Following a written complaint by Cayman Net News to the Office of Complaints Commissioner (OCC), the newspaper’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Desmond Seales was interviewed by the OCC on Monday.
Net News filed a formal complaint to the OCC on Wednesday, 26 September, detailing an alleged abuse of power by Minister of Tourism Hon Charles Clifford and the Chief Executive Officer of Cayman Airways (CAL) Patrick Strasburger.
The OCC, headed by Complaints Commissioner Dr John Epp, interviewed Mr Clifford on Wednesday, 3 October and took a statement from him.
The OCC has also taken steps to secure the relevant documents in the possession of Cayman Airways, the National Flag Carrier.
Further, under Section 8 of the Complaints Commissioner Law, Dr Epp appointed forensic accounting experts Krys and Associates to review relevant documents and attempt to determine an accurate financial position between CAL and Net News. Krys and Associates will also examine the documents secured from CAL.
The results of the probe are expected shortly.
The thrust of the complaint was CAL’s suspension of airfreight services to Net News to prevent the delivery of the newspaper, because it contained unflattering news reports on Minister Clifford and Mr Strasburger.
The airfreight service is used to transport the newspaper from its printers in Miami to Grand Cayman and on to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.
Additionally, the OCC is presently conducting an independent investigation into the price gouging allegations surrounding CAL’s ticketing operations on the eve of Hurricane Dean in August. The allegations have resulted in considerable public debate and concern.
Besides the alleged price gouging, the OCC is also looking into CAL’s pricing policy, price adjustment process, ticket sales and distribution policy, customer complaint process and the explanation that the ticket-pricing problem arose from a “computer glitch”.
It is understood that interviews pertaining to this matter is ongoing, including with CAL staff in Miami.
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