Archive for October 5th, 2010
Dump goes out to tender
(CNS): The much anticipated request for proposals to deal with the George Town dump has been officially released. Government is now inviting proposals for the redevelopment of the landfill – aka Mount Trashmore. Although it had previously expressed its preference for a Waste-to-Energy Facility (WTEF), it is also inviting tenders for Comprehensive Solid Waste Disposal Management Facilities (CSWDMF). According to a release from government, it is seeking an entity that will manage all waste generated in Grand Cayman through the establishment of a CSWDMF and WTEF, while enhancing the island’s recycling capabilities and producing green by-products such as biofuels and composting.
“All entities interested in providing a Comprehensive Solid Waste Disposal Management Facility and Waste-to-Energy Facility (CSWDMF & WTEF) in Grand Cayman should respond to the Request for Proposal (RFP) by noon, 19 November 2010,” the release from the Department of Environmental Health stated.
“The George Town landfill currently receives all types of waste and recyclables. The existing method of land filling municipal waste is not sustainable,” government officials said.
Mount Trashmore is considered the highest point on Grand Cayman at well over 80 feet and certainly its worst eyesore. As the dump has not been lined it has been leaking into the North Sound for several years, causing major pollution problems for the marine environment.
Fosters hands over plastic bag cash to research centre
(CNS): One local supermarket has collected $10,000 from the sale of plastic bags since it began charging for the bags in June this year. Foster’s Food Fair has now donated the money to the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) as part of its promise at the beginning of the BECOME campaign to give 100% of the money made from the plastic bags back into the community for “green efforts.” The number of plastic bags in circulation has dropped however, as increasing numbers of people have turned to reusable shopping bags to carry their groceries.
(CNS): One local supermarket has collected $10,000 from the sale of plastic bags since it began charging for the bags in June this year. Foster’s Food Fair has now donated the money to the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) as part of its promise at the beginning of the BECOME campaign to give 100% of the money made from the plastic bags back into the community for “green efforts.” The number of plastic bags in circulation has dropped however, as increasing numbers of people have turned to reusable shopping bags to carry their groceries.
(CNS): As part of efforts to promote the Sister Islands as a destination for conferences, retreats, and board meetings the Chamber of Commerce and the Sister Islands Tourism Association have come together to organize a Brac Business Weekend. The goal is to connect Grand Cayman residents interested in investment and business opportunities with Cayman Brac business leaders. Over the course of the weekend the potential for a variety of business opportunities on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman will be highlighted.
(CNS): Three people are thankfully still alive this afternoon after they became separated from their dive boat and ended up on the outside of the reef in rough seas. A successful search and rescue operation was launched at around 11.40am this morning after police were informed that two visiting divers and their 33 year old dive instructor from a company called “Living the Dream” were missing. The group had been diving in the North Sound area near to Stingray City when they became separated from their dive boat. When staff realised that they were missing they raised the alarm. The Joint Marine Unit immediately deployed Niven D, captained by Senior Police Constable Hugh Bush.
(CNS): The health minister has said that the Caribbean region is not sharing in the global trend of increasing survival rates in breast cancer sufferers. Speaking at the official opening of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is sponsored annually by the Lions Club of Tropical Gardens, Mark Scotland commended the NGO for its work. He said Cayman was fortunate to have the Lions, who were at the vanguard of improving survival rates through the promotion of early detection. He added that he hoped the work of the HSA to establish a cancer registry would also improve survival rates.
(CNS): Private Eye, the UK’s leading satirical current affairs magazine, which takes an irreverent look at government, politics, celebrity and everything in between, has also taken a swipe at the Privy Council and the removal of former Cayman Islands Grand Court judge, Priya Levers. In the latest edition (1 October) of the magazine that makes sure the British establishment never takes itself too seriously, an article in its ‘Legal News’ section observed the law lords’ decision. The magazine said they had "to rule on the possibly sensitive question of whether it amounted to misconduct for a Cayman Islands’ judge to have criticised her fellow judges for their apparent difficulty in arranging to hear cases after lunch.”
(The Independent): Prisoners will no longer live a life of "enforced, bored idleness" and instead be forced to work to pay compensation to their victims, Ken Clarke said today. The Justice Secretary said he wanted prisons to become "tough places of hard work and reform" and ensure more private firms are brought in to rehabilitate offenders on a payment by results system. Too many prisoners existed in a system where getting out of bed was "voluntary" and instead they should work nine to five jobs to gain a trade or skill, he told activists at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. Mr Clarke wants private firms to create the jobs for criminals and is even looking at the possibility of creating purpose-built workplace prisons.
(The Guardian): Big in Albania, and huge in the affection of generations of his fans, comedian Sir Norman Wisdom, one of the last great survivors of the music halls, has died aged 95. His deceptively artless comedy, usually based on his role as "The Gump", a downtrodden, sad faced little man in a battered cap and a deplorably ill-fitting suit, concealed immense technical skill, superb comic timing, and a sharp business mind. Although best known as a performer, he was also a talented song writer. His family announced that he died peacefully in a nursing home on the Isle of Man, where he had lived for the last 30 years.