Bill will make Cayman Islands Coast Guard official
(CNS): Legislation to formally establish the country’s first coastguard unit has been published in the government gazette. The latest arm of local law enforcement has been taking shape over the last year and its first cohort of recruits graduated in March. An amalgamation of the jobs once done by the RCIPS Joint Marine Unit with parts of customs and immigration, this new uniform branch is tasked with both policing the waters surrounding Cayman and rescuing those in trouble.
The Cayman Islands Coast Guard has already been operating for several months under the command of Robert Scotland. It is expected to support several existing agencies and perform a range of duties, from rescuing trapped turtles to recovering drugs from the sea.
The bill now gazetted formally establishes the coastguard “as a uniformed and disciplined department of Government” responsible for maritime enforcement of local laws, the coordination and delivery of maritime search and rescue, and ensuring compliance with relevant international law, conventions and treaties relating to safety of life at sea and pollution prevention.
It is also responsible for enforcing local laws and any applicable international law, conventions and treaties for the prevention, detection and disruption of illicit activity at sea in Cayman waters and the high seas up to the territorial waters of other jurisdictions.
The legislation sets out the powers and responsibilities of the commander, senior officers and recruits, the powers of arrest, offences under the law, as well as recruitment, general management and the administration of this new unit, which is being funded by central government with its own budget separate from the RCIPS.
The public now has 28 days to examine the law and if anyone wishes to comment, they should contact their constituency MP directly before it is tabled in Parliament, which can take place anytime after the four week consultation period.
See the bill in the CNS Library.
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Category: Local News
How many Directors, Commandants, Admirals, Deputy Directors,Deputy Commandants and Vice Admirals does it have?.
A F**king LOT.
We need an airforce w fighter jets, aircraft carrier, 2 destroyers and a submarine next.
LOL this!!
Check the Atlantis liquidators for the sub… going cheap! Borrow a bit of camo paint from the Regiment and good to go!
LMAO!
Each with an acting director while the director, appointed by the previous administration, is on gardening leave.
Lots of cash available for toy soldiers that we don’t really need. How about allocating management, oversight and resources to an agency that we all depend on for quality of health and life? Like MRCU.
Less government please
if the coastguard polices the police who polices the coastguard?
Answer to both questions:
His Excellency, of course, acting on the full and complete behalf of the UK Government.
As it should be.
We are a BOT, after all.
Created to give young caymanians jobs (not in itself a bad thing) and get rid of some dead wood from the old marine unit. No other reason.
Nice coast guard but we have no territorial waters only 12 miles to protect. What a joke. Cayman hasn’t claimed their waters of a 200 mile exclusive economic zone so we can have a secure food source.Believe it cayman 95% of fhise fresh red snappers you buy and eat are illegally cought. Government officials XXXX knows but dont have the intelligence and foresight to secure our ancestral fishing grounds. Cayman has no food security we saw that during covid. Caymans commercial fishing fleet has no government support or recognition no business licenses insurance work permits nothing only liability. Caymanians were the fisrt to fish these banks now we are the last resorting to stealing very Sad and dangerous
Not to mention these same “fishermen” are slaughtering sharks because they lack education. They are forced by their caymanian owner to live on the boat docked in residential areas instead of being paid a livable wage. Just go see in red bay, prospect, and north sound estates area.
There are some inaccuracies (particularly on 200-mile inaction) in what Shane has written but, in the main, he is correct on several points.
Many of these points are fixable, however.
PACT, over to you.
I thought this lovely Coast Guard was already in existence with full complement of Assistant Deputy Chief Commandants and broken vehicles in place?
All of this new government expenditure that started under the Progressives and continue under PACT needs to stop immediately. The government is claiming that it is essentially running out of money and that they need to open the borders to help reduce expenditures and increase revenues. Those claims can’t be true based on the government’s new and proposed policies that will only put further strain on the public purse. The government needs to clearly indicate how all new and proposed expenditure will be paid for without having to borrow more money and without having to increase fees and other taxes.
We have all been under financial pressure in recent times. Many of us have had to make sacrifices and do without so that we can make ends meet. The government needs to do the same instead of entertaining new expenditures that will ultimately result in increased fees and taxes and further financial pressure on an already overly burdened population.
That’s nice of Bill.
Agreed, hopefully he’ll make some more CICG officials when he has a chance!
He’s a busy fella