Late night hot-spot struggles with drunks

| 15/09/2020 | 88 Comments

(CNS): The manager of Bananas Bar has admitted that she and her team are struggling with drunken would-be patrons converging at their location early in the morning, as they are one of the few very late night spots in George Town. During the annual meeting of the Liquor Licensing Board on Monday, the police pointed out that this bar takes up a lot of resources and has raised significant concerns about the violence there.

Deputy Police Commissioner Kurt Walton said that the police had reached the point where they “expected people to be stabbed, shot or killed” in the parking lot at Bananas every Friday night. He said he was concerned about the weapons that are reportedly getting inside the bar as well as those who are armed outside the bar, which has become the most concerning late night hot-spot.

While Walton commended the management for their cooperation with the RCIPS, the fact remained that the nightclub is causing a major safety and security problem.

The manager said the problems were coming from the drunks that she was not allowing inside. After they are prevented from entering they continue to hang around outside, she said, explaining that she is the one calling the police to report the fights and the troubles.

The manager said she could not have everybody drunk inside the bar. “It is very difficult,” she told the board. “And when we try not to let them in, they start a fight outside.”

Bananas currently has a nightclub licence but the manager and owners were at the meeting, not only to change the licensees, but also to apply for a change to the licence and return to being a regular bar, and hopefully attract a different clientele. The manager said the problems had grown for Bananas because when the rest of the bars close down in George Town, everyone heads for that bar, but before 2am the place is almost empty.

The former chair of the board, Mitchell Welds, appearing on behalf of the landlord, said that there had been some miscommunication and asked the board to defer the matter so that he could consult with the landlord over the change in the status of the licence.

However, the board pointed out that the person who has the interest is the holder of the liquor licence, not the landlord.


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Category: Business, Food and Drink

Comments (88)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Interesting article on the BBC about the impact of alcohol bans during Covid-19 lockdowns. Less domestic abuse, violence, etc.
    https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200917-the-impact-of-banning-alcohol-during-covid-19

    I’m not suggesting for a second that we should introduce prohibition but we did see a decrease in such public order offenses during our lockdown.

  2. Bertie :B says:

    The misuse of Alcohol is everywhere , The solutions are nowhere. It will take a combination of what some people are suggesting . One way is when the bar starts to get busy , start bringing in the drunk driving teams , block the roads and make sure anyone who leaves or comes there is Sober enough to drive

  3. Anonymous says:

    Are the names of liquor licensees a matter of public record? I know they’re supposed to display them prominently on premises, but does the LLB publish a list too? I can’t find one online, but then perhaps I’m not looking in the right place.

    And if they don’t, why don’t they?

  4. Anonymous says:

    Why is everyone getting so excited? This has been going on for more than 60 years ago. Hire 2 police officers per night whenever you have dances. Soon as they start trouble arrest them and put them in jail for the night. If they got weapons leave them in jail for a couple of months. The people who owned bars in the past were Caymanians. They were also seamen. They knew how to handle bad boys.

  5. Jotnar says:

    Can you imagine a liquor licensing meeting in the US or the UK where a senior police officer said they routinely expected violence, including stabbing, shooting or murder, and the immediate outcome was not an immediate revocation of the licence but some dithering because the landlord ( represented by the former Chair IOC the Board)- not even the licence holder – was concerned about the economic impact? Or where the police didn’t simply say enough was enough and they would have a standing presence and be frisking everyone in the car park out side the club after 12? Because they would rather someone got shot, stabbed or killed than interferes with the almighty dollar or civil liberties. Dear God. How corrupt a society have we become.

  6. Anonymous says:

    George Town is pretty much a shit hole.

  7. Unfortunate truth says:

    You can’t solve the problem by just closing this bar or the other trouble bars/clubs on the island.

    All over the world there are bars/clubs that have fights, stabbings etc.

    In fact Cayman over the years have had many bars/clubs that fights, stabbing and murders have happened.

    How are we to stop this, we’ll guess what this will never stop, Government can’t stop ignorant, pig headed, idiots.

    Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, we are just going to live with it.

    Whilst we are at it, why arent the churches and religious freaks marching, visiting these stupid people or in fact visiting these bars in the wee hours of the morning to preach to them, instead of worrying about the LGBT community?

  8. Jonathan Adam says:

    Your statement is correct in that it is the commercial interests of the landlord who holds the liquor license under contention with a higher regard, consideration and consequence above and/or beyond anything else, including the collective well being of the Cayman Islands and her people. The lack of immediate and transparent identification of said individual/s is indicative of the inequity inherent within the overall equation here. It is a common and widespread malady that the proprietorship of this and all other establishments with extremely problematic histories of violent incidents is not made public knowledge as a matter of course in every single article regarding this and/or any other issue. Said sad reality is indicative of the destructive core issue of and/or presence of cartels, cabals and private sector interests not being held to account in any real and/or meaningful way. Moreover, it is indicative of a widespread illegitimate influence in any and all decision making processes in and of the administration of the Cayman Islands in it’s entirety. Any hollow rhetoric which would seek to say otherwise is a complete and utter fallacy. One should also be well aware that the common modus operandi of a ‘rebranding’ is more probably than not what will come of this along with a cadre of public relations stunts. Establishments like Treasure Island which change their names with more turnover than tidal fluctuations are but one example of the situation at hand and the root core causes and effects which thus far remain unmitigated. One can expect the preceding identification to more probably than not be removed, as that is the status quo. One can also point directly to the fact that there is an overriding issue of a valid fear of victimization when one speaks to any of these issues and puts one’s own name to their own words, positions, opinions and one bears not only personal witness to but also testimony of both truth and fact. It is these inequitable constructs which we in Cayman are beholden and subjugated to which have to be acknowledged as the clear and present danger which they are and have been for far too long.

    • Anonymous says:

      How many more of these incidents have to happen at this location before it is closed down? Surely we must be tired of hearing/ reading the bad news coming out of that place.

    • Anonymous says:

      Take off your tin foil hat and go read the Compass, where you’ll all the names you seek.

    • Anonymous says:

      So what you’re saying is that there’s obvious corruption with a significant private sector interest in Cayman. You want more publicity on the matter. They’ll run from said publicity by rebranding as typical, and if you try to point it out you’ll be victimized. Anyways, we all know how long this sh!t been going on for.

      there ya go bud

      • Jonathan Adam says:

        So what you are saying is that I gathered the ingredients, did the prep, set the fire and put the ingredients in the pot and you stirred the pot a little once it rendered down to run down. LOL. Yes, aye. You missed a few key points,like the devil which lives in the details, but good job overall. Methinks you must have good at book reports in school. Is your name Cliff and do you take notes?

        Thank ya bud.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Its easy to blame the proprietor in this case but if you ask me the in action of RCIPS is responsible in this case.

  10. Anonymous says:

    The whole of eastern avenue/Shedden road turns into downtown Kingston on Fri/Sat nights.

    • Anonymous says:

      It’s pretty nasty most of the time

    • Anonymous says:

      Too many rift rafts and ghetto people, who are used to that life style where they come from.
      Years ago those people were not allowed to enter these islands, but immigration doors are wide open for good and bad to enter. They could be eliminated by the crimes they commit but we continue to harbour them here, so what can we expect? Criminality!

  11. Anonymous says:

    If we know it’s going to kill. Lock it down!

  12. Anonymous says:

    How about holding those who are causing the problems accountable? Not the owners, not the police, not the Bar, but those hanging out and making trouble? Enforce the laws. At least in this area at the trouble times. This is why we have police. This is a problem solved by them doing their jobs. Yes we all know that in the caribbean ganstas get prefered treatment but they must be held accountable or the problem will never be fixed.

    • Anonymous says:

      Thanks. I was wondering if any of the comments were going mention what you did. I understand that people will naturally move towards what seems like the quickest solution, which is to just shut the place down where things are happening. However, its the people visiting these bars that are, for the most part, creating this issue. Closing down where they go won’t make them stop. Its a lazy solution to the problem. Caymanians (and I am Caymanian so don’t start this “why don’t you leave” nonsense) need to start looking at how to address root causes of issues and start applying some sort of logic to their so called solutions they cry for.

      We can’t walk around thinking that our sh!t doesn’t stink anymore if we really want to turn our island around for the better. We can’t have this division in values. We need to sort out what values we wan’t to have a nation and envision what we want our country to be. We can argue about what the best route is to get there but we aren’t going to get there if we all have different foundations. The reason I mention values is that everyone commenting here differs in opinion in some way shape or form and that’s fine. Lately I’m of the opinion that our (those commenting) values are diverging further apart and if we don’t all want the same thing then there is no way we can work together to achieve anything. Also, we all need to be able to compromise certain things. We each aren’t going to have everything we ever wanted, so the least we can do is not kick up a fuss and throw the toys out the pram when we don’t get our demands met to the T.

  13. Anonymous says:

    All the comments are close the bar early, close the bar permanently, have police on site every night, etc. But this isn’t going to fix the problem. You think the guys hanging out there drunk at 2am are just going home if they can’t be at Banana’s??? Of course not… They’re just going to find somewhere else to hang out and we’ll just have a different problem area to deal with. Gov needs to get to the root of the problem and deal with why young adults are out drinking and fighting at 2am every week – gangs, drugs, unemployment, etc.

  14. Anonymous says:

    bar and clubs should market themselves to americans, canadians, europeans, asians, australians and some south africans…

  15. Anonymous says:

    Simply light up the parking area like a tennis court from 2am. People up to no good hate the light.

  16. Say it like it is says:

    It seems Mr Welds the former Chairman of the Liquor Licencing Board of all people, does not know the rules!. Only in Cayman!.

    • Anonymous says:

      What the hell are you talking about? Do you know how long this man held the position of Chairman? Hater.

      • Anonymous says:

        The implication is that Mr Welds knows the rules perfectly well, but is seeking to persuade the board to bend them on behalf of his client.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Why do the police not station a couple of cars and armed officers in the parking lot every FridaySat. At 2 am, if they are expecting violence every weekend? It seems willfully stupid not to take action.

    • Anonymous says:

      Because they’ve got other things to do than waste resources hanging round in the hope of violence.

      God, sometimes I do wonder who posts these moronic comments.

      The reason premises like these are licensed is that their licenses can be removed if they become the cause of trouble. In this case Bananas is just that, so revoke its license. Or are prominent local business interests in play here which government would prefer to see people stabbed rather than offend?

    • Anonymous says:

      You think they actually have the numbers to do that, and deal with GT issues too? They really don’t.

      I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, but it can’t happen as it stands.

    • Anonymous says:

      For this one facility every week they mist have people there when they could be needed elsewhere. Simply because people cannot control themselves?

      Just shut this place down. It’s trash anyway!

    • Anonymous says:

      Why not include Enforcement Officers and round up overstayers/work permit holders who may be part of the problem. Too many people allowed to enter, who are from the lower end of the scale and bring their bad habits with them. Why tolerate imported unacceptable behavior. When incidents happen, it is difficult to find people to come forward to help solve the crime, because their are too many of the same nationality, who will not speak out against their own. Worse when it comes to the police, they turn a blind eye. To each his own.

  18. BeaumontZodecloun says:

    Nothing much good happens after midnight, at least away from home. Why do we have places open in the wee hours? In the past, it was considered good for the economy with tourism wanting to stay out late and party. Why are we doing this now?

    • Anonymous says:

      Yep very simple solution – close all bars at midnight period.
      If bars/nightclubs are unable to maintain order then shut them down….period.
      People loitering just being a public nuisance – quit being so easy on them.
      Truly wish we could go back in time to late night Covid curfew. Absolutely no reason to be out in the wee hours of the night drinking/loitering.
      XXXXX
      So Mr. Commissioner of Police, unna Politicians, political lackeys on Liquor Board, etc – quit appeasing the partying crowd and get control of things.

      • Jonathan Adam says:

        Would expect to convert foxes in hen houses into vegans? Of course not. Therein is the need for a paradigm shift. Far beyond the issues regarding the clientele of said establishment, their general quality of character and/or the lack thereof, there is the reality that the system which governs and administrates these things is rotten at the head, including the constructs which govern, manipulate and control the ‘police service’. Therein be the root cause. One does not expect to eradicate a maiden plum by trimming the leaves or the branches.

        • Anonymous says:

          Starting to wonder if Mr Adam will be running next year,..

          • Anonymous says:

            🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
            Might get a vote from Elvis.

            • Jonathan Adam says:

              Weeeeel. Thanka very much little lady… Getting a vote from Elvis would require a national vote as it pertains to the election of MLA’s, which in my humble opinion would be a step in the right direction to disallow the ‘divide and conquer’ garrison style of politricks which has quite obviously been proven itself to be detrimental. I also see the need for the position of Premier (if it is even necessary) to be decided on exclusively by the electorate themselves, to the exclusion of all others. The self serving horse trading and overt chicanery in the immediate aftermath of the last election cycle made that quite obvious, as the political expediencies of MLA’s was, by design of construct, allowed to override the interests and well being of the Cayman Islands and it’s people and at the collective expense of all and sundry. These positive and proactive changes do not fall in line with the dictate of Westminster parliamentary democracy. Therein be the need for a paradigm shift to be considered in this regard as it pertains to a governmental administration which serves the interests of the Cayman Islands and her people above all others.

              • Anonymous says:

                Brah, ya’ll wanted one man one wote. Careful what you wish for comes immediately to mind.

                • Anonymous says:

                  Brah, OMOV was a small step in the right direction but it damn sure was not a panacea, and is it pertains to the carte blanche and unhindered institutionalized corruption which Cayman is being detrimentally affected by, and is it pertains to the woefully inadequate and easily prostituted out to the highest bidder, pitiful perversion of democratic process within the fallacy of Westminster parliamentary democracy, one should not be even remotely surprised that things are the way they are.

          • Anonymous says:

            I do wish he’d write clear English.

    • Anonymous says:

      because people like to party obviously…
      you think local population is somehow different to tourists??

  19. Anonymous says:

    It use to be Rum Heads, decades later Sapphire and a decade later and now Bananas.

    No Loitering! RCIP must stop the loitering and let the businesses serve the peaceful happy people.

    • Anonymous says:

      They should be. Compelled to have working cameras and proper security guards inside and out and checking for weapons.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Everywhere those Spaniards go they cause trouble when they’re drunk, I’ve been to alot of their countries & they’re the same when they’re drunk!! Bracka

    • Kman Gone to Hell says:

      Agree 100%. But you Brackers are just as bad as the Hondos any day. I checked the Cayman League Tables for district wickedness and you are tied with East End and West Bay. Only closely followed by North Side, Bodden Town and George Town. Almost a six way tie.

    • Anonymous says:

      Leave the spaniels out of this.

    • Anonymous says:

      The problem is not the “Spaniards” as you like to call them. Heaven knows why you use this term when none of them are in fact from Spain? On this basis, we should all be calling you British?? In any event, most of the problems at this bar and others are caused by drunk Caymanians going there after other places are closed.

      • Anonymous says:

        I agree with everything you said except for the last sentence. It’s drunk Caymanians, but ALSO Jamaicans, Hondurans and Dominicans.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Only trouble pass midnight

  22. Anonymous says:

    Or, they could just choose to voluntarily close earlier.

  23. Sad but true says:

    Can’t shut these places down as they are frequented by politicians and influential people in our society.

    • Anonymous says:

      Drunks outside of a bar in the parking lot midnight till two A.M. on the Weekends causing troubles and killing people. Cayman has no functional law enforcement so they blame the bar, Bar manager, Bar owner, police, MLA’s, etc. But the people who are the cause of the problem are not consulted, prosecuted or asked to stop. This is the Caymanian way. Get used to it. Until the UK takes over when bankruptcy hits it will not change.

      • Anonymous says:

        6.54am Cos no drinking, no drunks, no fights, no stabbings, no guns, bars close at 12 midnight, no gangs in UK?

  24. Anonymous says:

    Why is this happening? Reason being ever riftraft in Cayman hangs out there that is why. Ghetto people, bring ghetto problems.

  25. Anonymous says:

    So, have the trouble spot close down at 10 PM!

  26. Anonymous says:

    How about everything should be closed by 2am, and everyone should be going home to go to bed. Problem solved.

  27. Anonymous says:

    The last paragraph says it all and who runs the establishment.
    It is time the police had powers to shut down a premises for 48 hours and a senior officer to close it for 28 Days before being brought before the board

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