was being held in custody at Police Headquarters.

Curtis Seymour, who was well known by many,particularly for his display of stamina by running long distanceson the main roads of Grand Cayman, at peak traffic times, waskilled sometime between the night and early hours of 17th andthe 18th of last month.

He suffered multiple stab wounds, whichresulted in his death. His body was discovered at 7:40 AM on Tuesday18th of January in the Garbage collection area of an apartmentcomplex neat the Schools on Walkers Road.

The RCIP police will be issuing furtherpress releases as soon as more details are available. Keep checkingin with CAYMAN NET NEWS first ... for the most up-to-date CaymanIslands news - and commentaries - as it happens ... when it happens.

Nine persons,including four local residents charged with "laundering"money in excess of US$25 million
Among those charged are three former employees, including themanager of Euro Bank Corporation Corporation which was closeddown by the Government last year. This brings to five, the numberof persons charged so far in connection with alleged money laundering.

A Press Release issued by the RCIP confirmsthat arrest warrants have also been issued for five other persons,who are "charged with related crime."

The charges against these individuals ariseout of an investigation by the Financial Reporting Unit of theRoyal Cayman Islands Police.

This Euro Bank case is one of quite a numberof major investigations now being conducted by the RCIP who alsohave on their hands other crimes such as a murder, break-ins ofBanks' Automatic Teller Machines (ATM's),attempted armed robbery,the dramatic escape of four prisoners from their cells at PoliceHeadquarters and incident(s?) of rape ... in addition to a waveof burglaries.

Stay with CAYMAN NET NEWS ... we will bebring our viewers more on the Euro Bank affair and other reportsas they become available.