Government agencies set to move

The keys to the new Government Administration Building on Elgin Avenue were handed over to the government in March. Work on the office building began in 2008 at a projected cost of $85 million.
About one-third of Cayman’s existing government departments, statutory authorities and government-owned companies are going to be housed in the administration building.

A total of 25 entities are scheduled to move into the structure in central George Town, which is now the largest public office building in Cayman. However the Civil Aviation Authority and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority will no longer move into the GAB, apart from a few public service related functions it provides that will operate from the first floor.

Instead the Department of Commerce and Investment, which was at one time not planning to make the move, will now relocate to the new office building.

Medical negligence law passed

A new law that will create a $500,000 cap on medical negligence court cases was passed by the Legislative Assembly in March. Minister of Health Mark Scotland said the Medical Negligence (Non-economic Damages) (Amendment) Bill 2011 was necessary to cut the escalating medical malpractice insurance rates for local doctors, especially obstetricians and gynaecologists, who have seen their rates by more than 300 per cent over the past four years.

The passing of the bill is also part of an agreement with Indian cardiologist Dr. Devi Shetty, who plans to open a medical tourism hospital in Cayman. Mr. Scotland said that Shetty’s insurers had informed the cardiologist that the medical malpractice insurance for the proposed 2,000-bed facility would be 85 per cent lower with a cap on medical negligence cases in place than if there were no cap.

The new law covers only non-economic damages, also known as settlements for pain and suffering, and not the loss of earnings or the cost of medical care as a result of negligence.

Cayman Enterprise City plans unveiled

Plans for a special economic zone were unveiled by developers, Hon Development Company LLC, in February. Cayman Enterprise City would comprise six parts - an Internet Park, a Biotech Park, a Media Park, a Global Commodities Park, an International Academic Park and an Outsource Park. No manufacturing or engineering will take place in Cayman Enterprise City, and companies licensed to operate in the zone will not be allowed to trade within the Cayman Islands and will instead have a global focus, Cayman Enterprise City CEO Jason Blick said.

Benefits to the companies licensed to operate in Cayman Enterprise City would include no income taxes, no corporate taxes, 100 per cent foreign ownership, 100 per cent repatriation of profits, reduced work permit fees and no import duties on most items. 

Cayman Enterprise City would be built in three phases, with the first phase creating 150,000 square feet of leasable area and 900 new jobs. Construction on the first phase would start in the fourth quarter of 2011 and be completed within 18 months. By 2016, the developer intends to build a minimum of 500,000 square feet of leasable built area, which would create 5,000 direct jobs and another 4,800 indirect jobs in total. The developer would make a $25 million investment in the project in 2011 and a total investment of $327 million.

In order to set up the Special Economic Zone, a number of laws would need to be amended, including the Companies Law, the Local Companies Control Law, the Trade and Business Licensing Law, the Immigration Law, the Patents and Trade Marks Law and the Customs Tariff Law. If a definitive agreement with the Cayman Islands Government were signed and the laws amended by the second quarter of 2011, operations would commence during the third quarter of this year even though the zone would not be built yet.

Landfill capping, remediation planned

The Cayman Islands Government announced in January that it has decided to cap and remediate the existing George Town Landfill and establish a new solid waste management facility at a site to be determined.

According to Premier McKeeva Bush, Dart Enterprises has agreed to take over and responsibly cap and remediate the existing site and, in exchange for the transfer, provide a site of similar acreage to the Crown, which will serve as the platform for a new solid waste management facility.

The site location for the new facility is being investigated. The government envisions the new facility will include many components, including recycling, composting and waste to energy.  “We will ensure that any landfill component at this new site will be engineered with the proper linings, collection systems and technology to ensure that it is environmentally responsible,” Mr. Bush said.