Archive for January, 2010
Police seek hit & run driver
(CNS): The RCIPS said this morning that police officers are looking for the driver a red Mitsubishi Pajero after two women were hit and injured near Centennial Towers, West Bay last night (Thursday 7 January) at around seven o’clock. A 20-year-old woman received injuries to her face, ankles and arm and was treated at George Town Hospital and released but a 54-year-old woman sustained serious head injuries after the car ran down the women and is presently in intensive care.
Police are appealing for any witnesses who may have been in the area at the time and said the driver of the red Mitsubishi Pajero was a white male of slim build with his hair in a ponytail, wearing a red t-shirt and khaki pants.
Inspector Adrian Barnett of Traffic Management is appealing for anyone who may have have witnessed the incident or saw a jeep-like vehicle flee from the area to please come forward. Inspector Barnett can be contacted on 9466254.
No let up from Cayman ministers over gay cruise
(CNS): Church representatives are showing no signs of softening in their attitude towards gay tourism and remain opposed to the scheduled visit of Atlantis Gay Cruise Lines later this month carrying more than 3000 passengers. Pastor Bob Thompson, the chair of the Cayman Ministers Association, has said that the organisation had raised its objections to the ship calling to Cayman with the premier. On each occasion that a ship carrying passengers from the gay community has docked in Cayman the association has objected, and the minister said the position had not changed.
“The CMA does not support the permission for a gay cruise to come to our shores. Our motto is he hath founded it upon the seas’ and believe that should still direct our decisions,” he said when he spoke to News 27 yesterday about the ship due to come to Cayman on 21 January.
In the past, the ministers have staged demonstrations against the gay cruise lines including Cayman on their itinerary, making controversial headlines around the world. Cayman has found itself facing criticisms from gay and human rights organisations about the position the local church takes towards gay visitors.
Homosexuality between two consenting adults has been legal in Cayman since 2000. However, CMA and others still object to any kind of overt displays of affection between same sex couples. In May 2008 a 23 year old Massachusetts man was arrested at Royal Palms for kissing his partner on the dance floor. Aaron Chandler, 23, from Amherst, Massachusetts, had two altercations with a local who kept asking them to stop what they were doing before the police were called. As an activist in the gay community, the story spread quickly around the world and the Director of Tourism at the time, Pilar Bush, wrote to Chandler apologizing for what happened to him, an action which then drew considerable criticism locally.
During the country’s negotiations with the UK over the new constitution and the inclusion of a bill of rights the issue of gay rights dominated the discussions and the fundamental opposition to giving gay people any further rights and introducing any possible step towards same sex legal unions resulted in a watered down bill for all in order to get the whole constitution passed.
Up to date audit years away
(CNS): Despite the failure of mostgovernment entities to get their accounts in on time, Auditor General Dan Duguay said some government departments were making serious efforts to catch up and bring their books up to date but that the goal of a full set of accurate contemporary accounts is still years away. The government’s auditor said that close to a dozen departments and agencies are submitting accounts on time, but with so many lagging behind, some as much as four years, it is impossible for his officeto complete any more full sets of audits on the overall government spending over the last few years.
Although government itself is able to keep track of revenue and expenditure through various internal systems, the delay in producing full sets of annual reports means that the public at large cannot scrutinize how their elected officials are choosing to manage the country’s cash.
Duguay told CNS that, while he intended to conduct another review of how far forward government finance departments had come or even how far behind they still were, such a review would still not address the fundamental issue of government accountability. In order for the people to see how government policy is impacting earnings and spending government needs to be submitting transparent and up to date accounts into the public domain.
“People do need to be kept up to date on how government is managing its finances,” Duguay said, noting that until such a time as the majority of entities submit their accounts it is impossible for him to complete an accurate audit of the finances and tell the people whether or not they are getting value for money as a whole from government.
Duguay did say, however, that there were some promising improvements among a number of the various departments and agencies. Close to a dozen organisations are now completely up to date and some others that were still behind had made marked improvements.
He said one of the most delinquent agencies in the past was the Heath Service Authority, but that management there had made an impressive effort to address the major problems of missing financial information that the authority faced, even if there was still work to do. Duguay explained that other organisations had moved from being delinquent to being fully compliant, but sadly there were still some departments and companies that continued to lag three or four years behind. “What we really need however, to address this problem, is consistency from all government departments,” Duguay stated.
During the election campaign the UDP candidates and the now chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Ezzard Miller, all said that this issue would be a priority and had to be addressed. While some six auditors have been employed to help CFOs catch up, it was recently revealed that it could still take as much as three years to get the books straight.
The requirement to produce quarterly reports under the Public Management and Finance Law has also been suspended to help speed up the process. However, Miller has said on a number of occasions that the government needs to return to the old system of cash accounting as the accrual system has simply failed. Whether it is meant to be an improved system is irrelevant, Miller has said, if CFOs are not able to manage the accounts that way.
With government providing no quarterly figures and an up to date full sets of government accounts still years away, voters are likely to face yet another election in 2013 without being fully versed on the fundamental political question on how the policies of their successive elected governments have affected the country’s revenuesand expenditures.
Coral reefs are evolution hotspot
(BBC): Coral reefs give rise to many more new species than other tropical marine habitats, according to a new study. Scientists used fossil records stretching back 540 million years to work out the evolution rate at reefs. They report in the journal Science that new species originate 50% faster in coral reefs than in other habitats. The team says its findings show that the loss of these evolution hotspots could mean "losing an opportunity to create new species" in the future. Coral reefs harbour a huge number of marine species – they are often likened to rainforests in terms of their biodiversity.
Cayman’s supermodel to join apprentice TV line up
(CNS): Caymanians will have one more reason to watch the next season of Celebrity Apprentice on NBC (WestStar channel 4) when it premiers on 14 March with Selita Ebanks joining the star studded cast. Host and executive producer, Donald Trump, is claiming that the third season will blow rival show Dancing with the Stars away. The celeb line-up was announced by NBC this week and features sport stars, a chef and a former governor who is tipped to make it to the top. "This season of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ is going to be fantastic,” said Trump.
“The list of celebrities we have this season is outstanding and the show will really resonate with our core viewers and fans. I expect this season of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ to be the best one yet," he said.
Selita joins baseball legend Darryl Strawberry, singer Cyndi Lauper, rocker Bret Michaels, reality star Sharon Osbourne, Olympians Michael Johnson and Summer Sanders, actress Holly Robinson Peete, wrestlers Goldberg and Maria Kanellis, comedians Carol Leifer and Sinbad, chef Curtis Stone and Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois who was kicked out of office last year and is awaiting trial.
The stars will compete in teams, men versus women, in business-centric tasks around Manhattan and all profits from the projects will be donated to charities of the celebrities’ choice.
Blagojevich said he plans to use his "skill and know-how to get things accomplished" on the series, and Trump praised Blagojevich’s "tremendous courage and guts" and predicted he may be one of the show’s breakout stars.
So far Trump’s celebrity seasons of the show have raised over $3.5 million, which has been donated to charities worldwide, in addition to money raised from the awareness and exposure on the show. In order to secure the big cash for their charities, however, each of the celebs will be subjected to long hours, gruelling mental challenges, personality clashes and intense scrutiny — all without the help of their regular support system of agents, managers and personal assistants.
Certain tasks encourage the contestants to reach out to their network of celebrity contacts for assistance or donations — making for entertaining surprise visits by some of the world’s biggest stars along the way.
New sports committee for West Bay
(CNS): Private citizens in West Bay have teamed up with the Department of Sports to form the district’s first Community Sports Committee. In an effort to promote community spirit through sport and following on from its motto – "Communities That Play Together, Stay Together", the WBCSC intends to map out leagues for various sports that will appeal to the appetite of West Bay residents, young and old. Each league is expected to run a maximum of 6 weeks, a release from the organisation says. The first item on the agenda is the formation of a co-ed Volleyball League for ages 10 and up, which will be split into specific age groups based on interest.
Adult teams can be registered at a cost of CI$60 with a maximum of 10 players, while Youth teams are free.
The Volleyball League will commence Jan 23rd, 2010 at 6:30pm and run until Mar 13th 2010. Games will be played at the John A. Cumber Primary School hard court and indoor school hall. An open-rec and tryout session will be held at the same venue on Jan 16th, 2010 from 6:30pm – 8:00pm.
Team Registration & Waiver Forms and can be downloaded from the Department of Sports website or collected from J&M Electronics at the 4-way stop in West Bay.
Deadline for registration is Jan 15th 2010. Completed registration forms may be returned via email to westbaycommunitysports@gmail.com; dropped off at J&M Electronics; or faxed to 947-9198.
The West Bay Community Sports Committee will bring other sports leagues online throughout the year with plans to start Basketball, Badminton & Table Tennis leagues among others.
Anyone interested in coaching a youth team is encouraged to contact Amy Burke at amy@surebuilt.ky or by phoning 916-1902. Persons interested in officiating may contact Dion Brandon at dion.brandon@gov.ky.
Cayman’s Rugby youth taste New Year victory
(CNS): As a continuing testament to the efforts of the Cayman Rugby Football Union’s youth training programs, a recent game originally scheduled to be played on New Year’s Day between the Cayman U25’s vs. a club select side of those over the age of 25 (“the O25’s”) kicked off at 4pm on 2 January and saw a thrilling match on the south sound pitch with final victory going to the Cayman U25’s. The U25’s, led by university student Stuart McMillan, were dogged in defence for the first hour of the game and whilst the action see-sawed from end to end if was the U25’s who broke the deadlock and opened the scoring 7-0 just before half time.
According to a release from CRFU, whilst the Over 25’s were expectantly dominant in the scrum it was everywhere else on the park that the youngsters seemed to have the upper hand, much to the joy of U19’s National Coach Steve Clarke who had himself nurtured much of the young Caymanian talent on show.
With the youngsters able to score once more though Joel Clark early in the final 20 minutes of the game it looked as though the U25’s were close to sealing victory but 2 converted tries from Keswick Wright and Venassio Tokotokovanua meant with only minutes to go the U25’s were trailing by 2 points.
A long range penalty effort from Robbie Cribb to retake the lead was missed but a last ditch chip ‘n’ chase run from Captain Stuart McMillan with only seconds on the game clock brought the winning points for the youngsters to close the game 17-14.
The spectacle of youth rugby continues on the South Sound Pitch this month with the first touring side of 2010 to visit the Islands arriving on 11 January. Loyola U23 Rugby will be in the Cayman Islands to play 2 games;
Game 1: Loyola vs. Cayman Development U23 XV, Wednesday, 13 January, 4pm
KO
Game 2: Loyola vs. Full Cayman U25 XV Saturday, 16 January, 4pm KO
Also on Saturday January 16th we have the Heineken Charity shield at 2pm vs. Last years AA Cup and Waterford Trophy champions the BPC Buccaneers and 2009 AA Cup runners up the DHL Storm!
Loyola is expected to be a strong team with several of last year’s Kenya U20 JW Trophy players in their side.
1000s ‘fess up offshore cash
(BBC): Nearly 10,000 people have come forward to the tax authorities in Britain to declare they have money hidden in offshore bank accounts. UK taxpayers had until 1700 GMT on Monday to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that they were planning to come forward and hand over unpaid tax. The Revenue expects the campaign to raise £500m and those who do not confess will now be investigated. Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the Treasury, said: "Hiding money in offshore accounts to evade tax is economically and morally unacceptable. It robs public services of funding and places an unfair burden on the honest majority of taxpayers.”
Mechanics not to blame for AA crash in Jamaica
(Caribbean360): The probe into the American Airlines crash at the Norman Manley International Airport has ruled out mechanical malfunctioning as the reason for the accident. But the pilots of the aircraft may have ignored advice of air traffic controllers when they tried to land on the runway. Investigators say it could take two years to definitively say what caused the accident. Minister of Transport &Works Mike Henry said the investigations revealed no mechanical problems but other information showed advice had been given not to land on that runway on the night of 22 December.
Cost of Cayman citizenship goes up as fees increase
(CNS): Along with a number of other increases this year the cost of becoming a naturalized citizen of the Cayman Islands has also gone up. The Deputy Governor’s Office announced, yesterday, that a number of fees relating to citizenship have increased, as outlined in the Government Fees Order, 2010. A naturalisation application will now cost $625 and attendance at an optional private citizenship pledge or presentation ceremony will cost $500. These increases do not affect applications that were received on or before 31 December 2009. See below for full schedule of the new fees.
Filing fee for Naturalisation; or Registration as a British Overseas Territory Citizen of the Cayman Islands; or, Registration as a British Citizen – $200
Naturalisation application – $ 625
Registration application (for minors 17 years and under) – $250
Private citizenship pledge/presentation ceremony (optional) – $500
Proof of nationality application – $150
Rescheduling fee for citizenship pledge ceremony $100 (Exceptions will be made in cases of emergencies.)
Passport and Corporate Services Office has also increased some fees.
Affixing an apostille to documents – $150
Express (same day) affixing an apostille to documents – $200
Authentication of documents – $75
Express (same day) authentication of documents – $100
For more information, contact the Deputy Governor’s Office at 244-2403, or the Passport and Corporate Services Office at 244-2273. Citizenship application forms are available from the receptionist at the Government Administration Building (Glass House).