Archive for September 29th, 2014
Public concerned over fly tipping in Barkers
(CNS): Although the Department of Environmental Health is endeavouring to keep on top of the fly-tipping around the island, pictures taken by CNS on Monday following information from readers showed that some people are still confusing Barkers National Park with Mount Trashmore. Old washing machines, dishwashers, feed bags, beer cans, oil containers, old carpets and bursting garbage bags were just some of the rubbish tipped on the park’s main road just yards from the no littering sign. Although the police are responsible for enforcing the law when people break it the already hard pressed DoEH has to clear away the unsightly mess at one of Cayman’s favourite beauty spots. Police say they are aware of the problems of fly tipping and plan to prosecute anyone they catch in the act.
Basic wage report delayed
(CNS): Plans to consider the introduction of a minimum wage in the Cayman Islands have been delayed again as a report which was expected to have been completed before the end of October has been delayed until at least the end of February. A committee was formed to look into the minimum wage rate in June of this year, three months after the government rejected a private member's motion to introduce a minimum wage of at least $5. However, officials from the National Workforce Development Agency (NWDA) said Friday that their report would not be ready for Cabinet’s consideration until early in 2015 as the committee said it needs more time to consider the ideal rate.
The PPM campaigned on the introduction of a basic wage as a priority but the current employment minister, who ran on the Coalition for Cayman ticket, has appeared reluctant to push the issue.
“The government is following process of law and have convened a minimum wage committee,” Rivers said on Friday. She said the committee was trying to determine what the wage should be and had asked for an extension. Working with an international labour expert, she said that the more the committee examined the issue the more variables were raised. The minister described the issue as “a real sinkhole” that had the potential to be increasingly complicated.
However, with local wages appearing to be falling despite inflation and the pressure from imported cheap labour pushing down rates further, many people believe that the introduction of a minimum wage is an essential element in the fight to reduce Caymanian unemployment.
Rivers, however said that the committee had to assess the different price points and the implications of those to address exploitation on the one hand and encourage job opportunities on the other. She said she was confident that the report would be complete for Cabinet’s consideration by February.
This means that low-paid workers or locals who are being pushed out of the labour market because of the falling wages won’t be given any relief anytime soon and there are growing concerns that the longer Cayman avoids implementing a minimum wage, imported cheap labour will continue to fuel local unemployment.
With many workers in Cayman still being paid less than $5 per hour, it is foreign nationals holding work-permits that are suffering the most and, many believe, causing Cayman, with one of the highest GDPs in the world, to import poverty.
NWDA can’t enforce job ads
(CNS): Policing the content of recruitment advertisements that seem tailored for permit holders (sometihng that has been causing the community concern) is down to the immigration department and not the government’s National Workforce Development Agency, officials have confirmed. They also revealed that the immigration law does not require employers seeking work permits to list those positions with the agency. Despite the pressures on government over local unemployment while more than 20,250 overseas workers currently reside in Cayman on permits, the agency tasked with assisting the jobless is limited in what it can do regarding work permit regime infringements.
However, the employment minister and the ministry’s deputy chief officer both pointed out that communication between the immigration boards and the agency has vastly improve in the last few months as a result of the on-line connection to the NWDA job database.
Dr Tasha Ebanks-Garcia revealed Friday that only 800 job seekers from an estimated 1900 or so unemployed people are registered with the agency but their details are now available for immigration officials to see and the immigration boards now know when Caymanians have applied for positions. As a result more permits are being deferred while employers justify why they are declining local applicants. With the assistance of technology people can also browse the NWDA agency site without formally registering and apply for the positions directly and the boards can see where that has occurred on-line.
During a presentation and tour of the agency, which has undergone a significant transformation from the old job unit at the department of labour, for the press Friday, staff from the NWDA explained that they want more people to register to give them a better picture of the jobless situation and to help those seeking work find it.
Employment Minister Tara Rivers said the agency had made great strides in recent months and while there is still more to be done the team has grown and the interface between the NWDA and the immigration boards is starting to make a difference.
Rivers pointed out that it was a campaign promise of hers and most other candidates to address the problems regarding the NWDA and to see the department function as intended, which is to train and develop the local workforce to match the needs of the labour market.
As well as matching job-seekers to vacancies, the agency is focusing heavily on training to remove the barriers unemployed people face in their job search, from a lack of relevant skills to what Ebanks-Garcia described as 'soft skills', such as people’s attitudes towards work and meeting employers' expectations.
Having previously noted her concerns about the kind of advertisements for jobs which relate to existing permits, the minister explained that although the NWDA can’t enforce the immigration law in that respect, the improvements that have taken place at the agency in recent months give the boards more relevant information to help them make better decisions about permits. She said the five additional enforcement officers which were budgeted for by the home affairs ministry are currently being recruited and they will be responsible for enforcing the rules relating to the efforts employers make to find local workers.
Under the immigration law, employers are required to make the “best efforts” to recruit locally before turning to permits, and while the agency can’t force an employer to list work-permit jobs with it, with the kind of information now directly available to the boards at the click of a mouse, employers are under more pressure to comply and justify their recruitment practices.
“Where employers don’t do more … the boards are now more inclined to ask questions,” the minister stated.
Rivers noted that in the end it should be the NWDA that deals with all of the issues relating to recruitment and not immigration and this was a goal she hoped to accomplish during her tenure as minister, but until that major transformation could take place she had to tackle the situation within the current legislative framework.
Webster murder case adjourned for 5 weeks
(CNS): Jose Guadelupe Sanchez (27) made his first Grand Court appearance, Friday, facing charges of murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm for the killing of Solomon Webster. The crown say Sanchez is the man who gunned down Webster on Sunday7 September in Miss Daisy Lane, West Bay at around 8-30pm. The 24 year old Special Olympic gold medal winner was shot in the groin and died in hospital as a result of his wound later that night. Sanchez has not yet answered the charges and his local attorney Guy Dilliway-Parry asked for a five week adjournment to discuss the case with his client and to look at the possibility of instructing leading counsel.
Although the incident occurred in what is known as the local Logwoods gang’s neighbourhood the police have stated that they have no reason to believe that Webster’s killing was gang related.
In addition to the murder charge laid against Sanchez two other men have also been charged with accessory after the fact as they are alleged to have assisted Sanchez to evade the authorities in the wake of the shooting. Graham David Lauer aged 60 and 30 year old Blake Christopher Barrell were both granted bail in the summary court recently.
Sanchez appeared in Grand Court Friday via video link and is currently remanded in custody to HMP Northward.
Psych report sought for man accused of brutal attack
(CNS): A Bodden Town man accused of trying to kill his wife in a violent machete attack last month will see a psychiatrist before he answers the charges a court confirmed Friday. George Vaughan (42) who tried to take his own life after the assault on his wife, who works as a civil servant with the NRA, needed to undergo an evaluation regarding his state of mind in relation to the attack he allegedly perpetrated, his defence attorney told the court. Denis Brady asked for a five week adjournment in the case in order for the mental health assessment. Vaughan is charged with attempted murder in connection with a brutal attack on his wife during a domestic dispute.
The incident happened at the couple’s home in Mijall Roadin Bodden Town, Lois Hall-Vaughan, (53) was , chopped with a machete on her body and legs and was airlifted to the United States for treatment for her numerous injuries.
Following the attack, the victim’s husband was believed to have consumed a poison of some kind and he was also taken to hospital under police guard following his arrest. He was later charged with attempted murder as a result of the attack.
Vaughan was remanded in custody to Northward.