The ghastly rollover policy is here to stay but in a new form and a new title – “Term Limit”.

 

Despite the promise of extending term limits for non-Caymanian workers to 10 years the Progressives (PPM) are now the Regressives to the tune of one year. Crumbling to the opposition they have now a nine-year maximum term limit that has not appeased the cons and has inflamed the pros.

 

Cayman Islands Cabinet members have approved their new and revised immigration reform plan. This is expected to be brought to the Legislative Assembly in the October sitting.

 

The full text of the Immigration [Amendment] [No. 2] Bill was sent to local lawmakers last Friday (20). Premier Alden McLaughlin said the proposal would head to the Legislative Assembly following the approval of the 2013/14 Budget.

 

The main points in the Bill are:

 

Non-Caymanian workers residing here on Term Limit Exemption Permits will be allowed to resume holding regular work permits.

 

Time limits to be placed on Non-Caymanian workers applications for permanent residence.

 

Companies that employ the term limit exempted workers [those that were required to leave the Cayman Islands when the Oct. 28, 2013 deadline on their term limit exemption permit expired] to be given until Dec. 9 to apply for new work permits on their behalf.

 

No key employee designation – any key employee designations pending at the time the bill passes into law to be determined. Current key employees to be given a presumption in their favour for renewals of their work permits up to the nine-year term limit on residency.

 

Anyone who is able to reside continuously in Cayman for eight years will be allowed to apply for permanent residence

 

No “final, non-renewable work permit.” Individuals will be given (in most cases) 90 days to settle their affairs prior to leaving the islands.

 

Chief immigration officer, or designates, will now have the ability to decide permanent residence applications and work permits.

 

Requirements for being granted permanent residence to be changed. Redefining criteria for granting permanent residence is to align with government’s “economic, social and cultural objectives,” implementing the new permanent residence rating/points system. Fees for permanent residence applications will be increased to $1,000.

 

Time spent here on a Term Limit Exemption Permit will now count toward the eight years of continuous residency required prior to a permanent residence application being filed.

 

Time limits to be set on any application for permanent residence, whether from a Term Limit Exemption Permit holder or from a regular work permit holder.

 

All permanent residence application must be filed within the eighth year of the person’s residence in the Cayman Islands. However, Term Limit Exemption Permit holders or, in rare cases, other work permit holders, who have stayed in Cayman for 9 years or more will be allowed to apply providing applications are made within three months of the new law taking effect.

 

It will be an offense for any employer to fail to disclose job applications by Caymanians, spouses of Caymanians or permanent residents when applying for a work permit information to the Immigration Department.  The maximum first-time fine for this offense will be $20,000.

 

Permanent residence holders must submit an annual declaration in respect to investments, employment and other factors to the Immigration Department. Failure to do so will be an offence.

 

Permanent residence holders must inform the relevant immigration board or chief immigration officer if there is any change to his or her employment circumstances. Failure to do so will impose a fine.

 

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ADDRESS BY PREMIER, HON ALDEN MCLAUGHLIN JR. TO THE LEGISLATIVE LUNCHEON OF THE  CAYMAN ISLANDS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

26 September 2013

Your Excellency, Speaker of the House, Deputy Governor, Hon. Attorney General, Ministers of the Cabinet, Councillors, Members of the Legislative Assembly, Commissioner Baines, President Duggan, The Executive and Members of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, Ladies & Gentlemen;

 

I join with you in welcoming our new governor to one of Cayman’s business community’s much looked forward to events – the Legislative Luncheon.  Your Excellency I give you the assurance that the wonderful hospitality extended to us today by the Members of the Chamber should not be misconstrued as merely an excuse for an afternoon away from the office.  These occasions provide valuable interaction between the Government and the business community as well as opportunity for Chamber Members and their invited guests to discuss the state of play in their respective industries and to examine the ways in which they can contribute to the development of these islands.

 

Bearing this in mind, I am therefore especially pleased to endorse the Chamber’s Future of Cayman Economic Development Initiative of which the President spoke so passionately during his words of welcome.

 

Like President Duggan, I am convinced that in today’s economic landscape national development goals will only be reached if there is a genuine partnership between Government and private enterprise. And I do not speak here only in narrow terms of funding for private/public sector projects, for while this is an important driver of economic regeneration, the opportunity also exists to develop a new model for small, open economies such as ours whose only resource is people.  A new type of partnership is required if government and private enterprise are both to achieve their goals. There is already a lot of common ground between the Chamber’s five-point plan and our vision for the growth and development of Cayman. I therefore look forward to receiving your views on how best we can achieve these goals together and the role and contribution the Chamber will make.

 

Before I give you some of the highlights of the Government’s role in this new partnership, let me first thank you for your invitation here this afternoon.

 

The last four months have been a whirlwind for those of us in government. In spite of my earlier entreaty not to view this afternoon as an occasion simply to get out of the office, let me be the first to confess that today I welcome the escape. After weeks of battling with budget issues and grappling with the proposed amendments to the Immigration Law I am enjoying the chance to spend some time among familiar faces, to break bread with you and to have the opportunity to update you on the progress of the government since we took office in May.

 

I believe you will recall that a recurring theme during the election campaign was confidence. Confidence that a new government would put country before party. Confidence that a new government would adhere to the best principles of fiscal responsibility. Confidence that the abuse of state resources would stop. Confidence that transparency and good governance would return to the management of our affairs and confidence that you could depend on the government to keep its word.  I think we can say that we have met most of these expectations so far although we a keenly conscious that there is no room for complacency as inspiring confidence is an ongoing endeavour.

 

Confidence is the currency that will turn our economy around and it therefore should not have come as a surprise to anyone who was following developments in Cayman over the eight to twelve months preceding the elections, that one of our very first acts on assuming office was to seek to regain the trust and confidence of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office that we could get the country back on track.

 

Our ability to produce a four-year fiscal plan, which received the approval of the UK on first submission, has gone a long way to returning confidence in Cayman as it has provided the certainty that investors require and returned stability to the management of our economic affairs.

 

We are fully cognizant of the importance of this stability both to you, the members of the Chamber and to external investors.

 

Having invited you to partner with us to restore growth to the economy and ultimately to improve the quality of life of our people, let me assure you that we shall endeavor to provide the enabling environment to make this a reality in as short a time as possible. The next twelve months will be especially critical. We do not have a lot of fiscal space in which to operate and it will be a test of fiscal discipline characterized by new levels of efficiency and imaginative solutions to achieve our budget goals. The civil service has already been briefed on this new dispensation and to the credit of the fine men and women who we entrust to implement to the policies of government, they have signed on and are fully involved in meeting the goals of the Ministry of Finance.

 

We are in the final stage of preparation of the budget and the FCO’s Economic Advisor Mr. Richard Holmwood is presently here assisting with the completion of that exercise.  I am delighted that he has been able to join us at this luncheon.  We plan to present the budget to the Legislative Assembly next week Friday.   This year’s budget will see further significant reduction in government expenditure and in particular personnel costs.  There is but one new revenue measure, the introduction of directors fees.  We will not take on any new debt and will continue to pay down existing debt and make a substantial contribution to government’s past service pension liability; investments in capital projects will be responsible and revenue measures will be zero inflationary. We are projecting a substantial surplus at year end.

 

Having been told all that you will no doubt being asking the next logical question:  how will we drive growth in the economy?  As you know there are two key national projects – the cruise ship berthing and the airport expansion – on which we are depending for both short-term and long-term growth.  The process being undertaken for these national projects is to develop policy guidance for each project, and from that policy guidance a Strategic Outline Case is developed, which is followed by an Outline Business Case. As has been previously announced the Government has retained Price Waterhouse Coopers to prepare an Outline Business Case and the cruise berthing facility will be a public/private sector partnership.  Funding for the airport is already in an escrow account.  The Outline Business Case for cruise berthing and the Strategic Outline Case for the airport projects are due to be presented to Cabinet in mid-October. The Deputy Premier is working diligently to get these two projects up and running.

 

You would have heard only yesterday that the first phase of Dr. Shetty”s Health City is on schedule to open next February.  Earlier this week came the announcement that Dart’s Kimpton branded $200M hotel and condominium project on Seven Mile Beach has obtained planning approval.  Also in the news this week was the encouraging announcement that Cayman’s Special Economic Zone, Cayman Enterprise City is beginning to live up to its potential with some 85 companies signed up to enter the Zone, up from 29 at the beginning of the year. Talks are also underway with developers for the construction of a 5-Star Conrad Hilton hotel in Beach Bay, as well as a hotel at the Health City site in East End.  Government is also in discussions with developers in relation to a proposed $360 million golfing community, which will include a residential area, off Frank Sound Road in North Side. This project would also involve the extension of the East West Arterial for another 10 miles, from its terminus at Newlands to Frank Sound.  Meanwhile, the extension to the Esterley Tibbetts Highway has been completed and opened and the Minister of Infrastructure is continuing negotiations with Dart to re-balance some aspects of the For Cayman Investment Alliance Agreement it reached with the previous government.

 

Growth will therefore be private sector led, with Government playing the role of facilitator. In this I am reminded of the view of Winston Churchill, which is as relevant today as when he uttered these words in 1959.

“Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.”

 

This Government will do all its power to ensure that the wagon is sturdy and that you have the means with which to pull it. What we do not want for Cayman is the spectre of jobless growth that continues to haunt recovery in Europe and elsewhere.

 

We are committed to addressing the problem of the cost of doing business in Cayman and we are depending on business to do its part to invest the cost savings into expansion that will include increased employment. You do not need me to tell you that an employed population fuels increased business activity.

 

We have instituted a policy that guides concessions in the areas of Import Duty, Stamp Duty and Land Holding Companies Share Transfer Tax. The policy provides greater certainty as to how such requests will be treated, and it streamlines the process of considering requests.

 

We are also working to trim electricity costs by a reduction in the duty paid for diesel that produces electricity sold to Caribbean Utilities Company customers. Our challenge in this regard is balancing the revenue loss against increased economic activity so that the country, as well as consumers, enjoys a net benefit.

 

With regard to employment, we are adopting a two-pronged solution. The first is a proactive approach to placing Caymanians in available jobs through a re-invigorated National Workforce Development Agency.  The Agency has a diverse, multi-dimensional series of placement and training programmes, some in partnership with private enterprise, that cover the needs of a wide range of clients who register with them. I therefore urge you as employers to participate in their programmes and use the services they provide to find Caymanians to fill vacancies you may have in your businesses. Of course, if you can give the Government the commitment to each employ at least one new Caymanian over the next six to nine months, this would go a long way to reducing unemployment.

 

The second strategy is the reform of immigration policy to make it more responsive to the employment needs of Caymanians while at the same time ensuring that the labour needs of the market are adequate to service the areas where Caymanians are either not qualified or not available for whatever reason.

 

I think I should point out here that while immigration legislation is among other things, used to protect the jobs of the local population it is not in and of itself employment legislation. It has not escaped my attention that either through ignorance or mischief there are people who have been playing on the emotions of Caymanians, to try to convince them that their interests are not being protected by the Amendments to the Immigration Bill, which was tabled and published in the Legislative Assembly last Friday.

 

I therefore wish to spend a little time in addressing some of the fears and concerns that Caymanians have asked me and other members of the Government about and to dispel some of the falsehoods being spread by people who, frankly, should know better.

 

The first misconception is that the rollover policy has been abolished.  This is patently untrue. The rollover policy will remain but the term limit will be extended from seven years to nine years for all work permit holders.  Previously, only key employees were able to remain here for 9 years.  Essentially, the change means that all work permit holders will be treated in the same way that key employees are under the present rules and the key employee provision will be repealed. Under the current system, it is the employer who makes the determination as to who is a key employees and who can stay beyond the seven years to eventually qualify in terms of time spent on island to apply for permanent residence. By extending the length of time a work permit holder can remain to nine years and allowing all work permit holders who reach 8 years to apply for permanent residence it means that the Government can now decide through an open and transparent points system who will be granted permanent resident status rather than having this determined by employers.

 

I should add here that the criteria for earning points and the number of points required to qualify for permanent residence will be fairer and more objective but also more demanding than previously so as a country we are better able to determine the type of person in terms of skills, country of origin etc, that is granted permanent residence.

 

The other major piece of propaganda that I wish to deal with relates to Term Limit Extension Permit holders or TLEPs. The previous government legislated this category into law and ought to have acted on the report it commissioned to regularize the status of this group. On coming to office we quickly realized that the term limit for the TLEPs expired on October 28th and we would have to resolve the problem.

 

There are just over 1,500 people who fall into this category, all of whom by October 28 will have been living here for more than seven years. In the interest of fairness, the committee who reported to Cabinet on the TLEPs found that it would be discriminatory to treat them any differently than other work permit holders and that time spent here should count towards the eight year requirement that already exists in the law as the point at which an application for permanent residence can be made.

 

In addition, there is the real possibility that Government could become subject to legal action on human rights grounds if we allow a system to prevail that admits of discrimination. It was therefore thought advisable to let the new system work to determine whether the TLEPs would be eligible for permanent residence status rather than to expel more than 1500 people all at once at the end of next month.  The last thing the country can afford at this time is a rash of law suits claiming human rights abuses. Our reputation in the international community is still too fragile to take this risk.

 

The view has also been put abroad that if these 1,500 TLEP holders were sent home that 1,500 Caymanians would find jobs immediately. The truth is that of this number over 900 are for jobs as domestics, gardeners, caregivers and in other jobs which Caymanians have clearly demonstrated they have no interest in filling. It is also worthy of note that in effect the TLEPs are  only being extended for 45 days, to December 9th.  During this period the jobs will have to be advertised in the usual way and that Caymanians will have ample opportunity to apply for these jobs.  If a Caymanian is willing and able to do the job a new work permit will not be granted to the TLEP holder.

 

The entire immigration and work permit application process is being strengthened and protections built in to protect the integrity of the system. I will not go into all of the details now, but I felt I should take the opportunity to dispel some of the rumours and misconceptions about the Amending Bill. I will be speaking to the nation about the specific provisions of the Bill over the course of the next few days so I ask those with an interest in these matters to stay tuned. And of course if there are specific concerns you have I can address them during the question period.

 

There is one other area that is of major concern to the Government and every law-abiding citizen in Cayman, and that is the rise in crime over the last two years or so.  The recent spate of armed robberies is a matter of gravest concern for the government and for me personally.  Although the use of guns to commit crimes is becoming far too common I have told my friend the Commissioner of Police who is here with us this afternoon that we cannot and must not concede that this is an inevitable by-product of progress in a growing nation.   We must aim to stamp it out, do more to stem the inflow of unlicensed firearms to Cayman and create an environment in which all criminals believe that they will be caught if they commit offences and that they will be put away for a very long time.  I am happy to say he agrees with me. All of the literature indicates that there is a direct link between unemployment and crime. While we are working to provide more jobs for Caymanians, we will continue to support the efforts of the RCIPS by giving them, within the constraints of the Budget as much of the technical resources as we can to allow then to continue to fight and solve crime.

 

The truth is that the criminal element continues to change its modus operandi in ways that reap rewards for it. So that when there is a concerted effort to increase surveillance as a deterrent to robberies for instance, the criminals shift their focus away from businesses that can afford this equipment to smaller operators, who either cannot afford the camera systems or who they believe travel home with the days takings and are vulnerable to attack on leaving their businesses or entering their homes. We must therefore be cognizant of the latest behavior among criminals and take counter measures to thwart their success.

 

You may have noticed over the past few weeks, the our Law Enforcement Agencies through the use of Police Helicopter, the National CCTV system and a coordinated response captured four persons who had just robbed a grocery store in North Side. In addition to this, by use of the same equipment and responses, our brave men and women in uniform quickly captured a man who car jacked a woman by gun point, after a high speed chase. Because we have a professionally run air operations unit that was able to respond so quickly, officers pursuing by car where able to back off the chase, and hand over the pursuit to the helicopter, thus reducing the risk to our community whilst capturing the suspect.

 

We have stepped our game to ensure that technology and specialized equipment fill the evidence gap which so often exists when we try to detect and prosecute serious crimes- especially gun related crimes.   The Police have spent significant resources on training to improve the skill sets of officers in key areas such as report writing and evidence gathering.

 

And just this morning we broke ground on new custody suites located at Fairbanks which will replace our old police lockup.  Segregated cells will allow us to keep suspects separate so that they can’t collaborate stories and improve our chances of cracking these serious cases.

 

In closing, Mr. President, I think we are moving in the right direction, on the same road. I look forward to continued dialogue with you and your membership on ways that the work of the Government and the work of the Chamber and its members can complement each other for the common good.

 

I have enjoyed bringing you up to date on our work over the last four months and I am happy to answers any questions or clarify any issues you may have.