Archive for June, 2010

The other offshore disaster

Cayman News | 26/06/2010 | 6 Comments

(The New York Times): Canaries are small. Coal mines are big. Finding one in the other is never easy. There is little debate these days, though, that the implosion in the summer of 2007 of two Bear Stearns hedge funds — run by two bankers, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin — was the first sign that significant trouble was brewing in the market for subprime-mortgage-related securities and for the Wall Street firms that manufactured and sold them.

… To understand one of the central reasons the hedge funds failed — aside from the obvious one that Cioffi and Tannin were terrible investors — it is necessary to take a trip to an island paradise: George Town on Grand Cayman Island …

Go to NYT commentary

Related reading: The Offshore Director: Risks, Responsibilities and Liabilities by Tim Ridley

Unemployed youngsters check out construction

Cayman News | 26/06/2010 | 0 Comments

(CNS): A Cayman construction company is urging other local businesses to get on board with the government’s employment programme and help get young people in work. The Phoenix Group has joined in with the National Employment Passport Program, called Passport2Success as one of the employers offering work experience to the students on the course. Barbara Anley, General Manager for Phoenix, said she believed a great deal of effort was put into the planning and organizing of this initiative, an excellent way to prepare young people to join the workforce. A group of fifteen students shown around the firm recently were surprised to learn the variety of careers available with the group.

As a local recruiter Anley said the two week job placements will help give entry-level applicants a better understanding of the day to day responsibilities associated with their industry of choice. As this programme is open to all industries, she encouraged more local business owners and managers to get on board. The firm believes the business community needs to throw its full weight behind these types of programmes at such a critical time for Cayman’s youth.

The National Employment Passport Program, called Passport2Success, is a new initiative funded by the Ministry of Education, Training and Employment. It is a full time, 11 week programme that teaches participants essential personal and career skills, gives them valuable work experience and better prepares them for the working world.

The programme is open to school leavers and young Caymanians who are struggling to find employment because they lack basic skills. Local research has shown that too many high school graduates in the Cayman Islands do not meet expectations in regards to literacy, effective communication, problem solving and working in teams.

Increasingly, entry level positions in the workforce require higher levels of education. Passport2Success helps young Caymanians improve their skills and increase the likelihood of succeeding in the work place.

Lynne Banker, a key collaborator on the programme led the two hour expedition and was pleased with the reaction of the young people. “They were surprised by the variety of positions and departments that comprise Phoenix Construction. The visit to an active construction site was a first for all of us” she said. “There certainly has been more interest now for work placement with the Phoenix Group.”

“We had no idea that Phoenix was so many different companies doing so many interesting things” said student Amadello Mena-Hebbert, who was attending from Cayman Brac. “We had all just thought they were just a construction company.” Interested in design he said it was great to see how designers and builders work together, as he and the group also had a chance to spend some quality time with the Group’s Chief Architect, Tami Scott, of Icon Architecture.

Amadello said the work place visits which have included tours of the Ritz Carlton, Red Sail Sports and Butterfield Bank, are critical for young people like him recently out of school and spinning their wheels. “A lot of these people are confused and uninformed about what their options are in life” he said. “The high school experience does not give you a good look at the working world out there as programmes like this do. I wish we had this sort of exposure earlier, when we could have used it to make some decisions about the future”

The Passport2Success programme is full time, 5 days a week, from 8:30am to 4pm, and is based at the International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI), Savannah Newlands. The programme is 11 weeks long, 2 weeks of which will be work placement. There are 4 programmes a year. The programme launched on 19th April, 2010. There are 25 available spaces for the next programme.

Hopes high that Alex will miss oil spill

Cayman News | 26/06/2010 | 0 Comments

(CNS): The Atlantic season’s first tropical storm which formed early on Saturday morning remains on a track to avoid the massive oil spill area in the Gulf. However experts are warning that this or any system can quickly change course and send cleanup efforts grinding to a halt. The logistics of containing the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico are difficult in ideal conditions. Things become even more complicated with the approach of a storm system like Alex, which has pelted Belize, northern Guatemala and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula with heavy rain.

Any system with winds over 46 mph could force BP PLC to abandon efforts to contain the flow for up to two weeks and delay the drilling of two relief wells that are the best hope of stopping it, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said. Alex has weakened to a tropical depression but Alex will cross over the Yucatan Peninsula back into the Gulf, where the warm waters could fuel it up to hurricane strength. It’s projected to hit Mexico again south of Texas and miss the spill, but officials are watching closely.

"We all know the weather is unpredictable and we could have a sudden, last-minute change," Allen said.

Alex is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 4 to 8 inches over the Yucatan Peninsula, eastern Guatemala and much of Honduras and Belize through Sunday evening. Isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches are possible over mountainous areas. These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. Tropical storm force winds are expected to reach the Bay Islands of Honduras by Sunday afternoon and the coast of Belize and the Yucatan Sunday tonight.

Jamaican helper ban could be lifted for PRs

Cayman News | 26/06/2010 | 146 Comments

(CNS): The immigration policy which prohibits permanent residents from hiring nannies and helpers from Jamaica could soon be lifted. The premier described the policy as a clear example of the kind of discrimination Jamaicans have experienced in Cayman over the years and that he was prepared to remove it. The policy was introduced by Cayman’s Immigration Board and not government and does not form part of the Immigration Law. Franz Manderson, the chief officer in the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs, said it was put in place at a time when the boards were trying to introduce more balance in the nationalities coming to the country to work and when there were only a few permanent residents.

During Tuesday’s meeting of Finance Committee in the Legislative Assembly, the member for East End, Arden McLean, questioned whether the policy was still in place. Manderson told the opposition MLA that there was a policy introduced some ten years ago restricting the employment of Jamaican nannies and helpers to Caymanians. He said it was still the case that only Caymanians could employ helpers from that country. Manderson explained that permanent residents could employ domestic worker but they had to be from another country.

McLean pointed out that most people with PR would eventually become Caymanians if they stay here long enough so there was no real point in the policy. “Those people are part of us now so why do we have the policy?” he asked, adding that it did not seem right that the immigration boards were introducing policies which should be the remit of elected legislators.

West Bay government backbencher Cline Glidden also questioned how such discrimination would sit with the Bill of Rights when comes into effect in 2012.

Manderson, who used to be the head of the Immigration Department, explained that it was introduced when there were a lot less permanent residents living in Cayman but now, he believed there was over 2,000. “I will ask the boards to look at that policy,” he said. Manderson also indicated that the department was working on having policies such as this posted on the website to better inform people, in line with freedom of information.

McKeeva Bush said it was just one example of how Jamaicans have been treated. “For too long we’ve discrimination against that country,” he said, adding that he would change the policy. If he did, however, he warned opposition members and the people not to march against him again wearing straw hats and whompers.

Private gun ownership under review

Cayman News | 25/06/2010 | 58 Comments

(CNS): Thedeputy governor has announced that a review of the law and regulations surrounding the conditions under which private individuals can be licensed to hold guns is currently underway. Donovan Ebanks said that outreach had been made to stakeholders regarding the cost of firearms licences and the commissioner was examining other issues associated with weapons held in private hands. The deputy governor denied any intention by the police to eliminate the rights of people to own firearms under the current law but did not deny the possibility of ballistic testing on privately owned weapons. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

"The whole matter of firearms licensing to private individuals is under much needed review and consideration," Ebanks said in the Legislative Assembly this week. The deputy governor explained that it could include an increase of the licensing fee and a change in the regulations that form part of the law but there was no goal to eliminate all legally held private guns.

"A process is underway for the commissioner to make recommendations to Cabinet," he said. "I know of no such policy being adopted by the portfolio or Cabinet (to eliminate the private guns) … and have no reason to believe it is the policy of the commissioner.”

The question of further limiting private firearms ownership and the possible elimination of the right to own a legally licensed gun was raised by both the independent member for North Side and the opposition member for East End during this week’s session of Finance Committee.

Miller asked Ebanks why there was a zero in the budget documents in the section dealing with the amount of money expected to be collected by government for firearms licenses and queried if that indicated that government did not intend to issue any new licenses this year.

The deputy governor said he could not explain why a zero had appeared in the documents and suspected it was an error as firearms license would be issued. He confirmed that around 24 had recently been renewed.

Miller, who has a number of farmers in his constituency, said that concerns had arisen recently regarding this matter and he wanted reassurances that there were no changes in the policy to allow firearms under license.

Arden McLean questioned the possible increase in the cost of licenses and asked if the police intended to carry out ballistic testing on people’s licensed guns. In response, Ebanks said many things including those raised by McLean were under consideration and the final determinations would be down to the commissioner through the firearms regulations. Ebanks said there were a variety of views about how liberal the firearms law should be but it was in the hands of the commissioner of police.

Miller also asked why it took so long for licenses for owners who had been assessed and vetted to be granted. Miller said constituents were waiting months to receive their licenses when they had made applications to renew them in good time leaving them foul of the law through no fault of their own. Government backbench MLA Cline Glidden also queried the deputy governor over the length of time the licenses were taking to be approved. Ebanks asked the members for details on their constituents’ complaints and said he would try to find out why it was taking so long as the circumstances sounded unacceptable.

Clock ticks on environment

Cayman News | 25/06/2010 | 12 Comments

(CNS): The Department of the Environment is calling on the public to throw its weight behind the proposed National Conservation Bill to ensure that this time the law makes it through the Legislative Assembly. With the clock ticking on the islands’ precarious environmental resources, local experts have pointed out that the law has to be enacted at the earliest opportunity if the Cayman Islands is to have any chance at all of preserving what is left its dwindling natural resources. From the silver thatch palm and the banana orchid to Cayman’s unique bats and reptiles, few of the islands’ indigenous species currently have any kind of legislative protection. (Photo – Old George in the George Town Forest)

The DoE has begun an all out campaign to raise awareness over the desperate need to enact a law that will finally ensure that the natural environment is given the same consideration as economic and social issues when it comes to the development of the country.

Gina Ebanks-Petrie, the director of the DoE, said that there had to be a way to develop the country and protect the environmental resources as well, as she sent the message out to the community to learn all they could about the law and voice their support to the ministry. Speaking to the media this week at a special presentation, the director detailed the precarious situation facing the country’s natural resources.

Armed with only the Animals Law and the Marine Conservation Law, the director has depended on what she termed a series of “gentlemen’s agreements” with various government departments in order to protect the local environment and green spaces.

However, an opportunity once again has arisen to get the proposed National Conservation Law on to the statute books. Mark Scotland, the minister with responsibility for the environment, has said he is willing to bring the law to the Legislative Assembly this September.

As a result, the consultation period for comment, as well as support, has reopened and will be open until the middle of next month. The director said the DoE team will be doing all it can over the next few weeks to inform people about the law and dispel any myths that have continued to circulate about this piece of legislation that have continued to delay its passage.

Ebanks-Petrie said that a small number of people will always be against any kind of legislation in favour of the natural environment but she believes the vast majority of people in Cayman now want to do something to conserve what is left of what was once an abundant natural environment – which is fast disappearing.

Because the islands have already lost so much of their natural environment, from green spaces to buffer zones, there are no guarantees that this law will secure the future of our natural resources but without it, Ebanks-Petrie said, there is little chance that Cayman’s unique species of flora and fauna will survive the onslaught of a growing population and continuous development.

“Now is the time for people to show their support for this final draft of the law and write to the ministry,” she said, adding that environmental rights had also been added to the Bill of Rights due to come into effect in2012 – another compelling reason for the law.

Despite the misinformation that has been perpetuated, the director explained the law did not enable the seizure people’s private land. The only land that could be preserved for environmental purposes under this law is that belonging to the crown. She said it will not stop development but merely require planning to consider the country’s natural resources when making decisions.

The law will also provide more powers to environmental officers to enforce the marine laws, as well as formalise the work of the DoE, enable compliance with international treaties and offer legal protection to the country’s unique species and their habitats.

Cayman is home to a numberof indigenous bats, butterflies and lizards, and endangered flora, such as the critically endangered ‘Old George’, a bromeliad (pictured above) that grows only in a small selection of the forest in George Town, as well as the country’s national tree, the silver thatch, and its national flower, the banana orchid.

At present around 0.5% of Cayman’s land has any legal protection, which Ebanks-Petrie pointed out was only a fraction of that set aside by other countries in the region. This in turn still had very small amounts in comparison to countries that were pursuing real eco-tourism options, such as Costa Rica, which now has well over 40% of its land designated as protected areas. “It is not possible for us to talk about eco-tourism or sustainable development when so little of our land is protected.”

She also pointed out that even where some protection is afford, such as mangrove buffer zones under the planning regulations, because of its ability to protect the islands from hurricanes, the habitat is still not safe from the bulldozer. This was recently demonstrated by a decision by the Central Planning Authority to ignore the DoE’s extensive research and recommendations over the buffer recently removed by the Ritz-Carlton developers.

Once the law is enacted, Ebanks-Petrie said she hopes the Department of Environment will be able to conserve Barker’s as a national park, as well as the central mangrove wetlands and the Mastic area, which are both precious natural eco-systems, by designating them special protected areas under the law.

The DoE will begin a series of district meetings starting next month where the team will conduct presentations about the law and answer the public’s questions and ask for their support. A schedule of where and when will be published shortly but the first meeting will take place in North Side on Thursday evening 1 July. A guide to the law has been published and is available at www.doe.ky. Anyone who would like to organise a presentation, ask about the law, offer their support or a suggestion can call 949 8469.

You can also show support by voting in the CNS poll Are-you-in favour-of the conservation-law

Check back to CNS next week for more stories regarding the pressing need for the National Conservation Law.

Cayman Islands catches alternative energy firm

Cayman News | 25/06/2010 | 0 Comments

(CNS): Catch the Wind Ltd a developer and manufacturer of the Vindicator(R) laser wind sensor and other wind sensing products has completed its corporate re-domestication to the Cayman Islands. Ata time when offshore companies are moving from Cayman the firm said it had chosen Cayman for the purpose of achieving greater flexibility in potential future financings. Catch the Wind firm said that the re-domestication was not completed for any tax-related reasons. The firm is a technology company headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, founded in 2008.

Catch the Wind serves the commercial market sector for laser based wind sensor systems, recognized as the "gold standard" in wind measurement. The company says it is focused on becoming a major contributor in making clean, renewable wind energy more affordable and profitable.

With the re-domestication the "s" designation on the Company’s existing trading symbol will be removed as of the opening of trading on 28 June 28. The Company’s common shares will trade under a new CUSIP number. The re-domestication was not completed for any tax-related reasons.

Registered shareholders will receive a Letter of Transmittal advising them as to how to exchange their certificates representing pre-re-domestication shares for certificates representing post-re-domestication shares of the Company if they wish to do so. Shareholders will not be required to obtain new share certificates to evidence the shares of the Company owned by them, but may do so if they wish. Each holder will be responsible for ensuring that any exchange of their existing shares complies with all applicable laws.

Full details of the Company’s re-domestication are available in the Company’s continuous disclosure materials located at www.sedar.com. For more information on the firm visit www.catchthewindinc.com.

DoE investigates mystery of dead fish

Cayman News | 25/06/2010 | 11 Comments

(CNS): The cause of a large number of dead juvenile fish along the waterline on Seven Mile Beach is unknown, according to the Department of Environment, and appears to be confined to a single species. The fish, which were reported to the DoE Wednesday 23 June, appeared to all be filefish fry about 2-3cm long, possibly white-spotted filefish, but because of their young stage of development the department is unable to identify the species with certainly. “Despite the large number of dead fish observed over several miles on southern and central Seven Mile Beach we do not suspect that there is a systemic environmental problem at this time,” said John Bothwell, Senior Research Officer with the Department of Environment.

“Though we do not yet know what caused this die-off, we haven’t found any other marine species that have been affected and so it is more likely some temporary environmental change that killed the large school of juvenile fish. Because of their extreme juvenile stage even a small natural change could have caused the die-off and we will probably never know its source,” he explained.
Sample fish were taken and have been preserved for possible future examination. The Department has also posted a request for information on possible causes and assistance with identification of the species on the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute.

Department staff have checked other coastlines around the Cayman Islands and seen no other incidences of a fish die-off but the public can report any new sightings of large numbers of dead fish to the department at 949-8469 or DoE@gov.ky.

Armed robbers hit pizza shop

Cayman News | 25/06/2010 | 24 Comments

(CNS): Police have confirmed there was an armed robbery at Domino’s Pizza parlour on Mary Street last night (24 June) at around 22:50. Three men who appeared to be armed with handguns and machetes stormed the store during the robbery and smashed the restaurant door. The robbers threatened staff and escaped the scene with an undisclosed sum of cash but no one was hurt during the incident. The robbery occurred on what turned out to be a busy night for police, following a shooting in a West Bay bar around two hours earlier. This is the second time in a few weeks that a Domino’s parlour has been hit by robbers. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

Earlier this month three teenage girls entered the Savannah location with machetes and threatened staff. Four suspects have since been charged with that crime.

Detective Constable Reid of George Town CID is appealing for anyone who was in the area 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 949-4222 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS)

Man shot in West Bay bar

Cayman News | 25/06/2010 | 29 Comments

(CNS): Police say an 18-year-old man is in custody following a shooting at Kelly’s Bar in West Bay. Although officers were unable to reveal the full details, a police spokesperson from George Town said a man had been taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital with a non-life threatening gunshot wound in the leg following an incident which happened around 8:40pm this evening (Thursday 24 June). Police said there were no suspects at this time but detectives were still at the scene and an investigation was now underway. Other CNS sources have revealed that the shooting appears to have connections with previous shootings in the West Bay area. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

Anyone who has any information about the incident, or who was in the area of Kelly’s Bar at the relevant time and witnessed the shooting, is asked to contact West Bay police station on 949-3999 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS).