Full Dart deal exposed
Posted on Thu, 07/12/2012 - 17:51 in Politics
(CNS): The deal government and the NRA have signed with Dart is a stand-alone agreement for which the review period for any changes or for either party to pull out appears to have passed, even though the review by an independent auditor has not been made public. MLA Ezzard Miller has now revealed to the public via CNS (posted below) the full document after he received the agreement in the post from an unknown concerned citizen. Despite comments by the premier that it should not be in the public domain, the North Side representative said everyone should have an opportunity to see this deal, which raises significant concerns for the Caymanian people.
Miller has made it clear that he thinks this is a bad deal and judging by the comments on the CNS site this week after some of the details of the deal were posted on Monday, so does a significant portion of the Cayman public. More than 255 comments were posted on the story regarding the fact that government has agreed to give Dart 50% of the tax revenues not only on newly developed or renovated hotels and tourist accommodation but also on any hotels that Dart might buy. This concession threatens existing revenue streams to government as well as reducing potential new ones.
Aside from what Miller describes as excessive concessions and waivers, the North Side MLA also has concerns about the plans for the Esterley Tibbetts Highway Extension, which he says will not be a highway after all, as it appears that there will be numerous roundabouts and exit-entrance ramps along the road. The deal allows Dart to place roundabouts on the road every 1,320 feet and entrance-exits every 600 feet, giving the developer access to land it owns. Miller said that, in effect, this means the Esterley Tibbetts is just another regular road and not the highway originally gazetted by the NRA to carry traffic quickly from George Town to West Bay.
He further pointed out that a section of the road is being raised as a bridge that will allow for canals, which, it seems, the Dart Group intends to develop through to the back of the new boutique five-star hotel it intends to build at the Courtyard Marriott site.
“I sincerely hope that Dart does not intend to cut canals all the way through to Seven Mile Beach but even cutting a canal that close to the beach will leave West Bay hanging like a thread to the rest of Grand Cayman,” the MLA stated as he warned about what that could mean during a severe storm.
While the details of the plans regarding the road and the canals are of significant concern, Miller is mostly concerned about the deal itself, which he says is extremely bad for Cayman as the development it is meant to encourage will offer no benefit to the Caymanian people other than trickle down at best.
He said the review period in the agreement ended on 31 March, which is more than three months ago, and this means that the Cayman government may now have no chance to extricate itself from what Miller said was a terrible deal. He said he was concerned about how long it has taken for the review of the agreement by independent auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was meant to be finished before March to be published.
The delay in the publication of this independent review of the deal may mean that no alterations can now be made to what Miller believes is a “bad, bad, bad deal for Cayman but a very good one" for the Dart Group.
“The one thing that the UDP government has proven since it came to office is that selling out the Cayman Islands and giving away massive concessions is not the answer to turning the economy around,” Miller said in answer to Bush’s criticisms that he has no solutions. “Creating jobs in the Cayman Islands is not the problem; we have more than 20,000 of them held by work permit holders. It is the decapitation of Mr Entrepreneur which is the problem caused by allowing large conglomerates to wipe out Caymanian small businesses, which are the life blood of our economy.”
The independent MLA pointed to the massive fees and tax increases that have hit small local businesses while large wealthy investors are handed major concessions. The UDP government, he said, had increased the cost of doing business and the cost of borrowing money and it was polices to address these fundamental problems that were needed, not massive waivers to major corporations.
See full Dart Agreement below.
Vote in the CNS poll: Is the ForCayman Investment Alliance good for Cayman?
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Dart deal 1-10.PDF | 925.53 KB |
| Dart deal 11-20.PDF | 978.42 KB |
| Dart deal 21-30.PDF | 863.1 KB |
| Dart deal 31-40.PDF | 829.01 KB |
| Dart deal 41-54.PDF | 1.14 MB |
| Dart deal plans.PDF | 1.32 MB |
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I don't think Cayman will
I don't think Cayman will ever be the same. Dart owns us; lock, stock and barrel. We just don't know it, yet. It is too late. Now he is collecting our taxes! I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
This deal is lopsided so far
This deal is lopsided so far in Dart's favour it's not funny at all.
Mac and his cronies are selling Cayman for short term gain of a few at the expense of long term pain for the many (us and generations to come).
How about this side of the
How about this side of the arguement. Dart is a Caymanian.
We don't have to fight over what that means. Accept the fact that he has choosen to make the country his home and more than a few of us have welcomed him.
So which one of you would fight with a Kirkconnell, Merren, Foster, Rankine or a Don Seymour ? (sadly more than a few..smh)
All of those families ancesors came to these islands and made it their home. They have worked and created empires. (Is that bad too ?)
So Dart is chopping out and clearing a bigger piece of land. ( I cleared a piece of land next to me to plant some callaloo..not my land ... but it's growing in nicely.)
He is doing what the established Caymaninan dynastys have done for years. The rich help the poor and the poor help the rich. The government faciliate business. (every government not only the current)
Every Foster's that open up is a job opportunity for someone and the jobs that Dart is creating are significantly better than some of what the others have to offer. (I use to bag at kirk plaza)
Play with th "unrealized profits and money" all you want. The theory behind this deal is sound. It creates a "win win " stituation.
It 's not being utilized to it's potential. This is a win win.
Which one of us have not walked though and enjoyed the Caymana Bay complex ?
"six movie theaters" ....(fight over that last comment if you must.)
"Selling out the country"....how about creating commerce ? employment ? industries ? and you still get to enjoy the beach !
"Get out of the way" !!!
I have recently visited the
I have recently visited the Island and seen the beauty of this island...My question is, How does it benefit a people when one man owens it all and the people are held to ransom...
You cleared a patch to plant calloo.."not my land" When the land is reclaimed where do you plant. You appear to be the ASS looking at a dangling carrot. My friend you need to take a closer look and the BIG picture. Please take your blinkers off.
All of those other successful
All of those other successful local families had to earn/pay for what they have. DART is already a billionaire, and our government feels it necessary to give him almost a billion dollars worth of land and concessions! Madness! Caymanians were much better off when there were higher numbers of smaller investors, and not one monopolistic one.
The only difference with Dart
The only difference with Dart and the other business people is that he plays the game at a higher level.
If they never made the deal look good he would not take it. ...But the deal is not yet done. China a pretty big fish too.
What nobody seems to
What nobody seems to understand that is if Dart is able to use the concessions and waivers in this agreement, Caymans economy would have to be booming, post-Ivan kind of figures year on year, he definitely can not sustain huge developments over the short term economic climate.
The world is in a slump. If the world bounces back, he might be able to do something with all those waivers but not now. He could use all those waivers and still lose out at the end of the day. What ever he gets in waivers and duty concessions is still small potatoes to what his actual incestments would cost.
He can afford to take
He can afford to take advantage of the current economic conditions to buy us out now and ride the bad economy for years. Because of his immense wealth he can afford to take advantage of our weak economic condition now and ride out the poor economy for years without causing so much a dimple in his financial condition.
The bottom line being he will own and control our country and it will be too late for us, his surf's to take it back.
Produce the documents used in
Produce the documents used in this review by PriceWaterhouse Coopers why is that so hard to do UDP Tell us truth about this deal McKeeva stop hiding the truth from the citizens of the Cayman Islands.
Dear Mr Dart: After reading
Dear Mr Dart:
After reading CNS posters for several weeks and listening to our resident genius on inward investment to Cayman and hugely successful local businessman, Ezzard Miller, my advice to you would be to close down ALL your businesses here and cease ALL your plans for investment in these islands. It is obvious we Caymanians just do not want you here. There are countless investors out there waiting to do business with us and on terms that allows us to profit from their ventures while they just get the satisfaction of a job well done, ie keeping us enjoying all the entitlements we have as Caymanians become used to. We would rather our own wealthy born Caymanian developers, Naul, the Fosters, Kirkconnells, Merrens, Tibbetts would keep us going over the next few years and employ those tiny number of Caymanians we understand the Dart group employs.
Thanks for your consideration.
17:45, your post just about
17:45, your post just about says it all and in an amusing manner too. I suspect there are a lot of us out here who are tired of the Dart bashing and think it is less than fair but there is no point in us saying anything in the present anti-Dart climate.
I am not sure where you've
I am not sure where you've been reading for the past few weeks but very much to the contrary I have read very little indeed on CNS from Caymanians asking Dart to pack up and leave. The concerns I have read are 95 percent and very justifiably about why on the face of this earth is Mr Dart not being treated like an investor in our country but he of all people is instead being GIVEN tens of millions of our money that he most certainly does not need for HIS priviledge of investing in this country. You read that right, Cayman. Dart is in Cayman because he WANTS to be in Cayman for DART'S reasons, and it is therefore HIS priviledge to be ALLOWED to invest his money in our country. DART is NOT in Cayman because he loves us poor Caymanians with all his precious little heart and or because he wants to do us a huge favor, Cayman, and it is time we all STOP buying into that bull. You refer to "we Caymanians" and I almost hope you are being sarcastic with that term but in any case i will say it is shameful that some of our own Caymanians insist on portraying the general Caymanian public as being at fault here and in many many other cases. The Caymanian commenters here are NOT expressing their concern because of some "entitlement culture" that some people, hopefully mostly expatriates, have disgracefully accused them of having. They want to see things done THE RIGHT WAY AND ABOVE BOARD in their country. That is all. But that will never happen as long as the concept of disgracing our own people is continued to be used as a means of covering up dirt and greed and stupidity.
Although I appreciate your
Although I appreciate your sentiment, it is inaccurate to say that Dart is being given money. He is not -- and certainly he is not being given "our" money. Rather, he is being granted concessions on his own future earnings; that is, money that will not be earned at all if their planned developments do not go forward.
I respect anyone's right to object to the terms of the agreement, but there's no point objecting to things that are untrue.
If under the agreement Dart
If under the agreement Dart is permitted to keep 50% of the room taxes which are otherwise payable to government (which covers not only any new hotels he might build but also existing hotels he might purchase) he is most certainly being given money.
It is simply not possible no
It is simply not possible no matter how anyone on this earth believes they can twist this to get it to mean that Dart is not being given money. If he is being allowed to keep money that everyone else on this island is required to pay then it amounts to exactly the very same thing as giving hime money.
Sorry, I am not twisting
Sorry, I am not twisting anything. At present, there is no money to give. You are objecting to the concessions he has been given, which MAY mean additional monies to him in future, money which has not yet and may never be earned.
Again, you have every right to object to these concessions. Lots of people do.
I see your point as a mute
I see your point as a mute one but I have to respect your right to your own opinion. From my point of view he 'has been given money' by the mere fact that we are now obligated to honor the terms of this agreement, which for all intents and purposes IS certainly going to materialize. In fact it has already started to.
Make MLAs responsible for
Dart, Chinese,Indians,
Dart, Indians, Chinese,
Dart, Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Samoans.
You left off one nationality
You left off one nationality - CAYMANIANS. This time at least we cannot blame these other nationalities for this mess.
McKeeva, OC Connor, Dart, Mark Vandervelde and Jackie Doke are all Caymanians selling out my and my childrens future source of revenue.
Shame on you fellow Caymanians for putting together and signing such a BS deal.
How's it going, eh?
Def not Caymanians.
But Mr. Dart is a Caymanian,
But Mr. Dart is a Caymanian, so I do not understand your logic.
Along with citizenship in
Along with citizenship in several other countries.
Yes he was gifted his Status
Yes he was gifted his Status by the UDP. that does not mean what he is doing in in the best interest of the rest of the Cayman people.
How in the world did some of
How in the world did some of our people in this island acquire such mental density. They speak of Dart as if he is some world renowned philanthropist who has come to the rescue of this Island, when it's just the opposite! After reading about this man and some of the things he does to avoid paying taxes, even to the point of giving up his birthright says more than any thing. Have you heard of any philanthropic group bearing his name? I didn't think so. He is well known through the world for one thing for sure that is for being a Vulture Capitalist.
And what might that be you may ask? Well let me try to answer your question! Just in case you may not be aware, a vulture is a giant predatory bird that spends most of its life soaring above the earth looking for anything that appears to be dying, and when it sees a potential victim it focuses upon it, until the point when it eventually becomes so weak that it has little or no defense to protect itself. It is at this point when the VULTURE glides to the ground and lands right next to the poor defenseless creature. And there it waits until the point where any signs of life are barely visible. It's at this point that it begins with claws and beak, to feast upon this helpless animal literally tearing it apart. Now you understand what a Vulture Capitalist does! Thats right! He tends to take advantage when something "be it a country or company" is at it's most vulnerable condition.
Yup! They wait until some poor country "in this case Cayman" has gotten itself in such financial difficulty that they are unable to spend the money necessary to stimulate the economy and move the country forward. Then guess who appears on the scene seemingly to rescue us. YUP! The Vulture Capitalist! And they do just enough to give the impression that they are really nice guys. The sad thing is that our leaders all fell for it hook line and sinker, and of course if there is a little INCENTIVE given by our new found friend to let HIM do a few things that in actuality would bend the rules a little, they all look the other way. So said, so done, because THIS is for the good of us all! Oh ya! NOT! But because we are in such dire straits financially we need Mr. Vultures help badly. So we go to him and plead "because we all know he has the money "PLEASE SIR CAN YOU HELP US", and of course the answer yes. BUT! AH HA! There comes the BUT. So now we must make a commitment to the Mr. V Man that we will give him whatever he wants because he has been so good to us.
Yes, you unbalanced nincompoops he now has you by the gonads where he wants you, and you're now obligated to give the V Man what ever he asks for because you have no choice. He now has his claws in you and is about to take his first bite. But there's a glimmer of hope! We're not finished yet. We still have a little time before he pierces the jugular and we are completely helpless. Lets call on all the people who still have a brain to fight against this outrageous deal our so called Leaders has gotten us into.
VOTE YES for OMOV on July 18.
"And they do just enough to
"And they do just enough to give the impression that they are really nice guys."
Never known a vulture to show this behavour? can you give some examples?
DART!
DART!
WOW. This is EXACTLY what is
WOW.
This is EXACTLY what is happening. He moves in with his dollars and buys up all he can squashing smaller businesses until he has full control.
Cayman was a prime target of his, Why you may ask. Simple. We are small so we are not difficult for him to acquire in terms of size. Next we are struggling financially which is what he needs for his prey to feel the desperation and next we have corrupt politicians who would do anything for a dollar including BUT NOT LIMITED TO selling their own mother.
I have been concerned about this for a very long time now as I saw him gobbling up liquor stores I knew he was going to do this to other business types also.
For someone that knows
Not nearly as much as you.
Not nearly as much as you.
The DART organization loses
The DART organization loses all credibility withn the deceit ofn hiding all the facts from the people of the country. They make themselves look so generous up front however secretly steal the country's earnings in taxes and duties for generations to recover many fold everything they have initially given. Shameful and dishonest from the Dart organization and Mr. Mark Vanderveld's interview in the journal shows how onesided his bullshit is for the Caymanian people. Any organization which supports and finances the Premier/UDP for their own personal gain and advantage says it all. Absolute greed corrupts absolutely.
This so called "agreement"
This so called "agreement" very obviously and very repeatedly belabors the supposition that Cayman is in such a hopeless financial situation that there is no way on earth we can pull out of it with out Darts "help", help very obviously meaning we do it HIS way or no way at all. And since there is no chance on earth that we can ever help ourselves again we have absolutely no choice but to swallow whatever Mr. Dart and Mr. Bush see fit to shove down our throats. This is a huge load of absolute bulls**t of the very highest order, Cayman. Not only is Mr. Dart most certainly the vulture capitalist that he is so often termed as being, but he is very plainly going as far here as telling us in no uncertain terms that we are already dead and it is time for him to start picking away at our still warm flesh. Cayman came from thatch roofs and smoke pans and mosquito infested swamps to where Mr. Dart found us in this country today Cayman, and suddenly we are being told there is no way on earth we can survive without his precious love for us? Cayman has very simply been feeling the effects of a recession that has had negative effects on countries in every corner of this globe Cayman, and we most certainly would not be feeling those effects nearly as much if there was some way to STOP McKeeva Bush from squandering our money millions of dollars at a time. It is not going to last forever and we will survive it with or without Mr. Dart's immeasureable love and generosity, and ONLY without the glorious leadership we have in this country today. We have been decieved to absolutely no end by people we placed in the highest position of trust in this country, Cayman, and by people who claim to love us "to death". All in the name of absolute blatant runaway greed and gross stupidity. Nothing short of a full fledged revolution is going to stop the smelly pus that is oozing out of this country's gaping wounds, my people. It is time to get very serious about the future of this country and our people Cayman.
You are so right 18:38 it
You are so right 18:38 it looks like someone is awake, you see we must not shy away from the truth, no matter who dont like it, tell the truth over and over again, even if it hurts, the days of not trying to hurt someones feeling is over, this is ours we have to care for our country no one else can do this for us.
To you and UH UH UH above,
To you and UH UH UH above, your characterization of DART is completely consistent with the research I have done. If anyone is in question, simple do an internet search for "Kenneth Dart", and with a few clicks, the picture is painted of his works in the U.S., Belize, Argentina, Russia, Greece and others.
I come from hardy (and hearty) Caymanian stock and we are adaptive and rugged folk. Our ancestors made homes and livelihoods from land and sea that would make most contemporary people cringe. Yes, we are on hard times -- just as the rest of the globe. PLEASE, let us not allow short-sighted people sell away our land and heritage for short-term gains, especially when those gains don't translate into a country-wide benefit, but a benefit for the few and priviledged.
Share and share alike. I am sharing in our downturned economy, and I will work any legal job to support my family, but I won't cozy up to any people or organizations that seek to exploit my country.
This is the kind of 'investment' that we can ill afford, because Mr. Dart looks many steps ahead of our government, and he has played well. Time to put away the chessboard and do something for ourselves and not rely upon pie-in-the-sky projects that are 'too good to be true'; remember, what we see before us now, is only what we are being allowed to see -- just the very tip of the whole.
Yes, we HAD to sell the
Yes, we HAD to sell the Government Administration Building too. And the Cohen 'deal' was in the country's best interest no matter what anybody else said too. And good, honest intelligent people lost their jobs because we couldn't possibly pass on the CHEC 'deal' too, and now this. What really bothers me is that these 'deals' keep getting steadily more and more horrific and detrimental to this country and our people. God help us.
"I care not what puppet is
"I care not what puppet is placed on
the throne of England to rule the Empire, ...
The man that controls Britain's money
supply controls the British Empire.
And I control the money supply."
Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild
If the above is true for England, can you think what wil be the fate of Cayman with more Dart control over Bussiness and Govenment in the Cayman Islands.
The PPM silence is deafening
The PPM silence is deafening because they are busy getting moist fantasizing about being elected in 2013 so they can get into bed financially with Dart. There is no difference between the PPM and UDP with regards to Dart. They both love and want his money and will do anything to get it. The PPM will realise their mistake when it is too late as they usually do.
Only Ezzard seems to have what it takes to call the For Cayman Investment Alliance what it is; a very BAD DEAL for Cayman.
We need to stop the scaremongering about Dart being the only deal in town and without him Cayman will wither away financially. Look around you and realise that many of the projects happening today are by other local developers. Cricket Square, Appleby, Watercolours, Oceana, Clifton Hunter and many other smaller projects and pirvate homes. Cayman has done very well BD (Before Dart) and has the potential to continue to do well with Dart or AD (After Dart). What Cayman cannot afford is to give concessions to all major projects and expect to have a balanced budget in the coming years.
Imagine if we are struggling to balance the budget today, where would we be if such concessions were given 30 years ago to the hotels on Seven Mile Beach and to other major developments? We would be broke with a devalued dollar, direct taxation, a brain drain and much higher unemployment and crime! In other words, not even Dart would want to be here. Believe it or not, having developers pay their way so we can keep our infastructure updated is part of the draw for international investors.
To be clear, I have nothing against the Dart group but I do have something against concessions and development that does not pay its way. We do not have to make the false choice of giving huge concessions or watch the economy wilt. A win win situation is possible where developers pay their way AND make a return on investment while the government is able to receive its fair share of revenue and continue to improve the lives of all who live here in the Cayman Islands.
Yet again, the age old
14:05 you sound
14:05 you sound corrupt,greedy and foolish,its people like you that has an agenda that we shall continue to fight , its dart that want something for nothing,we are not stupid,you take our niceness for weakness,be very carefull maybe England is watching, in T&C some of those corrupt firms have lost what they stole,and so it must be here also,we demand it,or we will lose respect for our mother country.
Actually with this deal we
Actually with this deal we are getting relatively little and giving away far too much. This is a 'For Dart Alliance'.
I think we should now change
I think we should now change the name of all the three Islands, cause it is no longer Grand cayman. Dart Brac, Little Dart, Grand Dart......No matter how some look at it this man gave up his citizenship so he didn't have to pay taxes they kicked him out of I believe Belize cause they seen right through him, Cayman is no longer owned by Cayman.....and the government allowed this to happen. Again, what the h.... is going on with all the investigations?????? Wait any longer and there won't be anything left
You're right. It seems that
You're right. It seems that Mr. Dart has gotten himself a particularly bad case of that. I suppose you inherit that when you 'become' a Caymanian?
The people of this island are
The people of this island are calling on you Mr Bush and your party loyalist followers to produce all relevant documents use in this review by Price Waterhouse Coopers and for the results to be made available or published stop playing games with our money. We are asking this for the simple reason that no one else appears to care and that includes our lost opposition members wondering around here burying themselves up with sand our hiding down in their crab holes. Not one single member has come out other than the member for Northside on this matter too contented with their friend Dart and what he has to offer them.
Maybe Dart should just give
If he's such a good
If he's such a good businessman, he should make a profit on his buisness ventures per se and not fleece the the population for 50% of the taxes he should pay into the public purse. The gowerment is giving away far too much; or put another way: Dart is taking too much from the Caymanian people.
"all his moey"? "He is
"all his moey"? "He is investing billions of dollars"? "get the bedtdeal"? "If anyone blame Mac."? "all of the "employees" employs on island"? "poorly misguided"? man you sound like a crab in a bucket sitting behind his computer, whatever the f THAT means. It is illiterate idiots like you that continue to allow this island and everyone in it to get properly shafted. Do your self and your country and your people a huge, huge favor and shut the f up.
Mckeeva will go down in
Mckeeva will go down in Cayman's history as being the fearless pirate of the 21st century
In a few years to come, pirates week will be the biggest interrnational comedy show!
I find it very disturbing
I find it very disturbing that there appears to have been an attempt to keep this agreement secret when it should be in the public domain. Taxes collected by government are after all money for the people and it should not be given away in exchange for something else just because one man thinks its a good idea. Does not the premier understand that he was elected to serve the people and not rape them of what is rightfully theirs?
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