Archive for June, 2009
Cayman community assists African medical crisis.
(CNS): Cayman Prep and High School recently raised over $2,000 to aid child sufferers of a devastating flesh-eating disease, thanks to the initiative of Year 2 student, Tiggi Kohl. The school’s fundraising effort followed a detailed presentation about the infection, which seven-year-old Tiggi delivered to the Primary School site at a morning assembly in May. During her presentation, Tiggi explained how the condition, known as Noma, causes deformities of the face and mainly affects children under the age of 6 who live in extreme poverty and suffer from chronic malnutrition. She also told her fellow students how the disease is at its most prevalent in parts of Africa.
A month later, the Primary School Principal, Brian Wilson, presented Tiggi with a sizable donation from the school to Facing Africa, the UK- based charity dedicated to helping Noma sufferers.
“We asked all the students to donate at least two dollars, a toy or some clothing. In return, we all got to wear our own clothes instead of our uniform for the day” Tiggi explained, adding “We also gave away t-shirts to help promote the cause”. Tiggi continued, “We received lots of donations from the children. Thank you to everyone for giving so generously.”
Wilson said, “Cayman Prep & High School always encourages its students to be community-minded and to become involved in supporting charitable causes.” He continued, “We wereall particularly impressed with Tiggi’s presentation. Many of the students could identify with the impact of Noma because of the similarity in ages between them and the children who are affected by the disease. The school is proud to have been part of such a successful fundraiser and commends Tiggi for her efforts.”
Tiggi was assisted by her mother, Jane Wareham, who helped create ‘Smile Africa’, a Cayman Islands- based project intended to raise funds for Facing Africa and for the Pediatric Ward at George Town Hospital. Wareham also helped Smile Africa garner local support from some big name corporate sponsors, such as Stuarts Walker Hersant, RBC Wealth Management, Krys & Associates, Tower Marketing and D.M.S. Management.
Kenneth Krys, Managing Director of Cayman-based Corporate Recovery and Insolvency firm, Krys & Associates, was recently in the news for completing the grueling Marathon Des Sables in April; a 6 day, 151 mile endurance race across the Sahara desert in aid of Facing Africa.
Stuarts Walker Hersant and RBC Wealth Management will also be raising awareness about the charity at their jointly hosted investment seminar in New York at the end of this month.
Ms. Wareham said, “We are delighted with the results of our efforts and deeply grateful to our corporate supporters for their generous donations.” She continued, “We have engaged in an initiative with the children’s ward at George Town Hospital in which local children will also share in the proceeds of our fundraising activities. We have some exciting plans for the future, which include a road race and special hospitality events.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 100,000 children are affected by Noma each year in many sub-Saharan countries from Senegal to Ethiopia, a region now dubbed “the Noma belt”. The WHO currently estimates that ninety percent of Noma sufferers will die as a result of the infection, which is on the increase due to poor economic and social conditions in areas where it is prevalent. The problem is compounded by high incidences of poverty, food shortages, conflict and corruption in these areas. Noma survivors are often left with severe scarring and are unable to speak and eat properly because of restrictions in jaw movement caused by scar tissue.
Facing Africa sends four surgical teams from Europe to Africa every year, at a cost of $100,000 per trip. The dedicated efforts of fundraisers have allowed the charity to carry out more than 1,000 facial reconstructions since its inception in 1997. The donations of cash, clothes and toys raised by Cayman Prep & High School will be delivered by the voluntary surgeons themselves.
More information about Noma and Facing Africa can be found online at www.facingafrica.org.
Brac students attend OT conference
(CNS): Two students from the UCCI Brac campus recently attended the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum (UKOTCF), held in Grand Cayman earlier this month, as part of their Environmental Science course, and it apparently made a major impression on both. The conference, which is held every three years inone of the OTs, promotes the coordinated conservation of the diverse and increasingly threatened plant and animal species and natural habitats of the UK Territories Overseas. It aims to do this by providing assistance in the form of expertise, information and liaison between non-governmental organisations and governments, both in the UK and in the Territories themselves.
Brac student Dustin Bodden said the conference gave him “a unique opportunity to see this world of conservations and environmental protection.” Bodden said he was impressed with the “gathering of the brightest minds in the UK Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies and other small island communities,” and while he was a little intimidated at first, he said that he had never met so many older successful adults willing to listen, teach, and even learn from young people.
"In the few days that I spend at the conference I most likely learnt more about the environment and the world in general then most students all over the world learn in their senior years of high school. For me it was really life changing it made me rethink just about everything we are currently doing on a global scale and in the Cayman Islands,” Bodden added.
The topics which affected him most at the conference were environmental education, climate change, and sustainability. He says that as far as environmental education is concerned, the Cayman Islands "have created an amazing education program for the primary schools which is a very ingenius idea.” But he believes that the primary schools alone are not enough — we are missing a major gap in the development in a young adult in the areas of middle school (Years 7-9) and high school (Years 10-12).
“Not only do the older students set what’s cool to do for the younger primary school students, they are the future,” Bodden continued. “ They should be told what will be theirs in 15 to 20 years, and what should have been theirs but isn’t because we build a parking lot on it for the 7th billion resort that we don’t need.”
Bodden and fellow Brac student, Tashara Lewis, spent much of the conference discussing conference topics with Jersey student, Piers Sangan, who attended the previous conference held in Jersey, and both expect to continue this kind of networking through the conference blog site: http://www.ukgroup.org/forums as well as a Facebook link.
Summing up his feelings of the conference, Bodden said that young people are the future, “and some of us need to realize this, and those of us who already do need to act on this. We need to learn, we need to teach, and we need to show the others of our generation that if we continue on the path that we currently are going all the wonderful memories we had while growing up won’t be possible for our children. We need to use our voices to make the older generation which is currently making the decision realize that they’re turn is coming to an end but they can be a major help in our effort by laying the ground work. They can give us a head start in becoming a green generation.”
Tashara Lewis, the second Brac student to attend the conference, made comprehensive notes of all the presentations, and found the it to be “interesting, eye-opening, and extremely informative. This conference for me has meant a great deal and I have learnt a lot of information I can take back and share with my class and my community.”
While enjoying all the presentations, she was particularly interested in those involving invasive species, “because we have a lot of invasive species in the Cayman Islands. One recent one on the Brac has been the Lion Fish.”
“In Dr. Matt DaCosta-Cottam’s presentation he said that it is hard to stop/control the invasive species because the community will sometimes go as far as they can to prevent their destruction because they do not know the damage they can and will cause,” Lewis explained. "They only think that the species are magnificent and beautiful creatures, but they need to become aware of the large amount of damage they cause.” Having said that, Lewis has been encouraged to help the Brac community become aware of the invasive species and the damage they cause. “Yes the invasive species may be beautiful and mind blowing species, but with their beauty come tremendous problems.”
Lewis also observed that throughout the conference emphasis was placed on the tremendous part that parents play in childrens’ lives. “Parents should be the primary example for assisting in and becoming involved in environmental activities,” she says, “And they encourage children and other poeple to become part of the solution rather than being a part of the problem.” With the involvement of parents, Lewis believes, the community achieve much more.
Martin Keeley, UCCI Brac Campus Director, said he was delighted with the role of both students at the conference. “I just wish there had been the opportunity for my entire Environmental Science class to attend,” he said. “It is obvious from their keen interest and involvement that both students have been impacted in a major way through exposure to this level of science and the social implications of environmental concerns in the OTCs .”
Keeley, who teaches Environmental Science at the Brac Campus, was also involved in the workshop on environmental education at the conference. “From my perspective, we have come much further that other OTs in our environmental education in Cayman, but we still have a long way to go,” he said.
He reported in his presentation that his 300-page curriculum-linked teachers’ guide, Marvellous Mangroves in the Cayman Islands, has been translated adapted for use in seven different countries worldwide. “Delegates from several tropical Overseas Territories also expressed an interest in adapting it for use in their countries,” he said.
“I think Dustin sums it up when he says we must get everyone in every age group involved in solving our environmental concerns. There is a much stronger awareness now than there was, say, 10 years ago. But we still have a long way to go if we are going to protect what is left of the finite ecological resources in these islands.”
Cops issue warning over buying stolen goods
(CNS): Police are warning residents to be on the look out for stolen goods as a result of a number of electronic items being stolen from residential premises recently during a number of burglaries. Police urged people to call CrimeStoppers if they are offered laptops, digital cameras or any other electronic equipment that seems like a great deal, especially if it is missing things like chargers, otherwise they could find themselves or the wrong side of the law.
Head of CID, Superintendent Marlon Bodden, warned people that if they end up buying stolen goods they could face charges, whereas reporting it instead could lead to a reward.
“If you are offered a laptop or other item for sale which seems to be an especially good deal or is missing parts, such as chargers or instruction manuals, an alarm bell should start ringing. It could be that the item is stolen. If you buy it you will be handling stolen goods which, is an arrestable offence. If, on the other hand, you report it to Crime Stoppers and your information leads to the recovery of goods or an arrest – you could be entitled to up to one thousand dollars,” Bodden added.
Crime Stoppers Chairman Stuart Bostock said the scheme is a great way for people to pass on information while remaining anonymous. “All calls to Crime Stoppers are answered overseas and you do not have to give your name. Once you have passed on your information you are given a unique reference number and you can call back at any time for an update on the progress that has been made with your information. If an arrest has been made, or if property, drugs or firearms have been recovered you could received up to $1000 – which could buy you a brand new laptop!” Bostock explained.
Crime Stoppers can be reached on 800-8477 (TIPS) or residents can submit tips anonymously online at www.crimestoppers.ky. Tackling burglary remains a priority for the RCIPS and officers will continue to identify those responsible and bring them to justice before the court. Police said they are also asking residents to play their part in cutting crime by ensuing items are as secure as they can be.
Valuables should not be left on display or in vehicles and everyone should note the serial number and take photographs of the item to help police identify them should they be stolen. Owners of laptops and cell phones should also make full use of security measures such as passwords to help protect them should they be stolen.
Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Spy school for geeks proposed
(BBC): Vital UK computer systems are under attack by "state-sponsored hacking on an industrial scale", the ex-digital engagement minister has warned. Tom Watson told MPs the only way to combat the threat was to set up a "spy school for geeks who are more cunning than their Chinese counterparts". The Labour MP ran Downing Street’s web strategy until two weeks ago. He spoke as ministers unveiled a cyber security strategy to prevent attacks from hostile states and terrorists. Launching the strategy Lord West, who has been appointed as the UK’s first cyber security minister, confirmed that the UK government has faced cyber attacks from foreign states such as Russia and China.
Our human ancestors weren’t always so special
(HealthDay News) — A 54-million-year-old skull has yielded the first detailed images of a primitive primate brain. The 1.5-inch-long skull was from an animal species called Ignacius graybullianus, part of a group of primates known as plesiadapiforms. They evolved in the 10 million years after dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth. Scientists said the species was similar to modern primates in terms of diet and tree-dwelling, but its brain was one-half to two-thirds the size of the brain of the smallest modern primates.
Space blob secrets revealed
(Space.com): Perplexing "blobs" of gas seen in the faraway universe are a bit more comprehensible thanks to a new study. Glowing with an eerie brightness, the massive blobs seem to surround very young galaxies. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes examined the distant gas balls and found that their luminosity is likely due to energy released by black holes and star formation inside the galaxies. For ten years the secrets of the blobs had been buried from view, but now we’ve uncovered their power source," said James Geach of Durham University who led the study.
OECD says economy on up
(Bloomberg): The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development raised its forecast for the economy of its 30 member nations for the first time in two years as the US slump shows signs of easing. The combined economy of the world’s most-industrialized countries will shrink 4.1 percent this year and grow 0.7 percent in 2010 has said today. The new projections compare with March forecasts for contractions of 4.3 percent and 0.1 percent but conflict with that ofthe World Bank, which this week said the global recession will be deeper than it predicted three months ago.
McLaughlin refutes overruns
(CNS): Former Education Minister Alden McLaughlin has said that the claims being made for overruns on the two new schools are not as a result of any major changes to plans but an attempt to get more money for the project by the developer, Tom Jones International (TJI). He said the $17 million figure that has been suggested is way beyond any legitimate claim that could be made based on changes, and that before leaving office his ministry had notified the attorney general and a legal team had been engaged to look into the matter.
“I very much hope that the new government is not going to concede just because the developer makes a claim,” McLaughlin said.”Up until I left office matters were still under discussion and no concessions had been made about the claims as we believed that, by and large, they were not entirely genuine. We believed that the developer was taking advantage of the election to get more money, thinking government would give in to any demand.”
McLaughlin told CNS that, after his ministry had taken the concerns about the claims to the attorney general, a law firm was contacted. He said that the developer had experienced cash flow problems, which the government had helped with. He had also experienced troubles with his own sub-contractors and there had been considerable disruption in the run-up to the election, with the developer threatening to stop work.
He said thatthe figure quoted by Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush in a statement earlier this month of $17 million was far, far too high to account for any of the changes that had taken place. Hunter Jones of TJI told CNS that $17 million was the high end but it was possible that overruns would be that much. However, McLaughlin maintained, “No major changes were asked for that could justify the overruns that are now reportedly being claimed.”
He said the schools contracts were fixed and there should be no major differences in the price at the end of the project than stated in the contract. He said if there were any claims for more money then they must be properly addressed and it would be wrong of the leader of government business to indicate he would pay without proper investigation.
“He should not signal that he will give TJI more money just because he asks,” McLaughlin told CNS. “If there are claims then they must be made the proper way, where they will be arbitrated and determined if anything should be paid.
A number of people in the construction industry said when the contracts were awarded that there would likely be problems along the way as the contracts awarded to TJI were in one case over 30% lower than the next lowest bid submitted. Even though the former minster was criticised about the cost of the new schools, many said the contract was a very good deal for government but it would be unlikely that the contractor would be able to succeed given the low bid.
Jones said last week that the current claims were as a direct result of changes to the plans and have nothing to do with any problems with the estimated costs in the bid that won the firm the contract. However, he was unable to offer the details when he spoke to CNS as to what changes could warrant as much as $17million.
The two projects, which include the construction of the Clifford Hunter School in Frank Sound and the redevelopment of a new school at the John Gray campus, were contracted to total around $110M for both schools.
Flu virus remains mild says head doctor
(CNS): Although Cayman now has nine cases of swine flu (the novel H1N1 virus) none of the patients have suffered severe symptoms as a result of the infection. Medical Director Dr Greg Hoeksema (left) has said this reinforces the point that this flu at the moment is no more concerning than the other three influenza viruses that also continue to circulate in the Cayman Islands. The Health Services Authority confirmed an additional two cases of the novel H1N1 virus in the Cayman Islands, on Wednesday bringing the total number of confirmed cases to nine.
The latest two adults to become infected are, like previous patients, experiencing a mild illness and recovering at home without antiviral medications.
Dr Anna Matthews, Acting Medical Officer of Health, said the rise in the number of cases hads been expected and was in keeping with global patterns of transmission. She expects to see a continued increase in the number of locally confirmed cases, particularly in light of the mobility of the population.
The HSA said that it remains vigilant in its public health surveillance initiatives to mitigate the spread of the virus and monitor its activity locally.
Isle of Man catches up
(CNS): Although UK Crown dependency, the Isle of Man, is already on the OECD ‘white list’, it has only just agreed to share information about those Europeans who save with its banks to EU members. The Cayman Islands, however, which remains on the ‘grey list’ has already been providing this information about its European bank account holders for several years. The move by the Isle of Man was announced at the OECD meeting in Paris this week but it is not due for implementation until 2011.
Isle of Man Treasury Minister Allan Bell said the decision to adopt the measure showed the offshore centre’s desire to remain at the forefront of international tax co-operation and transparency.
Offshore centres have been under growing pressure to conform to international standards of financial transparency since last year, as governments and international bodies focused on the role of tax havens in the financial crisis. The economic downturn has also led to an intensification of national efforts to maximise tax revenues by calling for greater financial openness from offshore jurisdictions.
This has resulted in a flurry of tax treaty signings in the last few months, in which offshore centres have agreed to share information with specific countries for the purposes of tax investigations. Cayman now has ten treaties in place, while the Isle of Man has fifteen, three over the magic OECD number. However, Cayman already shares bank saving details with 27 European countries, ensuring that citizens of those countries declare the interest they earn here in Cayman for tax purposes in their country of origin.
The Isle of Man is one of three UK Crown dependencies on the ‘white list’ of jurisdictions that have met OECD standards — Guernsey and Jersey being the other two. Although these islands have the 12 Tax Information Exchange Agreements as specified, neither of these jurisdictions meet the EU savings directives yet.
The Isle of Man is said to be making a greater effort to restore its reputation as a leading financial centre and shrug off the tax haven label, particularly since last year’s collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, which led to the loss of millions of pounds of depositors’ money.