Governor eyes stiffer penalties for DUI and illegal gambling

Governor Martyn Roper says Cayman has a “big problem” on its roads and he plans to push for stiffer DUI penalties as the number of crashes and fatalities grows.

“I think the standards on the roads are atrocious. I’ve seen it myself and a big, big problem is drink driving and I am looking to the government to toughen the drinking under the influence laws and the premier has committed to do that,” Roper said during an interview on the Cayman Compass talkshow ‘The Resh Hour’ on Wednesday night.

He said he is waiting for the bill to come forward which will see the DUI fines increase.

“Culturally, there seems to be a sort of an acceptance that drink driving is ok, but it isn’t… it isn’t. People are dying and this year already we’ve had eight road deaths and we are in June,” he said.

Roper, who will end his tenure as governor next March, said he intends to keep the pressure on, to see law changes to address the issue.

“Certainly, my last nine months here I’ll be pushing very hard to get that DUI change made, to get those speed cameras out there and try and get much more awareness. I think RCIPS do as much as they can and they’re active and visible but you can never do enough on this agenda,” he said.

Roper, who has constitutional responsibility for national security, said he supports increasing speed cameras around the island.

“There’s work underway in the civil service and with RCIPS to look at how we can do that. I expect that to happen in fairly short order,” he said.

Roper, addressing a query from a viewer on the alternatives available to the community when it comes to transportation to avoid driving drunk, said that will form part of the overall response to the issue.

He pointed out that Tourism and Transport Minister Kenneth Bryan is in Barbados at this time looking at their transport system and he was recently in the Bahamas as well.

“The UK may be able to help with some technical assistance, as we look at how do you ‘green’ your public transport system and I think there’s some exciting possibilities for Cayman there and this is absolutely a part of the broader road safety strategy approach.,” he said.

Crime remains a concern

Roper said the increase in gun crimes this year and the spike in murders has been an area of great concern for him.

The RCIPS, he said, continues to work on keeping the community safe.

“We are still one of the safest places in the Caribbean. We do, yes, have some some pretty awful incidents and we do have crimes that I know we find shocking, but when you put it into context, we are still a very safe place and we have to work very hard to keep that going,” he said.

Cayman, he said, has a big problem with illegal gambling, which is also fuelling crime.

“I think it’s becoming clearer and clearer that illegal gambling is happening on a very wide scale and there’s a sort of a cultural acceptance of it because it’s this sort of numbers game, but it feeds crime because there’s a lot of cash being collected which could be stolen, could be robbed, and people don’t report it because it’s ill-gotten gains and tragically, Mr. [Harry] Elliott’s death was because of the numbers game,” he said.

Elliott, 62, a retired prison officer, was fatally shot on 25 April.

“I’m urging the government, at the request of the police commissioner, to strengthen our laws on illegal gambling. The fine for that is very, very low, but we also need to do more to go after the proceeds of crime,” the governor added.