present is the fact that Caymanians, who are first-class seamen, readily find employment with overseas shipping companies. Remittances to their families enable a higher standard of living to be maintained than the resources of the islands could justify. Recently some manufacturers of garments, furniture and plastics have had their applications for pioneer status approved by the Legislative Assembly. Trade union legislation is in existence and four unions, the Global Seaman's Union, the Cayman Islands Taxi-Cab Association, Cayman All Trade Union, Cayman Alliance Association have been registered. The Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce was set up in 1965 in Grand Cayman. The Caymans are not self-supporting in foodstuffs. The production of food crops and cattle raising are restricted by the nature of the limestone soil. The main export products of importance are turtle and thatch rope. The manufacture of thatch rope was at one time the mainstay of the poorer people, but the industry is declining. Import figures for 1965-69 and particulars of the principal domestic exports are given below: PRINCIPAL DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY QUANTITY AND VALUB 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Turtles No. 400 400 2,240 £ 120 3,415 240 3,453 2,206—J$4,412 Rope '000 fathoms 744 576 395 183 127 £ 8,865 7,954 5,330 2,597 1,851-J$3,702 Turtle Shell 1b. 2,717 2,476 2,199 758 320 £ 4,412 3,551 3,300 758 320-J$640 The trade of the Cayman Islands is mainly with the United States and Jamaica. There is a small co-operative society at West Bay and another at East End. Credit Unions have been established in George Town and West Bay. George Town is a port of registry with a total of 21,188 gross tons on the register at the end of 1969. During that year 186 ships arrived in the port. The islands are not served by a steamship line, but a motor vessel service is maintained between Kingston, Tampa (Florida) and all three islands. There is also more or less regular communication with Central American ports by sailing and motor vessels. Owen Roberts airfield in Grand Cayman is used by British West Indian Airways, Lineas Aereas Costarricenses, S.A. and Cayman Airways Ltd. There are regular air services between Grand Cayman and Kingston, Miami, San José (Costa Rica) and Panama City. A 3,250 ft airstrip has been contructed in Cayman Brac and a regular service by small aircraft is in operation. A private airstrip has also been constructed on Little Cayman capable of taking light aircraft. Motorable roads connect all districts in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac; there is a motorable track in Little Cayman. In 1967 Cable and Wireless (W.I.) Ltd opened an overseas telephone link, using the Tropospheric Scatter System. The islands now have an excellent internal and overseas telephone service. The Government wireless stations at George Town, Grand Cayman, and Stake Bay, Cayman Brac. have been closed. A Committee is considering the feasibility of establishing a small sound broadcasting and/or television station in the islands. The Caymans have an allocation of £220,000 for the period 1st April 1968 to 31st March 1970 under the 1959 Colonial Development and Welfare Act. A road improvement programme was recently completed, linking the three main centres of population in Grand Cayman. Other more recently completed works include a new Government House and housing for Government officers. Projects planned include public buildings, road and harbour improvements and improvements of social services. In recent years 15 hotels catering for tourists have been opened on Grand Cayman and one on Cayman Brac, and improved communications have greatly increased the tourist trade. Government revenue in 1969 was J$1,533,738 and expenditure was J$1,467,136. There is no income tax, companies tax, estate or excise duty. The principal source of government revenue is from import duties and the sale of postage stamps. A poll tax of J$2.00 per adult male between the ages of 18 and 60 is collected annually. An ad valorem Customs duty of 20 per cent is levied on most imported commodities, with specific duties on alcoholic liquors and tobacco. There is a preferential tariff on certain Commonwealth goods. Stamp duties are payable on receipts and specified instruments and documents. The rate varies from a penny on every J$100 for receipts to five per cent on conveyances. HISTORY Cayman Brac and Little Cayman were sighted by Christopher Columbus on 10th May 1503 during his last voyage to the West Indies, though the islands are shown in approximately their correct position on maps published prior to this date. The Spaniards first called the group Las Tortugas because of the large numbers of turtles they saw in the surrounding waters, but by 1530 they were generally referred to as the Caimanas or Caymanes*. The Caymans were fre Cayman derives from a Carib word covering crocodilians in general and there is sufficient evidence that the islands were so named by the Spaniards because of the large numbers of crocodiles (almost certainly the largely-marine crocodylus acutus) they found on shore. Dampier (Voyages and Discoveries, 1676) reported many crocodiles on Grand Cayman, which he carefully distinguished from alligators he had encountered elsewhere during his travels, noting that 'both kinds are called Caymanes by the Spaniards; therefore probably they reckon them for the same'. Incorrect identification probably accounts for later reports of ‘alligators' on the islands (e.g. by Dr Hirst in 1910 and by observers during a hurricane in the 1930's). According to Dampier both crocodiles and alligators were commonly used as a source of fresh meat. Slaughter by ships' crews would account for the subsequent disappearance of crocodiles from the islands, which offered only limited areas of suitable cover. Specimens of crocodylus acutus have been taken on Little Cayman at least as recently as 1939 (vide Chapman Grant, The Herpetology of the Cayman Islands, Institute of Jamaica, 1940). quently visited by Spanish, English and French ships for revictualling but none of the powers laid claim to the islands or attempted to settle them until 1670, when Jamaica was ceded to the British Crown by the Treaty of Madrid and the Caymans similarly came under British rule. They were subsequently colonised mainly from Jamaica, though some English and Scottish seamen shipwrecked on the Cuban coast also made their way to the islands, which, owing to their remoteness were for long a favourite refuge for fugitives of one kind or another. By the end of the 18th century the ruthless exploitation of turtles had so far reduced their numbers that their virtual extermination in Cayman waters became inevitable, and the Caymanians, who had few other resources, were obliged to go further afield in search of new turtling grounds. They first turned to the uninhabited cays off Cuba but by 1839 their operations had been extended to the Nicaraguan and Hondurean coasts (vide Thomas Young: Narrative of a Residence on the Mosquito Shore, During the Years 1839, 1840 and 1841). All Green Turtle exported from the Cayman Islands today are caught in these waters. The islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman were permanently settled only in 1833, when several families from Grand Cayman established themselves on Cayman Brac. They lived in isolation until 1850, when, then numbering 36, they built themselves a boat. As late as 1877 there was no administrative connection between Grand Cayman and the two lesser islands. In 1877 a Justice of the Peace was appointed in Cayman Brac but not until 1887 were any more formal links established. The islands were favourably located for trade with passing shipping in the days of sail, and Caymanians achieved a considerable reputation as builders of small schooners; but as the 19th century advanced the islands became more and more cut off from the outside world, a state of affairs which lasted effectively until the 1940s and the era of air transportation. The result was extensive emigration to Nicaragua and the settlement of the Bay Islands (at one time British but now part of Honduras) and later emigration to Florida. CONSTITUTION When Jamaica achieved independence on 6th August 1962, the office of Governor of Jamaica, and consequently also of Governor of the Cayman Islands, disappeared. The 1959 Constitution was accordingly amended by Order in Council to provide for the assumption by the Administrator of most of the powers and responsibilities formerly exercised by the Governor. The Executive Council consists of two official and three unofficial members, with the Administrator presiding. The Legislative Assembly consists of the Administrator as President, two or three official members appointed by the Administrator, two or three nominated non-official members appointed by the Administrator and twelve members elected on a constituency basis by universal adult suffrage. The appointments of the official and nominated members to the Legislative Assembly are made in pursuance of instructions given to the Administrator by Her Majesty through a Secretary of State. The Assembly elects a Deputy President who presides in the absence of the Administrator. It also elects two of the three unofficial members of the Executive Council. During 1962, the ‘Membership’ system of Government was introduced, under which the three unofficial members of the Executive Council assume a special interest in a range of subjects and advise the Government in the subjects with which they are associated. On the 6th August 1962, all Acts, Ordinances, rules, regulations, orders, and other instruments made under or having effect by virtue of the 1959 Order in Council had effect as if they had been made under or by virtue of the 1962 Order, e.g., the Jamaica Laws which had been applied to the Cayman Islands became in effect Laws of the Cayman Islands. LAND POLICY All land is individually owned. There is no restriction on alienation to nonnatives. EXECUTIVE COUNCIL The Administrator, E. E. Kirkconnell B. O. Ebanks LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY President: The Administrator Appointed Members: 2-3 official; 2-3 nominated Elected Members: 12 representing six electoral districts and elected triennially CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT Administrator (also Registrar General): A. C. E. Long, CMG, CBE OBE, JP Collector of Customs, Lesser Islands (also Receiver of Wrecks): Guy A. Banks Financial Secretary: V. G. Johnson, obe Collector of Customs, Grand Cayman: C. V. Thompson, iso Postmaster, Grand Cayman: Mrs H. D. E. Glidden-Borden (Acting) trate: J. E. B. Ollquist and Registrar of Lands): W. L. Bodden (Acting) READING LIST BILLMYER, J. H. S. The Cayman Islands. Geographical Review, Vol. 36, No. 1, 1946. CARR, A. The Windward Road. Robert Hale, 1957. DOUGLAS, A. J. A. The Cayman Islands. Geographical Journal, Vol. 95, No. 2, February 1940. HIRST, G. S. S. Notes on the History of the Cayman Islands. Jamaica, 1910. T FALKLAND ISLANDS AND DEPENDENCIES He Falkland Islands are situated in the South Atlantic and lie some 480 miles north-east of Cape Horn. The numerous islands of which they are composed cover 4,700 square miles. The Dependencies now consist only of South Georgia, 800 miles east-south-east of the Falklands, and the South Sandwich Group, some 470 miles south-east of South Georgia. Those territories south of latitude 60° S. which were formerly part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies, namely the South Orkney Islands, the South Shetland Islands, and the Antarctic Peninsula together with the sector of the Antarctic continent lying between longitudes 20° W. and 80° W. were constituted a separate territory on 3rd March 1962 under the name of the British Antarctic Territory. There are two large islands, the East and West Falklands, and numerous smaller islands. The coastline is deeply indented and affords several good anchorages. The relief, except in Lafonia, is hilly and the maximum height above sea-level is in East Falkland where Mount Usborne rises to 2,312 feet. There are no large inland waters. Peculiar to the treeless, moorland scenery are the 'stone runs', long 'rivers' of angular, quartzite boulders. The island of South Georgia in the Dependencies is a mass of high mountains which are covered with deep snow where they are not too precipitous, and the valleys between are filled with glaciers which in many cases descend to the sea. The islands are in the same latitude south as London is north but apart from hours of sunshine, which are similar, there are marked climatic differences. The main feature of the Falklands' weather is the strong winds, which occur particularly in the spring. Climatic figures for Stanley are: Mean annual temperature 42°F Mean annual wind speed 17 knots Mean annual rainfall 25 inches Annual minimum temperature around 22°F On 31st December 1969 the population, excluding the Dependencies, was 2,098, there being rather more males than females. With few exceptions all were of European descent and most were British. The population of the Dependencies on 31st December 1969 was 11. No whaling has taken place since 1965. Stanley, the capital (population 1,074 at 1962 census), is the only town. In the Camp (the countryside other than Stanley) the largest settlement is at Goose Green on East Falkland where there are some 100 residents. There are three churches in Stanley, the Cathedral of the Anglican diocese of the Falkland Islands and Eastern South America, St Mary's Roman Catholic Church and the United Free Church. In 1969 there were 372 children receiving education. There is no secondary or higher education but arrangements exist for secondary education in the United Cingdom and elsewhere. In Stanley the Government schools cater adequately for children between the ages of five and fifteen though a number stay until their sixteenth year, and in some subjects reach General Certificate of Education standard. Outside Stanley, education is carried on either in settlement schools, some of which are very small, or by itinerant teachers. A boarding school opened in 1956 at Darwin on East Falkland can accommodate 42 boarders and caters for as many day pupils as there are in the two nearby settlements. Attendance at school is compulsory in Stanley, and in the Camp, where there are boarding or settlement schools and where itinerant teachers call. In 1969, 11 travelling teachers were employed among the 82 children outside Stanley, Darwin and settlement schools, Education is free except at Darwin Boarding School where a boarding fee of £12 a year is levied in respect of the first child of each family, and £9 a year in respect of second and subsequent children. A competitive overseas scholarship examination is held each year, successful candidates being granted places at boarding grammar schools in Dorset and at |
0 Recenzije Mnenja niso preverjena, vendar Google preveri in odstrani lažno vsebino, ko jo prepozna. Napiši recenzijo |