Developer found guilty of destroying marine life
(CNS): In a very rare prosecution for damaging the marine environment and undertaking unlicensed coastal works, a local developer has been convicted of four counts under the National Conservation Act. Baer Development is facing a substantial fine after being found guilty on all charges last month in relation to the unlawful construction of seawalls in the North Sound at the Allure condominiums in George Town and the destruction of sea life.
Baer Development had applied for a coastal works licence to build walls on the seabed, which is crown land, but before a decision was made, the company began constructing them, damaging the seagrass and marine life in the area. The developer also failed to comply with two cease and desist notices issued as a result of the unlawful work after the coastal works licence was denied.
The case was heard in Summary Court by Magistrate Philippa McFarlane, who found in her ruling that there was underwater plant growth in Cayman waters at the time the developer did the work between 21 February 2020 and December 2021, and the work on the seawalls and fill without a coastal works permit “injured, mutilated, removed or displaced the aforesaid underwater plant growth” in contravention of the law.
Before the work was started, the developers had applied to Lands and Survey to have the Allure site boundary extended beyond the high water mark onto the seabed and into crown property, which, like the coastal works licence, was denied. Ignoring the decision, the defendant constructed the two walls and installed rock fill covering the seagrass and other marine life without permission.
The developer was also convicted of failing to comply with two cease and desist orders that were issued by the director of the Department of Environment between June 2020 and December 2021 in relation to the construction work.
During the course of the trial, Baer’s attorney Paul Keeble had argued that his client was innocent because there was no sea grass or other plant life growing when the walls were built, so no marine life was damaged. He also claimed it was unclear that the work took place in Cayman waters and that the question of what is the seabed was unclear.
However, based on evidence supplied by technical witnesses from the DoE, it was established that seagrass was present in the area at the time. The magistrate also rejected the arguments questioning whether the unlicensed coastal work took place in Cayman waters because of how the law was written or that there was any ambiguity about the boundary of the site extending into the sea.
McFarlane said she found the submissions on the work not taking place in Cayman waters as “almost entirely without merit” given the clear reading of the law, which interpreted any other way would be “absurd and illogical”. She also found that the developer’s application to Lands and Survey to extend the boundary into the sea made it clear they were well aware that the location where the seawalls were constructed was on crown land.
In her conclusion, the magistrate said that she was left with no doubt in her mind that the defendant had taken the actions as charged. She added that it was likely done in the misguided anticipation that the coastal works licence would be granted or that the request to move the boundary would be granted.
The case was adjourned until 6 September to prepare for sentencing.
See the full ruling in the CNS Library.
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Category: Crime, development, Environment, Local News
I dunno why everyone thinks this is some big bad foreigner? Baer is Ray and Karen Hydes who as far as I’m aware are generational Caymanians 😂
Their names are on the paperwork, and it is ultimately their fault that this happened, but it is not really their project. Stop pretending to not know how this works. They are absolute sellouts and shouldn’t have been involved, but they are not the only guilty party here.
Well his legally owned property wasn’t big enough to do what he wanted so he stole some public land. Greedy thieving bastards the lot of them.
They should be knocked down if they did not have enought property to build on.
Sounds like a case of expanding a terrestrial footprint by stealing from a neighouring owner. In this case the neighbour is the Crown.
Unscrupulous developers have long been aided and abetted by the CPA which routinely grants approval for projects on property that is not fit for purpose.
Cayman is a land of many laws but little regulation.
And this developer was a member of the last CPA
Wow!!!so they knew the rules were being broken .
They should be named and shamed.
Court should instruct DoE to contract a company to remove the walls and fill, and the whole cost be met by Baer and its beneficial owners.
Don’t allow them to just pay a fine and carry on.
Yet it will be ok for Kenneth Bryan to extend the runway into the sound?
A Caymanian developer did this! This has been the practice of “other developers” for years. As the saying goes “monkey see, monkey do”. I hope the next time around this practice will be scrutinized and followed through as vigorously as this one. The laws are for everyone!
Ray should know better yes, but the money behind BAER is not from these parts.
But isn’t Ray a Pastor of Church of God Universal? You really think he should know better?
You really believe Pastors are exempt from this type of activity. How many Pastors do you know that are not living the lavish life in Cayman?
Cheaper for the developer to plead ignorance and pay a fine then it is to obey the law as their applications would be denied. Plenty people know that. All those destroying the mangroves know that. The law has no power to truly punish
How will the crown reclaim its property back? Will the sea wall be removed and the seabed placed back to its natural state or will the people be reimbursed?
Classic example of why beneficial ownership information is needed.
There is no rational justification for me being able to obtain a corporate ‘licence plate’ and drive around knocking down pedestrians and the public doesn’t know who owns the licence plate.
Here is a way to manage beneficial ownership information.
Allow beneficial ownership to remain secret… until any law is broken and sentencing for a punishable offense has taken place.
Also, include loss of beneficial ownership privileges if CPA (and other relevant)policies are broken.
Incentivize compliance, punish those who don’t.
Have beneficial ownership information disclosed during sentencing, as part of the sentencing.
What you seemed to have overlooked is that the beneficial ownership information you speak about has always been available to law enforcement and other relevant, connected parties. Not for the public to sit back and peruse freely and be jealously invasive. Bear in the mind that the corporate administration /company registration space is a huge revenue source for CIG. Use your imagination on the outcome for us if confidence is lost and that part of the industry dries up, because of your desire to gossip and ogle.
Developments of “luxury condos”, one after the other. These developments need cleaners, security guards, gardeners. The owners will want to use supermarkets, restaurants etc. which employ hard-working people on small salaries. Who is building accommodation for them? Already many are living 12-15 people in one low-rent house. Apart from looking at individual developments does anyone have responsibility for the island’s development as a whole?
The word “Luxury” can’t apply to these cheap draftsman cookie cutter people containers.
More and more Caymanians are realizing that their place of birth, seat on the planning board, cash in the bank, and influential contacts, are not enough to flaunt the laws of the land, like the good old days.
As for “environment”.. that’s a foreign import which doesn’t apply to Caymanians.
Nothing to see here, they’ll pay the fine, pass it on the the dumb purchasers, and move on to the next development. The same happened at the Rum Point Club development when they destroyed the iron-shore to accommodate beach sand, that washes away with every tide.
As for DOE Enforcement, don’t make me laugh. How can you allow two C&D orders to pass without someone arresting those responsible? Probably because there’s no one on duty after lunch, or they’re to busy doing their own business.
It’s not brain surgery, the officer responsible for that area only has to randomly call in throughout his/her daily patrol to ensure compliance with the law. So where were they, after all, they would surely see construction work beginning, why didn’t they inspect the site from the get go? Probably another example of incompetence hidden from public gaze by the ‘gate keepers’ at DOE.
The DOE Keystone Cops are a hopeless cause that are poorly led and badly supervised. Time for a rethink on this critical enforcement service.
Those responsible were literally charged and found guilty in court…
After two C&D’s and after the fact that the damage had been done. No excuses, DOE were too late because they failed in their core duty, to protect the environment.
Just because punishment was eventually applied doesn’t negate the failings of the department and its officers to monitor ALL construction works that are impactful on the marine environment. Conservation Officers have arrest powers under the NCL, they also have powers to stop any work that contravenes that law and permit conditions. But, they have to actually do their jobs, patrol effectively, get out of their a/c’d trucks, and be barred from conducting personal business instead of their public duty. I am led to believe that there are at least six CO’s positioned west of Bodden Town, more than enough to ensure permit conditions are observed.
So I ask again, where were they from when ground broke to when the offences were committed, seemingly on numerous occasions? Construction takes time to prepare and complete, how was this missed?
Until the public become less complacent and start asking the awkward questions, those in charge of enforcement policy will continue to hide behind the wall of avoidance.
To be clear, after the damage is done is not protection, it’s negligence and someone in government needs to audit DOE and it’s shameful record on secrecy, incompetence, and cover-up, specifically in the enforcement department.
Jesus, are you really this dense? The4y were charged and found guilty in court!!! how can you say law enforcement was not on the ball?
Pretty easy really. If they were on the ball, the work would not have been allowed to continue after the first cease and desist order was issued, let alone the second. Yet here we are.
That is how the law works, they received enforcement notices and are given time to comply. If you want faster results, change the law.
Enforcement of permit conditions requires routine patrols to inspect construction sites to ensure compliance with the law. Only an uneducated fool would believe that the issuance of an enforcement order was compliance, it’s the very opposite and should never get that far. The law doesn’t need changing, the DOE enforcement management does.
You clearly do not know what you’re talking about. It’s DOE’s job to ensure compliance at every stage. Cease and desist orders are the last option, and they are not a request, they are a legal instruction to stop all work immediately. Two C&D’s issued is outrageous negligence on behalf of the DOE enforcement team.
Oh good grief! Logic would dictate that if they had conducted their duties appropriately in the first place, the damage wouldn’t have happened and a court case unnecessary.
No wonder Cayman is in the state it’s in with illogical masterminds like you.
Law enforcement is there to stop law breaking, not allow it to take place then act.
Yet that’s not even close to the worst planning violation’s going on in Tropical Gardens, which the planning department choose to ignore, despite multiple reports.
When are the walls being removed? Fines are not enough punishment. Remediation needs to be ordered
Nothing short of jail time is going to deter the next offender.
Caymanians wrecking Cayman. Same old, same old. Onto the next development.
They should be made to clean up their mess and remove the seawall properly in keeping with the Department of Environment rules. They should also be fined to take away profit from the Building.
They should also have their construction license revoked
This will make no difference. They will just incorporate another company. Also is construction business licensed activity or just subject to trade and business license?
So many unscrupulous developers on island. Not sure how they can walk among us and not feel embarrassed. We KNOW who you are.
The developer will need to call in a political favour soon. We must remember that most developers on this island are Caymanians.
Lmao, not true
Oh bless you. Yes, you are right. It’s those mean furriners. Definitely not Naul Bodden, Matthew Wight, Dale Crighton etc.
Lol why did you not name drop the hundreds of foreign developers that the caymanians work with and most times work for, but for the most part they stick to themselves for their own profit and gain ??
Bias much ??
Name the expat developers (not the ‘paper’ Caymanians, who indeed are Caymanian except in the eyes of ‘generational’ Caymanians)
Paper Caymanians will never be Caymanians, no matter how hard people push to make that a thing
People push? You mean apply the immigration laws written by multi generational Caymanian politicians elected by other multigenerational Caymanians? Why do we always have to blame someone else?
Actually no. It all started with the white paper forced by the UK government back in 2004 And before that, the repealing of the cayman protection law. We didn’t stand up then so this is the result of that today.
Jealous that you aren’t one, clearly
That is not true. A new “developer” just came to island to do a development here. Not Caymanian
I smirk EVERYTIME I see a particular one. I wonder if his ears burn as we talk about him as he passes by. LOL
Greed end of story. Cayman is the land of opportunities and pirates! This is how it is and will always be. Who you connected to and how much dollars you have. Boy if you don’t have that cash, dog eat your supper!
Ban this development company and its directors from building in the Cayman Islands.
Baer Devlp’ must have thought they was building in Jamaican waters , not in Cayman waters …
I hope the fine levied by the magistrate reflects the stupidity demonstrated by both them and their attorney.
A Jamaican developer complained to me..
“In Jamaica a$100 bill would solve my planning problems. You can’t do that here”.
Would have been easier if they just built in Jamaica rather than deny they were in Cayman waters.
Let’s see these prosecutions commonly instead of rarely, especially for unapproved works and ripping out mangroves.
Baer’s attorney Paul Keeble had argued “the question of what is the seabed was unclear”.
Wow. How utterly embarrassing. And the article links his profile – savage!
Of course, his 25 years in Turks & Caicos & Cayman,he probably never even realized there was a sea / ocean surrounding said territories. How is the poor man going to be able to recognize what a ‘Seabed ” is?
https://tcilii.org/akn/tc/judgment/tcaca/2006/7/eng@2006-02-16/source.pdf
Clearly knows his law.
Blimey, 9:24! I mean, wow, blimey! Thanks for posting. He’s an asset to the island obviously………
He shouldn’t feel alone…one guy in particular here comes to mind ,who despite having a conviction, and history of having stolen from every business partner, continues to fool people as he lives high off the hog.
Protected by Non disclosure agreements.
That’s either the world’s worst artist or the world’s largest sailboat.
Small expensive apartments, maybe?
These people (and I use that term loosely) are some real a holes.
was no sea grass or other plant life growing when the walls were built, so no marine life was damaged. He also claimed it was unclear that the work took place in Cayman waters and that the question of what is the seabed was unclear. I suggest the defendant obtain a new attorney…..this one believed the cayman court and the DOE are just dumb.
Penalise them! Oh wait….
The total disrespect and disregard for Cayman laws shown by this developer is astounding. I hope the fine is big enough to act as a deterrent for others.
Let’s also hope this ruling means there will be a black mark against them the next time they apply for a stamp duty waiver.
Great news. Now we can demand that they pay for the safe removal of the walls as well, right?
They should name and shame the developers and not let them hide behind a corporate veil. If you check the facebook page you can see who they are and the names tie back to the witnesses for the defense in the judgement.
The draftsman should also be charged with offending the aesthetics of the area by producing ugly boxes that will leak .
Locally, Ray Hydes, a former member of the CPA. Ask him who the foreign owners are.
Guy has his hands in many pies. Isn’t he the head sales guy at CTC? Wish I could have my nose in the trough that much.
Canadian, can tell from the fact that their facebook pages follows only two others, which are both canadian-based.
Who is behind Baer? Are their profits (in part) now the proceeds of crime?
Page 6 of the judgement in a footnote.
Those are the fall guys, not the check writers.
Good question AML question.
It’s apparently a secret.
It really isn’t a secret, local name is on here and in the judgement document.