Archive for June 23rd, 2014
Teacher appears before courts on 15 sex charges
(CNS): A drama teacher who has been suspended from his job teaching at a government high school was remanded in custody on Friday following his first appearance in the Grand Court on a catalogue of charges relating to the sexual assault of students. Delroy James (32) is facing fifteen charges ranging from cruelty to a child to indecent assault, as well as charges of possessing of pornographic images of a child. Having just received the details of the allegations from the crown, his attorney, Nick Dixie, asked for a two week adjournment but was at pains to stress that the accusations against his client did not relate to any kind of violence or coercion and were limited to “inappropriate touching” and showing the boys pornographic material.
Cops seek witnesses to shooting in West Bay
(CNS): A 32-year-old man was shot in the leg as he walked along Birch Tree Hill on Saturday evening, police have confirmed. Officers are now seeking witnesses to the shooting, which happened around 9pm close to Apple Blossom Close. According to the victim, he heard three loud bangs as he walked along the road and almost immediately felt a stinging sensation in his left leg but did not see anyone in the immediate area. He was taken to the George Town hospital, where it was confirmed by doctors that his injury was consistent with a gunshot wound to the lower left leg. He has undergone surgery and is currently in a stable condition.
The investigation got underway on Saturday but the police said that the don’t have any information about a motive or a suspect for the shooting and officers from West Bay's CID are very keen to speak to anyone who may have seen or heard anything around that time or who may have information about the shooting.
The public is asked to contact DC Shane Ennis or DC Marcia Myles at 525-8303 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477(TIPS).
Official arrested for assault
(CNS): A senior female immigration officer has been arrested for assault as a result of a serious domestic dispute in which the woman allegedly attacked her partner with a hammer and threatened her victim with a 12-gauge shotgun. The police said the arrest on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm took place on Saturday 21 June at the officer’s home. The shotgun found at the house, which was said to be licensed, was recovered together with a quantity of ammunition by the police. Police said the firearm was featured in the victim’s complaint. It is understood he was not shot but received a number of injuries during the assault which were believed to have been inflicted with a hammer.
The victim was treated at the Cayman Islands Hospital and has since been released.
“The ownership of any licensed firearm carries a great deal of responsibility,” an RCIPS spokesperson stated in a release about the incident. “The misuse of any firearm can have deadly consequences which we will not tolerate. We take every incident of domestic violence whether the victim is a male or a female very seriously, and we continue to ensure a zero-tolerance policy.”
Police said the immigration officer has been interviewed and bailed, and the matter has been referred to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for ruling but the woman has not yet been charged.
The chief immigraiton officer said the woman was still at work Tuesday and that no decision had been made on whether or not the officer would be placed on required leave.
Public urged to take free HIV tests
(CNS): The Health Services Authority (HSA), the Cayman AIDS Foundation (CAF) and the Cayman Islands Red Cross have all joined forces to organise HIV Testing Week. Free HIV testing will be available for all Cayman Islands residents from Monday, 23 to Saturday, 28 June as well as voluntary counseling across the Islands, by trained and experienced personnel. The week’s activities coincide with international HIV testing days around the world under the continued theme “Take the Test, Take Control”.
With the Caribbean region having the second highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world, second only to Sub Saharan Africa, Caribbean and Latin American governments are taking critical measures to control the epidemic.
“These include new targets and benchmarks for expanding HIV testing and treatment by 2020 in an effort to reduce new HIV infections, late diagnosis and AIDS-related deaths, as well as to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV,” said Dr. Kumar, Medical Officer of Health.
He explained that since the first case in 1985 in Cayman 119 people have been diagnosed with HIV and 68 have developed AIDS. Forty two people have died while 17 people are living abroad while 60 people are living with HIV locally. 91% of the cases in Cayman were sexually transmitted; 57% via heterosexual contact. There were four recorded cases of
mother to child transmissions and the last reported HIV case was in 2004.
Nurse Laura Elniski, HIV /AIDS Coordinator said the new targets from the Pan American Health Organisation of 90% of people knowing their diagnosis, getting treatment and reducing their viral levels to undetectable was a challenge.
“The 90-90-90 target is a huge task and can only be collectively achieved in the region through community involvement and by each sexually active person taking responsibility for their own health,” she said. “By taking the test you can know your HIV status and take control.”
Diagnosing HIV and starting treatment earlier means healthcare providers can dramatically improve patients’ health outcomes and prevent transmission of the disease, the nurse added.
Health minister, Osbourne Bodden urged residents to take advantage of the free tests.
“I support and applaud the work of the Health Services Authority, CAF and the C.I. Red Cross in their efforts to make HIV testing accessible and at no cost to the individual. It is better to be in the know, than not. The stigma needs to be removed from this disease and proper care and preventative measures taken,” he added.
Special arrangements have been implemented to facilitate confidentiality for tests this week and no appointments are necessary. Waiting time fortesting is usually no more than ten minutes. The results will be available in three working days and will only be given to the patient who must return to clinic where the test was taken to receive the results.
See schedule for free HIV tests at the HSA clinics below
Diplomacy first in slavery reparations
(CNS): CARICOM’s programme manager for culture and community development has stated that the organization intends to use diplomacy before going to the courts over the issue of slavery reperaitons. Dr Hilary Brown said raising the consciousness of CARICOM nationals regarding issues related to Reparations for Native Genocide Slavery was itself important and the expected result from the submission for reparations was a development programme for the countries affected. During a recent CARICOM meeting, Dr Brown said the issue was about redress and healing to address the “legacy that has left our people behind”.
She said the hope was for engagement of CARICOM people, which should result in psychological healing and further emancipation from mental slavery. She also outlined that the approach to be taken would be a diplomatic one involving engagement of the Europeans before taking the matter to the level of an international court of justice.
Caribbean leaders are scheduled to meet in Antigua early next month to examine and approve the draft document on which the claim for reparations will be made to European nations for the TransAtlantic slave trade. The draft will not be released before leaders approve it but according to regional media reports the document makes out a case for compensation “for the lasting effects of slavery on the Caribbean population”, including poor diet, inhumane working conditions, brutality and other stressful conditions that have led to chronic diseases such as high blood pressure in too many people.
A group of private and state Caribbean attorneys will be drafted in to liaise with the British firm of Leigh Day, which had successfully sued and made Britain pay for brutalizing the Mau Mau Tribe in Kenya several decades ago. The firm has already said that it is confident that the region has a strong case and, like academics and doctors in the University of the West Indies system, has linked a string of chronic diseases rampaging through the Caribbean to the horrors of slavery.
Regional leaders made the decision more than a year ago to back the fight by civil society groups to win reparations following intense lobbying.
Girls encouraged to get out on the pitch
(CNS): As preparations get underway for another regional development football tournament in Cayman this summer, organisers were spreading the word on the benefits of football for girls as well as boys in the country’s schools. Cayman will be hosting the CONCACAF Girls’ U-15 Championship in August and the Local Organising Committee chair Sharon Roulstone told high school students about the importance of football in shaping lives and encouraged more girls to part in the sport and to come out and support the female teen team during the tournament which is set for 6-17 August.
“I hope that the school visits will create an awareness amongst our young ladies that football is not just a beautiful game, but that it actually helps build important life skills,” Roulstone said after officials addressed over 500 girls at schools across the Islands. “I hope our visits and the CONCACAF Girls’ U-15 Championship this summer will evoke new interest in the sport and that in time, Cayman will develop strong and vibrant girls' and women's teams that will be the envy in this region.”
The Under 15 Girls’ competition follows the Boys’ Under 15 tournament that was hosted in the Cayman Islands last year and was won by Honduras. This championship features teams from 16 countries within the confederation.
“CIFA hopes that by promoting national representation that more girls will want to be involved in football and aspire to be part of our national program and represent the Cayman Islands,” said CIFA Vice President Bruce Blake. “This is an opportunity for the students to meet and interact with the young ladies that will be representing the Cayman Islands at the upcoming CONCACAF Girls’ Under 15 Championship scheduled for August 2014 in the Cayman Islands. We thank the schools for accommodating us in their busy exam and graduation period,” added Blake.
The Cayman Islands will contest Group A against Curacao, Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands.
Little Cayman needs development plan with zoning
(CNS Business): Little Cayman needs a development plan with zoning laws so that investors know what to expect, according to Marc Pothier, the manager of Paradise Villas and the Hungry Iguana on the smallest Sister Island. He told CNS Business in today’s video interview that uncertainty over the future is one of the biggest problems for the island and sustainable development should be the way forward. “There are no golf courses here, there are no shopping malls and there won’t be,” he said, so unless the marine and terrestrial environment are protected, “we don’t really know what we’re selling. And if we don’t know what we’re selling then we don’t know who to sell it to.” The landfill, the future of the airstrip and septic waste are just some of the critical issues that need to be determined, he believes. Read more and watch the video on CNS Business
Airport in porn, HR scandal
(CNS): The reinstatement of a member of the airport management team after his suspension over allegations of using an official computer to view hundreds of pornographic images has fuelled concerns of another scandal at the airport that involves the board of directors and human resource issues. The opposition leader led the charge in Finance Committee when he began probing officials over an investigation into the behaviour of the IT manager, the subsequent investigations, the man’s reinstatement and the board’s involvement. However, the situation escalated when the board chair and the acting airport boss were less than forthcoming with the committee.
The issue, which has been kept under wraps by airport officials, was blown wide open by McKeeva Bush, who was in possession of what appeared to be a significant number of documents relating to yet another major human resource scandal at the authority. The airport has been plagued with staffing issues since late 2012, when the former chief executive officer, Jeremy Jackson, was suspended and then sacked in the wake of an internal investigation about airport mismanagement. This in turn led to other leaks and revelations of inappropriate board interference with the day-to-day management of the airport and glaring conflicts of interest with the board that was appointed by the UDP government.
Last week, Bush began asking the new board chair, Kirkland Nixon, and the acting head of the Cayman Islands Airports Authority, Andrew McLaughlin, who was standing in for the new CEO Albert Anderson, about the internal investigation that had resulted in the suspension of the IT manager amid allegations that he was using his office computer to visit pornographic sites on numerous occasions and had also downloaded the images.
The investigation and suspension of the IT manager was ordered by the acting director at the time, Kerith McCoy, but after McCoy departed correspondence and other documentary evidence appeared to indicate that the board had directed the conclusion of the investigation and the reinstatement of the manager.
The airport security boss, Shane Bothwell, undertook a second look at the case under what appears to be the direction of the board, despite the board chair's denial they had anything to do with the case. Bothwell told the committee that he had not been able to prove the allegations and suggested that he could not verify the chain of custody regarding the computer.
However, the opposition leader pointed out that the IT manager was one of only two people with access to the computer and the second person was on leave at the time the sites were allegedly viewed. Bothwell hinted that he believed the IT manager could have been set up, as he said the manner of the viewing was not conducive with the usual patterns of behaviour in such cases. However, he could not explain how anyone else other than the manager could have had access to the computer.
While no one was able to explain the reinstatement of the IT manager in the face of what the opposition members considered to be overwhelming evidence against him, the situation escalated when the opposition leader also asked about a letter from the authority’s lawyers relating to that matter and the issue of McCoy’s disputed departure following his extended leave. Knowledge of the letter was denied by the CEO but it eventually appeared in part after the chair eventually admitted its existence.
Bush pressed on over the question of the board's interference, as despite the denials by both McLaughlin and Nixon that the board was involved in HR issues at all, the letter, which was not released in public, was alleged to contain evidence of that interference. This led the opposition members to call for a public probe of the board and other witnesses and left the government benches embarrassed, while the government minister with responsibility for the airport remained silent throughout the entire affair.
“This letter tells us there was interference,” Bush insisted, as he became increasingly irate over what he saw as public officials deliberately misleading the committee. He said it was evident that the board was party “to gross interference” and added that the committee has not been told the truth. "I am not going to countenance being told half of what happened,” he said.
The opposition leader and the independent members implied that it was all too common for government management teams to come to Finance Committee and tell members whatever they thought they wanted to hear when often it was just not true.
Ezzard Miller also emphasised his concerns about the lack of action taken against all individuals who mislead parliament. “Every time we try to get to the bottom of something, somebody intervenes with a legal opinion to cover it all up,” he said.
Amid discussions involving the Finance Committee chair, the attorney general and the premier, the matter almost reached a select committee enquiry, which could have seen all of the witnesses placed in contempt of parliament, an offence that could lead to jail.
Following several closed door meetings on Thursday evening and then again Friday afternoon, the committee eventually agreed that such an enquiry would escalate matters too far. The premier said government regarded it as “a very serious matter”, and that it would conduct further investigations into the issues surrounding the allegations.
While Bush agreed that there were time constraints on Finance Committee and other issues, including the cost of fielding an army of lawyers on all sides, a select committee enquiry was a step too far. However, the opposition leader demanded that the current airport board be fired and another one appointed.
The issue over whether or not the IT manager, who is back in his job, had or had not been viewing porn over 450 times in a two week period was left hanging as the matter of board interference and dishonesty before the committee took precedence.
In the end,however, the MLAs spent almost seven hours across Thursday and Friday arguing over the potential scandal of the IT manager’s reinstatement after the discovery of the porn, the removal of McCoy, the current board’s interference with HR matters and, most of all, the allegations that the airport officials had not been truthful with Finance Committee.
CI vulnerable as chikungunya spreads across region
(CNS): With fifteen Caribbean countries now reporting cases of the mosquito borne virus chikungunya local authorities are urging locals to be vigilant as Cayman is also vulnerable to an outbreak. Since the first case was identified in Saint Martin, last year the virus appears to have taken a hold in the region. Cases have been reported in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Saint Maarten, as well as Saint Martin. Local medical personnel are now on high alert and medical services providers have been advised to look for any local cases.
Medical Officer of Health Dr Kiran Kumar said that while there have been no suspected cases in the Cayman Islands yet, should there be any arrangements are in place with the Caribbean Public Health Agency in Trinidad (CARPHA) for Laboratory testing.
“There are no borders for communicable diseases. The easy access and frequency of air travel to endemic areas put persons at risk for the chikungunya virus,” Dr Kumar warned. “If someone is bitten by an infected mosquito in countries where chikungunya exists, the infection can be acquired. It is therefore paramount that the public protect themselves from mosquito bites by using mosquito repellents, wearing long sleeve clothing and pants tucked into socks during travels, as chikungunya is a mosquito borne disease.”
As of 16 June, a total of 165,800 suspected and 4,805 laboratory-confirmed Chikungunya cases had been reported from the Caribbean. More than 95% of these cases have been reported from five jurisdictions: Dominican Republic (77,320 cases), Martinique (35,000), Guadeloupe (35,000) Haiti (11,802), and Saint Martin (3,380). In December 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the first local transmission of chikungunya virus in the Western Hemisphere in Saint Martin.
The chikungunya virus is transmitted by the aedes aegypti mosquito that also transmits dengue. Chikungunya is characterized by an abrupt onset of fever frequently accompanied by joint pains. The joint pains are often very debilitating, but usually last for a few days or may be prolonged to weeks. Most patients recover fully, but in some cases joint pains may persist for several months, or even years. Occasional cases of eye, neurological and heart complications have been reported.
Serious complications are not common, but in older people, the disease can contribute to the cause of death. Often symptoms in infected individuals are mild and the infection may go unrecognized, or be misdiagnosed in areas where dengue occurs. The symptoms appear between four to seven days after the bite of an infected mosquito. The majority of clinical signs and symptoms last three to 10 days, but joint pains may last for months or years. Severe cases requiring hospitalization are rare.
There is no specific treatment for chikungunya infection, nor any vaccine to prevent it.
Measures for controlling the spread of chikungunya are the same of those applied for the control of dengue as both diseases are transmitted by the same mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Until a new vaccine is developed, the only effective means of prevention is to protect individuals against mosquito bites.
Visitors or returning residents from the endemic countries, with fever and severe joint pains, should consult a physician and advice of travel history to enable them to assess and test for chikungunya.
A travel health clinic is held on Thursdays in the Public Health Department at the Health Services Authority’s George Town Hospital.
Osbourne Bodden, the health minister urged Cayman residents to be aware of the virus, and to get proper “Residents with travel plans can get advice on what diseases arepresent in their country of destination, and what vaccines or precautions are needed,” he said.
For further information call 244-2648.
Key Facts:
Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes.
It causes fever and severe joint pain. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.
The disease shares some clinical signs with dengue, and can be misdiagnosed in areas where dengue is common.
There is no cure for the disease.
Treatment is focused on relieving the symptoms.
The proximity of mosquito breeding sites to human habitation is a significant risk factor for chikungunya.
Since 2004, chikungunya fever has reached epidemic proportions globally, with considerable morbidity and suffering.
The disease occurs in Africa, Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
In recent decades mosquito vectors of chikungunya have spread to Europe and the Americas.
In 2007, disease transmission was reported for the first time in a localized outbreak in north-eastern Italy.
Dilberts at fault over marina
(CNS): Responding to criticisms by the owners of the Alexander Hotel on Cayman Brac that Cabinet did not require an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the two other marina proposals on the island as it did their own, Environment Minister Wayne Panton has explained that the Department of Environment (DoE) felt that it could predict and understand the impact of the two applications by MMCB Ltd and recommend ways to mitigate those impacts. With the proposal by the Dilbert family, on the other hand, the DoE found a number of red flags that “indicate a level of complexity and scope that a responsible decision maker would want to understand much better before making any final decisions”. The minister said the difficulty with the Dilbert application and the reasons it has not progressed rest squarely with the applicant and those advising him.
Panton told CNS that Cabinet received the two coastal works licence applications by MMCB just weeks after receiving the Dilbert’s application regarding their proposal to turn Saltwater Pond next to their hotel into a marina. And even though the DoE recommended against approval of the Dilbert application, on 25 March 2014, Cabinet granted an approval in principle subject to EIA being carried out “to provide further information to elaborate on and to determine whether there was any way to mitigate, the considerable negative impacts anticipated”.
Emphasising that the DoE is not a decision maker in such applications but act as advisors to the ministry and Cabinet, Minister Panton explained that an EIA is considered necessary when the scope, scale and complexity of an application requires far more in depth analysis, modeling and surveying that the DoE does not have the capacity, resources, expertise or capability to carry out themselves. There are instances in which an objective third party service provider may be desirable as well, he noted.
In relation to the Dilbert application, the environment minister said, just some of the factors in Cabinet’s decision to request an EIA are: the scope and size of the works proposed — the proposed channel is more than 700 feet long by 100 feet wide and 12 feet deep; it will cut through the only shallow water reef protected marine park (Replenishment Zone) in the Brac between the shore line and the reef; it will cut through and make a 100-foot wide opening in the fringing reef; it will proceed as a 12-foot deep by 100-foot wide channel into the Marine Park exterior to the reef; it is proposed to be lined by a breakwater which will be subjected to the force of open ocean swells and therefore the structural integrity ofthat is critical.
Additional factors considered by Cabinet were that under the Dilbert Marina proposal, a 100-foot channel would be cut through the public road that serves the south side of Cayman Brac “and in doing so the natural storm ridge which serves to minimise overtopping by storm surge in a hurricane will be breached and therefore opening up the area behind it to allow storm/tidal surge unfettered access to the natural drainage basin inland of the storm ridge.” Plus, he said, the channel would connect to a partially dredged pond, which may allow sedimentation to flow through the channel and out into the marine environment and on to relatively healthy reefs.
Furthermore, the minister noted that no data, analysis or drawings have been provided by the developer to demonstrate the bathymetry of the channel, the likely action of the water, the type of rock and whether, for example, blasting would be required, nor did they provide the structural specifications for the proposed breakwater.
“All of these factors indicate a level of complexity and scope that a responsible decision maker would want to understand much better before making any final decisions. To do otherwise and to suggest or attempt to cause an approval of such an application, as the leader of the opposition has attempted to do, is clearly reckless and irresponsible,” Panton stated. “Making reckless decisions could also lead to significant legal liability on the government for damages caused as a result.”
On the other hand, while coastal works application by MMCB for a lagoon on the North Coast near to Scotts Dock is in a marine park, he said, the channel footprint proposed there is in much deeper water than that for most of the Dilbert application. It is also substantially smaller in that the dimensions are only 30-foot by 144-foot and out to a water depth of 11 feet, Panton said, noting that the amount of material that would be removed under the proposal is only a very small fraction of what would be removed from the reef and two separate Marine Parks under the Dilbert application.
“As a consequence, the DoE feels quite comfortable in predicting and understanding the impact and recommending ways to mitigate the impact of this application and therefore an EIA would not be required,” Panton stated.
“While the south side application by MMCB Ltd is significantly larger in scale and scope than its north side application, it is nevertheless significantly smaller in scope and scale than the Dilbert application,” he pointed out.
Some of the factors which enabled the DoE to conclude that an EIA would not be required for this application were: the proposed marina basin is within the reef protected bay and does not impact the reef; the footprint for the proposed basin overlays an area that has previously been dredged to allow navigation and therefore there is no pristine marine environment; and the proposed depth of this basin is relatively shallow at just 8 feet and the area currently has depths of between 4.5 to 7.5 feet with an average around 5 feet.
“In light of this and other factors, the DoE felt comfortable, as it did for the north coast application, that it could predict and understand the impact and recommend ways to mitigate the impact of this application,” the minister stated. “Both applications by MMCB Ltd were dealt with weeks after the decision was made in the Dilbert application and in fact the time between application and decision was as long as or longer than the time in respect of the Dilbert application.
“From a socioeconomic perspective, the decisions to move forward with all three of the ‘marina’ applications were based on the strongly held views of much of the Cayman Brac community that they wanted to see this happen as planks in the level of economic activity they felt necessary for the Brac.
“The difficulty with the Dilbert application and the reasons it has not progressed are not the fault of the government. They rest squarely with the applicant and those advising him, unfortunately,” the minister stated.
As an example, Panton said that when his ministry sent a letter to Cleveland Dilbert on 3 April letting him know that his application had been the approved in principle and requesting a response within 21 days whether he wished to proceed with an EIA, rather than responding the developer “proceeded to arrange a meeting in Cayman Brac at which he convinced 21 prominent members of the Cayman Brac community to sign a letter demanding support of his application for the channel and marina basin in the pond”.
The minister said, “Subsequent to that letter, the applicant obviously engaged with the leader of the opposition to bring a surprise motion, purportedly as a matter of extreme public importance, to attempt to have the decision of Cabinet obviated and replaced by a resolution of Parliament to approve the application without any environmental impact assessment. The resolution was changed to require an EIA to be carried out.
“Underlying all of these machinations was the fact that the applicant had consistently indicated that he did not think an EIA was necessary, that he would not pay for an EIA and so has seemingly been in search of a way to avoid it. Subsequent to the approval in principle by Cabinet subject to an EIA being carried out and the resolution of the LA which took the same position, the applicant changed his stance slightly and indicated in writing that since government wanted the EIA as a condition, he felt that government should pay for it and ‘upon an approved and issued Coastal Works Licence’ he would then be willing to reimburse the government for up to CI$60,000 of its costs. That obviously would not be acceptable to the government in the circumstances either,” Panton said.
“However, I am pleased that the applicant has now publicly stated that he will pay to have an EIA conducted and I can confirm that we are ready to move forward quickly and assist him in engaging an appropriate consultant who can work to resolve the appropriate terms of reference and carry out the work in accordance with those terms.”
The minister stated, “It is only through an appropriate science-based analytical assessment that the Cabinet may have the information it would need to consider whether to give final approval to this application. If the applicant wishes his application to proceed further he must engage now in good faith in the EIA process and not allow himself to be misguided by others, some of whom have years of failure underlining their history of trying to avoid proper process.”
See below the DoE technical review of all three Brac coastal works applications.
Related articles on CNS: