Archive for June, 2010
RCIPS launches fast track scheme for top cops
(CNS): The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service has launched a new scheme designed to pickout the cream of the cops. The High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) was launched on Friday, 4 June, with the first Caymanian officer to be inducted. Police Constable Leo Anglin (left), who is 24 years old, will begin his training today, 7 June, and start on the fast track towards the higher ranks. Police Commissioner David Baines explained that the initiative was designed to place young local officers who show outstanding commitment and potential into promoted roles within the service. Anglin told the media on Friday that he had his eye on a chief inspector’s role but was also watching the commissioner as well. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
G20 fail to agree on bank tax
(Reuters): The world’s top economies scrapped plans for a universal global bank tax on Saturday, giving countries plenty of wiggle room over how to make banks pay for their bailouts in future. Finance ministers from the Group of 20 countries ended a two-day meeting to review progress on a string of initiatives agreed last year to make the financial system safer and protect taxpayers from having to pay for bank rescues again. Attempts to introduce a global bank levy were finally ditched in the face of opposition from Japan Canada and Brazil whose banks needed no public aid during the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
Armed duo hit 7MB ESSO
(CNS): Update 1:15pm — Police have confirmed that a man and woman held up the ESSO gas station along Seven Mile Beach at around 1:20am this morning (Monday 7 June). Armed with a gun, the suspects forced staff in the gas station store to lay on the floor as they stole money from the till and personal possessions. No shots were fired and no one was injured during the incident. The robbers fled the scene on foot, though police believe they escaped in a car parked behind the station. Police said no arrests have yet been made and George Town detectives are now investigating the incident. This is the fourth armed robbery in four days on Grand Cayman and the second on a gas station. The ESSO station at Red Bay was held up by armed masked gunmen on Thursday evening. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
Detective Sergeant Dwayne Jones of George Town CID is appealing for anyone who was in the area of around the relevant time and witnessed the robbery or saw the suspects fleeing the scene to come forward. Anyone with information should call George Town police station on 929-4222 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS).
CNS understands there was also break in at Lorna’s Texaco in Bodden Town around 12:20am on Thursday 3 June. Sources say robbers pried open a side door and cut away the telephone line running into the building.Police are investigating the incident.
Householders to get rights of defence from intruders
(The Guardian): Householders who confront burglars are to be given greater rights to defend their families and homes. The justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, is looking at increasing legal protection for people who use force to fight off intruders. The government is eager to "ensure that people have the protection they need when they defend themselves against intruders", a ministry of justice source told the Observer. Clarke will also examine the idea of increased legal protection for have-a-go heroes and passersby willing to "apprehend criminals". The move follows high-profile cases in which householders were given jail sentences after attacking burglars.
Territories look for one voice
(CNS): The proposed regional high security prison, a change to their respective borrowing guidelines, the role of premiers regarding those who are naturalized and the UK’s contingent liabilities were just some of the topics on the agenda this weekend at the Pre-Overseas Territories Consultative Council (OTCC) meeting in Bermuda. The Cayman Island Premier McKeeva Bush joined the delegation of leaders from all of the region’s British overseas territories to find collective support and a single voice on a number of issues to advance at the OTCC meeting later this year.
Brac kids create mascots for Poison Prevention Day
(CNS): As part of the 10th Anniversary of Poison Prevention Day on the Sister Islands, 57 students from both the primary and high schools on Cayman Brac participated in a poster competition to create their own poison prevention mascot that could come to life, bringing words of wisdom to our children advising them to stay safe and stay away from poisons. Poison Prevention Coordinator Dhallchand Seeram said that hopefully, one of these mascots will be selected to appear at all future poison prevention activities. (Left: Cassandra MacDowell receives a Digicel phone from Carol Busby)
The judges selected the first three winners from each school, and among the finalists the first, second and third place winners were chosen. In the preliminary session, the first, second and third places for Cayman Brac High School went to Tevanio Stedman, Tafari Young and Anastacio Mena respectively. Creek and Spot Bay winners were Tuscany Dilbert, Carlie Tibbetts and Eugene Myles. Tuscany’s mascot says “I am Lenny the Lion Fish- Poisons are as dangerous as I am”.
Eryn Ritch, Diana De Mercado and Amanda Fredericks took the prizes for West End Primary. Eryn’s mascot says, “I am Smokee – Smoking will be my death and yours, so don’t smoke me because it leads you and me to die slowly”. Carlie’s mascot, Oscar the Wise Old Owl, says, “Hooo ever messes with poison is not wise”. In the final judging Tuscany Dilbert was first place winner and Cassandra MacDowell and Eryn Ritch were second and third respectively.
All winners received certificates, cash and gift awards from Cayman National Bank, Rotary Club of Cayman Brac, Sagicor General, Kirkconnell Limited and Billy’s Supermarket. Tuscany Dilbert also won the coveted Digital cellular phone from LIME presented by manager Yvonne Walton (right), Cassandra’s beautiful pink DIGICEL cellular phone presented by officer Carol Busby and Eryn received gift certificates from The Shoppe and Economy Electronics presented by Poison Prevention Coordinator Dhallchand Seeram. The art teachers, schools and other students also received certificates of participation. All schools and the public library received book awards with the compliments of the Caribbean Poison Information Network (CARPIN) and Pelican Publishers from Kingston Jamaica. The new edition of the text “Poisonous Plants of Jamaica” features the same species of poisonous plants grown in the Cayman Islands.
Seeram thanked Department of Education Services Learning Community Leader Tammy Banks-Dacosta for permission to talk to all pupils on the topic “Smoking Kills – Stay Away” and to involve all schoolsin this art competition. Other supporters included art teachers Susan Hundt, Carol Lazzari and Allison Mcleod, all school principals, Market Place, Kirkconnell’s Supermarket, Progressive Distributors, Librarian Leticia Connolly, judges and all students whose hard work made this learning activity such a tremendous success.
Seeram said he was very pleased with the deep interest shown by all concerned and requested that ourislands dedicate a special time to observe a Cayman Islands National Poison Prevention Week to educate our children on how to be wise and stay safe from poisons.
Cayman’s politicians silent on Gulf disaster
Do our politicians read newspapers? Watch television news? Visit news websites? Do they have any idea what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico right now? I wonder because so far none of them have taken the time to make a meaningful comment on what may prove to be the greatest human-caused natural disaster in history.
For those who may be geographically challenged, the Gulf of Mexico is close to the Cayman Islands. Jamaica and Cuba are not impenetrable barriers to oceanborne threats. The Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea may have different names but no walls separate them. The Cayman Islands may not be directly downstream from this crisis, but we cannot assume favorable currents will protect us from millions of gallons of oil in the coming months and years.
Estimates vary widely, but some credible scientists believe an amount of oil equivalent to the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill is entering the water every four days. The ruptured seabed in the Gulf is spewing between 200,000 and 700,000 gallons of oil per day and this could continue all summer. By September it is possible that 100 million gallons will have been released. And it’s all happening next door to us. How can this not be worthy of a public statement of some sort by our political leaders?
Most of the oil that will contact land is projected to hit shorelines in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, of course. But could some patches of it drift our way eventually? Yes. Credible projections by marine scientists show the bulk of the oil rounding the tip of Florida, moving up the East Coast, and large amounts “pooling” in the mid-Atlantic. If this happens, normal circulation patterns could send some muck our way several months from now. Less dramatic, perhaps, but more dangerous and long lasting will be the impact of millions of gallons of oil entering the food chain of Gulf, Atlantic and Caribbean waters.
How will the disruption to Gulf fishing and shrimping industries impact Cayman? We are an island society but much of our locally sold and restaurant-served seafood comes from the Gulf of Mexico. Shouldn’t we be concerned about health risks from Gulf seafood that may end up on our grocery store shelves and on our plates in restaurants? Are any of our MLAs worried about the potential impact to our local economy and health, or will they just be content to trust outside governments and companies to keep us safe?
Ourelected leaders’ lack of awareness and concern about the Gulf spill is stunning. During a recent rant on Rooster 101’s “Crosstalk” programme, for example, Premier McKeeva Bush brought up thetopic of oil. But he said nothing about the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Instead he groaned about how people had failed to support his desire to have an oil refinery built in Grand Cayman. Yes, the worst oil disaster in history is growing day-by-day right here in our region and our leader is talking about how heartbroken he is because he didn’t get his oil refinery.
Wow.
Bahamas government prepares for Gulf oil spill
(The Freeport News): Industrial companies in Grand Bahama are being called on to stand ready to assist the government in formulating a national response should the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico reach Bahamian waters. This was disclosed by the Minister of Environment Earl Deveaux during a press conference in New Providence yesterday. Deveaux indicated that on Friday, the government will be dispatching scientists to Cay Sal, which is the area the government feels is most vulnerable, to take water and marine samples and determine against the likelihood of the spill turning south and heading into Bahamian waters.
The government is deeply concerned about the oil spill and its likely impact on The Bahamas, he said, and the country’s Oil Spill Contingency Team, which has been mobilized, will work to refine the country’s options, marshall national and international resources and to keep a watchful eye on the spill.
Related articles:
(Jamaica Observer): Caricom warns oil spill could reach Bahamas, Jamaica
(NBC New York): New Projections Show Gulf Oil Surging Up Atlantic Coast
Cameron: ‘Years of pain ahead’
(Times Online): David Cameron has warned that the economy is in a far worse state than previously thought and signalled that Britain faces years of “pain” as the spending axe falls. The prime minister indicated a sharp downgrade in official growth forecasts and revealed that welfare and public sector pay would bear the brunt of budget cuts. It is understood that tough measures being considered to help control the £156 billion budget deficit include benefit freezes and cuts in child tax credits. There are also likely to be below-inflation pay rises for state employees on top of next year’s planned freeze. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Cameron said: “Proper statesmanship is taking the right action, explaining to people the purpose behind the pain.”
Are you ready for the big internet crunch?
(CNN): The internet as we know it is reaching its limits. Within 18 months it is estimated that the number of new devices able to connect to the world wide web will plummet as we run out of "IP addresses" — the unique codes that provide access to the internet for everything from PCs to smart phones. "The internet as we know it will no longer be able to grow," Daniel Karrenberg, chief scientist at RIPE NCC, the organization that issues IP addresses in Europe, told CNN. "That doesn’t mean it will cease to function, but entry could be limited to new devices." Some estimate that by September 2011 the last large batches of addresses will be issued, meaning that months after that date there will be no new addresses available.