Archive for September, 2011
A failed society
We are in the midst of a major social crisis in this country at the moment – as I write we have had the 5th murder of a young man within eight days in Grand Cayman. First let me sympathize with loved ones and parents, because regardless of what the circumstances are, these young men are still our sons, nephews, cousins, and family and friends will love and miss them.
Some people take the dim view of these reportedly gang related killings that “ooooh, let them kill themselves – they will soon all be gone.” I cannot share that sentiment unfortunately, because we are losing what should have been productive men and women of our society, Caymanians we should all have been proud of instead of mourning their loss. Also, there is no one in their right mind that could believe that what is going on is good for Cayman in way, shape or form. We are a tourist and financial destination and this is very, very serious to both of these pillars of our economy. Local businesses are hurting because people have started to stay home and hide behind their walls and the stress of living and being afraid is killing people. Need I say more? This is unacceptable – pure and simple.
The police can only do so much, although their role in trying to curtail this violence is critical and they must perform at the highest level and with proper resources. At the end of the day, they are all we have as security. We have no armed forces or any other protection. The government must support the police and provide these resources and we must ensure our judicial system sends a stern message that these acts are intolerable. We have an overflowing prison, and it’s also time to look carefully at whom we imprison and who we don’t in this country – there are alternatives for lesser crimes and we need to utilize them. With limited space, we need to reserve much of that for the criminal element wehave fostered and nurtured in this country, and this brings me to a very important point that I wish to make in this forum at this time.
I grew up at a time that was peaceful and good in this country (in the 60s & 70s) and when family values meant something and respect was the order of the day. But it was also a time when those who led this country, because of who they were and the status they and their families held, could get away with just about anything. We were backward and undeveloped, and it was easy to rule and keep the people ignorant and beholding unto to you, to continue to lead them as if you were Moses leading the Israelites to the Promised Land.
Education ministers who were in charge at the time refused or were unable to develop a system for all the people, through the creation of a full-fledged trade school as an example, or sadly with use of restricted scholarships to the chosen few because of the “elite” status they held, or the relationships with their parents. Unless we forget, or for those that don’t know, we had a technical unit in JGHS up until 1980, when I left there from 6th Form. This contained Woodworks, Metal Works, Auto Mechanics and Technical Drawing. This was put there by the pre 1976 administration under the Comprehensive School System. It was dis-banded for no good reason, or for reasons only known to the Unity Team Administration post 1976.
These two main factors (lack of scholarship availability and graduating or releasing ill prepared students) resulted in many leaving school without being equipped and ready to take their rightful place in our society. Back then, of course, everyone got jobs because Cayman was taking off in the 70s and 80s and the bounty was much, but it was always to be crumbs from the table and not to sit at the table, except for the chosen few.
Our people were dis-enfranchised from ownership and expanding their horizons because of these poor education policies. These people went on to become parents (many also ill equipped for such an important role or, because of their economic standing, they were forced to work two jobs and kids were left alone with inadequate supervision and guidance) and their kids are the same ones that are now caught up in this mess.
When Mr Truman Bodden (Education Minister for 12 of 16 years between 1976 – 1992) was told he had gangs in the schools, he denied their existence and said we only had groups. He was also the recipient of a study at the time that pointed out the juvenile delinquency problem Cayman was starting to have and said that it would lead to criminality at an early age, and he refused to accept this as well, saying the lady who did the report must have been studying Jamaica, and not Cayman. I wonder how he feels now when he is sitting there writing and criticizing current and recent administrations and pretending he has all the answers to Cayman’s problems, when he can be credited in large part for not arresting the major social problem we have today.
Many know this and speak of it in whispers, but it’s time we call a spade a spade, and I am not a hypocrite! People like Mr Truman and others of his time have helped to create the mess we find ourselves in, and although he will likely rant that I am wrong and find every reason as to why, in his heart he will know it’s the cold hard truth. This is said not just to lay blame, but for us to analyze as a people and not ever again make the same mistake or allow it to be made.
Now to the parents out there, your role is the primary one and most important of all. First and foremost you have to be parents. Remember you reap what you sow. You have to know what your children are doing, who they are with and where they are. It’s OK to say “no”, folks! The community cannot parent your child, although they can and should assist as the village we are. You have to set the rules and guidelines – no parent should be saying “I have no control over him or her”. It simply means you failed in the beginning (early ages) and spoilt them. If that’s the case then turn them in – report them – or suffer the consequences of their actions. That’s the reality.
Folks, no one is safe when society runs amuck, not even those in authority. Our citizens deserve to live in peace and our visitors and investors expect no less. Now we have a mess to clean up and something that has taken 20 years to create because of visionless leaders will unfortunately take another 20 years to fix. There is no quick fix and you can bring in all the security you want, pray all you want, have many meetings, and change laws etc. (all good things), but we have a serious social issue and the chickens have come home to roost.
Some of the things that must be addressed post haste is making sure we get a proper education system in this country. It must be available to all, must be affordable to all, must be a comprehensive one, where no child falls through the proverbial “crack” anymore. Each one must be given full attention and given every chance to succeed. Technical and vocational studies are a must. We should be producing our own plumbers, carpenters, electricians, painters, masons, mechanics, artisans, and the list goes on. We will always have a need for foreign workers in this country, but it should be after full employment of our own qualified Caymanians.
Special abilities and needs must both be identified from early in a child’s development and taken care of accordingly. One is to push a child along in his naturally gifted direction and the other is to address needs and concerns early and correct them. Our social programs must identify delinquent parenting, and it must be dealt with, and the children put under proper supervision or in proper homes. Too many kids have to look to their peers for guidance and this is a “no, no”. Many times this type of guidance is the wrong one leading to major problems down the road.
Businesses must also play their role and allow mothers, in particular, more time with their children. Fathers need to step up to the plate and be fathers as well. Too many fathers are making kids and just moving on to make some more with another partner, boasting at the end of day how many he owns. How many you are a “dad” to is what’s really important, guys, not how many you made.
Young people need more outlets – today we have many sporting facilities, but we still lack real wholesome family activities. Organized outdoor activities that burn a lot of energy up are what is needed. For example, sports parks, outdoor theme parks and race parks and others will keep them busy, entertain them and be great energy outlets. This will help to avoid negative distractions. Fitness requires commitment and dedication and that’s why sports are so important. You have to be fit to be good. Also, areas for the community to socialize and inter-act with each other in a wholesome way are very important. This strengthens communities.
These ideas above are in no way exhaustive but just some of the things we should be looking at. Our churches have to be more pro-active in their approach and leave the sanctuary and take it to the people. The church is important whatever the denomination, as everyone needs a moral compass and they play a big role in its development.
The problem as I see it, and I have always said, is that we have developed our country and forgot its people, except for the lucky ones. We cannot proceed in this manner as the “have nots” will look one day and crave what you and I have. They don’t care that you worked hard, all they know is that they want it and don’t have time to get it, or are not equipped to get it the right way — through hard work and commitment. So their answer is simply to take it from you or me by whatever means, usually through violent acts.
The loss of these five young men should not be in vain. It should be a wake-up call to families, leaders and this country as a whole that we are going about things the wrong way. In our haste to chase the almighty dollar we have forgotten or put aside what made these islands wonderful in the first place — good honest principles, hospitable ways, and a deep and abiding faith in the good Lord and his teachings. It’s not too late to act, but we must act fast as a community, as each day the water gets deeper, and soon many will drown.
May God bless us all and may God bless the Cayman Islands.
Murder victims buried during quiet weekend
(CNS): As police spent the weekend re-visiting the various crime scenes of Grand Cayman’s recent shocking killing spree, two of the victims of the gang shootings were laid to rest in West Bay. With no new murders over the weekend, breaking the cycle of a killing on every other night for more than a week, the police were able to concentrate on hunting for the killers. Meanwhile, Cayamn27 reports that the families and friends mourned the deaths of Robert Mackford Bush, (28) and Andrew Baptist (27), the first two victims of the year. Bush was buried on Saturday at the Church of God in Mount Pleasant, West Bay, while Baptist was laid to rest at the Boatswains Bay Presbyterian Church on Sunday.
Bush was killed by at least two masked gunmen when he was lured to the junction of Captain Joe and Osbert Road and Birch Tree Hill Road on 13 September. He was shot multiple times and at least once in the head with a shotgun. Baptist was shot and killed on Sand Hole Road just two days later on 15 September in what police believe was a tit-for-tat response to the killing of Bush.
Baptist was also the victim of more than one shooter and was also shot several times. His death was followed two days later by Preston Rivers in Anderson Road in West Bay, who was also shot multiple times by at least two armed gunmen, one of whom was described by police as about 5”10” tall and dressed in a blue polo shirt with white stripes and a blue shirt covering his face.
Another two days later and the gang shootings moved out of West Bay into George Town, when 18-year-old Jason Christian was shot and killed while he sat at the while of a van in Cranbrook Drive, along with Keith Montague, who was also shot several times but managed to survive and crawl to a nearby police patrol car that rushed him to the hospital. He was later airlifted to Miami.
The most recent killing was that of Asher McGaw (21), who was gunned down in East End as he walked along John McLean Drive behind the East End health clinic. He appeared to have been shot at from a car.
Police officers were in force on the streets of West Bay throughout the weekend and established road blocks along Seven Mile Beach but there has been no news of any arrests made over the weekend in relation to the murders. It appears that no one has yet been arrested directly in connection with any of the killings but police said last week that they had rounded up several known gang members under the gang legislation.
Police have not circulated any new information about the killings since a media briefing was held one week ago in the wake of the shooting of Christian and Montague. CNS has contacted the RCIPS for an update on the current situation.
In the meantime, anyone with information is asked to contact the crime hotline on 949-7777, George Town Police Stationon 949 4222 or crime stoppers on 800 TIPS which is now offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction of gun related crime.
See Cayman 27 video here
‘Key’ not working
(CNS): Following the announcement of a temporary suspension of rollover, the chair of the Immigration Review Team (IRT) has said it is the ‘key employee’ aspect of the law that has failed. One of the main architects of the original 2004 immigration law that introduced the policy, Sherri Bodden -Cowan said the basics of the term limit policy won’t change completely but it will be the key employee designation, in particular, that the new review team will examine during the suspension. She said it was generally agreed that key employee was not working for anyone as employers claim not enough people are being granted key and some locals feel too many people have been granted key and are blocking Caymanian progression.
The suspension of rollover, announced by the premier in the Legislative Assembly earlier this month, will give government breathing space in which to “tweak” the law, said Sherri Bodden-Cowan, who has been asked to chair the newly formed teamof immigration experts who are looking into the issue. But it is unlikely that the law will fundamentally change in the long run. since the key employee aspect of the law is not working, this is where the focus will be. Bodden-Cowan said the controversial seven year term limit, or the rollover provision, was a sound one which should have introduced a system of progressive rights to permit those individuals felt most needed to build the country to reside permanently in the Islands.
“But what we could not have predicted when we passed the law was that within ten months we would have a Category 5 hurricane destroy the island and cause our workforce to jump from around 12,000 to 24 to 25,000,” the IRT chair explained. “Nor could we have anticipated the economic crisis which caused companies to have to tighten their belts in terms of hiring two people to do a job, i.e. an understudy, so that their long term planning to replace these persons after seven years was hampered by their economic ability to do so.”
Bodden-Cowan said these issues, plus the coming on line of Cayman’s first five-star hotel – the Ritz Carlton Grand — which employed over 500 people initially, meant that even though they had anticipated steady growth, which would have allowed them to rollover the majority of workers and keep the few that achieved key employee, businesses, both large and small, have found it a real challenge to keep up with the succession planning exercise.
There was no choice but to suspend the rollover before the review had taken place, she said. The statistics suggested that a considerable amount of people face rollover in the next two years, potentially causing huge economic hardship to the Islands.
According to the figures from the Department of Immigration, there will be 745 individuals up for rollover this year, 2,350 in 2012, and 1,593 up to and including September 2013, making a total of 4,688. Added to this is the figure of 998 individuals currently on appeal, making 5,686 people potentially rolled over by the end of 2012.
Applying the term limit policy across the boardwas a fundamental issue, Bodden-Cowan believed, but it is how key employee has been enforced that needs to be examined. “As with any law, the issue is how a person or a board applies their mind to it,” she said. “We have heard previous chairman of immigration boards say that key employee should only be a ‘rare bird’.”
Immigration boards are comprised of voluntary members who might not always have the expertise in all fields of occupation, she noted, not necessarily appreciating the need for a specific type of occupation globally and therefore in Cayman also. A human resources authority, which had been recommended at the time the law was first introduced, would have assisted in this critical area, she said.
“The law, as we drafted it, could have only worked if we had moved it to a full human resources authority,” she confirmed “The costs and staffing of such an authority has been the challenge.”
Bodden-Cowan said that it was generally agreed across the political spectrum that key employee was not working, on the one side there was the view that not enough people had been granted key and on the other there were some Caymanians who felt key was not working because too many people had been granted key and were blocking positions for Caymanians.
By suspending the rollover, the team will now have time to assess five years’ worth of rollover data as that policy came into effect in 2006. The team will assess how many people took the 12 month break provided for in the policy before people can reapply for a work permit, and returned to the islands. They will look at how many unskilled and professional workers returned, how many received permanent residency, and so on.
“I believe we are going to find that rollover is working for the unskilled workers,”Bodden Cowan said. “In the professional category I think we will find that they have not returned and the question is whether we can afford to apply the policy across all job categories.”
One option will be to grant all professionals a nine year term limit, giving them the option to apply for permanent residency at year eight. At the same time they would also be looking to set the points system in such a way that those who achieve PR before they reach their term limit are the professionals the Islands need to keep long term, and those where Cayman professionals are available.
“The middle category or skilled semi-skilled category is going to be the hardest category because it is where we have Caymanians unemployed. How we encourage businesses to ensure they recruit and train Caymanians is where the real challenge lies,” she confirmed. The onus ought to be placed back on the employer to ensure they train and recruit Caymanians, but how the Islands go about policing this was the real question.
Distrust between boards and businesses has grown and been another factor in causing key employee not to work, Bodden-Cowan said, which could have been alleviated by much more effective communication between the two, another function that could have been carried out by a human resources authority.
Bodden-Cowan said the current review will look at the entire system at a micro level and will be encouraging wider input from businesses as to how the law has impacted them. The team has 180 days to present their report from the date the premier officially appoints the team, which is expected to be next week.
ICCI is a new AML testing centre
(CNS): Cayman’s anti-money laundering professionals are now able to assess their skills at a new testing centre located at the International College of the Cayman Islands. The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), the international organisation which aims to enhance the skills of AML professionals, recently announced the expansion of a new Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) testing centre which will assist people locally as well as regionally in earning their CAMS designation.
John Byrne, CAMS, ACAMSexecutive vice president said: “The CAMS certification is the internationally recognised gold standard certification for AML professionals, and the CAMS exam rigorously tests for the highest aptitude in the field. Our community spans the globe, and as such, it is the mission of ACAMS to provide the opportunity to validate the skills of our AML professionals, regardless of international boundaries.”
The CAMS Examination is offered in a computer based format at hundreds testing centres located around the world. To search other testing site locations and for more information, visit the ACAMS website at www.ACAMS.org.
Locals to get reserve jobs
(CNS): As part of the forthcoming rollover suspension, the labour minister has announced that a range of jobs will be set aside as the reserve of Caymanians only or a limit imposed on the number of work permits that can be issued in the country in a given year. The labour minister revealed that a draft bill will come before the Legislative Assembly in November designating certain positions as exclusively reserved for Caymanians or in some case a quota system will control the number of permits for a specific type of job. The bill has come out of a private member’s motion by UDP backbenchers and debated in the Legislative Assembly last September, where it was proposed that a committee would be established to examine the concept.
Although government has not yet indicated which positions will be carved out as the preserve of local workers only, speaking in West Bay at a public meeting last week, Rolston Anglin said that a draft bill had been drawn up to give effect to that motion and it was ready to come to the Legislative Assembly. The bill, which will form part of numerous amendments that are expected to the immigration law, will designate specific jobs and professions for Caymanians that will be implemented alongside the rollover suspension to protect and create job for locals.
He said the rollover was never about protecting Caymanian jobs and was always about population control. Anglin said that it was economic growth that would generate new jobs and career opportunities for Caymanians, not keeping rollover, as fears about what would happen had been raised at the meeting.
The minister said that government had now taken the view that there ought to be certain professions or certain careers that will be designated “either fully or partially” as belonging to Caymanians only and not work permit holders.
He said that it was clear when business owners are giving the opportunity of hiring a young Caymanain with no experience versus a cheaper alternative from elsewhere with experience, they always hire the cheaper alternative, despite the permit fees. The minister said the new law would go some way to address that issue and would be implemented alongside the rollover suspension.
“Government is moving forward with this very important piece of legislation,” he said. “And that needs to be considered in conjunction with the decision to review the social and economic impacts of the rollover policy.”
Anglin did not give any indication of which jobs were likely to be carved out for locals or what research the committee that had reviewed the proposal had conducted. During the debate about the proposal in the Legislative Assembly last year, he had pointed to heavy equipment operators as one of the jobs that might be a reserved occupation.
According to the Hansard record, Anglin had said, “A few decades ago all of us in this House knew who the heavy equipment operators were in this country,” but added, “It grieves me every time I see a non-Caymanian on a backhoe.”
He said there were many skilled and semi-skilled positions for which businesses had been making excuses, saying that they could not find a Caymanian.
“As there is that option of a work permit available in certain professions, the natural gravitation for a business owner — and I’m not talking about a business owner doing anything wrong, I’m talking about them being a business owner — The natural gravitation for a business owner is to go to try the find the employee who is ready right now, that you don’t have to train, that you don’t have to invest in, and guess what — that you don’t have a risk that they are going to easily leave your business,” he said to his legislative colleagues.
“If you take the option away, I am convinced you will be surprised how quickly people will find young Caymanians and train them,” the minister had added.
No work permits in techy zone
(CNS): Employers that move into Cayman Enterprize City will be able to bypass the usual work permit system under the bill which is expected to be passed in the Legislative Assembly during the next meeting. When the legislation to establish Special Economic Zones becomes law, businesses operating within such zones, including CEC will be exempt from a number of rules and regulations that business normally have to follow. Businesses in the SEZ will need to apply for “employment certificates”, which will be issued at reduced rates to SEZ businesses needing foreign workers. So far, however, government has not revealed how those reduced certificates will compare to current permit rates.
Businesses setting up in a Special Economic Zone will enjoy a variety of concessions and exemptions from certain local licences. The tenants at CEC, which is the first and at present only economic zone proposed for Grand Cayman, will be exempt from requiring a Trade & Business Licence.
They will also operate under an exemption from the Local Companies (Control Law), which means they will not need to fulfil that law’s 60 percent Caymanian ownership requirements and will also be exempt from operating under the Electronic Transactions Law and the Land Acquisition Law. Workers within a SEZ business will also enjoy no restriction or delay in the transfer of their pension money or assets at the end of their work permit, according to the bill.
SEZ businesses will be exempt from paying for a broad range of fees, taxes and duties for the next fifty years that will be specified in regulations to be drafted to accompany the new legislation, in order, government officials say, to attract new business to the islands and boost the economy.
“Special economic zones are envisioned to be areas of business activity with specific concessions for international businesses that are not competing in the domestic economy,” said Dax Basdeo, Chief Officer – Financial Services with the Ministry of Finance, Tourism and Development. “Concessions are required to attract these highly mobile companies to Cayman so that we can benefit from their physical presence in our jurisdiction, i.e. spending related to the employment generated in the zone.”
Under the bill, which is anticipated to be debated in the House in this forthcoming meeting, SEZ businesses will have to comply with some laws and regulations. They will have to pay fees under the Exempted Limited Partnership Law or the Companies Law and they will have to pay stamp duty for the purchase of land or lease of property.
SEZ businesses will also not be exempt from customs or import duties on consumables worth less than US$5,000 imported into the SEZ after five years from the date of occupancy of buildings within Cayman Enterprise City. SEZ businesses will also have to pay ‘trade certificate fees’ capped at US$150 per business per year.
Basdeo says the entire issue of establishing a SEZ is extremely complex and has taken considerable research and preparation.
“The concept of special economic zones is well-established around the world and there is a lot of research and best-practice information to draw upon. This research and specific examples of how multiple zones can be established successfully in a jurisdiction was utilised when preparing Cayman's approach to the CEC proposed zone,” he said.
The SEZ Bill was, he explained, drafted to provide a general framework to establish special economic zones in Cayman.
“The CEC zone is very specific in terms of the types of companies permitted to establish in that zone, and given that other opportunities for complimentary zones may exist, the ability to allow other zones was seen as the best way forward,” he added.
Basdeo said extensive consultation with key departments, specifically General Registry, Immigration and Lands and Survey would be needed, with identified amendments to other legislation also required to allow for the operation of SEZs.
“This consultation is on-going as the specifics of various application processes for zone companies are still being finalised. It is envisioned that details of these processes will be captured in the regulations that will accompany the primary legislation,” he confirmed.
See the SEZ bill which is currently available for public scrutiny below.
Cayman continues decline in global centre rankings
(CNS): Although Cayman has improved its ratings in the Global Financial Centres Index, it has still fallen in the rankings a further eight places. In the 10th edition of the publication which uses peer information to measure and rank all of the centres in the world involved in the financial industry on a variety of indicators, Cayman is now placed at position 46 in the overall table but its ratings score has improved from 587 to 610. The latest report points out that offshore centres have suffered significant reputational damage in the past three years but many are now recovering.
The report said that the recovery was down to respondents to the GFCI questionnaire recognising "the contribution these centres can make to global finance.”
Jersey , Guernsey , Isle of Man , Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands all remain above Cayman in the table but Cayman, along with all the leading offshore centres, achieve higher scores. The report revealed that the improvement in the scores of the offshore centres appeared to be down to the questionnaires supplied by other offshore centres and not coming from onshore jurisdictions.
The report found that once again the top four financial centres were London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. The report said this confirmed their strengths in all five areas of competitiveness. “It also confirms our belief that a genuinely top global centre is competitive in all areas – successful people like to live and work in successful centres,” the report stated.
See the full report here
Scholars International clashes with George Town
(CIFA): One of the most anticipated matches of the 2011/2012 Cayman Premier League season got on the way on Sunday at the G. Haig Bodden Playing Field in Bodden Town when Scholars International clashed with George Town. Colin Rowe of Scholars International stated that he is pleased with the (i) attitude of the players, (ii) the training, and (iii) the result from the previous week. "The team is taking it one match at a time. We will introduce a few new players into this match and the spectators should expect a better game than the week before". Lee Ramoon, speaking on behalf of George Town, stated that, although this was an early game, it was a very important game.
"Hopefully, the team will play according to how they have trained. This year, we are using a different formation-a more attacking formation-that hopefully will lead to more exciting football".
One would have expected the match to be free flowing football, with each team employing tactics and strategy to gain the upper hand. Although the game was end to end action, there was no flow, as the flow was constantly interrupted by careless challenges by both teams that resulted in the referee having to employ the whistle on a regular basis. The match was very physical, with no team gaining the clear advantage. By the end of the first half the referee had issued four yellow cards. The first half ended 0:0 the only thing the game was lacking was goals at this point, the intensity and physicality of the game was worth the entrance fee alone.
he second half started much as the first half had ended until Carson Fagan slotted home a perfectly placed header off a corner kick twelve minutes into the second half to give Scholars International the lead. Seventeen minutes later, however, Scholars International would be issued a severe blow when Mark Ebanks was given a red card after only just coming on a few minutes earlier.
Scholars International, now down to ten men, did not skip a beat and did not adjust their strategy. They continued to pressure the George Town defence. George Town shuffled the pack and brought on Kevin Moore who added width to George Town’s attacking play. Inventive attacking wing play rewarded George Town with an equalizing goal in the 80th Minute. Kevin Moore’s run and deep cross from the right was directed back into the path of Justin Pierre by Leon Whittaker, Justin Pierre delivered as most in the crowd would have predicted.
It seemed that the match was destined to end in a draw, which would have been an appropriate score, when Scholars International was awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time. ONeil Taylor of Scholars took responsibility and slotted the ball home. The game ended 2:1 in favour of Scholars International whohave made an impressive start to the season.
In other Cayman Premier League matches on Sunday: Bodden Town came out on top against Cayman Athletic as the two most youthful sides in the Cayman Premier League battled it out at the G. Haig Bodden Playing Field. A last gasp winner from Bodden Town’s talisman Karl Solomon gave BT their first win of the season. The final score ending Bodden Town 2: Cayman Athletic 1.
At the T.E. McField in George Town Roma United continued their impressive start to the season with a 2:0 victory over Future. Nicardo Beckford and super sub Ronald Emmanuel scoring for Roma.Elite dusted themselves down after their opening week defeat by taking care of Tigers 3:1. The star of the game was Elite’s number 11 Dwayne Wright, last season’s top goal scorer Wright notched up a hat trick in this game and looked a constant threat every time he got the ball.
Sponsors to guess veteran runner’s marathon time
(CNS): Derek Haines who has now clocked over 1900 miles towards as he trains for this year’s Cayman marathon in December is giving sponsors an extra incentive by offering a half dozen bottles of champagne to anyone who can guess his finishing time correctly. This year Haines is running the 26.2 mile for the Hospice in order to raise money for a vehicle. The veteran marathon runner who is the country’s fastest over sixty runner says anyone who pledges $25 or more they can take a guess on his finishing time on 4 December to win the six bottle of bubbly.
“As an incentive or each pledge of $25 a guess of my finishing time can be made. There will be a first prize of 6 bottles of champagne for the closest guess. My fastest time is 2hrs 59mins,” Haines said, admitting however that he clocked that time 25 years ago and it was not likely to be repeated in this lifetime. “Last year I ran the same course in 3hrs.55 being, again, the first over 60 years old home.”
Businesses can also help in the goal to buy the bus by having their name on the bus at $5,000 each — one-time payment and the logo remains in situ during the lifetime of the vehicle.
“Last year some $67K was raised that purchased a bus for the Special Olympic athletes thanks to the generosity of the Cayman public. Hopefully we can repeat the success this year,” Haines stated.
The Cayman Islands Hospice is a local charity that provides palliative care to all patients in the Cayman Islands completely free. It is the islands premiere community resource for end-of-life care and services to anyone who has cancer or any other terminal illnesses. The Palliative Care Specialist Nurses reduce pain, manage other distressing symptoms and attend to the social, psychological, spiritual and emotional needs of both patient and family.
ICCI makes room for more business students
(CNS): The opening of a new building at the International College of the Cayman Islands will enable the school to offer more opportunities for Caymanians to study business and accounting. The new building was named the Carlyle and Martha McLaughlin Hall to honour two alumni who have made substantial professional and financial contributions spanning three decades. Although there have been some delays to fully equip the classrooms with the latest technology, the new building is already being used for the fall quarter courses.
In the next couple weeks, both classrooms will include a smart board and a laptop, technology, which is being used by the most progressive universities around the world, explained Dr. Cummings.
ICCI’s Dean, Scott Cummings said the new building will enable the International College to increase its course offerings each term, said Dean Scott Cummings. “These state-of-the-art classrooms in the new building means we can better serve the student body,” the Dean said. “It is an important step forward for the college as we continue to grow our student body and institution without being held back because of lack of space.”
The Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants and the Cayman Islands Fund Administrators Association have both sponsored the fitting out of aclassroom which has helped the college a non-profit institution keep the tuition affordable while maintaining its international accreditation.
“This new building will provide the opportunity for more local students to obtain qualifications that will open doors for them in the accounting and administration professions as well as other areas of the financial industry in Cayman,” said CIFAA chair Darren Stainrod. “In doing so, it will ensure the availability of qualified professionals to enable the businesses on the island to grow and to maintain Cayman’s position as a leading global financial centre.”