Archive for April, 2012
Public sector review focus of weekly meeting
(CNS): The progress on the overall review of how Cayman’s public services are managed and operated formed the key part of the latest civil service bosses meeting. According to the minutes released by the deputy governor’s office the 2 April meeting revealed that terms of reference and the resources needed to collect data for a review of the whole of government synergies had been agreed. The record of the meeting also pointed to more issues coming out of the review of government’s human resource policies.
The deadline for civil servants to comment on the human resource policies in government was extended to last Friday and feedback was provided to the deputy governor at the chief officers meeting on the Anti-Sexual Harassment policy and the Attendance Policy.
“Specifically, the need to consider greater flexibility in the attendance policy to provide services to the public over the lunch hour and for the collection of children from schools was raised,” the minutes reveal.
The minutes show that progress is being made on the whole public sector review and the teams involved have consolidated recommendations from several reports into one in order to eliminate duplication. A review of the current status of the implementation of the approved recommendations has also been undertaken.
See minutes below
Regional astrophysicist holds ‘stellar’ workshop
CNS): A regional expert was in Cayman recently for a teacher’s workshop on astronomy teaching and to enthuse local kids about her subject. Dr Shirin Haque from the University of the West Indies Trinidad who is the only astrophysicist in the Caribbean was the key note speaker at the Galileo Teacher Training Programme, organised by Dr Bill Hrudey, the man behind the UCCI reach for the stars project. “Science is an academic area that is too often neglected,” said Dr Hrudey. “I think that young students thirst for the opportunity to learn more and, Dr Haque's visit to the schools certainly confirms this given the enthusiasm they showed.”
Dr Haque is the recipient of numerous teaching awards and represents the International Astronomical Union in the Caribbean. Members of the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society also participated in the workshop. She visited 5 schools to speak to and inspire students on the merits of science and efforts are underway to have her return later in the year when a Science Week event is being planned as part of the UCCI Observatory programme.
Dr Haque was very impressed with the observatory as well as the telescope, noting that it has remarkable potential for astronomical work, public awareness of astronomy and serves to encourage young students to discover the world of science and discovery.
Cayman veterans take Scottish tournament trophy
(CRFU): Friday 13th in Melrose, Scotland unlucky for some but not the Clan Construction Cayman Harlequins who won the Plate Competition at the Davidson Chalmers 10's Tournament. The tournament for players over 35 years of age featured teams from Hong Kong, England, Wales & Scotland including the famous Melrose, Gala, Hawick, Orkney & professional club Glasgow. Cayman won their first pool match 37 to 5 against Northern Gas Pilgrims but lost to Melrose 5 to 7 despite scoring at the death only to have the try disallowed for stepping into touch which put the Clan Cayman out of the Cup and into the plate.
In the Plate semi final Clan Cayman faced Melrose 2nds and won 29 to 19 to get into the final against Glasgow.
In the final and in front of former Governor and now Melrose Resident Thomas Russell, Clan Cayman went behind 7 to 0 but defended valiantly against a very slick Glasgow side. Clan Cayman scored early in the second half but were unable to convert leaving the score at Clan Cayman 5 Glasgow 7. Clan Cayman Battled back and scored with the last play of the game to win the Trophy 10 to 7.
Team Captain Tony Elliot a former National Captain of the Cayman team who now resides in Hawick was delighted with the teams performance.
'It's great to win some silverware, we have been competing here for five years and despite some close attempts this is the teams first trophy against some formidable opposition," he said.
Director of Rugby Richard Grizz Adams had a huge smile on his face after the final.
"There are going to be some very sore bodies tomorrow including mine but the win was great, the tournament is superb and it's been a great day all around. The locals as always have been brilliant and it is great to carry the Cayman Flag to Scotland and Melrose where I am happy to say we have quite a following and are very lucky to have a lot of local players who make up the numbers so we can play here and wear their shirts with Pride!,' he said.
Bush says SMCs threaten Cayman economy
(CNS Business): The premier has said that replacing the current voting system with single member constituencies (SMC) could threaten the economic prosperity of the Cayman Islands as it may make the islands look unstable. In a radio and television broadcast on Thursday in which he pushed government’s position to support the status quo and campaigned against the introduction of one man, one vote and single member constituencies, McKeeva Bush said voters must think of how it looks to those who make Cayman prosperous because it could make Cayman look like a banana republic and put them off coming here. Read full story on CNS Business
UK OT minister heads for Cayman Islands
(CNS): The UK’s minister with responsibility for Britain’s overseas territories will be visiting the Cayman Islands this week. Although no official itinerary of Henry Bellingham’s trip has yet been released, CNS understands that the FCO minister will be arriving on Wednesday. Sources also tell CNS that he will not only be meeting with government officials but also with the activists opposing the proposed ForCayman investment Alliance between government and Dart. Bellingham will be visiting Cayman as part of a visit to other territories in the region. Cayman’s deputy premier will not be meeting with the UK boss, however, as she will be in Tonga on commonwealth parliamentary association business.
Mac reveals ballot question
(CNS): Voters in the Cayman Islands will be asked just one question in the 18 July referendum on changing the country’s voting system. “Do you support anelectoral system of single member constituencies with each elector being entitled to cast only one vote?” The premier has also confirmed that he will be seeking 50% of the entire electorate ratherthan a simple majority of the turnout, despite the fact that this now appears to be a government and not people initiated vote. Fears that the premier may seek to offer a number of alternatives on the ballot were allayed following a national address by McKeeva Bush, which was broadcast on radio and television on Thursday evening.
The premier also launched into a full campaign against the change and focused heavily on what he said were the disadvantages of small single member constituencies. In the address he said very little about the actual principle of one man, one vote. He said that the current system was not broken, even though he had previously admitted that the possibility of George Towners having six votes when others have only one was problematic.
Bush had previously said that his government was going to add the extra three seats as provided for in the new constitution to George Town and Bodden Town, based on the recommendations of the Boundary Commissions 2010 report and the populations of those districts. However, following the groundswell of support for one man, one vote during the campaign for a people-initiated referendum on the subject, Bush made a surprise announcement in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday that he proposed to hold a referendum in July instead.
The premier has stated that government will begin an education campaign against single member constituencies and has outlined what he says is wrong with them. In his radio and TV broadcast on Thursday he said the current system works well and does not need fixing, whereas the new system proposed is open to abuse and manipulation and that change creates uncertainty and risk.
Bush maintained that those campaigning for the change, who have focused on the inequality of multiple votes, were misleading voters.
“They use a quite different term,” he said, but did not use the term one man, one vote which is at the root of the campaign. “(This) suggests the Cayman Islands do not currently have that most basic of democratic rights, equal votes. So please don’t be misled by their language, or their claims that they are righting some fundamental wrong in our democracy.”
The premier warned that because the single member constituencies would be smaller the system would allow for family “bosses” to get elected.
Bush suggested that single member constituencies would destabilize the political system and didn’t to be fixed unless people were planning to fix the election.
Although one man, one vote and single member constituencies are the most common form of democratic voting, the premier made it very clear that his government wishes to maintain the status quo and he pointed to some local council elections in the UK that have been multi-member, although the UK parliament, considered one of the most stable democracies in the world, uses a single member, one man, one vote, first past the post system.
The campaigners for one man, one vote and single member constituencies now have only three months to ensure they get more than 7500 people to vote ‘yes’ in the referendum in order to secure a victory. With such a high bar and up against a government machine campaigning for a ‘No’ vote, the opposition, independent member and local activists will be looking to recruit hundreds of volunteers to go door to door and persuade the electorate that one man, one vote is, despite the premier’s position, more democratic.
The next step in the process towards the referendum is for the government to bring a law to the Legislative Assembly which will spell out the question and the requirement of more than 50% of the electorate to carry the poll.
See the premier’s full statement below.
Political meetings cost public purse $21K
(CNS): Three public meetings hosted by the premier and the UDP MLAs billed as updates on the port and projects but which many described as political rallies cost the public purse close to $22,000. A breakdown released by the ministry following an FOI request shows that the meetings which took place in George Town, East End and Bodden Town were funded by the public purse and not the UDP. Although the meetings were advertised as an opportunity for the public to hear the latest on government’s proposed projects, the meetings focused heavily on government’s critics and opponents. Very little new information was revealed about the plans for the George Town cruise port or the other major projects at any of the gatherings.
During the meeting in East End, which cost government just over $5000, McKeeva Bush endorsed John McLean Jr, who plans to run in the district as an independent at the next general election, as the UDP’s preferred candidate. Bush also stirred up significant controversy when he said that he would be using money given to government by Dart under the ForCayman Investment Alliance deal to help McLean implement some local projects in the district, bypassing the East End incumbent and opposition MLA, Arden McLean.
At the Bodden Town meeting, the most expensive of all at over $9000 as government spent more than $6000 on advertising, a demonstration by campaigners opposing the relocation of Grand Cayman’s landfill to the district saw all of the MLAs, in particular the backbench UDP members, attacking the protestors from the podium but they gave no new details about the plans for the proposed waste-management project.
The first of the meetings, which took place in George Town and cost over $7000, also saw politics rather than the port take centre stage. Bush spoke for more than an hour and a half and made it clear that recent indications that he may be getting tired of the political fray did not mean he was going anywhere. Although wanting to see more young people step into politics, he said he was continuing on and would run in the next election. The speech heavily condemned his opponents, both in the legislature and in the community, as he accused the agitators of endangering the country.
All three meetings were seen as highly political, bringing into focus the argument raised by Bush himself when he was in opposition about governments spending public money on promoting themselves while in office and the fine line between a public update by government and a party political rally. During the previous government Bush criticised the then PPM administration for spending money on televised press briefings.
See FOI release and the breakdown of the public meeting costs below.
See advertisement promoting the George Town meeting here.
Bats provide economic and ecological services
(CNS): New environmental research has revealed the significant economic value of bats to the US cotton business. In the summer months, the Brazilian free-tailed bat migrates from its habitat in central Mexico to breeding grounds in the north of the country and south western areas of the United States, where it feeds on pests. The study found that this natural form of pest control has an economic value of US$740,000 taking into account the value of cotton crops that would have been lost in the absence of bats and the savings on pesticides. The UN has also emphasized the value of ecological services bats provide around the world and although environmentalists here have been pushing this message for several years all species of bats in Cayman remain unprotected.
"Bats perform an essential role as an agent of natural pest control by generating economic, social and environmental benefits in a Green Economy," said the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS) Acting Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema.
Migratory species including bats can provide biological solutions to increase economic gains while reducing harm to the environment.
At the forthcoming sustainable development conference in Brazil, Rio+20 in June the Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadaridabrasiliensis) will be one of the subjects that demonstrate how these flying mammals can reduce highly destructive agricultural pests.
As predators, bats are very efficient at eliminating pests over a wide area. A single female Brazilian free-tailed bat consumes eight grams of adult insects every night, which is about two thirds of her body weight. Up to 20 adult bollworm moths are eaten by a single bat each night.
Rodrigo Medellín, co-author of the study and Ambassador of the Year of the Bat said: "We must strive to conserve bat habitats worldwide for the sake of economic benefits alone. In addition to their role as a pest control, bats provide key services such as seed dispersal and pollination of economically and ecologically important plants. The educational initiative of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals is an essential tool to convey this crucial message."
Delta aircraft makes emergency landing at GT airport
(CNS): Emergency crews at Owen Roberts International Airport were on full alert Saturday lunchtime in anticipation of the return of Delta Airways flight DL352 Atlanta that was suspected to have a fire on board. Sources tell CNS that the aircraft landed safely with more than 150 passengers and crew who were all unhurt. However, on the ground emergency procedures had been activated. Although there has not been any official confirmation from civil aviation it is understood that the crew reported smoke in the aircraft cabin to local aviation officials. When it landed the plane was evacuated safely and the runway re-opened this afternoon. The flight left around six hours later after the airline sent a replacement aircraft.
Scratch card winner denies forgery and deception
(CNS): A 32 year old man from West Bay pleaded not guilty to three charges relating to forgery and deception on Friday in connection with a supermarket competition. Mark McLean has denied altering a winning Foster’s Supermarket punch and play card from a $5 prize to a $5000 prize and then dishonestly obtaining his winnings from the Strand store last year. McLean appeared before Justice Charles Quin in the Grand Court and pleaded not guilty to all three counts relating to the incident which took place in September 2011 when the crown claimss he cheated the supermarket’s promotional game.
McLean was released by the court on bail to return for his three day trial on 29 October.
The Foster’s punch and play promotional game requires customers to match three images on a card by scratching open the windows once the card has been fully punched as a result of the amount spent in the supermarket. When a triple match is made the winner then gets the sum of money that is allocated to that particular card. In this case the crown claim that the winning card that McLean presented to the supermarket was a $5 card which the defendant altered to read $5000.