Archive for February 20th, 2009
Disabled make claim to rights
(CNS): As the Legislative Assembly prepares to debate the bill required to facilitate the referendum on Monday, the community is still debating the details of the constitution as campaigners began to raise their voice over the reduction of rights because of the perceived homophobia in the church leadership. At one of the largest ever public meetings on the constitution, for the first time members of Cayman’s disabled community, other activists and non-church groups spoke out loud and clear about their concerns over limited rights as the government made efforts to justify the limitation.
A meeting hosted by stakeholders of the constitutional talks at the Family Life Centre last night (Thursday 19 February) saw a turn out of over 400 people. Once again the discussion was dominated entirely by rights. However, this time the community heard from a number of people with disabilities, including Keisha Martin who has been completely blind for 22 years, who spoke of the incredible discrimination she suffered when she brought a seeing-eye dog to Cayman but was eventually forced to return it.
Parents of disabled children spoke out about their concerns for the future because of the limitation placed on everyone’s rights as a result of the changes to Section 16. Others with disabilities articulated the woeful lack of legislation to protect them and their desire to see their rights constitutionalized because of the persistent failure of politicians to enact necessary disability laws. A number of people rasied their concerns that homophobia was the root of the problema nd that to sacrifice the rights of the disabled for that was disgraceful.
Sara Collins, Chair of the Human Rights Committee, confirmed that the fundamental reason why all the people of the Cayman Islands were now facing “half a loaf” regarding their rights was because of the church’s position on gays and lesbians and the desire to ensure that particular group of people could still be discriminated against. “How much are we willing to sacrifice just to prevent gays and lesbians getting access to rights?” she asked.
Collins explained to the meeting what had happened with Section 16. She said in theoriginal 24 October draft government could not discriminate against anyone at any time. However, she said that Minister Alden McLaughlin told the HRC that the churches could not accept such a wide-ranging right applying to gays and lesbians. Following this a proposal was put forward, which was first explained to the HRC on 8 January 2009. Collins said a note was circulated explaining the proposal which said:
“The effect of such a formulation would be that if, for example, “other” discrimination were held to include discrimination against homosexuals or transsexuals, such discrimination would only fall foul of this section [16] if it were in respect of the rights set out under Part 1 of the Constitution (the Bill of Rights).”
Collins said that in spite of the HRC objections the proposal was agreed at the end of the second round of talks by the other delegates. “It is important to understand this because we are not saying that any one group is left out of rights that other people are enjoying. The list of the groups did not change, except to include gays and lesbians. Children, women, the disabled and the elderly and everyone else will still be included in the right, but the extent of the right itself was changed so that the government could discriminate against all of those people in certain areas,” she said.
She explained that everyone, not just gays has had their rights cut and that government used examples of how the change would allow it to discriminate. In one case government cited an example of being able to discriminate against women working as police officers and prevent them from doing certain jobs in the service if section 16 was limited to the rights of the constitution only.
“That is why the HRC were duty bound to explain to the public what this means for them. The government will be able to discriminate against anyone in the areas of healthcare, housing, employment, provision of social services, access to public spaces and many others because these are no longer covered. The government’s own written proposal recognised that fact,” she said.
McLaughlin defended the decision and said that have a free standing non-discrimination right was not just about restricting the rights of gays and lesbians, although he did admit that was the churches’ main objection. He said that with a free standing right government could be forced to educate all children, not just Caymanians, that Caymanians jobs would be at risk and that the entire landscape of Cayman would change.
However, Collins said the minister was scaremongering and pointed out to the audience that the rights to discriminate regarding the national interests of Caymanians in terms of employment, etc, were very clearly protected in Section 16b and that McLaughlin was misleading the people when he said a free standing right would undermine Caymanian rights in favour of other nationals.
A considerable number of people in the audience voiced their concerns over the limitation of rights as well as the four-year delay before implementing the separation of child offenders from adult offenders in the country’s prison system. The removal from the constitution of the right to be told that a person has the right to remain silent when being arrested was also questioned.
During the meeting, Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts insisted that, although the constitutional document was certainly not perfect, it was the best that could be achieved given the circumstances and was a vast improvement in every respect of what Cayman currently has. He said the negotiations were done andthe time had come for a decision. Given the consensus that had been arrived at in London, except for the HRC, he asked the stakeholders to offer their endorsement of the document and let the country decide.
The HRC said it would not campaign against the document but it was duty bound to point out its shortcomings as that was their remit, especially as their suggestion to add a choice question at the referendum had been soundly rejected. Both the church representatives and the Chamber, while noting some reservations, did offer their endorsement, but McKeeva Bush, the Leader of the Opposition, reserved his commitment to the document by saying that, while there were some good things in it, the decision lay with the people and it was not his place to tell them to vote for it or not.
Although originally planned for today Friday 20 February the debate on the Referendum (Constitutional Modernisation) Bill, 2009 will take place in the Legislative Assembly at 10 am. Monday, 23 February. The change was made government said in order to give members more time to examine the bill. The passage of the bill is necessary in order to hold the referendum on the new draft constitution in May. A copy of the bill is available to the public at the Legislative Department, in the Legislative Assembly building; and on www.cila.ky
Athletics at GT Saturday
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Athletic Association is hosting its George Town district meet on Saturday 21 February at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex starting at 9:00 am. This is one of a series of development meets taking place across the island, and the fourth CIAA meet for the year, with the last meet being held in Bodden Town approximately two weeks ago. The regular meets provides competition and opportunities for Athletes to qualify for regional and international meets.
The list of events is as follows:
Field events – Long jump: m/f open, 14–16, 17–19; high jump: m/f 12–13, 14–16, 17–19, open; Shot put: m/f 10–11, 12–13, 14–16, 17–19, open (20+); discus: m/f 14–16, 17–19, open; javelin m/f 14–16, 17–19, open; turbo javelin: m/f 10–11, 12–13 and ball throw: m/f 6–7, 8–9.
Running events – 80m: m/f 6–7; 100m: m/f 8–9; 10–11, 12–13, 14–16, 17–19, open; 200m: m/f 12–13, 14–16, 17–19, open; 400m: m/f 12–13, 14–16, 17–19, open; 800m: m/f 12–13, 14–16, 17–19, open; 1500m: m/f U17, 17–19, and open (20+).
The CIAA Track season usually starts in January with Athletes hoping to meet qualifying standards for regional and international meets. The CIAA says that district meets are mainly used for talent searching. There might be some unknown talent in the districts that is not affiliated to a club but might come out of curiosity and participate, and hopefully become interested and decide to get seriously involved.
Registration forms are available by contacting National Coach Kenrick Williams at 323–0163, Coach Tyrone Yen at 925–6917 or Coach Harcourt Wason at 916–6966.
Free Green Guide No2
(CNS): A local law firm and NGO dedicated to marine research and education have partnered to produce a booklet to highlight the impact of human activity and climate change on the reefs of the Cayman Islands. The first copies of the Green Guide to the Cayman Islands: Special Publication No. 2: Climate Change and The Sea Around Us, produced by Ogier and the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI), will be available on 1 March at a Family Fun Day taking place at Dart Park, South Sound between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm, and will continue to be distributed islands-wide throughout March.
According to a release from CCMI, the Green Guide Special Publication No2 provides a brief summary of the alarming evidence that both human neglect and the changing climate is having a negative impact on reefs and oceans in the Cayman Islands. It follows a similar format to the first with informative easy to read content coupled with vibrant photography, and aims to provide a valuable resource for all businesses, residents and visitors of the issues facing Cayman’s fragile marine ecosystem.
“Our economy depends on tourism from the thousands of visitors who come to our islands to experience the crystal clear waters, perfect coral reefs and abundant sea life and we need action now to help preserve the bio diversity of our islands,” the release says.
“Ogier is pleased to provide continued support to the CCMI in its mission to protect and preserve Cayman’s marine environment," said Ogier Managing Partner, James Bergstrom, "We are fortunate to live and work in the Cayman Islands, where the accessibility of the ocean makes it a vital part of our daily life. This guide willhelp everyone understand and appreciate the threats we are facing and the ways in which we can all work towards protecting our islands for future generations,” he continued.
“Our continued partnership with Ogier has allowed us to launch a campaign in the Cayman Islands to preserve our planet. This issue of the Green Guide will share the message while offering resources to live in a more eco-friendly manner,” comments Jim O’Neill from the CCMI Executive Board
Ogier, one of the leading providers of offshore legal and fiduciary services recently initiated a number of charitable task forces run by its staff and assisted by the firm.. The environmental group (E-force) headed by Neil Kandelaars advocates change at the individual, firm and community levels by raising awareness of sustainability principles. E-force has taken the lead on finding ways to reduce the firm’s consumption of resources, and has already made significant impact on energy consumption and waste reduction.
The Central Caribbean Marine Institute was incorporated in 1998 as a non-profit 501c3 organization. CCMI was established as an international charitable organization after becoming incorporated in the Cayman Islands (2002) and in the UK in 2004.
Since its first years, CCMI has proven a valuable asset to the effort of understanding changing coral reef and tropical marine environments, and its research and education programs have established a solid foundation for future reef education and awareness in the Caribbean and for students and researchers from around the world.
To participate in any of CCMI’s Education programmes, please email coppage@reefresearch.org
Photo: (L-R) Ogier Partner Peter Cockhill; Ogier Counsel and President of the Ogier Environmental Committee, Neil Kandelaars; Ogier Business Development and Marketing Deputy Manager, Jayne Aiken; CCMI Sales and Event Coordinator, Kellie Shoemaker; CCMI Executive Board Member, Jim O’Neill.
CAL pilots grounded over air display
(CNS): Updated— Two Cayman Airways pilots and an air traffic controller have been suspended from duty while an investigation into an air display marking the retirement of an aircraft from the National Flag Carrier’s fleet is underway. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI) confirmed yesterday that it is investigating a report regarding a low-flying Cayman Airways aircraft. “As the investigation is on-going, details of the report cannot be disclosed at this time,” the Authority said.
Neither the CAACI nor Cayman Airways have offered any details of when the incident took place. Not have they stated who if anyone was in danger or who the people involved are. However, CNS understands it is connected to the air display performed on 23 January of this year when CAL retired its B737 200 from the fleet. Although unconfirmed, it is said that during the traditional farewell the pilots flew very low over the runway at Owen Roberts International.
CNS understands there are no specific rules governing the height at which aircraft can or can’t fly in the vicinity of the aerodrome. But a low pass should only be initiated when an aircraft is in difficulty or if it has been agreed with Air Traffic Control. CNS learned this was agreed on this occasion. However, it has now been deemed following the circualtion of pictures taken at the event that the authorities became concerned that the low flyby may have been unsafe.
The future of tax havens
(CNBC European Business): The year 2008 will remain indelibly etched on the collective psyche of the offshore banking sector. Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the heights of European banking secrecy, were assailed by tax investigations of unprecedented severity while the near collapse of the global financial system injected renewed vigour into international efforts to pierce the offshore veil. Probes into Bernie Madoff’s $50bn fraud look set to pile further opprobrium on opaque investment structures. Go to article