It seems that every time you open a newspaper or turn on the radio these days there is somebody from the Cayman Islands Post Office - usually the Postmaster General, Ms Sheena Glasgow - exhorting us to use the new Postcode.

Actually, Postman Bob is just too cute - and is starting to get a bit annoying. And why anyone would worry about a country with only 50,000 people having to have a postal code when many countries in the region with populations in the millions don't bother is beyond me. But that's what's been decided and by golly we'd better get it together and have our letters and numbers in order real soon or we won't get our mail.

I guess the days of "Oh, dat Micky Ebanks, him move down Bodden Town way. Send de letta dere, dey know he pick it up from de counta" are a thing of the past. Now Great-Auntie Sylvie in Canada will no longer be able to send a legacy check to her niece Mathilda Bodden somewhere in West Bay; her letter will be returned stamped "address unknown".

Okay, no more ranting about the postal code. Let's look at something a bit more ecologically relevant.

A feeble response

The debate over the captive dolphin facilities has been heating up again. The long-awaited pronouncement from our Tourism/Environment minister, Hon Charles Clifford, was about as feeble as it could be. It certainly wasn't scientific, that's for sure. He doesn't believe the environment will be negatively affected by proposed captive dolphin facilities, he is quoted as saying in a recent story in the Net News.

Nor does he believe the dive industry will be negatively affected by the setting up of such facilities in the Cayman Islands, besides maybe some increased competition in the "ater activities" market.

"Mr Clifford was responding to recent comments from divers and environmentalists that Cayman's environment will suffer because dolphin waste from such facilities causes algae blooms that kill surrounding reefs, and captive dolphins could cause divers to boycott the destination," the story continues.

The minister said he understands the environmentalists' stance on captive dolphin facilities and said he believes that their primary concern is the environment rather than the captivity issue. "If the private sector entities that have expressed the intention to develop such facilities and that have received their permits for such facilities ultimately develop them, I believe that their systems and permits will ensure that our environment is not negatively impacted," he is reported as saying.

"'So I don't anticipate any impact on the dive industry other than perhaps on the commercial side, as a dolphinarium will admittedly introduce further competition in the market but we do operate a free market economy and that will not change," Mr. Clifford continued. "Our dive industry is and has always been important to our tourism industry and economy and the Government will continue to put significant support behind it as it has from the birth of our tourism industry.'"

Permits but no standards?

He then went on to talk about all the permits that would, of course, be adhered to. Yeah. Right. We don't even have the environmental standards in place, so how will we be able to enforce them?

The opposition to the dolphinariums has been led by Mr Billy Adam, head of Keep Dolphin Free in the Cayman Islands. In another recent Net News story he slammed the minister and the government, saying he sees something fishy, given the evidence provided by his group. "The more that you dig into this the worse it gets,' he said, indicating that things were certainly questionable.

"Mr Adam said catching dolphins in the wild is often brutal and statistics have shown that dolphins have shorter life spans in captivity. He is also concerned that dolphin waste may cause health problems for swimmers and damage to coral reefs in the Islands, which heavily depends on tourism," the story continues.

After many attempts by the group to get the government to stop the captive dolphin facilities from setting up shop, Mr. Adam says he has come to the conclusion that it won't listen. "We have stated many, many reasons for our stance and we tell Government but they doesn't react," he said. The Tourism/Environment Minister has been given evidence of the negative impact of dolphinariums in several countries, and Mr Adam expressed disappointment in Mr. Clifford's statement to the media that the captive dolphins would not hurt the Islands' environment.

"'We have given him evidence in the past to show where it has negatively impacted in countries where they have had these facilities - Mexico and Antigua, just to name two," he said in the story. "When we talk and we make statements we bring evidence, where in any of his statements is he backing that up with any information? What's his credible source of information? His statement is as hollow as a drum, a lot of noise and no substance,' he added."

Well, Mr Adam, of course the government is not going to respond to you in a reasonable or intelligent manner. Leaving aside the environmental and ecological issues, you are dealing with big money. In fact, you are dealing with a Business Plan - that holy of holies in the so-called free market. The plan was devised a few years back during the reign of King McKeeva, when it was decided to massively expand the Turtle Farm and turn it into a northwest Caribbean Disneyland, aka Boatswain's Beach.

Tens of millions of dollars have been spent on this plan by government - based on the expectation of a big return. Part of the package was a dolphinarium because of the huge cash flow it would generate.

How can we not build a dolphinarium if we expect to get some of our money back?

A Postal Code lottery will give us the bucks

Well, guess what? I've had an idea. And it goes right back to that plaguey postal code.

In Holland, and also in the UK, they have established a postal code lottery.

The Dutch Nationale Postcode Loterij (National Postcode Lottery) was started in 1989 and has become the Netherlands' largest lottery for charities dedicated to people and the environment, with 2.5 million households subscribing. The lottery is the Netherlands' largest in terms of size of prizes and numbers of tickets sold. With 4 million prizewinners in 2001, an estimated quarter of the Dutch population profits from the lottery, reports the lottery's web site.

"In total, the Nationale Postcode Loterij, licensed by the Ministry of Justice, has raised 1.2 billion euro for charities, half of which has been donated to international projects. Sixty per cent of the lottery's turnover, the highest in the world, is reserved for donations to 40 major Dutch and global non-governmental organisations committed to poverty prevention, the defense of human rights and nature conservation. Another 4 per cent is distributed as prizes while the remaining 16 per cent funds organisation and marketing costs," the site explains.

The lottery reported in 2001 a growth of 11.6 per cent and distributed 177 million euros to beneficiary organisations, including Novib, World Wide Fund for Nature, the Red Cross, UNICEF, Greenpeace, MŽdicins sans FrontiŹres and Amnesty International. Last year the lottery donated more than $250 million, including funds towards the United Nations Asian tsunami recovery effort.

How it works

Initially, it was unique in the world as a lottery concept - a lottery selling luck via direct mail. The lottery's ticket numbers are based on the Netherlands' postal code system. Each subscriber receives a unique ticket number. Winning ticket holders in the same postal code area share the weekly street prize, the jackpot, and the mega summer and New Year's "Postcode Kanjer". Their neighbours living in the same area share in the winners' luck, also winning prizes.

The efficient use of television with daily, weekly and monthly shows, and of direct marketing using appealing messages, revolutionized the Dutch lottery industry. As a result, the sector has seen its turnover grow massively over the past decade.

The idea has caught on, and the UK now has its own postal code lottery; the Northeast region has been chosen to pilot the idea. People who enter the weekly draw spend just $3 on a ticket and have a 1-in-134 chance of winning. Pretty good odds. Organisers will see how the regional trial goes with the aim of running it nationwide.

"Amsterdam-based game organisers, Novamedia, anticipate more than $4 million will be paid out in prizes this year," reports the Newcastle Evening Chronicle. "Half of the pot goes towards prizes, while 20 per cent will be given to charities based in the North East. The Dutch Postcode Lottery donated $250 million to good causes last year," says the story.

"Jan Versteegh, the UK Postcode Lottery's business development manager, said: "We have chosen the North East as a pilot because it is a nice, separate area with a strong community feel.

It's all about local communities. People play their postcode and only those tickets which are participating are drawn," said Mr. Versteegh, "We have communities or streets that win together. We organise street parties if there are enough people playing together who have won.'"

So how does this lottery work? Well, players enter their postcodes, and each player is given a three-digit number up to 499. First prize goes to the ticket with the winning postcode and number, but prizes are also awarded to those with the same postcode and those in the same postal area.

That shouldn't be too hard for us to adopt. It could be organized by mailbox groups or community-based postal zones, and at those odds pretty much everyone could afford to buy a ticket. Then, instead of all that "numbers" money going offshore, we would keep it in Cayman.

And we could use it to help finance the construction and operation of Boatswain's Beach - without the dolphinarium, of course!

If you wish to contact the Green Hornet directly, you can e-mail me at: caymanhornet@yahoo.com. All messages will be treated confidentially.