Archive for January, 2010
Hit & run victim airlifted as police make arrest
(CNS): A 22-year-old man has been arrested for leaving the scene of an accident in connection with the hit and run incident that occurred on 7 January Centennial Towers, West Bay where two women were knocked down. One of the two women who was 54 years old, hit by the driver received serious head injuries and has since been airlifted to Jamaica for further treatment. A 20-year-old woman received injuries to her face, ankles and arm and was treated at the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town and was released.
Police said that the matter was still under investigation by the RCIPS Traffic Management Department and anyone with information should call 9466254.
Bernie defends Stingray City floating restaurant
(CNS): Critics of the floating Sandbar-bar have missed the major point regarding the planned project the licence holder has told CNS. Bernie Bush says his boat will be providing food to patrons around Stingray City and not just alcohol. The deputy director of Pirates Week and local small business man Bush said that the goal was to serve small, high quality, tapas like dishes of local food prepared by local chefs to give visitors a real taste of Cayman. He said that the alcohol license was secondary to the food and that even if that had been turned down he would still have gone ahead with what he says is a restaurant, not a bar.
“The one thing that the critics have missed is that this is a restaurant and I want to showcase Cayman food to people and give them a chance to try things they ordinarily wouldn’t do. People get hungry too when they are out on the water and there is no where for people to get food while they visit but yet everyone is already drinking out there,” Bush added.
He said that though at least four of the tour operators have licensed boats that are serving alcohol none of them are offering food and he said that his initiative would tap into that market. He said that from the very beginning he wanted to make sure that the restaurant would not have a detrimental environmental impact on the area and everything he will be using from plates to cutlery will be bio-degradable and drinks will be served in souvenir cups. He said he will have a waste area on the boat and that he intends to make sure that he collects not only all the garbage generated by his restaurant but also that left behind by other boats.
“The objectors are missing the point and those who started the petition against it are making this look like ex-pats against Caymanians and it shouldn’t be like that,” he said adding he suspected some of the characters involved have hidden agendas. “For every signature on their petition I can get the same number of people who support me. Not all of this is about genuine environmental objection it’s getting personal.”
Acknowledging that it is a Wildlife Interaction Zone that has special protection, Bush said he could understand why some people would like to see alcohol banned from the area altogether. But as so many boats already had licences and with people taking their own drinks on private boats our there especially at weekends he said what he proposed to do was at least offer food into that mix.
“The boat won’t be right on the Sandbar it will be anchored a little way off and won’t interfere with the rays,” he added saying the boat was not going to be a permanent fixture but would go out with the tour boats or at weekends when there were high numbers of local boaters out and he would sell small portions of what he said he would be great food.
“I hope to further the experience of those coming to Cayman and give them a taste of some of our best local dishes. At the moment we already have the booze out there what we don’t have is food.”
Bush said that sooner or later someone was going to want to do this and he was certain that it would end up being one of the big firms which is why he kept his project under wraps until he was ready to go as he didn’t want to be squeezed out before he got started.
“I am confident that we have covered every issue from the safety to environment and that this will enhance the experience that visitors have when they come to Stingray City,” Bush stated. “Everyone knows me I am not going to do anything to hurt my country.”
Youth Olympic event to be held in the Cayman Islands
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Sailing Club has been chosen to host the North American, Central American and Caribbean regional qualifying event for the Youth Olympic Games Sailing Regatta in the Byte C11 Dinghy class during the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, which will be held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010. This event will take place in North Sound 10 tp 15 March 2010, the club has announced. The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games will involve around 5,000 athletes and officials from the 205 National Olympic Committees.
In addition, there will be an estimated 800 media representatives, 20,000 local and international volunteers, and more than 500,000 spectators. Young athletes, aged between 14 and 18 years, will compete in 26 sports and take part in Culture and Educational Programmes.
The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games aims to inspire youth around the world to embrace, embody and express the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect and will create a lasting sports, culture and education legacy for youth from around the world.
The Club is very excited to be the host of such a prestigious sailing event for youth sailors which will be run alongside the highly successful J/22 International Invitational Event and become Race Cayman 2010. The Club anticipates that the regatta will attract up to 100 sailors plus coaches and families to Cayman in March and the Organising Committee is working hard to make sure that the event will be a huge success both for the participants and for the Cayman Islands.
Cayman youth sailors are already gearing up for the Youth Olympic Qualification Regatta event with a number of training programmes well under way. Registered sailors to date include competitors from Canada, Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda, Netherland Antilles, St Lucia, BVI, USVI, Netherland Antilles, Spain, Dominican Republic and Guatemala in addition to J22 teams from Bahamas, Bermuda, UK and Jamaica.
“We are most grateful to the Cayman IslandsGovernment Ministry of Health, Education, Youth, Sport and Culture along with the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee who have both given their full support to this Youth Olympic Regatta and are major sponsors”, commented Regatta Organiser, Jane Moon. “In addition we thank the corporate sponsors who are supporting us and contributing to this prestigious sailing event.” Sponsorship opportunities are available including title sponsorship and individual or multiple boat sponsorship packages. Volunteer opportunities are also available both on and off the water. More information is available fromJane Moon janemoon@candw.ky.
Pink ladies serve up cash for school meals
(CNS): Following their fundraising efforts throughout 2009, the Pink Ladies Volunteer Corps are putting the cash towards keeping Cayman’s kids well fed in 2010 by donating funds to the Lighthouse School and various local school lunch programmes. According to Principal Carla Bodden, the Lighthouse School will be using the money towards providing breakfast and lunch to students who would otherwise not receive these meals, Creative Arts Programmes and ASDAN Programmes.
Funds were also donated to Mise en Place to support the school lunch programmes at John Gray High School and Red Bay Primary School. Sean Collins of Mise en Place explained that the Pink Cheque received would be used to provide sponsored lunches at these schools in addition to a weekly breakfast on Fridays.
Funds are raised by the Pink Ladies Volunteer Corps through the operation of the Pink Hibiscus Coffee Shop at George Town Hospital. Breakfasts, lunches, sandwiches, salads, snacks and drinks are available daily and telephone orders are welcome (244 2661) for eat in or take out. All funds raised are donated back into the Community.
dms dress down for learning
(CNS): Local business conglomerate, dms Organization Ltd. (dms), is organising a ‘dress up – dress down day’ this Friday to raise additional funds for its Joanna Clarke Scholarship Fund. The new fund will offer financial support to an aspiring or existing educator looking to further their education or expand their professional development. Participation in ‘dress up-dress down day’ is open to any local organization or individual willing to make a donation and dms is encouraging everybody to take part.
This scholarship fund will be in addition to its Joanna Clarke Excellence in Education Award (JCA), whereby dms grants up to $12,000 KYD annually to a worthy recipient(s). dms first introduced the JCA to publicly acknowledge the efforts of people and organizations that contribute to education in the Cayman Islands.
“With their significant influence on young minds, dms believes that educators represent the future of Cayman as they encourage our local youth to discover their potential,” said President of dms Don Seymour. “Through this fund, it is our honour to do our part to recognize and celebrate the invaluable contributions that our teachers have in ensuring Cayman’s tomorrow.”
The JCA Committee Member Lydia Warren said the fund was all about recognizing those who champion education, the JCA Committee and dms alike encourage the local business community tosupport the fundraising effort.. “This scholarship fund demonstrates our appreciation for the role that educators play, for this important profession does not always receive the recognition that it deserves. We appeal to the community to join with us in this endeavour,” she added.
Previous recipients of the JCA include last year’s winner, the N.C.V.O.’s Nadine Andreas Residential Foster Home for its Accessing Computer Aided Learning programme and runner-up – Cayman Islands Scout Association for Cayman Islands Scout Band. The 2008 recipient was John Gray High School for its “Blueprint for Literacy” initiative which aimed to ensure that all high school students, upon graduation, will be able to perform at their grade levels and pass at least four external exams. The 2007 recipient was Savannah Primary School PTA, which used the funding to pay for new playground equipment.
For further information on the Joanna Clarke Excellence in Education Award or Scholarship Fund, visit www.joannaclarkeaward.ky
South Sound project back
(CNS): The developers of Emerald Sound, a proposed residential canal development in South Sound which had met with considerable objection from the local community, are re-submitting a new application to planning. The Burns Conolly group, the consultant engaged to make the planning submissions, has issued information to land owners in the area detailing the revised proposal on the 91-acre site adjacent to Bel Air drive. The original objections had included several issues from drainage problems to the environment. However, Burns Conolly stated in the notice of application, on behalf of RC Estates, that the detailed information on the new plans was intended to dispel misunderstandings concerning the project.
He wrote: “Years of detailed consideration and thousands of hours of professional consulting have resulted in a very carefully thought-out development that will only enhance the area and increase property values for all. Additional studies have now been and those studies have informed the changes to the layout.”
The movement of the road as well as the construction of a bridge, the blocking of coastal views and the removal of mangroves were among the main issues which had caused controversy. Connolly states in the notice that there is no need to have a bypass but the NRA has requested a by pass road be reserved for the future. However, he said the new road would be elevated offering more protection from flooding. He also said that the bridge would introduce new views of South Sound and with no existing coastal development in the area no property owners’ view are being blocked.
According to the notice, the drainage issue will be addressed by the use of swales and all water runoff will remain on the Emerald Sound property, which willbe completely encircled by a drainage landscape feature.
Conolly states that none of the mangroves in South Sound are protected by law and some 120 feet of mangrove and Casuarinas will be removed at the entrance to the canal on the seaside. But he said that the developers had already planted over 200 mangroves in the area and that they intend to replenish those lost during construction. He also stated that a public park would be developed to the West of the breakwater entrance.
He said, however, that the mangroves only provide limited protection during flooding and hurricanes and cannot protect against the flooding which occurred during the sea surge associated with Hurricane Ivan. The notice said that Emerald Sound would not increase the likelihood of surge since, except for the canal entrance, mangroves are not being removed and the beach ridge elevation is not being reduced. “Emerald Sound will likely improve the sea surge resistance of the area not reduce it,” Conolly claimed.
He said the development would be very low density and just over half of the land would be actually developed and the rest would be canal, landscape or public green space. “The property is allowed to have over 1360 apartments or 300 house lots,” the notice states but that this development proposes less than 170 apartments and only 82 homes.
Conolly said that RC Estates was proud of the development and its design features and that it would increase property values in the area and would be the start of a more beautiful South Sound coastal road system.
The notice and revised proposal was issued to residents in the area on 23 December who had 21 days from that date to submit their objections to the director of planning.
CNS has received notice that a community meeting for those affected by the project and others with concerns will be held at the South Sound Community Centre on Thursday evening.
3D TV is being billed as possible industry saviour
(BBC): 3D TV is being billed as a possible saviour for recession hit manufacturers looking to boost sales. On the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show, CES, in Las Vegas, all the big names unveiled 3D TV’s. Industry experts said the picture looks promising with a survey showing around 3.4m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year. "It’s a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this," said Panasonic’s Elsuke Tsuyuzaki. "To me, the thing that’s going to get us there is 3D," added the firm’s chief technology officer. "2009 is a year none of us want to repeat," said Gary Shapiro the president of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) which hosts the annual tech gathering.
Unemployment still growing
(CNS): As the Cayman Islands domestic economy continues to suffer, there are currently 882 people registered with the Department of Employment Relations that say they are looking for work. Although figures had fallen in November ’09 from earlier highs of around 900 last year, the January figure has increased by around 40 people. In what was a difficult year for Cayman when it came to jobs, Lonny Tibbetts, the director of the department, said it had managed to place over 200 people in work through 2009 and it currently has some 244 listed vacancies.
Tibbetts also said despite the particularly tough time, with a number of major layoffs over the last few months, since October his department has placed 51 people in work. However, he stated that twice as many people had registered with the DER saying they were seeking work in the same period.
Although Cayman has yet to get a true picture on the economic activity for the first six months of this fiscal year during the presentation of the 2009/10 budget, Financial Secretary Kenneth Jefferson had predicted that Cayman’s real GDP growth in 2009/10 would be down -3.3% and unemployment would reach an all time high of 5.5%.
With the collector of customs recently stating that imports to Cayman were down by more than 15%, a direct reflection of flagging retail sales, the prospect for job creation in the private sector is still low. With the school projects on hold, the glass house construction coming to end and all major government capital projects (with the exception of the affordable hosing initiative) on hold, government is also offering few opportunities to generate new jobs and pick up some of the employment slack caused by the economic downturn.
According to reports on News 27 this week, the chamber of commerce has also said that its members have reported a relatively disappointing Christmas season with festive sales flatter than expected.
Travers takes issue with UK press on hidden cash
(CNS): The chair of Cayman Finance has taken the UK media to task over its depiction of the Cayman Islands. In a letter to the editor published in the weekend edition of the Daily Telegraph Anthony Travers accuses the right wing broad sheet and other UK papers of taking, “intelligence on the Cayman Islands from potboiler novels and Hollywood movies.” Referring to a Telegraph piece about the UK’s tax amnesty, Travers takes issue over the use of a photo and caption inferring that Cayman is where wealthy Brits are hiding their cash. (Photo used to illustrate amnesty article)
“Your article (“Offshore amnesty targets dodge tax deadline”, January 3) rightly makes no mention of the Cayman Islands, but is accompanied by a picture of the Islands with the caption, “Cayman Islands face scrutiny by Dave Hartnett and his team,” Travers wrote. “Really? No bank accounts exist in the Cayman Islands that can produce any additional tax revenue for the UK as the Cayman Islands have complied with proactive account reporting with the UK, and every other EU jurisdiction, under the European Directive since 2003. Over the past two decades, the Cayman Islands have complied with every international initiative on transparency.”
In his short letter the Cayman Finance (formerly CIFSA) chair indicates that the constant mischaracterization of Cayman not only undermines the jurisdiction’s contribution to the UK but creates unrealistic expectations that money will be found here to fund the UK deficit.
The amnesty deadline passed at midnight on 4 January and as many as 10,000 people have admitted to the UK treasury that they had offshore accounts with untaxed income, most of which were accounts in Licehenstien. No mention has been made by the UK tax office that any of those coming forward had accounts in the Cayman Islands.
According to the Telegraph, the total admissions revealed by the disclosure is below estimates made by PricewaterhouseCoopers, who suggested around 13,000 people would admit they had tax, interest and fines to pay going back up to 20 years.
By applying for the amnesty account holders will have tax liability capped to 10% of the total tax due. Those that did not come forward now face penalties of up to 100% and potentially being named and shamed. HMRC has details of offshore accounts held by UK residents with over 300 banks.
Dave Hartnett, the permanent secretary for tax at the Revenue and Customs department, said last week that now the ‘New Disclosure Opportunity’ was closed the Revenue and Customs department would begin the job of using the data from banks to identify people who have not made disclosures despite having “hidden their money” offshore. "We are starting our investigations, and penalties can be up to 100% of the tax not paid," he said.
Officials had hoped the amnesty would raise £500m and form the latest "line in the sand" in its efforts to clamp down on tax evasion. Stephen Camm, tax partner from PWC, said the Revenue was now looking at raising less than £135m.
Homophobia
“Why is it that if I am against homosexuality I am referred to as a homophobic as if I have some kind of ailment?” This was a question asked by a CNS reader in one of the comments. It sounds like a simple question but in fact delves into conflicting ideas about modern society.
We believe in free speech – but at what point does that becomes hate speech? We believe in multiculturalism – but where do we draw the line and say ‘no, you can’t do that’? And who decides these things?
Firstly, to answer the question: homophobia is labelled so because it is a classification of prejudice, like racism, misogyny, Anglophobia, anti-Semitism, and so on. When people are victimised or marginalised or humiliated or in extreme cases brutalised, we (the wider international community) believe this is wrong and that finding an excuse for it in a religious manuscript or ‘traditional values’ is not acceptable.
Here’s an example of a religious practice that is unacceptable to most people across the globe: in a few Muslim countries (note: not all) an interpretation of Sharia law allows them to bury people up to their necks in sand and stone them to death for adultery. Now it could be argued that this is none of our business, that it is their country, their laws and they can do what they like to maintain their sense of morality. But the cruelty involved repulses us, the injustice outrages us, and whenever such a case is publicised, the international community puts pressure on the country to grant a reprieve; we lobby and campaign and petition for such practices to cease because we believe we have a moral obligation to do so for the sake of the victims.
Yes, I know that these terrible things do not happen here. I am simply establishing the principle of an international moral compass and the right or obligation of people on the outside of a community to ‘interfere’. Does everyone agree so far? Now, to put this in a local context, most people in the Western world, which includes many Christians, see discrimination of homosexuals as wrong, no matter what ‘traditional values’ dictate, and those rallies against gay cruise ships do much damage to these islands.
Historically, Christianity has been no less brutal than other belief systems: the Inquisition burned ‘heretics’ to save their souls and inquisitors believed they had a moral religious duty to light the fires; the "curse of Ham" justified slavery in the minds of the slave traders and slave owners; the Bible was trotted out to denounce movements campaigning for female suffrage; and how can we forget poor old Galileo, forced to retract his conclusions that the earth revolved around the sun because the church leaders of the day said it conflicted with their interpretations of the Bible and was therefore false.
Yes, I know that this was a long time ago and that these things have not happened here. I know that the anti-slavery campaign was championed by Christians (using the same religious text), and I am full of admiration for them. The principle that I am establishing this time is that some Christian beliefs espoused by some Christians, however strongly held, are simply wrong. Within Christianity, no less than in other religions, passionate beliefs feel like God telling you that something is true. But it ain’t necessarily so.
Now, let’s dispense with the comparison, widely used, that homosexuality is comparable with paedophilia. It isn’t. When they’re not going through the Bible to justify their prejudice, homophobes turn to the self-righteous “protecting the children”. But two consenting adults living together, loving each other and/or having sex do not harm anyone (or rather no more or less than heterosexuals in a relationship). Paedophiles hurt children, physically and mentally, and society has an obligation to protect the vulnerable from sexual predators, whether they are hetero or homosexual.
So why should we speak out against homophobia? Because prejudice in all its many dirty colours is mental cruelty.
The person making the comment referred to at the beginning said he/she has nothing against gays, but also writes, “I don’t think being homosexual is a born condition, I believe it is a sickness and even more sickening when they try to promote it as an ‘alternative lifestyle’ which is exactly why Gay cruises are organised.”
Now ask yourself, when someone says you are “sickening”, is that hurtful? If you have to put up with variations of this your whole adult life, how would that make you feel? (The same is true for battered spouses, people on the wrong end of racism, etc.) Quite as awful is the “love the sinner, hate the sin” brigade. Though these people think they are being nicer than the out and out homophobes, this is just name calling (“sinner”) and the real sin here is making someone feel bad about themselves. Stop it.
Then we inevitably come to Sodom and Gomorrah, cities destroyed by God for their wicked ways, and cited whenever those "pious" Christians try to justify their discrimination of any group that holds different lifestyles. A belief system that connects human action with natural forces is a dangerous superstition that can easily lead to persecution (and has done so repeatedly for the last 2,000 years): hurricanes are not forces of nature but God’s wrath because we allow degenerates to live here – and there are plenty of Americans who believe that Katrina was divine retribution on New Orleans.
“The gays are taking over!” – another oft heard piece of nonsense, as silly as saying that women or the disabled or blacks or Jews are masterminding a takeover of the world. People just want their rightful place as equals, a fair chance at happiness. Is that so bad?
Gay bashing is not a fact of life here yet, but it’s only a matter of time. The indoctrination of prejudice that the local churches inflict on young children at Sunday school, coupled with a more aggressive and increasingly violent youth culture makes this inevitable. The hateful, harmful bigotry against gays, spoken with “love” from the bully pulpit, will have consequences as evil as stoning someone for adultery.
And I, for one, will place at least part of the blame at the feet of the local church leaders for stirring up violent emotions and calling it “Christianity”, and political and community leaders for not doing anything about it.