What happens when the CIG goes bankrupt?

| 24/10/2017 | 67 Comments

Cayman News ServiceMM writes: I believe most of us on the more informed side are aware of what happened in the past six years with that little country called “Greece” – the country that went bankrupt. Here in the Cayman Islands, we are beginning to see a trend of government/private partnerships. We see the neat and well-kept “Dart Park” – no harm there. We see the signs on the West Bay bypasses with “Dart” and “NRA” partnering to build us a crafty new road, We are all aware NRA is government …but exactly, who is “Dart”?

According to this article in New York Times, “Dart is one of the best known of the so-called vulture funds, which have a track record of buying the distressed bonds of nearly bankrupt countries — and if they do not get paid, suing the governments for the money.”

Dart is a notorious and powerful name that would shiver the knees of political leaders in several small countries world-wide. A billionaire investor with a huge network of like-minded billionaire investors of the corporate and individual kind – Dart maintains its fortune and power by becoming more powerful and wealthy than the governments of the country it infiltrates.

The process takes decades, lots of deals, bargaining and too-good-to-be-true (indeed) trade-offs of every kind – land, building parks, building roads, building buildings. Having someone else’s money to develop the infrastructure of your country is any small country’s dream come true.

Getting a call from a seemingly philanthropic and concerned billionaire investor who wants to make your country’s wildest development dreams come true in exchange for an easy gift of duty concessions would appear to be a no-brainer deal for a politician to sign.

But with every deal comes serious loss of income to the government and greater development in turn becomes more expenses on the government’s bottom-line, because the development of a new public facility is one thing, the annual maintenance and ongoing maintenance is another. And guess who must finance that?

Let’s take the Dart Park as an example. The design and development was apparently financed by Dart but its ongoing maintenance of the grounds and facilities is funded by the government; the electricity bills and bathroom cleanings, etc, are an additional several tens of thousands of dollars per year on the government budget.

These new and expanded roads that would appear to be for the benefit of every person in the Cayman Islands who must drive to and fro from West Bay to anywhere else on island. How fabulous!

More lanes, wider roads, increased traffic flow — the commute to Camana Bay from the airport and cruise port will be a dream come true for those who wish to go there. This will encourage more business and more profits for this multi-billion dollar development, which will be the ultimate winner in this deal – because the developer, after making its initial investment to construct the infrastructure, will earn their investment back through increased value of the real estate within the development (better roads and traffic flow always increases value) and increased shoppers and business.

However, all public roads used for the benefit of the public-at-large within the Cayman Islands are maintained by the National Roads Authority. The cost of maintaining these roads after construction will be a new (or increased) line item on our government budget. Over the next few years the constant maintenance of another 4-lane highway with an intricate design like the Harquail Bypass will command a hefty portion of the government budget on top of whatever amount has been pumped into its current redesign and redevelopment.

Was the 5pm traffic really bad enough to justify the total overhaul and the accompanying expense? Or was the government’s hands tied because of mounting debt and favours owed to a world-renown vulture fund that is Dart? Could they simply not say “no” to a project that this developer has planned for years, knowing full well the increased value it poses to bring its development, Camana Bay?

Now that the term “vulture fund” is out in the open, many will wonder what that is. We all know what a vulture is – that hideous bird that circles about waiting for its prey to become weak and helpless minutes before certain death, and then it swoops down to pick it to pieces (while still alive usually) and devour its dead body.

A vulture fund has a similar concept – it circles around unsuspecting governments watching their every move and monitoring the government’s weakening financial stance; by this time the government is already indebted to the vulture fund for many generous projects and partnerships; the interest of these “loans” alone can kill a small government.

When the vulture fund’s prey has become so weak that it begs for mercy (usually through filing for bankruptcy), the said fund sues the government for whatever little it does have left or refinances the debt it’s owed with higher interest rates over longer periods, amongst other strategies that simply result in a powerless government, simply in power because the country has to have a government but the political-puppet-strings are controlled by the vulture fund. Sound familiar?

By then, the government has become so dependent on the hand-outs and partnerships with the vulture that it can no longer function or run its country without the funds being provided by this entity.

Many on-island have heard that the Dart Group has financed everything, from salaries to health insurance premiums and the expenses of several government authorities. These “rumours” have never been verified because our government does not feel the need to share such crucial information with its voters and many such agreements probably come accompanied with non-disclosure clauses anyway.

So, the question the Cayman public and our voters must ask our leaders is:

What exactly is the monetary value of any and all debts, favours, projects, partnerships, loans and other financial injections provided to our country, through agreements with our government on behalf of our people with Dart?

How much do we owe the vulture fund Dart?

We do not want a politically correct answer either. We want numbers, and don’t try to get around the question by saying we don’t have any such deals with Dart – no, you may not, but I am sure you have them with Dart through its hundreds of subsidiaries, web of companies and funds and its introduced investors.

And, if we owe Dart nothing, then why is it that our government insists on losing millions and billions by handing over duty concessions for projects that this developer will still most certainly embark on even without being given the duty concessions? Do you think Dart would have opted not to build the Kimpton if we had not bent backwards to offer incentives? Do you think the Ritz would have backed out if our government insisted they had to pay up just like everyone else?

This is a shame. Developers know what they will gain by existing in Cayman. We do not have to keep giving away our little bit of government income to beg them to stay.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    cash soon disappear…crypto-currency baby….

  2. Anonymous says:

    MM I have been harping on this for almost 10 years now. To any one that will listen. But no one is paying attention. He tried it on in Bahamas before coming here but they figured it out and kicked him to the curb.
    For all of those in disagreement, and as you said, they are very angry and aggressive, they are either ex-pats or work for Dart.
    Absolutely NOT ONE of those has done any research or they wouldn’t be this angry. All we can do is sit and watch it happen because our government will do nothing to stop it, it is too late and they are into him too deep now.
    Luckily I have 3 passports to choose from. Most Caymanians do not have options.
    Cayman’s biggest fault is that they LOVE money whoever’s it is! And they support people like Dart hoping to get some runoff.
    I’ve always said (and now my friends will know who I am), it’s like a bad Disney movie where the big bad developer is trying to take over. The town finally comes together to save the day. However, this will not end in a happy Hollywood/Disney ending.
    Thank you for putting it out there MM. But people with blinders will still NOT do any homework on this.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Oh yeah, clearly that worked out brilliantly for the Bahamas. Take your money and invest it somewhere else Mr Dart! That’ll learn him.

      Maybe that’s why their economy is in the toilet and they’re introducing all kinds of tax.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    This article is absurd. “Vulture” investors do not loan money to governments or take on any activity (building parks) in the countries where they acquire debt. Vulture investors buy bonds from third parties, such as banks, when the actions of the government drive their debt rating to a level that is unacceptable to those original investors (banks). The lowered debt rating and sell-off (and the fact that no one other than vulture investors is willing to buy) causes the price of the bonds to crash. The vulture investors then buy up the dept at a fraction of the face (repayment) value and work within the legal system to have the governments repay what they originally borrowed (and agreed to repay). This is also a widely utilized common investment strategies used with distressed companies. While it may not be nice it’s smart business and perfectly honest and ethical. A vulture investment strategy has nothing in common with Dart’s development activities in Cayman. I am shocked at the number of people referring to the article as well written when it demonstrates no understanding of the topic it is discussing.

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    • Anonymous says:

      It is very sad that the writer, who is obviously well educated and well intentioned and is actually good writer decided to write an article on a topic they do not understand.

      Half knowledge is dangerous as they say.

      I’m looking forward to MM’s next piece on how quantum physics proves the existence of God.

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    • West bay Premier says:

      Anonymous 7:25pm, the public roads that Dart supposedly made , who has to maintain them ? Dart or Government ? Do you have any idea of how many millions of dollars that Government have given to Dart in import tax breaks for doing some of project he has done in the Cayman Island ? Those are some of the examples of how the vultures devoloper investors racks up money that would be owed to them , and how they drive the Country into Bankruptcy .

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      • MM says:

        As natives with no where to run we must see the bigger picture and that is why we do; the naysayers obviously have options and are probably heavily reliant upon our own naivety and as soon as we question anything that concerns our well-being there is ALWAYS these backlashes of comments (seen it multiple times).

        As soon as Caymanians ask questions or begin to awaken enough to wonder; “exactly where has my country gone and who owns it now?” – these defenses are erected and we are made to feel incompetent with vicious comments that attempt to discredit our thoughts and concerns… nothing surprising here; just a reinforcement of exactly how powerless we are in our own home really.

        There are more defenders of an investor who thrives from weak Governments than there are defenders of the country being weakened and made powerless and the people left to deal with it… that alone speaks volumes.

        Who cares what a vulture fund is? The whole point is – our Government is in the same back-bending, butt-kissing position as any of the other Governments who have been affected by the vulture – but the ENTIRE focus of the minions is “the writer is misrepresenting the meaning of “vulture fund” lol. Suits the agenda indeed.

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    • MM says:

      It is really not very difficult to understand what a vulture fund is or how it works – it is certainly not rocket science; I really do regret not going in to proper detail and explanation of what a vulture fund really, really, really is (in accordance with its most popular and known definition) for people like you, when I typed this comment (it was actually a comment) – I was aiming to highlight the dangers of having an investor who earns a fortune on powerless, distressed Governments dominating a small country and negotiating deals using public money and public resources in order to advance itself and its investments. Your primary aim here is to discredit the entire piece based on the fact I did not pull a common definition of the term “vulture fund” – but my aim is to have my people decide whether they want the Government the pay for and elect to govern their country or an entity the said Government is indebted to through badly negotiated deals and overstretched budgets.

      When a Government authority has concerns (NRA) with certain things and the general voting public (closure of SMB road) plead with their Government to not seal a deal against the will of the voting masses and yet the Government does (just two examples) – there is cause for the native population to be concerned and question the true powers governing their country.

      Vulture Fund or Vulture Capitalist; the situation will obviously be a bit different in the Cayman Islands – the bail-out works in a whole different way which is to be expected. Common, popular vulture fund strategies cannot work in a country where there is no public knowledge of a debt being up for sale but it is all a ticking time bomb – all such negotiations and deals are done closed-door and you will certainly not read news releases about them.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    I just hope he leaves Calico Jacks alone. It’ll be the last beach bar once he’s flattened all the others.

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    • Anonymous says:

      apart from westin, marriot, hemingways, wharf, rackhams………etc…..
      don’t let facts get in the way of a good moan…zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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      • Anonymous says:

        Dartco’s own Former Beach Suites/Hemingway’s

        • MM says:

          So much for your facts 4:36am

          Yep; 11:04am, thanks for pointing out the ignorance of the minions who think it’s okay to have a vulture-fund-investor-kinda-entity running your entire country and making deals with your Government behind closed doors.

          Also – Rackhams and the Wharf are not beach bars (where is the beach at Rackham’s? You mean ironshore?) – Please walk in to Marriott and Westin as a local in your bikini without being a guest and head through the lobby to their beach bar.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The gravel chip parking lot was first mistake at Calicos…it destroyed the former barefoot-friendliness of the place. Gotta wear shoes to the beach bar now

  5. Anonymous says:

    FFS. No good deed goes unpunished round here. You have your wires crossed big time, stick to posts about social issues because you have no grasp of financial ones.

    Dart makes a big return on junk-status government bonds because unlike most investors it can afford to take the risk and wait it out. They buy those bonds from someone willing to sell them but not willing or able to wait. It’s that seller that loses his shirt, not the country that has to repay what it promised it would when it took the loan (plus the interest it agreed to pay). If you buy US govt T bills is it equally reprehensible to expect the US govt to honor its commitments? If not, why is it immoral to expect Argentina to?

    “The maintenance of the 4 lane highway will command a hefty portion of the government budget”? Nonsense – based on how much “maintenance” happens on other roads it will be a rounding error. WTF are basing this on? You’d rather go back to the traffic jams?

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    • MM says:

      You’ve mentioned how Dart benefits from indebted governments but have not mentioned what happens to the Governments or the country’s people…. rose-colored glasses on?

      Why do all the defenders sound so angry and aggressive anyway? Each comment I read from persons trying to discredit the points raised are all so angry and defensive its scary; someone’s livelihood being threatened?

      As a native Caymanian I have deep concerns about any single private entity owning more and controlling more within my country than the Government of which my people appoint to protect their rights, their country and our future; would you not?

      Your concern is traffic jams – my concern is my people and the debtor is slave to the lender – my Government pleads poverty when schools have rusty play grounds and printers out of paper – but you insist they can maintain new, larger more complex roads designed more for the benefit of one single development than the population of the Cayman Islands – the Government is here for the entire country, how can it make decisions that are so unbalanced?

      My grasp of social issues in my country of course must link to its financial stance and independence and when a country becomes dependent on the financial injections of a single private entity it is a concern for the natives and it should be – we are the ones being sold and indebted… it sounds to me like you can pack and leave when the downfall happens as with many other posters that want to glorify the butt-kissing position this Government is in.

      Of course I blame our voters, our very own people for voting in greed; but even if a new set of leaders were put in power – how many secret, binding agreements are in the locked filing cabinet that will still have to be pushed forward because a signed contract is a signed contract?

      The whole point of the viewpoint is that this particular entity loves weak governments and earns greatly from them and has gone about doing this exact same thing over and over again for decades – whether it is through buying distressed bonds or making crippling agreements with lop-sided trade-offs that the Government in questions is unable to fulfill its end of the bargain and must sign a new agreement with another trade-off so that it can fulfil renegotiated deals in order to satisfy its commitments in the previous agreement and then stumble again on the second – eventually the government goes belly-up or continues weakening its own power with more and more deals…. but this goes so far over your head – it is certainly not public knowledge and is not even meant to be in the public at all; but its a very quick summary.

      Can you imagine how long the piece would be if I got all fancy and economical and threw in statistics and maybe more detailed examples and everything else… but you are having difficulty with this very, very simplified and summarized write-up. I have learnt that the average reader on here has serious difficulty with statistical break-down and complex analysis and writing; I try to keep it simple and the minds seem to beg for more complexity – the whole point of a piece to provoke thought and debate.

      Obviously you are one of those appeased by a smooth ride on a new highway – I wonder what your song will be after the first pot-hole and line of traffic.

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      • Anonymous says:

        The reason we sound so angry is that you clearly know nothing about what you speak of. And you’re spreading a baseless conspiracy theory and stirring up trouble. And worst of all, other people are buying your drivel.

        Dart employs hundreds and hundreds of Caymanians.

        They have poured money into improving our infrastructure and amenities to the betterment of these Islands, for more than a decade.

        Our standard of living is undeniably higher because of their investment.

        They generate tens of millions in direct government revenue annually (in duty on imports and land sales for example) not to mention hundreds of millions more indirectly.

        They pump money into our economy (by investing hundreds of millions a year) that ends up in the pockets of our people through revenue in their businesses and salaries for their employees.

        They spend millions every year on charitable and philanthropic activities.

        There is no evidence of any financial debt from our government to Dart.

        You attempt to use misguided economic arguments to paint them as malign whilst willfully ignoring the obvious economic upsides.

        You naively believe the economy is a zero sum game where Dart’s benefit is the Cayman Islands’ loss.

        Your idea that a government can go “belly up” and be taken over by a private company is pure fantasy. There is not a recorded case of this in the whole of human history and there is no mechanism in law for it to happen. This is the economic equivalent of claiming the moon landings were faked in a studio.

        Our government has a surplus and is paying off its debt. This is thanks to a successful economy in no small part thanks in turn to Dart.

        Compare Cayman to Bermuda which has no investor on a par with Dart, ever more insular and protectionist government and deficits in the hundreds of millions in spite of its ever increasing payroll, property and value added taxes.

        If it were not for Dart many people you know would be much poorer and everyone else you know, a little poorer.

        So you think Dart is evil for “making Argentinians poorer” while at the same time advocating yourself to make Caymanians poorer.

        Your thesis that Dart is out to exploit Cayman or that Cayman is worse off because of them simply doesn’t hold a drop of water.

        You, Sir/Madam, are the dictionary definition of xenophobic.

        If your agenda is to persuade Dart to stop spending money in Cayman you better be careful what you wish for. It’s called “recession”. And most educated people and well run countries do what they can to avoid the misery it causes, rather than trying to bring it about.

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        • MM says:

          Our Government could have done AALLLL that and more if they would just collect the dinging duties and fees and stop signing dotted lines with fine print and giving away our country’s revenue in exchange for promises and charted forecasts that never come in to fruition. (Like the Ritz as a major example)

          Do you think history would document a Government being controlled by private parties in anyway? When a Government is left in a position where it cannot decline a deal – that IS being taken-over.

          Yes indeed, our country thrives on private investment (as would any); we are all private investors in our own right if we own property or businesses – but one single investor should never be able to dictate their wants and wishes regardless of their contribution. There should be more transparency, equality and regulation.

          Despite objections to digging up SMB – it was allow; despite objections to the SMB road closures, it was allowed; despite 10 storey buildings not even being legal at the time, one was built; there is a nearly completed over-pass being objected to by our roads AUTHORITY, it will most certainly be allowed etc… but it would never be allowed for any other investor; and that should not be a concern.

          I don’t have an objection to Camana Bay, I quite enjoy it; I love the Kimpton, I go to Dart Park; I couldn’t care less about the overpass. My only concern is that the Government my people elect appear to owe favors to a private entity and that is not a good thing – especially when the entity has a reputation for defending money more than human life.

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          • Anonymous says:

            You are seriously delusional MM. Are you pinning up newspaper cuttings on your wall, drawing red lines between randomly circled words and rocking in the fetal position with a tin foil hat on right now?

            The government DID decline a deal! They declined a basically free 150 m waste management facility. Does that disprove your thesis? I guess not. You’ll probably twist it to say I’ve misunderstood you or you were simplifying, or I’m naive or I’m biased in some way. You can’t just be wrong.

            Dart has generated WAAAAAY more in government revenue than the government has “given away” to them. (You can’t give away revenue you didn’t have before – which is what a concession is).

            Thank God there is not the level of transparency you wish for or nothing would get done because wing nuts like you would object based on your crackpot conspiracy theories.

            There is no evidence the NRA deal was “against the wishes of the voting masses”. In fact, there is evidence to the contrary. A petition only attracted 3,000 signatures, many of which turned out to not be voters if I recall correctly. https://www.caymancompass.com/2011/10/31/road-protesters-petition-goes-to-gov-in-november/

            “Vulture fund investor kinda entity is running the entire country”. Someone better tell Alden, the Governor and the Chief Justice. Last time I looked the LA was still passing laws.

            You are a textbook conspiracy nut. Everyone that disagrees with you is just part of the conspiracy or naively hoodwinked by hidden powers.

            FYI, I am Caymanian and I do not work for Dart.

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            • West bay Premier says:

              You sure you not Big Mack or Aden McLaughlin , if you’re Caymanian you could be one or the other .

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            • MM says:

              “Basically free” – free to build; and who will maintain?

              Did the deal include 10 or 20 years of free maintenance, staffing, health insurance, pensions, grounds management, equipment maintenance and repair… not to mention the level of insurance needed on such a facility and the annual premiums for things like liability and workmen’s compensation – additional staffing and extensive training for current staff….

              Yep, everyone these days who see through the fog are considered delusional; those who march in line are all the “normal” people.

              I am still wondering how this is all a conspiracy theory though… the fact that Dart is a world-renown vulture fund and owns almost half the Cayman Islands? It is public knowledge that Dart is the legal owner of more than 25% of the land in the CI and the rest of the ownership/power is monetary, string-pulling and business investments.

              Like I said, I don’t object at all to investment; I sit in a pretty comfy spot due to private investments… however I am not selfish enough to live my life satisfied with my own situation while I watch others around grabbing for life because they can’t keep up with speedy development and globalization because our Government is occupied appeasing private investors.

      • Anonymous says:

        Argentina is not a little weak country. It’s just irresponsible. You make a lot of big claims without ant facts.

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      • Anonymous says:

        By all means “get fancy” if you have any data whatsoever to back up your points.

        You can’t just make something up and then say “it’s not public knowledge”. It’s not public knowledge because it’s not true. No one is complaining your argument is too simple. Again, it’s just wrong. Wrong on the facts, wrong on the analysis, wrong on the logic, wrong on conclusions.

        You’re not educating people, you’re just sowing misinformation and conspiracy theories.

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      • Anonymous says:

        OP: “rose colored glasses”? You’ve completely missed the point.

        I’ve spelled out the upside for Dart but not the people and government of Argentina? Why on earth should Dart make investment decisions based on what benefits the people or Government of Argentina?

        Let me ask a question that reveals the stupidity of your argument: what have your personal investments done for the people of Argentina lately? Oh, nothing? Evil!!!

        Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and buy some distressed debt this morning and then do the right thing by the people of the country that issued the debt, and write it off. There, feel better?

        “You’ve insisted they can maintain new and more complex roads designed more for the benefit of a single developer than the population”. First, I insisted no such thing. Second, you clearly live in South Sound or Savannah if you don’t think the recent Dart-built roads benefit Caymanians. They save every one of the thousands of residents of West Bay at least half an hour in either direction.

        Lop-sided trade offs? If their deals are lop-sided it is because the government benefits while Dart can’t have made a dime (yet) on their enormous investment.

        Thou doth protest too much, I’m afraid.

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        • MM says:

          “Why on earth should Dart make investment decisions based on what benefits the people or Government of Argentina?”

          And yet it is declared that Dart’s decisions within the Caymanian Islands are for the benefit of our Government and its people?

          You have also gone on to say “Lop-sided trade offs? If their deals are lop-sided it is because the government benefits while Dart can’t have made a dime (yet) on their enormous investment.”

          A complete contradiction to what you stated before…

          If our country has advanced so much… and our people have benefited so greatly and our economy is so great now and the standard of living has increased (at the same time as its costs) – then why is unemployment at its highest, so are foreclosures, homelessness, drug addiction, youth problems, etc… no; I would never dare say this is Dart’s fault, however, while our Government is busy washing the feet of and wooing investors and settling debts owed they have forgotten to address the issues of their people.

          The Ritz was granted its grand duty concessions and overall green light for that project based on the fact that they would be “employing many Caymanians” and increasing Gov revenue etc… they are now one of the leading employers of permit holders. I do not blame this on the Ritz; but the money the government decided to not accept based on this investors assurances could have been used to better equip our teachers, schools and departments responsible for the well-being of our youth.

          If we owe Dart nothing; if there are no debts – can we just collect our little fees and invest it in our country and children so that we won’t have to go begging private investors for money to do it?

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          • Anonymous says:

            Unemployment is categorically not at its highest. It’s just not. Please provide SOME evidence for these hyperbolic claims. Are you basing this on listening to daily radio talk shows by any chance? Instead of official data?

            Oh wait, the official data has probably been fixed by Dart-connected agents and craven politicians. Riiiiiiggghhht.

            Delusional.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    yawn….. the anti-dart brigade are scraping the bottom of the barrell…
    they can’t point the finger at anything bad he has done here so they are now inventing future issues to crucify him for

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    • West bay Premier says:

      10:58am. When being judged , you are never judged by the FUTURE you are always judge by your PAST .

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Let Dart run the Cayman Islands. He can’t do a worse job than the wasteful government of the last 30 years has…

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  8. Anonymous says:

    maybe an ancient astronaut theorist has the answer….i will ask them???

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  9. Anonymous says:

    well said!!! you forgot the new dump deal that we will have to maintain? water authority may be next? its other strategy is to make cost of living so high…caymanians will want to leave…sad? and yes, i am a caymanian native

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  10. Anonymous says:

    It appears that part of the reason for the upcoming MANDATORY labour survey is to explore options for a payroll tax. Once that option is open, government will keep increasing taxes to pay for everything.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I don’t know when I’ve ever read such hyperbolic rubbish as this View Point!

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      • West bay Premier says:

        9:09pm that’s because you are blind an blinded by the one’s money , why you think that this view point is srupid, it’s not the viewpoint ! And please don’t reply because the truth would come more clearer .

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      • Beaumont Zodecloun says:

        This is nothing short of a brilliant and accurate exposé of the workings and history of the Dart machine.

        Argentina, Greece, Belize, and to an extent, even Russia. Check it out: http://fortune.com/2016/03/17/argentina-debt-settlement-2/ How much wealth is enough? Dart descended upon these fair islands, and Big Mac opened his arms and doomed the country to takeover from within. We must seem so naive to K. Dart, and we are. We praise him for his works and developments and roads, all the while failing to spotlight the elephant in the room, which is that Dart is aligning himself into the match position as usual, where he either dominates or forecloses. Win-win for him.

        History is the surest predictor of the future. Wake up Cayman.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Well written editorial yes the words are scholarly. However the economical insight is that of a pseudo intellect with absolutely no understanding how the fabric of the economy works, or vulture funds for that matter.

    The author throws around the word vulture fund I suppose to scare people into reading this totally pathetic fear mongering piece of pseudobabble as if it were something factual. First let me explain to this person what a vulture fund is so people can realize the author either doesn’t a clue of what they are talking about or just trying to smear for self aggrandizement. By in large culture fund buy debt under distress. Debt *in distress* usually through government bond issues for fraction on the dollar then at some point collect for full face value or close through litigation usually.

    This is always the result of government splurging and making its voters promises it can’t keep. (Aka buying votes). The government is always at fault for economics tanking like Greece and many others by the way. NOT private investors. The fault lies with the deadbeat voter base always voting for free shit and politicians ready to meet the dead beat market.

    What does caman bay, dart park or any other dart project have to do with vulture funds? Absolutely *fing nothing!

    Dart park costs the government and that will put it into Greece status? Give me a f break!!!

    No, deadbeats voting for free shit will make the government eventually go into a debt it cannot service then maybe you will have to worry about dart but not because we will want to buy your worthless debt but because he will sell all his assets and desert that jamaica style shithole if that time ever comes.

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    • anonymous says:

      Totally agree with your take on this matter. Buying distressed debt is not a way to riches, and for every big return there are probably ten failures. Distressed debt, by definition, means that you are unlikely to get any return on it at all.

      Here is one example on how to view distressed debt in layman’s terms. Let’s say you are in the casino when Big Mac yanks the arm of his best friend, and there are flashing lights and ding ding ding sounds, a bit of whooping and hollering, and maybe he gets a $10K cheque from the casino that night.

      On that particular occasion Big Mac purchased and collected the distressed debt from other people that had been piling up in the one-armed-bandit. However, statistics will show that the return on distressed debt held at casinos is usually not that good.

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    • Anonymous says:

      @t 7:37 am
      THANK YOU

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    • MM says:

      People usually use swear words when their thought process is too undeveloped to find other meaningful words to say.

      Anyway, what does Dart Park or Camana Bay have to do with a vulture fund? Weeeellllll; they are both projects commissioned by the owner of one of the most popular vulture funds on the planet for starters.

      You have done a fantastic job at reshuffling points made and trying to skew the entire picture.

      Dart simply has a world-renown reputation for being in the midst of a country’s collapse in one form or the other – is that not enough to make you concerned? Or are you typing behind a keyboard from the comfort of another country untouched by Dart?

      And how can you even dare to say “Dart park costs the government and that will put it into Greece status? Give me a f break!!!” – another quite disgusting attempt to discredit something written to shed light on the consequences that come from deals made without foresight and long-term planning. Did you miss the part that said “an example”?

      Please do not half-read or pick-pick details of things to suit your own desperate attempt.

      When someone applies for a job, the potential employer wants references – if the Cayman Islands was to ask for a reference for Dart from any country Dart has gotten hold of; I highly doubt the entity would have gotten the job of Cayman’s unofficial government.

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      • Anonymous says:

        It’s strange how you totally dismiss the manner in which the debt was incurred and the fact that someone was actually willing to buy the debt at the agreed terms.
        Suffering fools has it limits, hence the swearing no doubt.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Partly agree with Anonymous @ 3:25. Someone had to vote them in. Step forward if you did so in exchange for a fridge, washing machine, turkey, building supplies or brown envelope! Sorry, that doesn’t happen in Cayman, just like only qualified people get hired by the Government in top jobs; HSA being the only exception.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    CIG bankrupt, that has happened before and dart paid all of government salary for 4 months. Why do you think he got the original road concession?! That road where they closed the public beach and routed everything through that new bypass?!

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    • Anonymous says:

      i have no idea why thumbs down. It is the truth. 8 years ago, the gov was bankrupt. It had no money and it was in between the loan they could request from britian. Dart paid the entire government salary for 4 months. That is exactly why Dart got that road built through west bay, without any interference. Minus the 3 women to tried to legally squash it. But was overturned by courts as being processed too late. Do the research. You will see it’s all true.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    I remember David Wight in the early days of Dart always on the radio informing us of darts shinnagins around the world. Very strange now we cannot hear a whimper out of him. Looks like he and Austin has swallowed their voice box.

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    • GT voter says:

      Two unqualified blowhards that cannot believe they are now MLA’s getting paid by the public purse.

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    • West bay Premier says:

      I am really happy to see that someone else is seeing what is going on and what is going to happen in the future . I think that it’s stupid and disgraceful what these greedy stupid politicans have allowed to happen to the Island..

      I hope that when the next Election comes around the voters would be fully awake and do the right thing for the Islands , instead of doing it for their friend .

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    • Anon says:

      Anonymous 24/10/17 6:43pm: you know what I was reflecting on your comment yesterday and you are soooooooo right. David Wight use to call the Talk Show and complained about Dart bitterly , apparently he did his research and let the Cayman Public knew who Dart was! So now as you rightly comment he has gone quiet, or now he is like a lamb to the slaughter!!!!!!

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  15. Sleepless in South Sound says:

    This is so well written, and timely. By far your very best editorial in the past 24 months. Bravo, it is both enlightening and thought provoking. You have highlighted the naivete of governments past and present, the ‘gifts’ of concessions really are just a small silver lining to the overall plan of these future Camana Islands…oops, I meant Cayman… honest mistake.

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    • Anonymous says:

      No. “Society’s neglect of children in trouble” is the best. You have no future if your future is in trouble.

      This one is biased and victim mentality shines through. I am still waiting for the “other” side of the story comment.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Fantastic article! Very well written.

    It terms of revenues, another point to consider is that most of the stamp duties that have been paid to government over the past decade will never occur again. As an example, the stamp duty on the Ritz purchase is the last time government will get paid since DART does not sell anything again. Enjoy it while it lasts! Most of SMB is gone.

    In a vibrant, competitive, economy one would expect real estate to change hands all the time and thus provide a continual stream of revenues to government. Not so in the current climate. Government will have no choice but to impose property taxes and/or payroll taxes.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    What happens when the CIG become bankrupt? First of all the ‘Mother’ country monitors fiscal activity and if it does happen, say hello to direct rule.

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  18. Anonymous says:

    This is one of the best and most shocking editorials. Those who ignore this are either so jaded by the pro-Dart propaganda or are too dense to understand what’s going on. This clearly shows how our politicians can’t see beyond their outstretched greedy hands.
    Other juridisdictions kicked this vulture capitalist out well before he became a controlling influence. Look up what he tried to do in Russia and Belize. Had he continued in Russia, President Putin would have put him in a pine box by now.
    Lesser off Caymanians better start looking for family connections in Cuba, Honduras, Belize and others since they will not be able to survive here very soon.
    I don’t think it will be long now before Cayman is past the tipping point, just one more PPP project like the cruise port or fuel terminal and we’re done.

    CIG aren’t going to admit they are strapped. Taxes and fees will start ratcheting up if they started haven’t already. I don’t think UK will care as long as the bills get paid and if we get into serious doodoo they can always cut us loose.

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    • West bay Premier says:

      I also agree with Anonymous 5:41pm. And everyone on the Island need to read the Editorial and read up on what has happened to the Countries that took this developer in like how Mr Bush and the others have done . Those Countries situation is not pretty. Just the opposite from how the Cayman Islands are looking today before the real DISASTER happens .

      I think that Caymanians are lacking to see the other side of this coin , alway remember that you must see both sides before you can say that you have seen it all .

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  19. Reality Check says:

    DART is not the biggest problem in Cayman.

    The biggest problem for Cayman is 30 plus years of wasteful governments, no sustainable long term plans for national development, systemic corruption, a bloated civil service management team with zero accountability. It is the government owned companies like Cayman Airways and Turtle Farm that are passion projects for politicians which provide jobs for friends and positions on boards for political supporters. It is the unfunded long term debts like the pension and medical insurance liabilities estimated at KYD 1.4billion dollars that are ignored by successive governments that will harm the Cayman Islands long term.

    There is no Government owned entity that is encouraged to become or realistically target any form of profitability and decreasing its dependency on annual cash injections into the project, business, Statutory Authority that is voted on by the elected government. Not paying our bills and failing to understand long term debt with srinking revenues while over extending the country’s public coffers with opulent projects that do no not provide a Return on Investment like Clifton Hunter High School, the new proposed cruise berthing facility that will benefit a select few merchants yet cost the tax paying public over 300million to construct. These are the sort of recent examples from a long list that are the recipe for bankruptcy.

    It is the general mismanagement of public finances and a lack of accountability and transparency and decades worth of poorly negotiated deals by the Cayman Islands government that will accelerate Cayman into becoming the Caribbean version of Greece.

    In fact Cayman needs another two or three billionaires like DART to offer competition and bring balance to the Cayman economy so that the elected government is not overly reliant on DART or any one conglomerate. Can you imagine the Cayman Islands without DART propping up the economy?

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    • Suzanne Harvey says:

      The truth is, shady politicians, plus Dart, make a combination that no country could possibly survive very long. Our government is continuing to sell us out to Dart. The comments from Anonymous 5:41 and Realty Check aren’t just possibilities! They are facts! Read up on Dart….. He has gutted several countries and moved on leaving them with nothing. Wake up, people!

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    • Anonymous says:

      “Can you imagine the Cayman Islands without DART propping up the economy?” Sadly I can only imagine it. You have little faith in Cayman if you assume we would not have survived and flourished without Dart. Now Dart has so much control that we have little choice but to rollover and submit to their demands. If you call that progress I feel sad for our people.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    Jaja lol So true

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  21. Anonymous says:

    What happens? Nothing really. However they begin asking us for more money !

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  22. Anonymous says:

    Don’t blame the developers, blame the low lives who sold us out.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Caymanians did

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      • Anonymous says:

        Dart could not buy what was not for sale. Corrupt Politicians are elected by ??? Don’t blame Dart, Caymanians want all they can get. There is no free lunch. The ignorant are always gullible, They sell the future and then cry foal when the money is gone and the future arrives.

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    • Anonymous says:

      And if you worked your whole life to build a business and there were no takers for a reasonable buyout, you will simply close your doors and lose your life’s work, or would you “sell out” to an interested buyer?

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