Claims of mossies reproducing are inaccurate

Genetically-engineered mosquitoes released in Grand Cayman in 2009 to help fight the potential outbreak of dengue fever are not reproducing as some organisations have claimed recently, said the head of the Mosquito Research and Control Unit in the Cayman Islands.

A release published 12 January by several organisations opposed to genetic modification claiming that Oxitec – the company that provided genetically-modified mosquitoes released during a six-month trial period in East End – concealed important information is “inaccurate and makes no sense,” said Dr. Bill Petrie, director of the Mosquito Research and Control Unit in Grand Cayman.

In its report, the Friends of the Earth US, GeneWatch UK and Third World Network had claimed that the, “mosquitoes described by their manufacturer, UK company Oxitec, as ‘sterile’ are in fact not sterile and their offspring have a 15 per cent survival rate in the presence of the common antibiotic tetracycline.”

The groups claim tetracycline, an antibiotic frequently used in agriculture, may be found in sewage as well as in industrially farmed meat. They assert that mosquitoes capable of carrying dengue fever “are known to breed in environments contaminated with sewage where they are likely to encounter widespread tetracycline contamination.”

Petrie acknowledged the impact the antibiotic may have on the insects but took exception to the veracity of those assertions by saying, “tetracycline is the antidote for the genetically-modified state the insects are in and is required to be able to breed the mosquitoes in the lab. However, it would need to be 150 times higher in concentration that is usually found in sewage for it to be effective. Furthermore, they claim that dengue carrying mosquitoes breed in sewage, which is not true here and has never been found to be so.”

Petrie said the only mosquito in the Cayman Islands which breeds in sewage is the Souther House Mosquito, which does not carry dengue.

Petrie said the exercise, conducted by MRCU and Oxitec of Oxford University two years ago in an isolated area of the District of East End, was simply a form of insect control using what is known as the sterile insect technique.

$40M sitting in unused environment fund

While the Cayman Islands struggles to find money to protect its indigenous iguanas and parrots, nearly $40 million sits in a specially established Environmental Protection Fund.

The fund was set up in 1997 to acquire land for conservation purposes and other environmental projects. But in the intervening 15 years, it has mostly been used to help shore up the government’s reserve cash coffers, as well as for some infrastructure projects and post-Hurricane Ivan clean-up.

Director of the Department of Environment Gina Ebanks-Petrie said the fund had not been meant to be used by government, but rather to buy land and support conservation efforts.

According to the 2011/2012 Annual Plan and Estimates, the Environment Protection Fund contained $39.8 million and receives between $4 million and $5 million a year, gathered through departure taxes charged to travellers leaving Cayman via the airport or the cruise ship terminal.

Redevelopment in the works

A pair of developers have plans to knock down the George Town Craft Market building on Cardinall Avenue and redevelop the quarter-acre site that formerly held Grand Cayman’s meat market.

The Cayman Islands government is in the process of finalising an agreement to grant a 10-year lease on the Crown land to Magnum Jewellers, with two options that could extend the lease to a maximum of 30 years. Gene Thompson, who is partnering on the development with Harry Chandi, said they plan to invest some $1.5 million in the project.

Seven to receive Heroes Day honours

Cayman Islands Governor Duncan Taylor will honour seven teachers for their years of service during a public Heroes Day reception in downtown George Town.

Governor Taylor will award the group of educators each with Cayman Islands Certificate and Badge of Honour recognition for their years of service within the local education system.

Green iguanas

invading Sister Islands

Residents of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are reporting sightings of green iguanas in the Islands.

The iguanas have been an increasingly common presence in Grand Cayman during the last decade, but until recent years, it appeared they had not made the crossing to the Sister Islands.

Department of Environment staff have been called out to deal with a small handful of cases on both Islands, but warn that a close eye has to be kept on the number of green iguanas showing up there or the population could get out of control, like it has in Grand Cayman.