The “horrible and tragic” death of Italian waiter Abele Hiwet, who was killed in a hit-and-run last week, is the latest among pressing concerns about Cayman’s roads, according to outgoing Governor Martyn Roper.
Though stiffer penalties have been implemented to crackdown on some offences, Governor Martyn Roper stressed that speeding and drink-driving on island remain a “serious issue.”
“We do have a problem with the quality of driving,” Roper said on Tuesday afternoon when he appeared on the Cayman Compass talkshow ‘The Resh Hour’.
Hiwet was struck and killed along West Bay Road on 8 March. A 36-year-old man from West Bay has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and driving under the influence in connection with the collision.
Describing Hiwet death as “horrible and tragic,” Roper said, it is “really heartbreaking” when there is loss of life on Cayman’s roads.
Additionally, Roper also stressed that more needs to be done to “control the number of people who are speeding on our islands”.
“I know that the law enforcement agencies have been asking for more speed cameras, so that is under discussion,” he said.
Nonetheless, he said “in the round” Cayman is still a very safe jurisdiction.
“That is vital for our tourism sector. It’s vital for everyone who lives here and we must work, continue to work, very hard to maintain that,” Roper added.
Roper, whose term comes to a close at month’s end, said Cayman’s police, prisons and legal system ensure “that we can all live our lives as peacefully and safe[ly] as we can”.
“You’re never going to be crime free and and we know we do have challenges, but… comparatively speaking, we are still one of the safest places in the Caribbean,” Roper said.
Work to be done on illegal gambling
Roper said he is also concerned about the impact of illegal gambling on efforts to keep Cayman safe.
“I do believe that what we see on illegal gambling creates a number of issues because the framework for penalties is just too weak and the police don’t have the tools to deal with it,” he explained, adding that he hears about more of these kind of crimes happening than are reported.
He pointed to the murder of Harry Elliott, a former prison officer, who was shot and killed in George Town on 25 April last year. Roper said Elliott was in “the wrong place at the wrong time” at an illegal gambling location.
Roper added that there’s a limit to what he can say because the law changes are still before Parliament.
Last December the proposed changes to the local gambling law were brought to the House by Premier Wayne Panton, who lamented that illegal lotteries, known as ‘numbers’, were being run on island by international crime syndicates generating between $30 million and $50 million a year.
Lawmakers, however, could not find consensus on taking the bill forward and, instead, it was referred to a select committee of the whole House and will be dealt with at a future date.
“I hope that our lawmakers can get that done and pass the legislation that’s needed,” Roper said.
“This is about trying to go after the people who are involved in this and are making vast amounts of money from it,” he said.
Roper added that the question has to be asked: “Why we can’t pass legislation our law enforcement agencies have requested because they see it as important?”.
However he hastened to add that it was important to “let the democratic process carry on”.
Government has said it will conduct a referendum, so the community can consider whether Cayman should introduce a national lottery system and decriminalise small amounts of marijuana.
The bill to trigger the referendum is yet to head to Parliament.
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