Archive for December, 2011
Teenager drowns at sea
(CNS): The body of a missing teenage boy who drowned after diving into the ocean from cliffs in the Pedro Castle area along Grand Cayman’s south coast has been found. Officials confirmed that the body of 17 year old Justin Henry from George Town was recovered at around 9:30 this morning following what was described by the police as an extensive search of the Pedro bluff. The circumstances surrounding the incident are now under investigation but earlier reports indicate the teenager was cliff diving in the area with friends yesterday afternoon when he got into difficulty. The search for Justin began in the afternoon around 4:30pm after the incident was reported to the 911 emergency centre but called off before 7pm Monday night. (Photo Dennie Warren jr)
Police recommenced the full scale search at first light with the marine and air support units.
In July emergency services rescued two students from St Matthews University who were also cliff diving from the same spot. At that time with plenty of daylight remaining,as the men got into difficulty around lunchtime, the police were able to find and rescue the students in what is known to be a dangerous area.
Yesterday emergency services were forced to call off the search in the evening due to the fall of darkness and the ocean conditions.
CID seeks info on getaway car
(CNS): Police investigating the robbery at Magnum’s jewellery store on Thursday are asking the public for information on the movements of the car (pictured left) believed to be the robber’s second getaway vehicle. The three masked men who used axes to smash their way to a collection of expensive jewellery made their escape in RAV4 in Wahoo Close, George Town but are believed to have then used this car after burning out the car they used for the robbery.
The CID is appealing to anyone who may have sighted this vehicle on Thursday, 22 December 2011 to contact Detective Inspector Oremule of the CID on 949-4222 or the confidential Crime Stoppers number 800-8477 (Tips)
Missing child found safe and well
(CNS): A 12-year-old boy who was reported missing has been traced safe and well in West Bay, police have said. Earlier today the RCIPS appealed for information about Richard Powell, who had been been missing since yesterday (Thursday 21 December). The boy (left) was last seen by his mother at their home in Hettie’s Lane, West Bay, when she left him, and his 7-year-old sister, to go to work at 7.45am. When she returned from work yesterday evening at around 6.30pm, her daughterwas home but Richard was missing, police said. The child’s mother contacted family and friends but when she was unable to trace her him she contacted the police. (The photo supplied was taken four years ago)
Anyone with information about this incident should to contact West Bay police station on 949-3999.
CS pensioners get increase on ex-gratia payments
(CNS): Government has approved changes to the regulations regarding ex-gratia pensions for some retired Caymanian public sector workers who will see their payments increased by $100 or $150 per month depending on their length of service. Anomalies in the law regarding people who were not Caymanian when they first joined government and who missed out on benefits for some of their years of service have been addressed by Cabinet in the regulations, the deputy governor revealed, Thursday a move set to cost government around $350,000 per annum.
Extending these benefits will result in an increase in the annual costs of the ex-gratia pensions from just over $400Kpa to just under $750Kp.a but Donovan Ebanks said was the right decision “The status quo simply wasn’t any longer justifiable,” he said.
“No Caymanian is going to be able to provide for themselves in retirement based on $200p.m. or $300p.m. The good news is that we were able to completely put an end to earning qualifying service to this ex-gratia benefit 12 years ago.
“Everyone who has been employed by the Cayman Islands government since the dawn of this new century accrues a pension entitlement and thus cannot accrue an ex-gratia pension entitlement too. But we have to do what is right by those Caymanians who toiled before we had that universal pension benefit,” Ebanks added.
Under the new amending regulations, a Caymanian already in receipt of an ex-gratia pension will be eligible to have that revised either from $200 each month to $300 if they served four or more years but less than ten years and from $300 to the minimum of $450p.m if they served ten or more years.
Some of the Caymanians who will benefit from the increase worked for over 15, 20 or even 25 years without any entitlement. The changes relate to the Public Service Pensions Law and the Public Service Pensions (Ex-Gratia Pensions)(Amendment) Regulations, 2011 which were issued by extraordinary gazette on 15 December. (See document here)
The story behind the change started with the enactment of the Public Service Pensions Law in 1999 which brought with it the universal provision of pension benefits to all public servants and an investigation by the former Complaints Commissioner John Epp who uncovered the fact that some Caymanians had received no pension benefits at all because they were not Caymanian when they joined government.
By 2001, all serving publicservants were enrolled in either the ‘defined benefits plan’ or the ‘defined contribution plan’. But before then pension benefits had been limited to Caymanians. As a result of the various criteria that existed, such as a minimum ten years of service and the different ‘terms of service’ for different categories of employees, not all Caymanians got pension entitlements for all of the years that they had served.
The Public Service Pensions Law recognised the problem and introduce the award of an ‘ex-gratia pension’ – a benefit that is payable to a Caymanian for government workers who did not earn either eligibility for a pension or any other equivalent allowance because they
In late-2006 an Own Motion Investigation by the Office of the Complaints Commissioner found that civil servants who were not Caymanians when they were serving still missed out on at the ex-gratia pension payments. In May 2009, Cabinet approved amending Public Service Pensions (Ex-Gratia Pensions) Regulations, 2004 to address those Caymanians who have served as public servants for considerable periods but which they neither received, nor were eligible to receive, any pension or other benefit.
When that amendment was passed it failed to cater to those pensioners who were already in receipt of an ex-gratia pension. Only new applicants after May 2009 who were successful received the new dispensations.
“This was extremely disappointing to those persons who had served well over ten years and who were keenly looking forward to being able to receive something more to allow them to better look after themselves now that they have retired”, said Ebanks. “I’m extremely pleased that Cabinet recently approved the Public Service Pensions (Ex-Gratia Pensions) (Amendment) Regulations, 2011 and that these issues have now been addressed and sorted out.”
Extreme race registration open till NYE
(CNS): Organisers of the Off The Beaten Track ultra-marathon said Thursday that they were still accepting early bird registrations with a discounted entry fee until 31 December 31 for the 3rd annual race which is set for 26 February. The extreme race covers 50Ks across what organizers said were the ‘unfamiliar’ paths of Grand Cayman. The race presents a challenge for individual runners and relay teams. Ken Krys, who has participated in several ‘ultra races’, including the Marathon des Sables in Morocco and the Amazon Jungle Run said Off The Beaten Track is Cayman’s own version of these, making it the ultimate test.
“There are a great many runners here in Cayman, and I urge all of them to come out and support this unique event. The team aspect allows runners of all levels to participate, while experienced marathoners can choose to run the event individually,” Krys said.
This one of a kind race will be donating 50% of proceeds to Facing Africa with the remaining proceeds going to the very deserving local charities Cayman's ARK and the School of Fitness.
To take advantage of the early bird discount pricing, register online at www.caymanactive.com by 31 December. Sponsorship for the race is still available. For further information visit the website www.offthebeatentrack.ky or contact Lori at 345-815-8410.
Man killed in car smash
(CNS): A 39-year-old man was killed in the early hours of Friday morning after the car he was driving smashed into a tree. Police confirmed this morning (23 December) that at about 1:52am Richard Alutaya Rivera of East End, who was driving a Honda Civic on Shamrock Road in the direction of his home, appeared to lose control of his vehicle, which skidded off the road and collided with a tree. Emergency services attended the scene, including the Fire Department, medics and police, as the man was trapped in the car. Once freed, the man was taken to George Town hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 3:10am.
The RCIPS Traffic Management issued an advisory that commuters may be delayed until around 7:30am as the police continue investigations into the cause of the fatal crash.
The man is the seventh person to die on the roads in Cayman this year and comes just three weeks after a fatal crashon Esterley Tibbets Highway.
Anyone with information in relation to the accident may contact the Traffic Management at 946-6254.
Visitor dies swimming at Smith cove
(CNS): A man who was lost consciousness in the water this morning at Smith Cove in the South Sound area of Grand Cayman has died. Police said that the 62-year-old visitor from America was pronounced dead when he arrived at the Cayman Islands hospital shortly after he was rescued from the ocean. According to an RCIPS spokesperson the emergency services received a report that the man had appeared to get into some difficulty while swimming with his wife, around 50 yards from shore. His wife helped him back to shore but as he attempted to leave the water he apparently lost consciousness.
A number of people who were visiting the Cove helped the woman to get her husband onto dry land where she administered CPR until the arrival of the emergency services. The man was taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital, but was found to be dead on arrival. Police said that their enquiries into the death are ongoing.
Jewel thieves strike with axes
(CNS): Police are currently investigating a smash and grab at a down town George Town jewellery store which took place Thursday morning. Three masked men wielding axes smashed up two display cases at the front of the Magnum Jewellers on Cardinal Avenue before making their escape in a stolen car later found burnt out. A spokesperson for the RCIPS said the police received a report of the raid at around 11:20am when the area was busy with Christmas shoppers from home and abroad. The robbers entered the open fronted store and smashed up the cases which contained the high end jewellery before grabbing the booty and making off in a stolen grey coloured Rav 4 registered number Q4689.
Police said that no one was hurt during the crime but it raise considerable curiosity as cruise ship visitors looked on.
The car was found later today reportedly stolen from Seaside Way, Bodden Town sometime between 9.00pm last night and 6.10am this morning. Police said the car was found burnt out in Wahoo Close, George Town. The police have not yet given a description of the itemsof jewellery stolen or a value of the gems stolen.
Anyone who has any information regarding the robbery, or who saw the grey coloured Rav 4 last night or this morning, either before or after the robbery, is asked to contact George Town police station on 949-4222, the RCIPS tip-line 949-7777 or the confidential Crime Stoppers number 800-8477(TIPS).
CoP warns of cocaine threat
(CNS): Cayman’s senior police officer says the country could see further increases in violence regardless of RCIPS efforts to contain the ongoing gang wars as a result of the move of the lucrative cocaine trade into the Caribbean region. Police Commissioner David Baines said his officers are already seeing evidence of increased shipments in size and quantity of the drug passing through the jurisdiction and as local gangs get involved in the extremely profitable industry there will be an increase in the violence that comes with the cocaine trade, he warned. The haemorrhaging of weapons into the region at present is directly related to the fact that trafficking is moving from Mexico to here, he said. (Photo Dennie WarrenJr)
Baines told CNS this week that he had real concerns about a possible surge in violence and was fearful that the arrival of the cocaine business in the Caribbean would lead to the kind of indiscriminate violence seen in Mexico in the recent past, which was essentially down to turf wars over the sale and trafficking the drug. While previous gang violence in Cayman has had more to do with ‘respect issues’ or gang rivalry and disputes, the arrival of more cocaine in the region will herald in the cold calculating violence that goes with it.
He said the US attack on the war on drugs along its border with Mexico had diverted the trade to the Caribbean. “If you squeeze the drug balloon in one place it doesn’t go away it just pops up somewhere else,” Baines said. “We are seeing an increase in cocaine smuggling and the region is seeing an escalation of violence as a result, which could get a lot worse.”
Baines reflected on the mass murders in Mexico and the retribution on entire neighbourhoods in order to ensure their silence and acquiescence in the trade. He said that this meant there was a much greater need for the Cayman Islands’ law enforcement officials, which includes the RCIPS and customs, to cooperate even more closely and exchange intelligence with the relevant agencies in the United States and others in the Caribbean in an effort to minimise the impact the trade of the drug in the region will have on Cayman.
The senior officer said he was concerned because Cayman was already suffering the same fate as other Caribbean nations with a surge in the levels of violence among young men who appear to place so little value on human life and who will be attracted to the lucrative, if violent, trade.
“Everyone in island communities in the Caribbean is seeking ways to do what they can to stop the drug and the guns that come with cocaine getting across their borders,” Baines said, noting that it was an ongoing and very difficult battle.
He said the air support unit was one of the main tools in the fight against the drug trafficking because it was able to cover such a large area and spot potential drug canoes. The cargo scanner, he said, would also help in the fight, especially intercepting the guns coming with the drug. Baines said the replacement of the RCIPS budget recently voted in the Legislative Assembly would be used to boost the task force that has its focus on drug and gun smuggling.
However, given the enormous profits that drug dealers stand to make on the cocaine when it reaches the streets of the US and Europe, the traffickers will not let up easily and as the drug moves into the region and into Cayman, local criminals will get more involved as a result of the cash on offer. This in turn would fuel existing local gang rivalries and the associated street violence.
He said the drug was already penetrating the Eastern Caribbean and the RCIPS was doing everything it could to try and minimise the impact here. “We must be aware of the wholesale violence that comes with the cocaine trade but the sheer numbers of smugglers is a real concern. We must do everything we can to stop Cayman becoming the next battle ground for control of the drug industry,” Baines added.
CHEC hopeful of casino
(CNS): The developers currently in talks with CIG to build the George Town cruise berthing facilities appear hopeful that the Cayman Islands government will have changed its position on gambling by the time the project is finished as the plans call for a hoteland casino on the upland development. Although the proposed plans have not been made public here in Cayman, pictures taken by the Chamber of Commerce during its fact finding mission about CHEC in Jamaica last month reveal that China Harbour Engineering Company has factored a casino into the upland design. The chamber delegation was given a presentation by the firm's representatives there when some of the drawings for the project were revealed.
Despite the ongoing controversy over the decision of the premier to partner with the Beijing based firm, the ministerial MOU, which expired at the end of November, was extended recently until March and now includes the Port Authority Board. Speaking about the development in the Legislative Assembly recently, McKeeva Bush said many unpleasant things and lies had been told about the firm but he believed government had found a good partner in CHEC, one that it could work with and move forward with what he said was the much needed facility.
The premier has said very little about the details of CHEC’s plans but it is understood from the MOU and comments made in the public domain from officials and CHEC representatives in Jamaica that the firm will be recouping its significant investment in the project, estimated at more than$200 million, through the collection of cruise line fees and from a retail development on the upland area of the new cruise port.
The hotel and casino, according to the plans (shown right and on page 22 of the Chamber report), is centred between the two piers and is part of an extensive upland area which includes restaurants, a dive shop, a covered two storey shopping area where passengers will pass through before alighting in George Town, and a marina.
CHEC is not the first developer that would like to see gaming introduced and the debate about whether Cayman will succumb to the lucrative lure of casinos has been running for some time. It rose to prominence in 2009 and 2010 when gaming was posed as a possible solution to the government’s financial difficulties.Former cabinet minister Gilbert McLean also began collecting signatures from registered voters in order to attempt to trigger the islands’ first people initiated referendum with the question of a national lottery.
At that time the premier had committed to holding a referendum on the issue in order to put the subject to rest once and for all. However, after dealing with the public finances through raising fees and duties instead, the idea of a referendum was shelved.