Capt. Bryan gets on board with CDP

| 05/05/2017

(CNS Election): A PPM candidate in the 2013 election for West Bay, Captain Bryan Ebanks, has switched his allegiance to the party he was deriding four years ago. Appearing on the Cayman Democratic Party platform at a West Bay meeting last week, he said the Progressives were a disappointment to the people. He said that the party only cares about the rich and the powerful and not about the common man, as he made it clear he was supporting McKeeva Bush’s team. Bryan told the West Bay crowd that the PPM “had no love for him… when they discovered he was trouble”.

A prominent activist in the demonstrations against the controversial deal that Bush signed with Dart when he was in office between 2009 and 2012, Ebanks accused the PPM of now being the ones selling off public land for roads and development that does not benefit local people. Ebanks admitted that he was campaigning against Bush before but now he was for him. 

Ebanks has been actively involved in the controversies raised by operators over the Safehaven dock, who are still refusing to pay fees for the new marina there as they claim the facility is smaller than the one they were promised back in the 1990’s by Benson Ebanks. He said the land area was given to the Port Authority in 1999, though there is no documented evidence of Ebanks’ claims that the entire site was ever promised as a marina for the local operators. But he accused the PPM of making a bad deal and giving away part of the property to the Ritz-Carlton developer for next to nothing.

He said the Progressives misled the public when they pointed to McKeeva Bush making the bad deal, and Ebanks said he had learned it was Wayne Panton who signed the contract. Accusing the PPM of betraying the people and making the deals with the rich while neglecting the poor, he endorsed what he said was the experienced leadership of Bush. 

Responding to CNS questions about the Safehaven allegations, which have been in dispute for many years, Panton, the current minister of Financial Services, Commerce and Environment, denied the accusations that the PPM had made a bad deal, sold the people’s land cheap or misled anyone about the issue. He confirmed that, when he was chairman of the Port Authority Board, he had signed the contract with the Ritz developer, Michael Ryan, to ensure that he completed the marina as part of the potential additional development in that area. However, Panton stuck by the position that it was Bush who had begun the negotiations with Ryan over Safehaven.

He explained that long before any contract was signed to hold the hotel developer to the obligation to complete the marina, Bush had permitted Ryan to dredge the channel for the hotel, which effectively ran through the property Ebanks claimed had been set aside for the West Bay boat operators. 

The long history of the dispute site was settled in 2014, when the new facility was completed. Although many operators working out of there agree the upgraded facility is an enhancement to the tourism product, some are still battling government about having to pay mooring fees, complaining that the area is too small and not what they were promised.

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Category: Campaigns, Political parties

Comments (24)

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  1. Capt. Bryan says:

    Dear CNS,
    I want you to think back. I offered you all of the handsarts which showed that the Safe Haven property was put in trust to the Port Authority to be developed in total for the North Sound boat operators. It was the Legislative Assembly of 1999 that legislated this. In one of the handsarts, Kurt Tibbetts stated that there was enough space in Safe Haven to accommodate 60 vessels (by the way that is boats), and it wouldn’t cost much because it already had a sea wall.
    If you were really interested in defending the common people and their democratic rights, all of the information in which you now seem to wish to reject, would have been there for you to read through and digest the facts. It is quite obvious that you did not want to know. And although I perused you to give you the information (a contract signed by Wayne Panton and handsarts from the House of Assembly which cannot be disputed) you had no interest in reading or writing about any of this.
    You see, some of us understand the importance of the news media. It should defend the rights of the people and the constitution, but that is just a naïve wish of mine. You are extremely politically bias, defending Wayne Panton and his cronies.
    Let me just share this with you:
    The boat operators spent just under $200,000 in the court system defending themselves against the developer and the Government who tried to throw us out of Safe Haven with one week’s notice. They threatened to erect a gate to keep us out. I would hardly say spending just under $200,000 to defend ourselves makes us people who are waiting for handouts. You might want to ask Wayne Panton who wrote the cheque for $10,000 to our legal advisor to defend ourselves against the contract that HE signed and told us it was McKeeva that did it. Remember, we did not know at that time that Wayne Panton signed this contract assisted by the PPM government that gave us away. It was hidden so well, it took us 8 years to get information on what our legal rights are.
    While you are at it, you might want to ask Wayne Panton who gave Michael Ryan the people’s right of way (in addition to Safe Haven) which is 50ft wide and over 2,000 ft long, valuing at over $10mil for $1/year for 99 years. THIS is a handout. Maybe you have trouble finding these items in the contract but I can help you by providing the contracts if you wish to read. Ask Mr. Panton why is it that the Safe Haven Marina that we see now has no easement over the water on either side of the marina and has no easement over the roadway. One section of the waterway belongs to the Ritz Carlton and the other belongs to Dart. Both water ways are registered as a parcel a land. So in actual fact, the water that surrounds the marina are owned by two other land owners and we are just be tolerated by the Ritz Carlton who owns the body of water that our vessels now sit in. Dart has restricted us from using the North side of the property.
    There is more CNS, but that is enough for today. It is quite obvious that you are a PPM supporter and your “truth” is slated in the direction to discredit the boat operators and to not shed light on the real truth.

    • Anonymous says:

      Talk about opening your mouth to confirm you are a fool and removing all doubt of the contrary.

      First of all, what is a “handsart” you are seeking to be a member of the Legislative Assembly and you do not even know the proper term for its official record.

      Second, “perused” is a totally different word from “pursue” look it up.

      You are obviously angry, breathe, step back, gather your thoughts and try again. Your ignorance is very unbecoming

      • Capt. Bryan says:

        Thank you very much for correcting my spelling errors. You may want to help the president of the United States correct his spelling errors on his tweets.

        You seem to be more concered with spelling errors than the rights of the people of the Cayman Islands. I guess you would say it was very ignorant when Wayne Panton signed the contract with the developer Michael Ryan to give away the PEOPLE’S PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY (which is worth in excess of $10mil) for $1/yr for 99years. But the developer was very smart, not ignorant and I would imagine he sold his contract for millions of dollars to another developer. You might want to ask Wayne Panton and Mr. Tibbetts who represented the PPM govt if it was ignorance when they gave approx $17mil worth of the Safe Haven property away for a mere $3mil marina. And what about the $10,000 that the boat operators were given to seek legal advice against a contract that was signed by Mr. Wayne Panton aided by the PPM Govt?

        Wow I guess we have a lot of ignorant people representing us.

        If you wish to read about all of this I can get you copies of all the legal documents including the contract that was signed by Wayne Panton which states the developer should try his best endevours to complete the marina.

        • Anonymous says:

          You offered a few lessons, please permit me to offer you one, when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!

          You asked a number of questions, please permit me to ask you one, what does it say about your decision making ability when the party and people you now so staunchly castigate, are the same ones you so vehemently defended and supported just 4 short years ago?

          I can see your platform is the protection of your business interests and those of your associates. Guess what? I don’t have a boat, but I do need to access healthcare; I don’t own land at the Marina, but I do have kids who are going to school in a struggling education system.

          So forgive me if I decline your offer on the details of the docking arrangements for your boats, I may be old fashioned, but I was really hoping that my representative would have a little more depth and maybe a little more substance.

          • Capt. Bryan says:

            Yes i supported the PPM. But when i obtained a copy of an FOI showing that they had granted 500 temporary work permits for middle level jobs in the middle of a recession – without negotiating one job for a Caymanian – i thought it was time for me to leave the PPM. (If you care, you can obtain this information as well, you just need to FOI it.)

            You have read about some of the other things that the PPM has done to their people although you seem not to care. I will reshare this last bit with you: the PPM / Wayne Panton sold the people’s land at Safe Haven for what they called a $3mil marina which has no water or road rights. The water on the south side where the boats are docked belongs to the Ritz Cartlon and we are trespassing on their water way. The water on the north side belongs to Mr. Dart so we cannot use that part of the marina. The roadway leading into the marina is Dart’s private road which can be closed at anytime.

            In actual fact, all that we have that is legally ours is a little piece of land called Safe Haven that has no legal access to the North Sound.

            Oh – I am sorry if I am mentioning all this again because you said you don’t care. Just don’t vote for the PPM and I’ll be happy.

  2. Doey Kelly says:

    What Mr. Wayne Panton had to say about boat operators “battling government about paying mooring fees” is pure fabrication.

    When we met with the government to negotiate docking fees, they told us that they were going to prepare a contract and get back to us.
    Almost four years has passed and no one has said a word to us!

    Let me get this out to the general public!
    We are not looking any hand outs.
    The land was vested to the Cayman Islands boat operators to do business.
    We have been in Safe Haven for over TWENTY YEARS. We built our own docks and paid our own water bills. We did not ask anyone for a marina.
    Government and Michael Ryan introduced us to a “State of the Art” marina. When they told us that we would eventually have to pay to be in the marina, we did not have a problem.
    But the truth of the matter is that they never had any intentions of building a marina. Their intentions was to sell the property and get rid of us. What we have in Safe Haven right now is because Doey Kelly, Captain Bryan, Darney Kelly, Frank Ebanks, and Dave Kelly went to court. The Chief Justice said that he had no power to make anyone build us a marina, but what he did do was to let them give us a proper intrim site. With that, came a legally binded contract that stated that we will remain on that intrim site UNTIL a marina was built.

    Why would our politicians even THINK about selling the people’s property that has been utilized for so many years, knowing that there isn’t anyone willing to sell commercial canal lots?

    Who do politicians work for? The people? Or THEMSELVES ?

  3. Anonymous says:

    It is clear that Bryan’s loyalty depends on which way the wind blows. The issue of Wayne being the one to sign off on a contract was all over the talk shows long before the 2013 elections , yet Bryan chose to run against McKeeva and continue to berate himNow suddenly he has a change of heart and claims it is because Wayne signed the contract. Give me a break.

  4. Anonymous says:

    As soon as I learned Captain Bryan had aligned himself with Mr.Bush’s I lost all respect for him.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Like a lot of people, when capt Bryan has to choose between what is free for him and what is fair for all, he picks the free for him option.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Would Mr Bryan please substantiate his claims so that we have some reason to believe his story? Just telling us he has had a change of heart is not very convincing.

  7. Anon. says:

    This is why the PPM was wary of Capt. Ebanks. The minute he doesn’t get his way, suddenly he claims the PPM is so bad and worse he is now endorsing a man he rallied so strongly against just 4 years ago.

    Clearly Capt Bryan has drunk Mac’s Kool aid. Think for yourself Capt Bryan and stop making people feed you nonsense.

    Mac was the one who started the deal with Ryan, when PPM came into power all they tried to do was ensure certain things were put in place because they could not renege on the deal that Mac had made with Ryan.
    Get your facts straight.

    You have lost any hint of credibility you had because you just keep jumping from one ship to another, depending on who you think will give you what you want and you don’t do your own research. You need to also read and stop listening to Mac and his cronies.

    Maybe you should wonder why all of those people who were so supportive of Mac in 2013 are now mostly running as independents, they experienced what it truly means to be in Mac’s party. You will soon learn the same lesson.

  8. Mckeeva Bush says:

    What a really poor attempt of a story to be a balanced one
    Even when all the evidence is there to prove I wouldn’t sign the deal and Wayne Panton the ppm port authority chairman In 2009 signed a new deal and made it worse —
    Still this supposedly fair good decent professional know it all about proper journalism, but can’t report the truth and has to print it in a way with the words moved out of place to make it look like Capt Bryan did the wrong thing at my meeting .
    He was wrong alright — in 2013!!!
    the document are there to prove Wayne Panton not only signed that one but the cabinet later sold all of safe haven to dart !!
    I guess the bunch of you will say that’s not so either !!

    • Anonymous says:

      160 thumbs up…..how DID you do that Mac…?

    • Anonymous says:

      Well, well nothing new. Mac chastising the press already and he ‘s not even Premier yet.. Look out Cayman for more of “pure unadulterated, bureaucratic harassment’ by McKeeva.. Anybody got a link to that song? Wait here it is http://bit.ly/dlMbush

  9. Yo No Soy Marinero says:

    Poor old Capt Bryan, still trying to become even somewhat relevant.

  10. Sharkey says:

    That is not true what Mr Benson Ebanks has said in this article.
    Back in the late 1980’s early 1990’s , Mr Ebanks told and gave me and Captain Eugene Ebanks , Mr Arthlee Evans , Mr Ken Hurliston Mr Peter Milburn in a meeting with Mr Ebanks , that we could use Safe Haven Government owned property for our use , but if we trashed it up that Government would take away the property use and privilege from us .
    I think that what Captain Bryan is saying is wright. Why would Government property be transfered over to the Port Authority if there were not some hanky Panky business going on ?

  11. Anonymous says:

    Dangerous moves

  12. Anonymous says:

    This was another UDP deal with Ryan , no PPM involved.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Who cares.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Everyone wants something but does not want to pay for anything.

    Really Capt. Bryan. Supporting Mac. Wow. Wow. Wow. I guess the promise of never paying for the facilities to operate a business is worth the fleas.