CBC takes on 32 new Caymanian recruits
(CNS): Following a recent successful recruitment drive in which around 500 people applied, Customs and Border Control has taken on 32 new officers in the largest recruitment class to date. All of the new recruits are Caymanian and bring varying professional backgrounds and areas of expertise, officials said.
In preparation for the start of their basic training course, the new employees are currently being rotated through various sections of the service in their initial on-the-job training.
The rigorous four-month training programme, which includes theory and practical training modules, is designed to prepare and test the recruits for all eventualities in their new role as CBC officers. At the conclusion of their basic training, the graduates will be deployed to different sections within CBC.
CBC Director Charles Clifford said he was pleased with the level of community interest that had been shown in the CBC with the large number of applications.
“The recruitment exercise was very competitive and time-consuming but was certainly worth the effort,” he said, as he congratulated and welcomed the new officers.
“They must remain ever mindful that as CBC officers we bear the heavy responsibility for collecting and protecting Government’s revenue and securing our borders. Through our collaborative work with our partner law enforcement agencies, we ensure the national security of our country and thereby allow our twin economic pillars of financial services and tourism to flourish,” he added.
Deputy Director Marlon Bodden, who has responsibility for CBC’s Management Support Services Portfolio including the Training Unit, said he was looking forward to delivering “the robust and comprehensive training programme” to enable them to function effectively in the various sections of the agency.
“Excellence in customer service is integrated into our training programme and as a law enforcement agency, we have been consistent in our objective to be effective border control officers while simultaneously delivering excellent customer service,” Bodden added.
Deputy Premier Chris Saunders, who is the minister for Border Control, said he was pleased to see so many young Caymanians interested in a law enforcement career.
“They bear an important responsibility in their new roles. I am certain that with the strong guidance they will receive from Director Clifford, Deputy Director Bodden and the entire senior management team at CBC throughout their training, they will be successful. I thank them all for their willingness and enthusiasm to serve and wish them well throughout their careers,” he said.
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Category: Border Control, Crime, Customs, Jobs, Local News
CBC is going to be in the same mess as our police service why because same players who ruined it for Caymanians are now there . How truly sad for Cayman.
Wonder how many are from the same WB family which has dominated CBC staff for years? Nepotism much?
I hope they have better customer service training than the officer who shouted and insulted travellers from the Sister Islands when they had to use that separate baggage hall.
A lot of those new officers look like Ls in terms of their BMI – presumably just bad camera lens, because I would assume any uniform branch must have a personal fitness standard. .
I hope they are not trained by the customs officer who stopped almost half the passengers going through the green lane off the American flight on Mar 31st and sent them to have their bags searched. I was one and seeing the long line that was hardly moving asked if my search could be expedited as I was 77 and tired after a flight from London. The large lady responsible for this diversion ignored my request and we waited for 40 to 50 minutes while all bags were hand searched to the extent of checking inside shoes for hidden contraband.
Are these officers aware of the principal behind the green lane, in Miami and Heathrow not even one in a hundred are searched. This lady seemed to think all these passengers were dishonest although I saw nobody sent to pay duty.
This matter was reported to Mr Clifford by my M.P. but we heard nothing back from him.This is not the way to treat visiting tourists from the U.S. who will think twice about returning, after this experience.
Interestingly I noticed some of the tail end passengers off the earlier Cayman Airways flight walking straight through the green lane with trolleys piled high with 5 or 6 large suitcases each.
Look, you may have had a bad experience but I can say based on the last dozen or so years of frequent travel that the KX flights routinely face much more scrutiny than the US airlines on the basis that the percentage of residents on KX is usually higher and this it’s more likely to find people sneaking in things in their luggage.
The reason you heard nothing back from Mr. Clifford is your complaint is that the customs people decided to look at a flight closely. They do this once in a while, it’s normal (albeit inconvenient).
No excuse for a senior civil servant to ignore the public. A short kind explanation would have done wonders.
11.08am All the more reason not to harass American visitors,but nothing excuses the treatment of a senior citizen by this female Rambo. Does Mr Clifford condone this behaviour, it seems so.
Customs are unless! I order part from states and FedEx which arrive 2 days later but it still stuck at custom for a week! WTF why bother pay express service which I could fly and collect part myself faster! They need work more hours and days as packages and mail arrive cayman islands 24/7!
Ummm. Serious question. Given CBC does not have a list of Caymanians, how does it know all of these recruits are Caymanian? Have they all been formally acknowledged by WORC? Have all properly applied for continuation at 18 (where relevant) and had their applications granted?
Nonsensical question. ALL Caymanians have either British/Caymanian passports, or Caymanian Status papers. Also, only Caymanians can be electors.
That is simply not true. Thousands of Caymanians do not have British or Caymanian passports. Having a Cayman Passport is literally NOTHING to do with whether you are Caymanian or not, and thousands of Caymanians have no status papers. But carry on. It would be great if our border control authorities knew who was Caymanian. It would be extremely helpful in carrying out their role.
A significant number of non Caymanians appear to be registered as electors. Just sayin.
You work for the civil service, don’t you? Do you actually believe what you wrote?
I have a Caymanian passport but am not Caymanian. Because its not a Caymanian passport, really, its a BOTC passport with a Caymanian suffix on it. You can get a Caymanian passport WAY before you qualify for status, friend. And at the other end, as the P points out, you can be borne here and qualify initially as Caymanian, but if you don’t apply for continuation, you lose it. In the absence of an official list of Caymanians, which Immigration is meant to maintain but has never created, you either have status papers or you are NOT Caymanian by law, no matter how Caymanian you may feel you are.
So we have an easy and clear process to settle this.
Caymanian Status = Voter with full rights, period.
As a person who arrived 27 years ago and married a Caymanian 20 years ago and volunteers in our community daily, I challenge anyone to say I am not Caymanian.
I do not have a CI Passport or a UK passport, but I cherish my CI Status.
If you have status, you are Caymanian. If you do not have status, you are not. It really is that simple. It would be great if Customs and Border Control understood that fact.
BMI >35, check box.
Obviously. As you pointed out a person can prove they are Caymanian for sake of employment. What CBC cannot do is rule out the people who should have status but have not received it for some reason hence no 100% accurate national number. Apples v Oranges.
CBC should absolutely rule out anyone that does not have status, no matter the reason they have nor received it. THAT IS LITERALLY BORDER CONTROLS JOB!
They are literally a force unto themselves. The law is an irrelevance. They wave anyone with a Cayman passport through, and treat them as Caymanians even when they are not. I cannot imagine that their hiring practices are any better.
It’s still taking close to 3 weeks to clear duty free items delivered to Cayman via International Courier. Clearance speed and priority is so glacially slow that foreign senders monitoring scanned tracking info, wonder what is happening here (or not happening as the case would seem) in the Cayman Islands. It’s really embarrassing, because there is no acceptable reason that anyone can cite for why it could take so long.
For an additionally entertaining experience, you could try to receive a package on the Sister Islands. Three weeks from the time the package landed in Grand would be a gift.
Congrats guys! Now hope it’s not more laziness on top of laziness.
the ever expanding civil service..zzzzzzzz..while every report into the perfromance of the civil service has recommended reducing numbers….
When every private sector consultant report has recommended the need for more private sector consultant contracts to do the work the civil service is already doing I think you meant to say.
Note that not one single one of those reports have said that the work will be done cheaper. They just started from the philosophy that if work can be done at a profit it should be done by the private sector. Not a wrong philosophy, just a way of looking at things that might not get you the result you think it will.
The recruiting process seems bias. I personally know of a full blooded Caymanian individual with a tertiary degree, excellent record and in need of work who didn’t get through the final process. Not the right name….
Hear Hear. Even with the right name, you may not have the right “connections.”