Archive for July, 2009
Mac says boards are political
(CNS): Following the special sitting of the Legislative Assembly last Wednesday when government amended two laws to alter the rules governing two major boards, Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush has made it clear that as far as he is concerned the boards are political bodies and should be in tune with the administration of the day. Announcing changes at a press briefing to the HSA and CINICO board line ups, he said that boards were effectively the bodies that focused on the day to day running of the country.
“There has to be changes,” he said. “Why do you think the people put us in office?” he asked rhetorically at government press briefing held on Thursday morning, 23 July. He said that if government doesn’t make changes to the governing of the country, the people would be right to ask why, when given the opportunity by being elected to office, the government had then not made changes in governance.
“Boards do the day to day running of the country. We just make the laws,” Bush said. “Because of that board members are there at the will of government.” He added that it was essentially that those serving on boards are supportive of the government’s policies. Bush also noted that some people believe that once they are appointed to a board they are going to be there forever, but that was not the case.
The leader of government business said that in some cases boards had been changed even where members were UDP supporters, but they may be changed for other reasons. He said it was the government’s prerogative to choose board members for reasons that suited the government’s plans for running the country.
Bush announced that Canover Watson had accepted the position of HSA chairman. “With his financial background he is ideally suited to guide the HSA through these difficult times. Since his appointment as board member in September 2008 he has shown a tremendous commitment to the hospital and has been working diligently to reduce the authority’s deficit,” the LoGB said.
Listing the new directors, he said the following people would serve for a period of one year effective 1 September: Canover Watson as chair, and as deputy chairman, Peter Young. Members will be Tommy Ebanks, Wanda Ebanks, Raquel Solomon, Ryan Walrond and Nina Banks.”
He then said that, significantly, the government had not named the HSA Board Chairman to the CINICO Board, as was previously the practice. “We believe this move will avoid all possible conflicts of interest and will serve both institutions well,” the LoGB said. “Although there are considerable changes to the CINICO Board membership, we want to say that the national insurance company is doing a fine job and financially it is on a good footing. However, we deemed it sensible to bring in new board members that will be able to use their expertise to review CINICO’s organisational structure and service delivery model to further improve its product.”
He said that from 1 July this year Dale Crowley would serve as chair of CINICO with Seamus Tivnan as deputy chairman, and as members John Douglas (reappointed) Dr. Ruthlyn Pomares, Armando Ebanks, Carl Brown, Darlee Ebanks and as ex-officio member the chief officer of the Ministry of Health, Jennifer Ahearn, or her nominee.
These announcements come following legislative changes in the House on 22 July which saw the law amended to enable the number of members on both the ICTA and ERA boards to increase from 4-6 to 8-10 members, for the requisite specialist qualifications to be removed and for the members to be dismissed from the board at the will of government.
The issue of political influence from the previous administration was raised in the Legislative Assembly during the debate by the new UDP government which has made it clear that it wants people on boards who will implement its policies.
The timing of the changes to the ERA has brought criticism from the oppositio, and at Thursday’s press briefing Juliana O’Connor denied that the move was to enable the government to stack the board in order to enable political control over the forthcoming decision by the board, expected sometime this week, on a bid by Jamaica Energy Partners (JEP) to become the first electricity generator to break CUC’s monopoly.
Education law not ready
(CNS): Although the new Education Law which was passed in the Legislative Assembly in March of this year was suppose to be effective from 1 September 2009, the UDP government has said that it will be advising the governor that its implementation will be delayed. Education Minister Rolston Anglin said that, given the magnitude of the work needed to implement the law, the September date was far too ambitious.
Despite the fact that the previous minister, Alden McLaughlin, had said at the time the law was passed that many of the policy elements within it were already being implemented by the Department of Education Services, Anglin said there was still a wide range of issues with which professionals and education staff had to be consulted.
“We have a professional standards council and that requires us as a responsible government to ensure those standards receive the necessary thought and consultation,” he added. “With the required underpinning of regulations it is practically impossible to meet the September deadline."
He also said there were issues that had been raised by him when he was in opposition at the time the law was passed by the previous government regarding how truancy issues would be dealt with under the law. From a policy standpoint, he said he may well wish to change the law to enable greater accountability on truancy.
Anglin also spoke more about the situation with the school development projects and noted that he had recently been informed that the new buildings may not even provide enough space for the projected 2000 students that the schools were supposedly built for. The minster described the schools as monuments to excess, and said the People’s Progressive Movement had been irresponsible in the management of the projects and left a crippling financial drain on the country’s resources.
“We needed schools. But did we need schools that will cost us well over $117,573,219.00 in construction costs?” he asked. “Over 10.5 million has been spent on auxiliary costs so far. These are just the hard costs. And then there are the costs we do not know because they have not been quantified: the millions that will be needed for furniture and fittings, maintenance and staffing.”
He again lamented the cost of the kitchen facilities, for which the equipment alone is estimated at $750,000 for each school, and he said although a state-of-the-art "demonstration kitchen" was included, the DoES now says these facilities will not provide them with the stoves and other basic equipment they need to teach home economics and food and catering courses.
“These are the types of excesses you get when you don’t establish a budget, but tell designers and architects to build to meet your "educational vision", a vision of the "future" I am told,” Anglin said.
He noted that the academy concept or school within a school concept was a major contributor to the costs of the new schools. Anglin said that having small groups of students taught together was desirable but he said that the cost was prohibitive.
“Many countries and many of our private schools are not only able to cope with students in numbers greater than 250, but outstrip us time and again in student performance should have been a reality check,” the minister stated.
He said that professionals from within the construction industry have now joined with the project team to look at opportunities for containing or reducing costs but he said there were limits given the stage at which the construction had reached. “We have recently met with the contractors and have presented a cost savings proposal,” Anglin added and the ministry has negotiated a way forward to resolve outstanding claims through conciliation and mediation processes.
Swine flu claimed life
(CNS):Health officials have confirmed this evening that a 31-year-old male resident of Caribbean Haven has died of swine flu. Although a test for Influenza A had proved negative, it has now been confirmed by the Cayman Islands Hospital that the CAREC lab’s H1N1 test has returned positive, and while the man has a pre-existing medical condition, the flu virus was the cause of his death. The man went to the hospital on Saturday 18 July and died on Monday.
Minster for Health Mark Scotland said that officials, who have been in contact withthe family from the start, have met with them and shared this information and offered his condolences.
“We all hoped that no one in Cayman would be severely affected by H1N1. But this unfortunate death shows that as a country we face the same challenges in managing this illness as do other countries around the world,” he said. “Sadly, it is a fact that persons with underlying medical conditions, such as the young man who passed away, are susceptible to serious complications, and sometimes death.”
He added that the Medical Officer of Health Dr Kiran Kumar and his team had visited Caribbean Haven immediately following the resident’s death in order to counsel residents and staff.
“They also tested those who had flu symptoms, and offered them the drug Tamiflu as treatment. As a preventative measure, Tamiflu was also offered to staff and residents who did not have flu symptoms,” the minister said. “Health officials will provide further details on H1N1 in Cayman at a press briefing on Monday.”
He said that government does have adequate supplies of Tamiflu and asked people to do their part by remaining calm and following public health advisories. “It is very important that we understand that H1N1, as well as seasonal flu, are national health issues. We all have important roles in preventing their spread,” Scotland added.
Meanwhile, a public health team has also visited West Bay as a result of fears of a flu outbreak in a local neighborhood. “We met with residents to inform and reassure them after three residents of the National Housing Trust (NHT) affordable housing development in Captain Jose Osborne Drive were hospitalized with the flu,” said Dr Kumar. Of the three patients, one was scheduled to go home on Friday, 24 July.
“We discussed the nature of the H1N1 virus, how to prevent the spread of it, and how to care for those who get sick,” Dr Kumar said, adding that the fears were understandable, especially in light of recent events and the rise in the number of hospitalisations.
“We will continue to educate the public, and anyone with concerns should call the Public Health Department. It is important that people have the correct information so they can be full partners in the effort to contain the H1N1 virus,” said Dr Kumar.
He explained that those in high risk groups are people who, when they do get the flu, have a higher probability of getting severely ill. It does not mean that they are at higher risk of catching the virus. In fact, according to the CDC’s statistics, the highest rates of infection are in those under 25, and the median age of hospitalized cases in the US is 19 years old. High risk groups include children under the age of five, adults over the age of 65, pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems, and people with chronic conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease. If you are in a high risk group it means you have to monitor your illness and seek medical attention if your symptoms are severe.
Tourist dies while swimming at Rum Point
(CNS): The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said this evening that it had begun an investigation following the death of a 71-year-old man who was visiting the Cayman Islands. Police stated hat the 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call today (Friday 24 July) at 11:13am reporting that a man, who had been swimming at Rum Point, was unresponsive. Police and medics responded and the man was taken to hospital where he was subsequently pronounced dead.
The victim who had been visiting Grand Cayman with his family was from the United States. The RCIPS sends its condolences to family and friends of the victim.
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.
Lawyers battle over challenge
(CNS): The legal battle over the legitimacy of the election challenge to two Bodden Town MLAs began in Grand Court this morning (Friday 24 July) before Chief Justice Anthony Smellie, who heard intense legal arguments from both counsels. Lord Pannick, QC, representing the defence, put the case that the only way an election challenge could be brought against Members of the Legislative Assembly is through an Election Petition, while Gerard Clarke argued that the plaintiffs’ case rests on the Constitution and the issue of qualification, which could not be confined by the Election Law.
The arguments played out in front of a crowded court room, which included a strong show of force by the United Democratic Party government members, including Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush, and party supporters. Both of the challenged MLAs, Minister Mark Scotland (pictured above) and back bench MLA Dwayne Seymour (below) were present at the defence table.
Following the chief justice’s explanation that the proceedings were being held in open court because of the obvious public interest, Lord Pannick opened for the defence with the argument that the Grand Court had no jurisdiction because any challenge to the validity of the defendants’ election could only be brought via an Election Petition and the plaintiffs had not done so.
By filing an Originating Summons instead of a Petition, he said the plaintiffs were abusing the process and were seeking to by-pass the obligation in a petition to file the challenge in a specific way. He explained that the plaintiffs would have had to file within 21 days (an irony not lost on those involved) of an election, publicly display the grounds of the challenge and provide financial security to the court.
Lord Pannick added that while the challenge was a constitutional one, the Constitution itself had provided the means by which any challenge could be brought through its provisions for an enactment of the Election Law. In short, he argued that the Legislative Assembly had passed the law to provide remedy for any challenge and that included ones regarding qualification. He noted that should anyone be allowed to bring a challenge outside of those provisions, which included safeguards of the public interest through issues of expediency and fairness, the Election Law itself would be made redundant and “would frustrate the intentions of the Constitution.”
Lord Pannick noted that, since the UK courts took jurisdiction of election challenges in 1868 and because of the sensitive nature, no such challenges have succeeded through any other means but by petition. He noted too that the need to be certain who is elected to the legislature is of such public importance, the speed of dealing with challenges was paramount, and hence the strict process by which they can be made has been adhered to by the courts.
He insisted that there simply was no other route for the plaintiffs to seek remedy but by petition, and as they had failed to do that the court must strike out the summons.
By contrast, however, Clarke made the argument that in the Cayman Islands the Election Law was not defined as the exclusive route for an election challenge. He said that in this case the plaintiffs were bringing a challenge which dealt purely with the defendants’ right to qualification for the election and not the election itself, which is what the local Election Law was concerned with. He said the law did not have the power to limit the right to apply to the court conferred by the Constitution.
Clarke argued that the Constitution was wider than the Election Law, which did not cover all questions concerning elections. He added that the language wasdifferent and that the Election Law was concerned with the election process and not qualification of candidates. He compared the issue to a race in which the question was not whether the runners had cheated but the fact that they were not qualified to be on the starting line in the first place. “The Elections Law Petition addresses the race but not who is entitled to enter the race,” he said, adding that it was the Constitution itself that was concerned with qualification.
Addressing the accusation that the plaintiffs were seeking to avoid the obligations of the petition, Clarke said the plaintiffs were making a stand on the constitution and the choice of remedy for the challenge was deliberate. He said the Election Petition was not the exclusive route and that the difference in language between the Election Law and the Constitution was important and relevant.
He noted that his learned friend’s argument would suggest that the Election Law trumped the Constitution, which he said would be indeed surprising given that the Constitution is a higher law. Clarke argued that the Election Law was designed with precise limits for good reasons, but if it had been crafted to be a comprehensive code it would have indicated clearly that it was the only and exclusive route to challenges — something he said the law did not do.
Clarke pressed the point that if an MLA was found to be disqualified after the time limit of a petition, a challenge still had to be allowed and that would be through the courts. Therefore, there was no reason that the remedy the plaintiffs had chosen was not legitimate just because the disqualification was raised before the election.
He denied the Originating Summons was an abuse of process and said the Election Petition was simply not an appropriate route for this particular challenge. Clarke stated that the issue surrounding the MLAs in question was “constitutional nullity” not cheating in the election. Therefore the court did have jurisdiction to decide. He maintained that the plaintiffs’ case was all about qualification under the Constitution, and that an Election Petition was not something the plaintiffs were avoiding but something which did not offer appropriate remedy.
The proceedings drew to a close around 4:00 in the afternoon as the two legal teams conclude their argument and the chief justice announced he would adjourn to consider his ruling on the matter.
The challenge was made by six voters from the district of Bodden Town who claimed that Seymour and Scotland were not qualified to be elected as they failed to gazette the details of government contracts held by their respective companies before the dealine laid down under Section 19 (1) (g) of the 1972 Cayman Islands Constitution.
If the chief justice does not strike out the summons, the legal teams will move to further legal battle to establish the legitmacy or not of the two Bodden Town MLAs’ election to office, which could result in a by-election in the district.
CAYS receives grant
(CNS): A non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering youth experiencing difficulties to achieve their full human potential has received a grant from Hedge Funds Care Cayman (HFCC), a charitable organisation focused on assisting young victims of abuse. A release from HFCC says the grant will enable the CAYS Foundation to continue its work with the Cayman Islands’ youth, raising awareness and addressing the issues of child abuse and neglect.
Among the many projects the CAYS Foundation has developed is the Family Reunification Programme (FRP), which is designed to strengthen vulnerable families during the period when a child is preparing to return home after a stay at one of CAYS Foundation’s two residential homes. The programme has been in existence since the CAYS Foundation’s inception in 2003.
The CAYS Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering youth experiencing difficulties to achieve their full human potential by providing a continuum of care through its residential programmes in a caring, nurturing environment, and in partnership with other agencies within the private and public sectors.
The staff of the CAYS Foundation’s two residential homes, the Bonventure Boys’ Home and the Frances Bodden Girls’ Home, have worked diligently over the years to aid their residents, all between the ages of 10 to 17. Each resident is assisted based on their own individual needs, along with a regimen of care planning, tutoring and parenting classes. Families enter into the FRP when they are preparing to reunite with their children in their homes.
The FRP consists of several key characteristics that allow families to adapt into a unified home. Families involved in the programme receive counselling with anemphasis on several techniques that change the behaviour and response between family members. The FRP also focuses on coaching and mentoring parents, creating discipline models and behavioural strategies for families and working within the home during the transition to create a safe and stable environment.
Behind this great undertaking is the programme’s Family Support Worker (FSW), an individual who aids in bridging the gap between child and parent. The FRP currently staffs one FSW, which the HFCC’s grant funds for one year of work in the community.
“The Family Support Worker is an integral part to our Family Reunification Programme,” comments CAYS Foundation Chief Executive Officer Angela Sealey. “She is presently working with eight families on the island and we are looking forward to seeing the progress that they will achieve.”
While each family is unique, the FRP is consistent with its basic values and commitments. Each family-centred programme is both strength based and solution focused, encouraging both the child and the parent to work through their situation in a logical and caring way. The FSW supervises therapeutic visitations to aid a household’s tangible needs to create a supportive home for the child and parent alike.
Added Ms. Sealey, “Our Family Support Worker is aiming to expand our programme in order to offer additional services to the families who we work with. The funding from HFCC reaches far beyond those we counsel. Happy and supportive families are the cornerstone to building a stronger community. Our objective is to provide the tools to strive toward this goal.”
Since its inception in 2005, HFCC has raised over US $950,000 that has sponsored local agencies and their initiatives to combat the issue of child abuse and neglect in the Cayman Islands. The 2009 HFCC grantees include: The Nadine Andreas Foster Home (operated by the NCVO); the Ministry of Education, Training, Employment, Youth, Sports and Culture; Children and Youth Services (CAYS) Foundation; and the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre.
About Hedge Funds Care
Hedge fund industry professionals established Hedge Funds Care (HFC), a charitable organisation focused on assisting young victims of abuse, in 1998. Since that time, chapters have opened in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Toronto, Cayman, and London. The targeted groups for the organisation include those organisations with interests in hedge funds, including investment managers, investors, prime brokers, attorneys, accountants, technology providers, administrators and information providers.
The Cayman Committee of Hearts has representatives from Admiral Administration, Butterfield Fulcrum, Citco, Deloitte, dms Management, Ernst & Young, IMS, KPMG, Maples and Calder, Ogier, PWC, Harbour Trust, UBS, and Walkers.
Unfolding scandal in US
(New York Times): Illegal sales of body parts. Furtive negotiations in diners, parking lots, and boiler rooms. Nervous jokes about “patting down” a man who turned out to indeed be an informant. And, again and again, piles of cash being passed along — once in a box of Apple Jacks cereal stuffed with $97,000. Those were just some details of a sprawling corruption scandal, stretching from New Jersey to Brooklyn and beyond, that were revealed in court papers Thursday. Forty-four people were arrested, including three New Jersey mayors, two state assemblymen and five rabbis, the authorities said.
MLAs’ salaries revealed
(CNS): The leader of government business earns over $14,818 per month, or almost $177,800 per annum, while his opposition counterpart earns $10,541, or just under $126,500 per annum. The figures were released by the current LoGB, McKeeva Bush, who had promised to tell the people what Members of the Legislative Assembly earn. The Speaker earns almost as much as the LoGB at $171,672 per annum, which includes a car and maintenance allowance each month of $200. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, who has served as a Cabinet minister and MLA in the past, is the next highest earner with an annual salary of $161,100.
The other Cabinet members, who are in the post for the first time, are earning $13,099 per month, or $157,188 per annum, while all opposition backbench members and Captain Eugene Ebanks, who are all former serving MLAs, each take home $9,316 per month or $111,792 annually, Cline Gidden as a re-elected member and Deputy Speaker, receives $10,033 a month or $120,396 per year. Meanwhile, the two new government backbenchers each receive $9,090 per month or $109,080.
CNS has also submitted an FOI request for information on how much and for what purpose that members can claim expenses and allowances, an issue that has been at the centre of controversy in the UK parliament recently.
During the election campaign the issue of MLAs earnings was raised on the hustings a number of times, with several would be candidates agreeing to take a reduction in pay if they were elected. With cuts expected in all government departments in the next annual budget, no one has stated yet whether the current members of the House will agree to any kind of pay reduction.
According to the statistics provided by the Legislative Assembly, members’ salaries have increased at different rates, with salaries for new members increasing by 17% since June 2005 to around a 32% for the post of Leader of Government Business and 36% for the role of Leader ofOpposition, after an incremented was added to that post during the PPM administration.
Bush sets date for 12th TIEA
(CNS): The Cayman Islands will sign the all important twelfth bi-lateral Tax Information Exchange Agreement in Washington Thursday, 13 August with the New Zealand government. Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush said the government continues in its commitment to complete agreements in order to remove Cayman from the OECD’s grey list. He added that discussions continue with Australia, Canada, France, German, Italy, Mexico, and Portugal.
The Cayman Islands currently has 11 bilateral agreements in place. In2001 Cayman signed its first agreement with the United States but it was not until this year that Cayman signed any further bi-lateral TIEA. The PPM signed with seven Nordic states in March 2009 and since taking office the UDP has signed with the UK, Ireland and most recently the Netherlands. While it is hoped the 12th deal will remove Cayman from the OECD’s list of less than fully co-operative nations recent comments by G8 countries and the OECD have indicated that just having TIEA is not enough.
Bush said recently however that he was confident that 12 agreements would see Cayman moved to the white list. “…Based on the discussions I have had with OECD officials,” he said last week that it is unlikely that the OECD would not move Cayman and that the organisation recognised Cayman’s commitment to the agreements.
Immigration Law to undergo another review
(CNS): One again the country’s Immigration Law and Department are to come under scrutiny by a new Immigration Review Team headed by Sherri Bodden Cowan. This latest examination of one of Cayman’s most important government areas will, according to government review policies, provide solutions to streamline the work permit system and address the anomalies and technical deficiencies that have come to light since the law was changed. It will also look at changing back some of the things put in place by the previous administration.
He noted that although reducing work permits may result in a reduction of fees to government, that would not play a part in guiding the policy as he said work permit fees were not an incentive for the current government.