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Good Government Fund - Case Studies

Cayman Canine Project

In 2002, the Foreign Office’s Good Government Fund contributed £138,000 toward the setting up of a Canine unit in the Cayman Islands, to assist the Overseas Territory in its fight against the international drugs problem.

Of the twelve dogs, eight, mainly Labradors and Spaniels, were initially trained in Britain to detect heroin, cocaine, and marijuana , before being flown to the Cayman Islands where they received a further three months training along with their new handlers from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Drugs Task Force, Cayman Customs and the Prison Service. The other four dogs, German Shepherds, were trained to be general-purpose police dogs with the added capacity to detect drugs, firearms and ammunition. All the training was carried out by the UK company Vikkas Canine Services International.

The Officers were instructed in all aspects of dog welfare, handling skills, and search techniques as well as the practical aspects of the deployment of dogs in the operational environment of the Cayman Islands.

The project has been very successful with numerous searches producing a significant quantity of illicit narcotic drugs. One case involved the arrest of two females who attempted to smuggle 30 kilos of ganja (marijuana) onto a direct flight to the UK. Follow-up investigations at a suspect’s house and in the surrounding bush led to a dog recovering cocaine, ganja and ecstasy all bound for Britain.

The dogs have also been demonstrating their abilities at public events and in schools, which has been good for crime prevention and public relations.

Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Haines of the Cayman Islands Drugs Task Force is delighted with the dogs’ performance, and said, 'We are very grateful for the financial support of the UK Government in this project. As an investment it has shown a remarkable return, as the street value of drugs recovered as a direct result of the work of these dogs is more than 30 times that of the project outlay. The project is an outstanding success.'

Tristan Da Cunha Computer Project

Pupils of St Mary's School, Tristan da Cunha, take part in the computer project
Pupils of St Mary's School, Tristan da Cunha, take part in the computer project
As a result of a conversation in April 2001 in the UK between the Head teacher of St Mary’s School, Tristan and Ms Patricia Harwood , the partner of the Territory’s Administrator, computers were brought to the island, financed by Good Government Funds from the Overseas Territories Department of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Twelve computers, a scanner and a laser printer were networked in a specially designed computer suite, with others being placed in teaching rooms at St Mary’s School.

The programme led by Ms Harwood, a former computing lecturer at Norwich City College, has taken off in a big way on Tristan with 50 candidates (34 adults/16 children) working towards the UK qualification: European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL)- comprising seven modules. Testing has been taking place with highly positive results and more than half have achieved three or more modules.

Not only are Government employees responding with tremendous enthusiasm but also the young people are showing an exciting aptitude. All those participating have acquired basic skills in word processing and others have gone on to learn how to place graphics, charts and video clips into a computerised document.

The younger pupils in the school also have an opportunity to use the educational software within their curriculum. They can enhance their literacy skills by using software such as Letterland or My First Dictionary. Others can use the software to find out how rivers are formed, the different sounds of insects or what sound a musical instrument makes.

The British Computer Society, which monitors the quality of ECDL training, have recently undertaken the first audit on the testing and verification procedures involved in the programme to ensure that their global standards are maintained.
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** Good Government Fund - Case Studies
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