The main story of the 31 May 1973 edition of the Cayman Compass, ‘Cayman Islands Become Hot Topic in U.K. Press’ referred to Commonwealth Secretary Duncan Sandys and the so-called ‘Lornho affair’ in which he had a “private agreement” with a Lornho subsidiary to compensate him to the tune of £130,000 through a Cayman bank, after taking a cut in salary due to “some internal politics”. The British press then ran with the story, calling the jurisdiction a tax haven. Some of the subsequent descriptions the British journalists used included: “[The islands] sit like three pin pricks in the Caribbean”, “…the mosquito-plagued, hurricane-prone Cayman Islands” and “for the first time anyone can remember, there are almost as many men living on the Islands as there are women”.
The issue of drivers going too fast also made the front page. The article ‘Speed Being Dealt With Say Police’, noted that, responding to a previous Compass editorial calling for a crackdown, a Police Traffic Department spokesman, who acknowledged there was a problem, said that everything possible is being done to combat it within the limitations on manpower and patrol cars.
The news of the day also included Cayman Airways getting a new route to Nassau, adding to its service to Miami and Kingston. Vassel Johnson (later to be Sir Vassel Johnson), director and chairman of CAL, said of the route, “we hope it will increase tourism to the Island… This will also enable Caymanians to travel to Europe with much less trouble.”
And, finally, construction recently started on a now familiar building on Smith Road – the George Town Seventh-day Adventist Church. ‘New Adventist Church Grew From A Dream’ described how the round church will seat 500, be fully air-conditioned, be carpeted and include amenities such as a “special gallery for mothers and babies”.
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