FOI

(CNS): During efforts to sell the Government Office Accommodation Building in 2010, the Central Tenders Committee refused to act outside of the law following a request by the premier to enter into a deal with a Texas based firm. According to leaked letters between the premier and the committee as well as the release of minutes from a CTC meeting, at least three firms were in the running to buy government’s new office block. Expressions of interest, which were opened on 26 February 2010, revealed that McAlpine and local property brokers IRG in conjunction with Banque Havilland had responded to government’s offer to sell. But a week before the deadline the premier had asked the CTC to dispose of the process and agree to selling the building to an affiliate of Cohen and Co.

(CNS): The information commissioner will not be pursuing any court action in connection with the Port Authority’s failure to release documents relating to negotiations between it, the Cayman Islands Government and the developer, GLF Construction, relating to the cruise berthing project. Jennifer Dilbert stated Friday that although the authority had failed to comply with an order she had issued on 13 December under the Freedom of Information law, the applicant had advised the commissioner they no longer required the relevant record and therefore she would not be certifying to the Grand Court the failure of the public authority to follow the law.

(CNS): As the campaign against the government’s decision to enter into agreement with the Dart Group to relocate the landfill to Bodden Town gathers pace, an FOI request made by CNS confirms that the developer’s original bid for the project scored the lowest number of points during the tendering process. The firm that the committee recommend the ministry award the waste management contract to – Wheelabrator -- scored 81 points for its submission, compared to the bid submitted by Malcolm Point, backed by Dart, that scored only 36 points. In a memo to the Central Tenders Committee, the chair of the technical committee said that concerns had been raised about that particular bid because of the proposed relocation to an environmentally sensitive area. (Photo Kerry Horek)

(CNS): Claims made by the environment minister, Mark Scotland, that relocating the landfill to Bodden Town would not impact traffic in the district do not appear to be based on research or proper analysis. A freedom of information request made to the NRA by local activists campaigning against the move has revealed that no reports, studies or assessments of traffic levels were the dump to be moved have been undertaken. The Coalition to Keep Bodden Town Dump Free said it has also submitted an FOI request to the public works ministry but  that also revealed that there were no reports, studies, or research that could justify the move. As a result, the coalition said it questions the minister’s assertions about the limited impact on their district.

(CNS): The genetically modified mosquitoes released in the Cayman Islands over a year ago as part of a research study on the eradication of dengue fever by the UK-based company Oxitec could have reproduced and mixed in with the local population. According to a redacted document released to GeneWatch UK following a freedom of information request in Britain, the genetically modified pests, which the manufacturer described as sterile, did produce offspring around 15 percent of which survived. During the study the GM mozzies were fed cat food containing chicken contaminated with low levels of tetracycline, which allowed the mosquitoes to reproduce with their offspring surviving to adulthood.

(CNS): A coastal works application made by a Dart owned company to dredge two canals in land at Vista Norte in the West Bay area will have an irreversible adverse impact on the marine environment in the North Sound, government conservation experts have warned. According to a memo sent by the Department of the Environment to the ministry regarding the application, the two canals will destroy over 138,000sq.ft of sea grass and remove over 161,000 cubic yards of material. The work’s application by Crymble Land Holdings for the proposed canals -- one 2,135 feet in length and the second more than 1,500 feet -- are to serve a proposed canal-based hotel and tourism development and take almost three years to dredge.

(CNS): An updated version of government information which is generally available to the public has been published this week in the Government Gazette. The 700 plus page document is part of the obligation under the Freedom of Information Law of all public authorities to maintain a publication scheme. The document is supposed to make information readily available to the public to prevent the need for written freedom of information requests and to encourage public authorities to proactively publish information and develop a culture of openness.

(CNS): In the 18 months before the RCIPS arrested a board member, directors of the National Housing Development Trust had met around 92 times racking up an expenses bill of $131,200. Despite a number of resignations in 2010 and more in 2011 the board’s expenses continued to grow throughout 2011 as the fees for the chairman and deputy chairman increased a freedom of information request has revealed. In total the chairs earned almost $60,000 between them for the frequent meetings in which decisions on the contracts, tenders and other issues relating to three of the government’s affordable housing scheme sites were made.

(CNS): In the wake of a recent decision by the information commissioner ordering the port authority to release documents relating to the GLF negotiations, the information commissioner’s office (ICO) has noted that under the Freedom of Information Law it is a crime to alter or destroy a public record in an effort to stop its disclosure. Following a number of comments on CNS by people worried that public authorities could be inclined to destroy information when forced to disclose things of a sensitive nature, the deputy commissioner said that during an appeal or hearing the relevant records are made available to the ICO so there should not be any discrepancies in what is ultimately disclosed to an applicant.

(CNS): In a preliminary response to a freedom of information request the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) has revealed that no reports, studies or research has been carried out by the department relating to the relocation of the George Town landfill. Responding to a request made by the Coalition to Keep BT Dump Free relating to proposals and reports about moving the dump, the department’s information manager explained that all of the work done by the DEH related to waste-management at the existing location. Since the group formed to oppose the moving of the landfill to Bodden Town, it has been searching for information to support the government’s decision.

(CNS): The Port Authority has 45 days to release information relating to talks between it, the government and the former proposed cruise port developer GLF after the information commissioner ruled that the documents were not exempt under the Freedom of Information law. The port had tried to withhold the documents on the grounds that they would “prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs” if they were made public. However, Jennifer Dilbert said that while sections 20(1)(b) and 20(10(d) were relevant in the case, the public interest test must still determine whether records should be disclosed, and given the importance of the port project she ordered the release.

(CNS): A freedom of information request has revealed that local attorney Steve McField has been contracted by the premier’s ministry as a legal consultant to research a range of policy matters, from legal aid to national honours. According to the “scope of services” in the contract, McField is required to review and advise on government business, undertake legal research, assist with the development of a “country strategy” and nation building, as well as interpret opinions, case laws and other documents, advising the premier on appropriate action. McField is being paid CI$7,000 per month and the ministry confirmed that up to September he had received a total of $77,000 from the public purse.

(CNS): The information commissioner has ordered the content of a memo sent by the chief justice to the police regarding letters to the press he believed were scandalizing the judiciary to be released. Although the judicial administration had at first denied having the record, after it was discovered the public authority denied the request because it said that the investigation was not complete.  Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert said she remained unconvinced that the investigation was on-going as no evidence was produced to support the claim and ordered Judicial Administration to release the record, which relates to letters sent to Cayman Net News that a former grand court judge was accused of writing.

(CNS): The information commissioner made one of her most damning criticisms yet this week when she slammed the RCIPS in her latest ruling, describing their handling of a request as “atrocious”, as well as finding that they were not in compliance with the law. Jennifer Dilbert said proper records management was essential to the functions and success of the RCIPS and its crime-fighting responsibilities but she found that there were not sufficient resources, policies and procedures in relation to the manner in which it keeps records. In her decision she ordered the police to release information refused to an applicant and condemned the way the cops had handled the request from start to finish.

(CNS): The answer to a freedom of information request submitted by CNS has revealed that the recent short visit by senior police officers from Merseyside in the UK cost the public purse well under CI$3,000. The visit by the officers stirred up considerable controversy, especially in the UK, when British journalists pictured the senior cops lounging on the beach and on a day trip aboard the police commissioner’s boat. The three officers stayed in Cayman for four days and the RCIPS picked up the tab for their car, hotel and daily expenses but did not pay their flights or a fee for their time. (Photos by Splash News)