Archive for December 8th, 2010
Cayman driving exam goes high tech
(CNS): The Cayman Islands driving written test has moved into the 21ist Century with the introduction of modern touch-screen technology. Aspiring drivers sitting the written portion of the Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing (DVDL) examinations are now using the new screens which officials say will allow the department to increase the number of tests it conducts. DVDL Director David Dixon said the new technology was introduced to improve the efficiency, accuracy and security of the driving test’s written portion.
“It also means that we will be able to conduct written tests daily, rather than the customary weekly sittings,” he said. “We currently hold some 34 written tests weekly, but the expectation with the new system is that we’ll be able to increase that number to around 200.”
Deputy Director Richard Simms said that the touch-screen technology was acquired from US-based L1 Solutions. He added that the questions and symbols in the test are based on the CI Official Road Codes, the Traffic Law (2003 Revision) and associated Regulations.
“With this test, there is no need for pen and paper; the computer creates the test, corrects it and provides immediate results. This system will also allow multiple persons to simultaneously tackle different test questions,” Simms explained.
Adding that the new technology eliminates the human element while promoting greater accuracy and fairness, Simms identified another advantage: examiners can now focus on the driving test’s practical elements. “The old system meant that the same examiners administered both the written and practical aspects. This new technology permits them to concentrate on the road test, including parking and other practical angles,” he said.
The Minister with responsibility for the DVDL, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly said the touch-screen technology represented an important investment that was critical to improving the operations of the department and its service to the motoring public. She urged DVDL officers to ensure that aspiring motorists were fully informed on how to prepare for the test and how to use the touch screen computers.
Miller calls for ‘human shield’
(CNS): The independent member for North Side has warned that the people of North Side, East End and Bodden Town may have to form a “human shield” to protect their districts from the threat of the commercial seaport proposed by Joseph Imparato that has received government backing. Speaking at a meeting in his district on Tuesday night, Ezzard Miller said that while he and his fellow legislator and member for East End, Arden McLean, were doing all they could to fight the proposal, they needed the backing of the people to prevent it from happening and save their districts. He warned that once government commits itself to the project it will be very difficult for the MLAs to prevent it from happening and it would need a strong public outcry.
“We can’t do this alone,” Miller told the crowd that had gathered at the civic centre. “If we can’t get the governor to stop it, we will go to London to try and stop it, but once it passes into law we can’t stop it.”
Miller called on the people to be ready to go to George Town and demonstrate on the stairs of the Legislative Assembly and close George Town down if necessary to get the message out. Warning that the premier already seemed fully committed to the project, Miller said real action would be required to stop it from going ahead. “We may need to put up a human shield to stop this,” Miller said.
During the meeting, which was well attended, Miller, who was joined by McLean, listed the many issues he had with the proposal to construct a commercial seaport in High Rock that included home cruise porting, transhipment and oil and gas storage, among other things. As well as the environmental hazards, the North Side representative pointed out that the developer did not have a proper business plan and, more importantly, no commitments from any shipping or cruise lines to use the port. He dismissed Imparato’s claims that if he built the port, people would come.
Miller listed a catalogue of problems with the proposal and trashed the latest reports from Deloitte, stating that the figures were unrealistic. He said most of the information being put out by the developer was hype and the figures were plucked from thin air. He also pointed to the absence of key information.
“The glaring omission from all the propaganda is the missing statistics about the current port,” he added. With no assessments about the current George Town cargo facility, which he believed was some forty years away from reaching its capacity as it is now, Miller said he was unable to understand the need to move the port. He also noted the existing cargo facility was earmarked to be improved during the cruise berthing development and it was evident the country did not need a new cargo dock in East End.
Miller further revealed that Imparato proposed to develop an oil pipeline from his port to George Town so he could move the oil storage tanks from South Sound, which was gaining support from some people living in that neighbourhood. Warning of the obvious environmental disaster, Miller also pointed to the very real dangers inherent in such a proposal. However, as CUC is in George Town, if the oil loading dock was moved to East End it had to get back to the capital somehow.
This was just once example, the MLA said, of the obvious problems with so much of the proposal and that people had to use their common sense. The real motivation, Miller stated, was simple: it was to quarry the fill that he was currently prevented from accessing on the land he owned. “I can’t believe anything in these proposals is real except the quarrying,” he said. Depending on the use of the fill, Miller said the developer stood to gain more than $300 million in profit from selling a chunk of the Cayman Islands overseas.
Miller implored the people of the Cayman Islands not to take the information the developer was circulating at face value and to drill down and ask questions about all of his claims, as he said they would soon discover none of them made any commercial sense.
Arden McLean, who is spearheading the opposition to the project as it will be situated in the heart of his district, said that while the issues was physically about East Enders, North Siders and Bodden Towners, it was really about the whole country and it was not a case of “not in my back yard”.
He noted that this was the first time that politicians were taking up against a development because they recognised it was not a positive project and because they genuinely believe it would be to the detriment of the Cayman Islands and all of its people.
“We don’t have his money to campaign but we have you,” the opposition politician said as he called on the public countrywide to get behind the campaign and stop the project. McLean said that the petition would be distributed islandwide for everyone to sign, as well as registered voters. He said they were aiming for thousands of signatures to show government the strength of feeling against the proposal, which he knew was out there, he said.
On the launch of the petition on Saturday morning, the MLAs collected over 200 signatures and more people have signed on-line. People at the meeting were also signing on Tuesday evening and agreed to take sheets away with them to circulate. Many people at the meeting pledged their support for the politicians in their campaign, including 89-year-old former sea captain Ashton Smith, who warned the proposal was foolhardy and dangerous.
A number of audience members spoke about the underlying and simmering unrest in the country at present and warned that the opposition to the seaport was not the only thing that may drive people to civil disobedience.
Sign the on line petition here
Government giving school jobs to local contractors
(CNS): With as many as 60 tenders planned to be released over the coming months, the Ministry of Education held a meeting with local contractors recently to talk about the work that will be available at the two new high school construction sites. According to government officials, the goal of the meeting was to explain the tenders and allow local firms to bid on the jobs, which the minister said would create a number of opportunities for them. The work ranges from concrete and plumbing to electrical and interior design, which government itself will be directly tendering. In the Legislative Assembly recently, Education Minister Rolston Anglin said that once the work restarted on the sites, it would create much needed local employment.
Despite continued promises that the major work would “soon start”, the two school sites have been almost idle for well over a year since the original general contractor, Tom Jones International, walked off the job over a pay dispute. Although Caribbean Mechanical continued to do limited work to maintain the sites, the government’s contract with that firm recently ended abruptly, with the two parties remaining tight lipped on the reason why the longest running sub-contractor had been terminated.
A consortium of local firms, made up of McAlpine, DECCO Ltd and Arch & Godfrey, was awarded the school construction management contract in early September but since then very little work has taken place at the sites. However, the ministry continues to state that work is due to commence in force.
As a result of the way government is moving forward on the schools with no new general contractor, all of the work will be done on contracts directly between local firms and government, which will be overseen by the construction manager.
At the meeting the minister told the more than 50 sub-contractors present that while local firms would now be able to bid for all of the work, it would not be handed to them on a plate but they would have to compete properly via the bidding process.
“If this initiative is to have the desired impact, it’s important to establish a level playing field, which will allow all contractors an opportunity to bid on the various tender packages,” he said. “This is especially important at a time when the local construction industry has been hard hit by the recession.”
He added that everyone would have a chance to participate. “This approach favours both contractor and ministry interests … and at the end of the day the best ‘man’ will win.”
Eligibility criteria, which contractors must meet before applying for any of the remaining tenders, include current health insurance and pension plans for their staff, as well as current public liability and workman’s compensation insurance.
Speaking from the floor of the Legislative Assembly last month, Anglin said that Clifton Hunter High School in Frank Sound had to be completed in time for the 2010/11 academic year, while the John Gray High School in George Town was going to take longer.
As the project takes a step closer to getting back on track, the government still faces what could be a long and costly courtroom battle with the former general contractor TJI and a dispute concerning outstanding payment claims of around $3 million. TJI and government are also in dispute over claimed change orders totalling as much as $15million.
The tender announcements for the various work that is now available directly to local firms will be advertised, officials said, via the local print media, with more than 20 scheduled for publication by 30 December and another 38 between 6 January and 30 April 2011. The requests for proposals will also be on the Central Planning Committee’s website.
October best month for hedge fund business
(Bloomberg): Hedge funds received net deposits in October of $16 billion, the largest since November 2009, as investors were willing to take more risk, according to experts. Distressed securities funds took in the most cash, receiving $3.8 billion in October, a report reveals. Fixed-income funds received the least of any strategy, taking in $506 million, the smallest amount since April. “Hedge fund investors are exhibiting a healthier appetite for risk,” Sol Waksman, president of Fairfield, Iowa-based BarclayHedge, said in the report. “They are finally venturing into areas like distressed securities after embracing conservative strategies for most of the year.”
GT Primary Students receive lessons in dentistry.
(CNS): The Health Services Authority (HSA) conducted a three-week health-education program for students at George Town Primary School, beginning on 5 November, in an effort to increase awareness that dental health is a vital part of the comprehensive programme to deliver care and health education in our schools. The students started by looking at the differences between human and animal teeth, going on to try identifying the teeth of other species such as great white sharks, cats, dogs, iguanas and turtles, the HSA said in a release. The culmination of the programme was a presentation of the students’ research projects.
In their projects students highlighted the differences among many types of teeth, as well as the care that humans needed to keep their dentition functional.
The 20 best entries won the opportunity to go on a field trip to the HSA’s Dental Clinic on Thursday 25 November, which led to many bright smiles, happy faces, and smart questions as the children had the chance to see many aspects of dental care and meet the people who provide this important service.
During their visit they saw dental cleanings, fitting of dentures, the creation of crowns, bridges and other orthodontic pieces.
Programme organizer, Veronica Jackson-Seales, said, “Our aim is to ensure that the children learn the right lessons in order to keep their teeth for a lifetime. It’s especially important in youngsters of this age, because they are at that transitional stage when they are losing their milk teeth and about to develop their permanent dentition.”
“It was a gratifying experience for the students, teachers and parents as a lot of new information was gathered to assist the children with the project “Miss Jackson-Seales said.
Chief Dental Officer Dr John Vlitos was delighted with the visit: “It was a pleasure to have so many well-behaved children interested in teeth and asking questions about dentistry,” he said. “Our staff found it a really rewarding and enjoyable experience.”
Uruguay students in stock market smash
(BBC): For secondary school pupils in Uruguay, it was supposed to be a hands-on experience in the world of finance. It turned out to be a lesson that would benefit many, Wall Street analysts included. With $10,000 seed capital in hand, supplied by their professor of economics, two groups of 17 and 18-year-olds invested in stocks, obtaining an annual return of 42.5%. "Any hedge fund manager in the world would kill for those results," said John Younger, a Canadian national who worked in finance for 17 years in Canada and New York, before moving to Uruguay.
According to one of the schoolchildren, Jean Paul Deletraz, the key to their success is simple. "We are out there on the market, we understand the trends, what is cool or not, more than Wall Street bankers who spend their days behind their desks, away from reality," he says.
Wildlife warriors receive kudos
(CNS): Celebrating their dedication to saving the lives of birds in distress, Cayman Wildlife Rescue are highlighting the work of two wildlife heroes, Mikaella Lacerda and Rogerio Pitta, both native to Brazil, who have been volunteering with CWR for two years. CWR Program Manager Alison Corbett commented, “These two ‘wildlife warriors’ have become integral to our program. I wanted to recognize their involvement and achievements over the last few years.” Mika and Rogerio were presented with an appreciation certificate from the National Trust for the Cayman Islands and given appreciation gifts for their efforts. DNS Diving donated a two tank boat dive for the couple and The Reef donated a weekend stay at the resort.
The couple has volunteered many hours each week, sometimes more than 30 hours each on top of their regular full-time jobs. Highlights of their work include a barn owl, nicknamed Barney, which suffered a spinal injury. Mika and Rogerio assumed much of his care, feeding him daily, and in order to prepare him for release he was exercised regularly on a creance. “It was a very long rehabilitation period for this barn owl and it’s thanks to the dedication of this couple that we were able to have a successful release.” Corbett added. After Barney was released, he even paid Mika and Rogerio a visit. Living nearby the release site, the couple spotted him regularly and eventually he was spotted later with a mate.
The team also helped rehabilitate two juvenile brown pelicans that came into the program last winter. Rogerio and Mika oversaw their care until they were ready for release. Rogerio, an avid photographer, captured the moment of the releases, the last pelican release was particularly moving he recounted: “As soon as we released the pelican in Pease Bay he was joined by several other pelicans, it was great to see them all together fishing in the shallows. It was a wonderful reward for all our hard work.”
During baby bird season when the program became inundated with nestlings and fledglings, Mikaella and Rogerio stepped up and volunteered the many long hours required to hand-raise baby birds. “I think it would be impossible to count how many baby birds this couple has hand-raised or how many nests they have successful restored. During our busiest time of year Mikaella and Rogerio have been invaluable.”
There were also many heroic wildlife rescues, such as a magnificent frigate bird which became entangled in a fishing line in the harbour. Mikaella and Rogerio were first on the scene; as it was the end of the day all the boat operators had left and there was no one to help them. Rogerio borrowed a kayak and paddled out to the frigate, which was near drowning. “The weather then quickly took a turn for the worse and not only was it pouring, the sea became quite rough. Rogerio disappeared from my view completely as he paddled out to the frigate.” Mikaella recounted. Rogerio quickly cut the line and pulled the frigate up on the kayak. Amazingly the bird was OK and rescued just in time. After being kept overnight and allowing his feathers to dry the bird was released the next day.
The two have also become highly sought after with their bird of prey experience, handling many owls and hawks which come into the program. One late night CWR received a call on their wildlife emergency hotline 917-BIRD (2473). A member of the public sighted a downed Osprey and the couple again went out. It was about midnight when they rescued the osprey and brought it in for emergency veterinary care, demonstrating their true commitment to wildlife rescue.
“Wildlife Rescue is a very demanding field; many long volunteer hours gave our program stability this last year. The demand on this program is growing and it has been very difficult. Without the dedication of Mikaella and Rogerio we wouldn’t have been able to operate. They are true wildlife heroes and I am so pleased we are able to present them with some tokens of our gratitude. Thanks to our friends at DNS Diving and The Reef for their support.”
If members of the public would like to support Cayman Wildlife Rescue, they can make a donation to Cayman Wildlife Rescue and mail to: PO Box 31116 KY1-1205 or purchase symbolic wildlife adoption kits available at the National Trust gift shop. For more information visit www.caymanwildliferescue.org.
917-BIRD (2474) the Wildlife Rescue Hotline, sponsored by LIME, is available for the public to call for injured, sick or orphaned native & migratory wildlife.
Teen tried for armed robbery
(CNS): Seventeen-year-old Elmer Wright faced six serious charges on Tuesday morning when his trial for armed robbery and attempted murder of a police officer opened in theGrand Court. The teen is accused of being part of a gang of four masked men that robbed Mostyns Esso gas station in Bodden Town in June this year. Wright is also accused of shooting at the police as he attempted to flee. The teenager appeared in the dock alone — the only man police have charged in connection with the robbery — as the crown reeled off the evidence against him. Opening the case for the prosecution, Cheryl Richards QC, the solicitor general, said the crown had eye witness, circumstantial and forensic evidence linking the teenager to the crime. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
(CNS): Seventeen-year-old Elmer Wright faced six serious charges on Tuesday morning when his trial for armed robbery and attempted murder of a police officer opened in the Grand Court. The teen is accused of being part of a gang of four masked men that robbed Mostyns Esso gas station in Bodden Town in June this year. Wright is also accused of shooting at the police as he attempted to flee. The teenager appeared in the dock alone — the only man police have charged in connection with therobbery — as the crown reeled off the evidence against him. Opening the case for the prosecution, Cheryl Richards QC, the solicitor general, said the crown had eye witness, circumstantial and forensic evidence linking the teenager to the crime. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
Richards listed a catalogue of evidence against the young man, including DNA and gunshot residue linking Wright to the shotgun that was found where he was arrested, used to shoot at the police and in the commission of the robbery. The QC described the night’s events, in which she said the defendant, who was only 16 at the time, along with three other men robbed the gas station of around $1,000 with the use of shotguns before escaping towards George Town in a getaway car, which was chased by a passing police patrol unit.
The robbers turned into Northward Road, where they all got out of the car and three of them ran behind a house. The defendant, however, reportedly lingered behind. He loaded his shotgun and turned and fired at the unarmed police in the patrol car, which had pulled up behind the robbers.
The teen then took flight and was arrested a short while later by one of the USG units set up in the wake of the robbery on the corner of Beach Bay Road and Shamrock Road. He was found to have several hundred dollars on him and was wearing similar clothes to those described by the robbery victims, which were later found to have gunshot residue on them. A shotgun was also found very close by to the arrest, which later proved to have Wright’s DNA on it. The crown also revealed that swabs taken from the teen’s hands that evening tested positive for gunshot residue.
The first witnesses called by the crown to support its case were the two members of staff on duty at the gas station that night during the robbery. Describing the ordeal when three of the robbers carrying shotguns burst into the store, the cashier said she was very frightened.
“I was really scared as the gun was pointed on me,” the witness said. The cashier explained that there were several customers in the store at the time and the robbers told everyone to get down, hitting one in the face with the butt of his rifle. She said one robber told her to give him the money and she said she pressed the panic button as he opened the register, in which she said there was around $1,000. The robber then said, “Where’s the rest of the money?” but seconds later one of the other robbers spotted the police patrol car outside and shouted, “Police, police!” and all three men fled.
The witness gave a description of the men, what they were wearing and said they all spoke with Caymanian accents.
Meanwhile, the gas attend outside by the pumps told how the fourth robber had pointed the gun at him outside the store but said he had managed to crouch down behind a car outside the gas station and flag down the passing police patrol car and indicate he needed help.
Officer Christopher Samuels described how he and Officer Wendy Parchment were patrolling when they saw the gas attendant flagging them down at the station.
The officer explained how, as they pulled on to the forecourt, they soon realised a robbery was going on and that they called 911 and alerted other units, as the robbers came out of the store and got in the getaway car. Samuels said he then pursued the car in the direction of George Town using the sirens and blue lights. He described the high speed chase, dodging and weaving traffic, until the robbers turned into Northward Road and parked on a lot in front of a house. There they abandoned the car and ran down the right hand side of the property, all except one, who turned to face the police vehicle.
Samuels said he did not realise what the man was doing until he raised the shotgun and fired it at him. For a second or two the officer believed he had been hit. “I was fearful. I thought I was shot and started to pat myself down tosee where I was shot, expecting to find blood,” he recalled. The officer said he was able to compose himself and put the car in reverse to pull away from the danger area.
The judge alone trial before Justice Smith continues tomorrow in Grand Court One and is expected to last five days.