Dear Sir,

Mr McKeeva Bush’s considered income and property tax proposal will not be very well received. After all, the Cayman Islands by virtue of the Constitution, is ‘a tax free haven” such changes would only be made possible by way of a referendum.

I can predict the answer will be a resounding “no to income tax, and no to property tax” so don’t bother to go there. This would be devastating. The United States government prosecutes its people every day whether they’re sick, well or terminally ill for not being able to pay their taxes, regardless of the circumstances.

We cannot allow that to happen to our people, it would totally destroy us. We must remain tax free. Critics may say “I can’t find one good thing about the cigarette or liquor tax “. It’s called the politically correct tax. Impose a tax on the cigarettes and liquor to increase Cayman Islands government’s revenue.

I beg to differ; it’s time to do something politically correct in this situation. We are at the crossroads economically and must act quickly. It’s not only politically correct; it’s just the right thing to do at this time in the history of the Cayman Islands.

The United States provides financial grants for its territories like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and this is what good mother countries do for their territorial children whenever they are in financial trouble, in this current global economic crisis affecting everyone, instead of milking them.

Young calves have no milk, cows do. On the other hand, Britain is pressuring the Cayman Islands after being destroyed by hurricane PPM to cough up a solution to the problem in a couple of days, by September 7, 2009. This escalated problem was created over the past 4 to 8 years. How unreasonable can the UK be?

It is clear the current government is not responsible for this problem, so why pressure our newly elected leader. That’s not fair, and he should be allowed more time to sort this out with the most brilliant minds at his side.

What kind of parent only looks after her own financial interest and neglects her child?

Here’s what mother has already done to help herself while her children suffer: according to one of our local newspaper reports, in the United Kingdom, the government is proposing that money that has sat in dormant accounts for more than 15 years will be moved in a central fund and will be used to finance community projects.

Some of the money from the accounts is slated to go to the UK Department of Children, Schools and Families and will help fund a new or improved youth facility in every constituency in England by 2010. Currently there is no available data on just how much money is sitting in dormant accounts in Cayman. It would be up to the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority to request that information from the banks and so far they have not issued any guidance on the matter.

There is also the need to get its hands on the money accumulating in these dormant accounts. Even if there was legislation, it would still remain a contingent liability on the government books because the owners of the money or the estate may still come looking for it.

Mr O’Dea says dormant accounts are monitored closely because “from a banking perspective the accounts are considered high risk; staff or outsiders may want to attack the accounts,” to get their hands on the money.

There are ways to access forgotten money, if a person knows how to ask. Past president of the Cayman Islands Bankers’ Association, Eduardo D’Angelo De Silva, explained that the banks follow the rule set out in section 9.16 of the Bank Code; the section states that “if you ask us, we will tell you how to access these accounts.”

I suggest that the Cayman Islands legislature gets busy in drafting emergency legislation, and if need be with the UK’s FCO approval our government should get permission to access these accounts/funds. The bureau of Unclaimed Funds in the United States is making very good use of those unclaimed funds in dormant accounts and it is serving very well, and fully functional.

Currently, the States Chief Financial Officer holds unclaimed property accounts valued at more than $1 billion, mostly from dormant accounts in financial institutions, insurance and utility companies, securities and trust holdings.

In addition to money and securities, unclaimed property includes tangible property such as watches, jewelry, coins, currency, stamps, historical items and other miscellaneous articles from abandoned safe deposit boxes.

Unclaimed money is deposited into the state school fund, where it is used for public education. There is, however, no statute of limitations, and citizens have the right to claim their property any time at no cost. For all the critics and opponents, “This is an emergency” and the Cayman Islands government must work smart, not hard and do the same. We must act now, this is not just Mr Bush’s problem alone, it is everyone’s problem.

We have an issue, the civil servants needs to get paid and stay employed and some monies need to be pumped into education as well, Mr Suckoo of the Civil Service Association reminded government that there is up to $80 million dollars sitting in dormant accounts and could be put to good use. It’s time to do something big, and something different to get big and different results.

I recommend these funds not be used for any pet projects, or pork barrel projects (funding projects that bring monies into a particular representative’s district). This money must be accounted for and the stewards must be held accountable. It is needed at this time for education and the civil service payroll.

Florence Goring-Nozza