Archive for March 11th, 2009
Congress eases curbs on Cuba
(BBC): The US Congress has voted to lift restrictions on relations with Cuba imposed by the Bush administration. Cuban-Americans will be allowed to travel to the island once a year and send more money to relatives there. Curbs on sending medicines and food have also been eased. The measures were part of a $410bn bill to fund US government operations. The legislation was approved by the Senate after clearing the House of Representatives last month. The bill was supported by two Cuban-American senators who had initially opposed it. They changed their votes after receiving assurances from the Obama administration that the changes did not amount to a major reversal of the 47-year-old US trade embargo on Cuba.
Madoff faces 150 years
(CNN): Accused investment swindler Bernard L. Madoff will plead guilty later this week to 11 counts that could bring a sentence of 150 years in prison, one of his attorneys told CNN. Prosecutors stressed that there is no plea deal and that Madoff, 70, will have to forfeit any money he made from his crimes. "The government has not entered into any agreement with Mr. Madoff about his plea or sentencing," said acting U.S. Attorney Lev L. Dassin. "The filing of these charges does not end the matter. Our investigation is continuing."
Happy 105th Birthday, Daisy Christian
(CNS): Daisy Christian made history Tuesday when she celebrated her 105th birthday, which relatives believe makes her not only the oldest person in the Cayman Islands today, but perhaps the oldest person ever in these islands. Her brother-in-law, Ballinger Christian, a fellow Cayman Bracker, was 104 when he passed away. Friends and family gathered at the Kirkconnell Community Care Centre in Stake Bay, where she now lives, with flowers and cake to celebrate a milestone that few reach.
Ms Daisy married twice – for 8 years to Claude Scott, who died of a brain tumour, and then to Morris Christian, who died in 1983 of cancer. She had no children but “raised half the children in Spot Bay” for several generations, friends said. According to KCCC Supervisor Frances Clyne, she is in fairly good health – a little heart problem but nothing that requires a lot of medication, and has good hearing and eye-sight, though her memory comes and goes.
Relatives said Ms Daisy went to church every day and loved singing, and remembered her lovely voice that echoed off the Bluff. She has always been sweet and gentle, peaceful and humble, though her grand-niece, Jewell Smalldon (right with Ms Daisy), said she could be fierce to protect family. Smalldon said that when she was 17, she worked for one family on the Brac that treated her very badly. Miss Daisy came down, gave the family a sharp piece of her mind and took her niece home. She also remembers when her grand-aunt came to visit her in Spotts Newlands when she was 90. She was very worried when Ms Daisy disappeared for a time while, as Smalldon later learned, she was hitching to East End and back to visit friends. “That’s what a thumb is for,” she said when she got back.
Though she has never liked turtle, Ms Daisy has thrived on a regular Caymanian diet, including lots of fish. “She is a great person,” said Smalldon.
Human heads found in ice chests
(CNN): Five human heads were found in ice chests on Tuesday under a ficus tree in the central Mexican state of Jalisco, police said. The grisly find appeared to be the latest indication of drug cartels fighting for supremacy in battles that have left thousands dead. Police in the municipality of Ixtlahuacan del Rio were informed of the discovery at 2 a.m., the prosecutor’s office said in a written statement. Each head was found in a separate ice chest beside a road leading to the city of Guadalajara, police said.
Bug eats local hedges
(CNS): Ficus hedges all around the Smith Road- Walkers Road area are disappearing as a result of what one local expert believes is an outbreak of thrips rather than a disease. Over the last few months people in the area have been concerned about the rapid deterioration of local shrubs as the bugs tear through the foliage and strips hedges bare.
Kieron Hendricken of Pestkill said he is quite confident that the problem is almost certainly a type of thrip and he has already begun treating some hedges that were under attack, but that are now beginning to make a recognisable recovery. CNS contacted the local firm following concerned calls from gardeners worried about the rapid rate of attack and asked what it was that was attacking the ficus bushes.
Hendricken told CNS that he has been examining the situation for a few weeks and had identified the cause of the problem as a thrip rather than a disease. Unsure exactly which of the literally hundreds of thrips it is that is causing the trouble, he noted that the treatment method was similar in most cases with this particular bug.
“Amateur gardeners who are losing leaves on their own hedges or even indoor ficus plants can simply spray with a mixture of dish liquid and water,” he said, adding that the spread of bugs on indoor plants could be more of a problem as they tend to prefer the cooler temperature indoors that sitting in the direct sun on outdoor hedges.
However, he did note that this thrip was certainly enjoying the sun based on its rapid devastation through the Walkers and Smith Roads area as well as around Elgin Avenue.
“Over the years we experience different infestations of thrips but I have to say I don’t remember it being this bad before,” Hendricken added. “My main concern is that some local landscapers may not be aware of what the problem is and could start unnecessarily spraying chemicals and damaging plants when the treatment is quite simple.”
Hendricken added that once the thrip has its fill or runs out of the ficus bush it will most definitely eat other shrubs, and therefore it is important that people understand what they are up against in their gardens or commercial property landscaping and start dealing with it appropriately.
CNS has also contacted the Department of Agriculture, which has confirmed that it is aware of the loss of foliage around the area and what the problem might be. The DoA said it would offer comment as soon as possible regarding plans to address the problem within the wider community.
Thrips are tiny insects with fringed wings that feed on a large variety of sources, both plant and animal, by puncturing them and sucking up the contents. A large number of thrips species are considered pests because they feed on plants with commercial value. In the right conditions, many species can explode in population and swarm everywhere, making them an irritation to humans.
First HR case taken to Europe
Appleby’s said the progress of the petition has provided objective confirmation that, in relation to human rights the Cayman Islands Courts system, was now subject to scrutiny and review at the highest international judicial level.
“Moreover, an institutional mechanism was clearly seen to exist which enabled an even higher judicial body to reverse decisions of the Privy Council in relation to Cayman Islands Law. In other words, those decisions were no longer necessarily the final decisions,” added Robin McMillan, who brought the original submission in August 2006.
The petition alleges that there was a breach of Ebanks’s entitlement to a fair trial under article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights and also a breach of his entitlement to effective legal representation under Article 6(3)(c) of the same Convention.
As the case is ongoing Appleby’s was unable to give details of Ebanks’ claim. However, a ruling by the Privy Council, which is in the public domain on the same case, made in March 2006 reveals that Ebanks’ complaint that he had been denied a fair trial is based on the conduct of counsel who represented him. In the Privy Council ruling, Ebanks’ claims that his lawyers denied him the opportunity to give evidence and failed to cross examine police officers who presented a statement that Ebanks denies making.
Appleby’s did state that, following receipt of the submissions by the UK government concerning the case, they will have a time-limit of six weeks in which to reply on behalf of Ebanks.
The lawyers also explained that the case is titled Ebanks v the United Kingdom because Ebanks has brought an individual petition alleging a violation of a Convention right by a Contracting State of the Convention, which in this case is the United Kingdom. The European Convention on Human Rights applies in the Cayman Islands by virtue of Article 63 of the Convention. Article 63 is designed to cover the dependent territories of a Contracting State for whose international relations it is responsible, which includes the Cayman Islands in the case of the UK. The individual right of petition was extended to the Cayman Islands in 2006 by Minister Alden McLaughlin, which finally enabled individuals to access some form of legal redress when they believed their human rights had been breached here in Cayman.
Nicolas Joseph, litigation partner at Appleby, expressed his gratitude to both McMillan and Ebanks for their efforts, and said he was pleased that his firm had had an opportunity to undertake the carriage of such an important and innovative area of the law of the Cayman Islands, noting the firm has undertaken the petition on a pro bono basis.
Equality and human rights for all
Following World War II, Kurt Hahn founded the United World Colleges movement to help ensure that the atrocities of the two World Wars would never occur again.
The fundamental idea was that by bringing young people together from many countries and cultures around the world with an aim to bridging the gap between those countries and cultures, this would foster peace, tolerance, and respect for human rights and human dignity, regardless of racial or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, age, or religion or other status.
More than 40 young Caymanians who have shared the United World College experience understand that the process of cultural understanding is often not an easy one, but that there are great rewards of friendship, shared stories of family and humanity, and the commonalities of love, loss, joy, dreams and ambitions. As teenagers, we left Cayman to join young people from every corner of the planet in order to pursue an education, not just an academic education but an education in life, an experiential classroom which taught us about co-existing on this fragile planet with people who shared different languages, cultural norms, values and practices. We began to understand each other based on what we had in common, and learnt very rapidly that for the most part, teenagers all over the world share many similarities indeed.
The many late night discussions, shared by teenagers from around the world, mirrored the most intense of those held in the halls of the United Nations. We discussed each other’s experiences of race, religion, ethnicity, apartheid in South Africa, and the situation in Israel and Palestine, to name a few. As Caymanians coming from a small peaceful community, we learnt from our friends from Sudan, Ireland, Northern India and Pakistan the terrible human costs of discrimination and lack of respect for all people as being equal. We witnessed the shattered lives that they left behind, in countries torn apart by discrimination and hate. We learnt first-hand the value of creating a world where peace and equality were the hallmark of designing a safe place to live and thrive as human beings.
Whilst we learned from others, the UWC experience helped us to reflect on Cayman’s strengths, and we all returned home valuing the quiet, safe comforts of our beloved country, and the open minds and hearts of those in our community who maintain an equally hospitable approach to both the less known and more familiar. We believe that traditional Caymanian values include hospitality towards others, generosity of spirit, and kindness as well as sharing our Christian heritage of God’s love. We also believe that Caymanians do not value another person based on standards of discrimination. For all that we have learnt as Caymanians through our international and multi-cultural education, we understand the tremendous importance of equality for all, and working towards a common understanding of humanity. Our experience, through UWC, in seeing first-hand the results of discrimination and cultures of fear, compels us all to accept nothing less than a Cayman which upholds the rights and dignity of every member of our society to the fullest extent.
We believe in equality for all persons in the Cayman Islands including the disabled, children, and the elderly, as well as those persons who are of a different ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, and physical or mental ability. We trust that the country which sent its first students to United World Colleges 25 years ago to learn in a multi-cultural environment with others from around the world and bring home lessons of peace and international understanding, will now endeavour to do its best to ensure that the rights and dignity of every member of the Cayman Islands society are upheld.
For more information about United World Colleges please visit www.uwc.org or email: ciuwcfoundation@yahoo.com.
CAL cost cutting slammed
(CNS): Cayman Airways’ move to reduce travel agent commission next month from 10% per ticket sold to 6%, described by the airline as a “proactive operational cost-saving measure to help keep airfares as low as possible for customers”, has been heavily criticized by one travel agent, who says that move will backfire and end up losing money for the National Carrier because local agents will stop promoting it above other airlines.
A release from Cayman Airways notes that this new rate, effective 1 April, is still well above that which is currently being paid to local travel agents by competing airlines serving the Cayman Islands, and Cayman Airways CEO Designate Olson Anderson says this new structure aims to ensure that airfares remain affordable for travellers.
“For over a decade airlines worldwide have been reducing commission payments in order to reduce the cost of air travel,” Anderson said. “This new structure will ultimately benefit the customers that both Cayman Airways and local travel agents serve, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with our travel agent partners.”
However, one travel agent described the relationship between agents and the airline as “horrible and getting worse”, and said the change in commission was not discussed with tour operators beforehand. Preferring to remain anonymous because she didn’t want to make the relationship with the airline even worse, she said, “It used to be that when we had people call who didn’t know anything about Cayman Airways, I would say give CAL a chance. We pushed Cayman Airways more than any other airline, and now this is how they reward that loyalty.”
When Cayman Airways started making high-level personnel changes two years ago, including a change of CEO, the relationship with agents started to deteriorate, and it seems as if the airline is trying to squeeze them out with a move to web-based bookings, she said. In what appears to be a continuing trend, the commissions paid by airlines to travel industry agents on bookings have been decreasing over time, forcing the agencies to charge additional or increased service fees to the end customer for the convenience and service.
“Agents in Cayman have given Cayman Airways a lot of support over the years, and even the smaller companies generate several million for the local airline in ticket sales each year. Many agents would push the National Flag Carrier because of the higher commission and also out of loyalty. Unless the customer asked for another airline, I would always quote Cayman Airways first. Now, when people call, I just look for the cheapest airline and don’t worry about which one it is,” said the agent. “I think that they will lose a lot of money through this.”
She also noted that the airline doesn’t seem to have aclearance policy since former CEO Mike Adam left the airline. “If I found a cheap flight on another carrier, I would call CAL and see if they could match it because I really wanted to sell them. Then for the last couple of years they have just said to ‘take whatever’s in the system’ even when the flight had seats available.” However, the agent noted that over the last few weeks, they have started to work with individual CAL agents to clear seats again in some limited instances.
“It’s a shame that there isn’t a more progressive partnership,” the agent noted. “After all, a local airline needs local support, but this isn’t a one-way relationship. Hopefully this will improve before the local travel industry and the public have less choices and more expenses when traveling.”
Police quash rumours of insurance staff arrests
(CNS): The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) has said rumours circulating that the Financial Crimes Unit had arrested a number of workers employed at a local insurance firm are completely unfounded. The police said claims of insurance staff being removed from the offices of British Caymanian by FSU in handcuffs were completely untrue. The RCIPS did, however, confirm that detectives had been working with the company on a possible fraud matter, but at no point were any arrests made.
BritCay has also said that all fraud matters are taken extremely seriously and action will be taken to investigate each and every case. It is understood that the FCU has been and continues to assist the firm regarding an employee who assisted a policyholder in a motor fraud claim. The insurance firm said that this employee had been suspended on Monday, 2 March, but there was no indication by the police that any criminal charges would be brought against the individual.