Archive for January, 2012
DHL Storm on top
(CRFU): The DHL Storm entered the holiday season with a 3rd consecutive win over the Queensgate Pigs Trotters to guard their top spot in the Alex Alexander Memorial League table.The victory over the so far winless Pigs Trotters was not an easy affair however as the Pigs Trotters looked set to secure not only their first XV’s win in over a year but what would be the biggest upset of the season. The Pigs Trotters maintained the lead in the game for the majority of the 80 minute match up! Marco Du Plessis was once again the hero for the Pigs Trotters as he guided his team into control of the game but a late surge from the Storm, led by none other than Venassio Tokotokovanua meant that the Trotters hearts were broken once again as the DHL Storm trudged off 29-22 victors.
Photos Caroline Deegan
The loss did give the Pigs Trotters their first league points of the season as they only lost the game by 7 points and the team will be buoyed by the knowledge that they face the DHL Storm again on 14 January and the Storm will likely be without the services of Tokotokovanua! With another strong performance the Pigs could have a real chance of starting 2012 with a win!
The John Doak Architecture Iguanas season lies in the balance as they faltered to their second defeat of the season against a determined Krys Global Buccaneers side. The Iguanas, who had the week before overcome the Queensgate Pigs Trotters, failed to maintain any momentum and some unforced errors gave the Buccaneers the chance to take the game by 6 points 11-17. The Iguanas and the Buccaneers face off again in the knowledge that the season is all still to play for. Whilst the DHL Storm top the table a reversal in fortune for the Storm could give the Iguanas or the Buccaneers a shot at the league title.
See cup standings here
Next games: Alex Alexander Memorial League Trophy 4th Round:
14 January 2012
Krys Global Buccaneers vs. John Doak Architecture Iguanas @2pm
Queensgate Pigs Trotters vs. DHL Storm @4pm
All games are streamed live worldwide on www.caymanrugbytv.com
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Photos:
Week3a: Steve Brougham pressures Mariano Marco at the base of the scrum
Week3b: Chris Kennedy tracks down Morgan Hayward of the Buccaneers
Week3c: Marco du Plessis challenged the DHL Storm defence
Week3d: Simon Crompton takes a shot at goal for the DHL Storm
Cayman referee gets international nod
(CRFU): Cayman Attorney, Alasdair Robertson (left) of the Cayman Rugby Union Referees Society has been selected as one of two North American & Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) representatives to officiate at the upcoming World Sevens Series (WSS) of Rugby in Las Vegas on February 13thand 14th.The World Class event features twelve of the world’s best Rugby Sevens teams. The series is played in ten different venues starting in October and ending in June each year. The selection of Alasdair Robertson, based on his recent refereeing form at the NACRA Sevens in Barbados last November is tantamount to his hard work and dedication over the past several years in becoming recognized throughout the region as a leading official of the sport.
Director of Rugby Richard Adams added ‘we are all delighted with Alasdair’s selection, he certainly deserves the accolade and I know that he will do well and bring back to the Islands new knowledge and direction in terms of officiating, it also goes to prove that you don’t have to be a player to excel in sport and I hope Alasdair’s success will help a new generation decide to get involved in this way.’
Local doctor comes home to practice
(CNS): The Health Services Authority has taken on former John Gray High School student, Dr. Ciara Best, who has recently returned home to begin her practice as part of its physicians team. She received her M.B.B.S. from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and will spend some time with the local health authority before heading off overseas to specialize. Before joining the Health Services Authority, Dr Best interned at Cornwall Regional Hospital in Jamaica where she rotated through Internal Medicine, General Surgery, OB/GYN and Pediatrics departments for a period of three months each.
She currently works on the Medical Ward where she oversees the management of care for many of the patients there. Dr Best previously spent six months as the Senior House Officer in Pathology and has also worked in the Accident and Emergency department. Delighted to have returned home and joined the team at the HSA, having achieved her goal of becoming a qualified physician, Dr Best said. “The welcome by both staff and patients has been a very warm one and I am glad to have been able to return home and to be of service to the people.”
HSA Medical Director, Dr. Greg Hoeksema, and Chief Executive Officer Lizzette Yearwood said they were proud to welcome another returning Caymanian doctor to the team.
“Dr. Best is a wonderful and talented asset and we look forward to her input in the years ahead. We are confident that she will continue to enhance our services and we are grateful that she has chosen to practice medicine with us,” added Yearwood.
Lawyers adopt own code
(CNS): Members of Cayman Islands’ legal profession have voluntarily adopted the code of conduct which forms part of the stalled legal practitioner’s bill, even though the law has not been passed in the Legislative Assembly. Dale Crowley, president of the Caymanian Bar Association, has said that the association in partnership with the Law Society has adopted thecode after government failed to pass the legislation that had been agreed by the profession, resulting in local lawyers losing the ability to practice overseas. Crowley said the profession was hoping the adoption of the conduct, despite the absence of a law, would persuade the UK bar to reinstatement of the right of Caymanian lawyers to qualify in Britain.
The proposed law to govern the local legal profession has raised controversy because of the issues relating to immigration and what some have said is the discrimination of Caymanian professionals and trainees. In September the premier stated that it was the legal profession that could not agree and he had instructed local lawyers Sherri Bodden-Cowan and Theresa Pitcairn, who have been conducting research on the issue, to help draft a new bill.
However, speaking at the Grand Court opening on Wednesday, Crowley said the bill was agreed on over two years ago by both the Bar Association, which has 150 lawyers as members, and the Law Society, which represents the majority of the legal firms in Cayman.
Law Society President Charles Jennings echoed Crowley’s comments when he said that despite enjoying “the overwhelming support of the profession as a whole”, the bill had remained unpassed and both professional associations were unsure where it now stood.
“The bill seeks to address the practice of law, not, as some seem to think, immigration issues, and I believe it has aroused a great deal of controversy for reasons that are beyond its remit,” Jennings said in his own speech at the court opening ceremony. “Since however nobody so far has approached the Law Society to explain them to us, it is hard for us to know how we can meet them.”
Jennings explained that, since it appears the legislation will not be passed, the profession had taken it upon itself, on a firm-by-firm basis, to voluntarily adopt a Code of Conduct in the same form submitted to the government some seven years ago. He said there were 25 law firms from the society representing the vast majority of the lawyers practicing in Cayman.
The failure of government to pass the bill has resulted in a loss of market share as an international financial centre and harmed Cayman’s reputation as a progressive jurisdiction, Crowley said Wednesday as he explained the need for adopting the code in the absence of the legislation.
He added that the profession had witnessed first-hand the negative impact that the failure to pass the legislation has had on Caymanian lawyers, who lost the ability to qualify in the United Kingdom based on their Cayman professional qualification because of the absence of a Code of Conduct.
“This prevents many young Caymanian lawyers from pursuing experience and opportunity in the United Kingdom, and also acts to severely curtail opportunities in other offshore jurisdictions where a UK qualification is required, including the BVI, Bermuda, the Channel Islands and Hong Kong – all jurisdictions in which Cayman firms have a presence,” Crowley said.
The Bar Association will now apply to the Law Society of England and Wales for a reinstatement of the right of Caymanian lawyers to qualify into the United Kingdom, the president added.
See code of conduct here.
Cayman’s GM mozzies may have reproduced
(CNS): The genetically modified mosquitoes released in the Cayman Islands over a year ago as part of a research study on the eradication of dengue fever by the UK-based company Oxitec could have reproduced and mixed in with the local population. According to a redacted document released to GeneWatch UK following a freedom of information request in Britain, the genetically modified pests, which the manufacturer described as sterile, did produce offspring around 15 percent of which survived. During the study the GM mozzies were fed cat food containing chicken contaminated with low levels of tetracycline, which allowed the mosquitoes to reproduce with their offspring surviving to adulthood.
The international charity, Friends of the Earth, has accused the company of trying tried to hide the evidence that its technology failed to prevent reproduction.
The release of the genetically modified mosquitoes in the Cayman Islands, where there are no biosafety laws or regulations, caught the international scientific community and most residents by surprise. The release took place in East End.
The goal of Oxitec’s research was to prevent the progeny of GM mosquitoes from surviving in the wild, thereby reducing mosquito populations. However, the activist group said that failure to prevent reproduction in the presence of low levels of tetracycline is cause for concern, raising the spectreof genetically modified mosquitoes surviving and breeding, producing adult populations of GM mosquitoes, including GM females which can bite and transmit disease.
“The antibiotic tetracycline is widely used in agriculture and is present in sewage as well as in industrially farmed meat. Mosquitoes that carry dengue fever are known to breed in environments contaminated with sewage where they are likely to encounter widespread tetracycline contamination,” Friends of the Earth stated in a release relating to the revelations of the document from Oxitec.
The global green movement noted that GM females might cause unknown impacts on human health, such as allergies, and that the ecological implications of GM mosquitoes surviving and breeding are also unknown.
Even in the absence of tetracycline contamination, the GM mosquitoes are known to survive in the laboratory at rates of around 3 percent. In the field, this would translate into large numbers of survivors, given that continual releases of millions of GM mosquitoes would be needed to sustain the goals of population suppression.
“The fact that Oxitec is hiding data from the public has undermined its credibility,” said Eric Hoffman of Friends of the Earth US. “Oxitec’s assertions cannot be trusted. Trials of its mosquitoes must not move forward in the absence of comprehensive and impartial reviews of the environmental, human health and ethical risks. Such trials must also await the establishment of a clear and well-designed regulatory framework, which does not yet exist.”
Oxitec has released genetically modified mosquitoes in field experiments in Malaysia and Brazil as well as Cayman, where the first release took place, and the firm was planning a release in the Florida Keys in April this year.
Lucia Ortiz of Friends of the Earth Brazil said that Oxitec was using poor regions in the Global South, such as cities in the Northeast region of Brazil, as its laboratories
“Oxitec has not proven its mosquitoes are safe for people or the environment, nor has it been open and honest with the local communities about the possible risks its technology poses,” he said. “This news only highlights the need for all the company’s data on its mosquitoes to be made public so people and local governments can make informed decisions as to whether or not they want GM mosquitoes in their communities.”
Other countries where releases of Oxitec’s GM mosquitoes have been proposed include Panama, India, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago.
See the Oxitec document here
Government plans tourist market for West Bay
(CNS Business): In an effort to distribute some of the tourist dollar to the West Bay area, the government is planning to establish a “market by the sea” in the district that will sell and showcase Cayman crafts and local produce, officials have said. The premier revealed the intention of his ministry to create the new market in his New Year message and his office has confirmed that the goal of the project is to enhance cultural tourism as well develop tourism amenities outside of the current George Town and Seven Mile Beach concentration. Still in its conceptual phase, the market will be located at the beginning of North West Point Road. Read more on CNS Business
Scientist find eyeless shrimp in Cayman trench
(CNS): White-tentacled anemones and eyeless shrimps and are among the new forms of life scientists have found thriving near the super-hot underwater vents in the Cayman Trench this week One group of Scientists from the National Oceanography Centre have discovered a six centermetre long shrimp with no eyes but a light-sensing organ on its back in an undersea hot spring. Named Rimicaris hybisae researchers says it is related to a species called Rimicaris exoculata previously discovered in the mid-Atlantic ridge. The vent, in which this latest kind of shrimp was found discharges thick black smoke and reaches a scorching 450 degrees Celsius and is rich inminerals such as copper.
"Studying the creatures at these vents, and comparing them with species at other vents around the world; will help us to understand how animals disperse and evolve in the deep ocean," Dr. Jon Copley, a marine biologist at the University of Southampton said about the discovery.
"Finding black smoker vents on Mount Dent was a complete surprise," adds Dr. Doug Connelly, a marine geochemist at the National Oceanography Centre. "Hot and acidic vents have never been seen in an area like this before, and usually we don't even look for vents in places like this."
He explained that one of the big mysteries of deep-sea vents is how animals are able to disperse from vent field to vent field, crossing apparently large distances."
The researchers found the previously unknown vents on the upper slopes of Mount Dent, which rises some 3km from the sea floor in the Cayman trench area but its peaks are still another 3kilometres below the surface. The discoveries suggest that active deep-sea volcanic vents are more widespread around the globe than previously thought, he added.
The scientists also found hundreds of white anemones lining the cracks where warm, copper-rich water seeps from the seabed as well as snake-like fish, an unknown species of snail and a flea-like crustacean called an amphipod.
Traffic snarls possible in face of GT water-works
(CNS): Hospital Road in George Town will be reduced to one-lane next week when the Water Authority starts work to replace the main water supply pipeline in the area. The authority is warning drivers that the north bound lane from the 4way junction to Elgin Avenue will be closed and motorists are encouraged to use alternative routes. During the pipe-laying work, Hospital Road will be closed and traffic restricted to local traffic only while the regular traffic is facilitated through temporary traffic signals or flag men. The Hospital Road pipeline replacement project is part of the Water Authority’s ten-year capital plan to expand and upgrade its water and wastewater infrastructure. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
The work startson Monday January when the current aged 8-inch diameter pipeline will be replace with a new pipeline in order to improve reliability.
“The main pipeline that runs along Hospital Road was installed in the late 1980’s and since that time the demand for water has increased significantly,” said Tom van Zanten, Deputy Director of the Water Authority. “The water distribution system has seen tremendous growth over the past twenty years and the 8-inch pipe now needs to be replaced in order for us to deliver water efficiently and reliably.”
The Water Authority recently completed a similar project to replace the aging pipeline along South Church Street. The replacement works will continue through mid-February 2012, barring any unforeseen occurrences. Most work will be carried out during the day, between the hours of 9am and 3:30pm.
Steps have been taken by the government water company to ensure that service to their customers in the area is not affected, the authority said.
“Prior to pipe laying of the new pipe, a temporary pipeline will be installed to ensure that water service to our customers in the immediate area is not interrupted while the main pipeline is out of service,” said Larry Washburn, Operations Manager. “We will also backfill the trenches at the end of each day as a safety measure.
“Due to the narrowness of the road, and the importance of safety, the Water Authority will perform most of the upgrade work at day, between the hours of 9am and 3:30pm,” he added.
For more information on the Water Authority visit www.waterauthority.ky.
Judiciary needs new court
(CNS): With an ever increasing workload, especially in criminal matters, and ten judicial officers presiding over the myriad cases passing through the local court system in only six court rooms, the country’s top judge has said there is now a pressing need for the long planned new court house to be built. Speaking at the official opening of the Grand Court on Wednesday morning, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie pointed out that people had the right not only to a fair and timely trial in criminal cases but the right to have accurate and cost-effective determinations of all disputes before the courts. He said the work load now more than justified the new building, which had received government approval several years ago.
Smellie explained to a court room filled with members of the legal profession who had turned out for the judicial occasion that the new court house project was in the advanced stages ofits design when it was shelved because of the financial crisis of 2009.
“The need for it is more urgent and pressing than ever and I do not think it has to be explained, having been accepted by government and the commitment renewed in each Throne Speech over the past several years,” the chief justice said.
1,338 new cases were filed in the summary court during 2011 and 1,276 were disposed of, including some which were carried forward from 2010. In the Grand Court, 114 indictments were filed on top of cases carried over from 2010. In total 91 cases were handled by the Grand Court last year and 88 have been carried into the new judicial year.
However, it is the rate of disposal which is the most important statistic, the chief justice noted. In the Grand Court Criminal Division that was 285 days, down by 54 days over the same period in 2010. “Although not as low as the benchmark of 180 days, this is a reduction in the time to disposal that brings us closer to that benchmark which we had established until the marked year-on-year increase in the criminal case load which started in 2006,” he explained.
The average time in the Summary Court for criminal matters, he said, was still troubling at 298 days, which illustrated the need for a permanent fourth magistrate to help handle the sheer volume of criminal cases each year but the lack of court rooms and other facilities has prevented that appointment.
Despite the justification already well-established regarding the new court, he said the government and the public were still entitled to timely reports on the situation.
“The overall position is that there are now seven judges of the Grand Court,” he said.
All seven hear cases on a daily basis, and with just three magistrates hearing Summary Court every day. This means there are still ten judicial officers but only six court rooms. This is compounded when the Court of Appeal is in session when eleven court rooms are needed.
“The problem is exacerbated whenever there are lengthy trials, which will occupy court rooms for several days or even weeks on end, thereby effectively reducing the available number of court rooms for the recurring number of other trials,” Justice Smellie added.
Unlike other areas, of government, the chief justice said, investment in plant had not kept pace with the increase in business at the court.
“This is notwithstanding the fact that revenue generated from the commercial side of court business has continued to contribute significantly towardsoffsetting the costs of providing the services,” he added.
The Financial Services Court alone has generated a significant amount of money over the last 18 months and made an important contribution to government coffers.
But the chief justice noted that the decision on the new court could not just depend on costs; the timeliness in the delivery of justice was an important consideration.
“It must not be forgotten that what is at risk if the administration of justice falters is the right of the citizen to a fair and timely trial and the right of all persons who come before the courts to have accurate and cost-effective determinations of their disputes,” he said. “In the absence of the assurance of those rights, Cayman would soon lose its reputation as a fine place in which to live and in which to conduct business.”
Justice Smellie said the judicial administration would be seeking to re-engage the government about the new court house this year.
During his report the chief justice revealed that magistrate Nova Hall had been appointed as chief magistrate in the Summary Court following the departure of Margaret Ramsey-Hale to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
He also confirmed that local attorney Eileen Nervik would act as a temporary magistrate to help with the current workload until former crown counsel, Kirsty-Ann Gunn, whohas been appointed by the judicial services commission as permanent magistrate, takes up the post in April.
Cayman Finance snubs watchdog conference
(CNS Business): Despite the popularity of the OffshoreAlert annual conference among Cayman’s financial industry experts, the industry’s Cayman Islands association has again failed to respond to invitations to take part or contribute to the agenda. The publisher of the financial watchdog’s website and monthly newsletter which shines a light on the darker side of the industry said he was disappointed that although he had reached out to the organisation, he has received no reply. One of the members of Cayman’s judiciary, however, has agreed to take part and will be joining a panel of regional judicial heavyweights to discuss key rulings and legal issues affecting financial services. Read more on CNS Business