Archive for June, 2012
Cayman government contracts AED link system
(CNS): In an effort to have a quicker response to people suffering sudden heart attacks the government has contracted a Florida based firm to provide a service that will lead to rapid deployment of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) during a cardiac emergency. Atrus, Inc., will be providing its AED Link which gives nearby AED location information to 9-1-1 dispatchers so they can guide a caller to the closest AED in the event someone has a heart attack. The system will also instantly notify volunteer public responders affiliated with those AEDs to bring their defibrillator to the scene. Dr. Sook Yin, Medical Director of the Cayman Heart Fund said that in a cardiac emergency time is the critical determinant in the victim’s survival.
“By immediately identifying if one of these life-saving devices is available, we can direct someone to quickly retrieve and use it prior to the arrival of our EMS professionals. Having the ability to notify a person with an AED nearby gives us an additional response which is especially important if there is only one bystander,” she said.
The Cayman Heart Fund is going to provide a customized version of Atrus’ National AED Registry for AED owners to register their devices into the system. The “Cayman Heart AED Registry” will be a free AED program management service that will generate regular email reminders for owners to periodically check the device to ensure it is in working order. Registered users will also receive reminders to replace electrode pads and batteries which are nearing expiration date, thus making sure the AEDs are in working order.
Cayman Heart Fund Chairman David Dinner said alongside the benefit to public safety the service will offer updated SCA/AED information and automatic notifications to make sure machines are maintained and comply with current regulations.
Atrus President and CEO, Elliot Fisch, said publicly available AEDs are not often used in emergencies because people can’t see them and don’t know where they are but with the new service 911 dispatchers will be able to identify the nearest defibrillator within 1,200 feet of a victim and direct those at the scene.
“Our current Emergency Medical Dispatch program provides for our telecommunicators to ask specific questions to assist responding EMS personnel arrive at the patient’s location quickly and safely,” said Cayman Islands Government’s Director of Public Safety Communications, Brent Finster .
“In a cardiac arrest situation, we ask the caller if they have an AED nearby. Now, with AED Link, we will not only know exactly where the closest AED is located, but we will also be able to automatically notify a trained volunteer responder to go get their AED and bring it to the patient’s location. This will save lives.”
The system and registry are expected to be available next month, officials said.
Cops arrest four in bank job
(CNS): Updated with names — Four men have been charged in connection with a George Town bankrobbery last month, police revealed Thursday morning. Although no details of the crime have been revealed by the RCIPS, Christopher Julian Myles (aka Frank White), Kevin Curtis Bowen and James McLean have been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery at the Scotia Bank on Thursday, 3 May. These three men, aged 31, 30 and 19 appeared in court Thursday 21 June following the appearance of a 25-year-old man who appeared in court on Tuesday 19 June charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Police have not yet stated why the charges relate to conspiracy and not actual robbery but there is no indication that this was an inside job. The bank was held up in broad daylight in downtown George Town on a busy cruise ship day by three men. The masked men entered the bank at around 11:45, two of whom were armed with what appeared to be guns. The robbers then threatened staff and customers at the Cardinal Avenue branch of Scotia Bank before making off with a sum of cash.
The suspects entered an awaiting getaway vehicle – a dark blue coloured Honda Accord saloon car — which was directly outside the bank. The car was then seen to drive off towards the Eastern Avenue area which was later found abandoned in Bronze Road a short time after the robbery, behind the Church of the New Testament off North Sound Road.
No shots were fired during the robbery and none of the staff or customers were injured but the getaway was caught on camera by a visitor to the Cayman Islands who passed the picture to the police.
UK minister issues warning over fiscal responsibility
(CNS): The FCO’s minister for overseas territories told the TCI media last week that the money lost during the Misick administration went missing because the checks and balances were not in place. Speaking during his visit to the Turks and Caicos last week, Henry Bellingham warned that under the new white paper the UK government would not interfere in the day to day running of government but it expected "good fiscal management” and if things were “not going well”, he said, the FCO would work in partnership with its territories. Bellingham told the local media it would be up to them to hold the political parties to account once the country returned to an elected government.
According to the local website TCI Now, Bellingham said the FCO would be looking for sound financial management from future governments, not just in TCI but across its territories.
“The 14 overseas territories are an important part of the UK family and we will be issuing a new white paper to show we are going to invest in them and work alongside them and provide assistance in terms of personnel working alongside them. In return we expect good fiscal management,” he said.
Reflecting on the TCI’s own issues, he added, “We all know that a huge amount of money which should have gone to the TCI people went missing and that was a tragedy for the territory … this happened because there were not checks and balances in place.”
He said the financial problems there have yet to be resolved as the deficits have continued and, while a portion of the huge debt left by the Misick government was paid down, the islands still had significant debt.
UK Lord costs £14k+ pcm
(CNS): Lord Blencathra and his consultancy company are costing the public purse more than CI$19,500 per month to represent the Cayman Islands. Records released following an FOI request show government has contracted both the Tory peer and his firm, Two Lions, to promote Cayman’s interests in the corridors of power in London and Brussels. Although appointed as director of the London office, he is not on a salary but is invoicing the Cayman government on a monthly basis at a rate of £12,000 per month, plus 20% VAT. The contract also reveals that Lord Blencathra’s focus is different from the historic requirements of the job in that he is assisting the CIG with its public finance difficulties with the FCO.
According to the contract, which was released with other records in response to a freedom of information request made by CNS, the Conservative peer’s role includes helping with the FCO and the Cayman government’s financial management issues. As a result, redacted correspondence between Blencathra and Cayman civil servants implies that his appointment was timed to ensure that he could attend the London meeting the premier had with OT minister, Henry Bellingham, last November, during which McKeeva Bush signed the Financial Framework Agreement.
Another of Blencathra’s functions is to present the “premier of the Cayman Islands and CIG ministers to the British government in the best possible light” and to help develop the relationship between the UK and Cayman.
Primarily the peer is focusing on promoting the Cayman Islands’ interests, in particular where the financial services industry is concerned, in the UK and Europe and to improve its overall image and reputation.
The contract shows that government felt in the “changing global financial circumstances” that the London office needed to expand its traditional goals to include strengthening the relationship between the Cayman government and the FCO, as well as other UK and European organisations, and actively promote Cayman in the business communities there. The contract also points to the need for someone to help identify opportunities for development and inward investment to diversify the Cayman economy and expand the islands’ revenue base.
The contract states that Lord Blencathra and his firm, Two Lions Consultancy, had been identified as having the experience and skills to undertake the proposed expansion of the London Office, working alongside the deputy director, Charles Parchment, who would continue to take on the more traditional duties of the London office.
According to the Department of Commerce and Investment, the London Office has three staff members, and its budget for 2011/12 totalled CI$817, 763.
See redacted correspondence of the negotiations between Lord Blencathra and CIG, his CV and contract.
Proper cuts needed to budget
(CNS): The opposition has warned that “hacking away at the budget” without proper examination of the needs of government departments will cause serious problems down the line for the UDP administration. According to the premier, civil servants had presented operational expenditures for the next financial year of $630 million, which was honed down in a matter of days to $498 million. PPM Leader Alden McLaughlin said slashing public spending requirements without proper analysis of the ramifications means that, once again, when government gets the nod form the UK it will be presenting another unrealistic budget. MLA Ezzard Miller also questioned why government is not following the cuts recommended in its own review.
As the current government’s final budget presents yet another financial headache for the premier, the need to slash spending to meet the requirements of the Strategic Policy Statement (SPS), the Financial Framework Agreement (FFA) with the UK, and the three year plan has proved difficult.
It is not clear whether cuts will have to be made to public services or if additional fees will need to be placed on an over-burdened private sector in order to allow government to balance the books but the opposition says it is unlikely to work without genuine analysis of where cuts are being made and what that will mean to each of the departments.
McLaughlin explained that when the Department of Children and Family Services tells government it needs a specific amount to deal with the demands it expects over the next twelve months, randomly reducing that amount won’t stop the demand. Without policy changes or proper analysis of where cuts can be made that affect core services, the department will still need the money it asked for.
“You can believe that this budget is unlikely to reflect the reality on the ground and there are going to be some real problems,” the opposition leader told CNS. He warned that as government enters the slow months of the year it will need to borrow over and above that requested in the budget just to keep the public sector going until it begins to collect revenue later in the year.
Miller, the independent member for North Side, has also questioned why government has not taken on board the recommendations of the various civil service reviews that have so far identified more than $50 million of savings in government departments.
Despite the rhetoric and speeches about efforts to cut spending year on year since taking office, the UDP has increased public spending. He said this was not just because the cost of delivering services had gone up but because the government had added more and more services.
“When the premier eventually delivers this final budget he will have spent far more than the PPM administration, which he has consistently criticised for overspending,” Miller added.
He said that with the savings identified by the review committees, in some cases more than two years ago, the government should have been able to reduce its spending target from $498 million to $448 million rather than having to engage in last minute cuts to a spending plan that had exceeded $600 million.
Miller said that there was, of course, no political will for government to make realistic cuts, especially with an election approaching, as ministers want the ability to spend money over the next twelve months so they can point to the benefits they have given their constituents. With a burgeoning budget and no sign of a let up in the economic slump, Miller said something would have to happen eventually
“At some point in time, politicians are going to have to be willing to cut some programmes,” he said.
The MLA pointed out that government may well feel that the solar panel project will be popular with voters but if government had not placed so much duty on fuel it would not need to borrow to fund this expensive new programme in the first place.
He pointed to the recommendations that have been made about centralising government finances and human resource management that would cut a significant number of high paid jobs.
Miller said it was essential that government began to cut the civil service. Acknowledging that job losses wouldn’t be popular, he said that every local public sector worker whose post was lost could be assisted to find work in the private sector before the job was cut.
Pointing to the number of work permits still being issued despite the global recession, Miller believed qualified accountants and HR personnel would not be difficult to place and would make an impact on government’s burgeoning wage bill.
PPM urges end of rollover
(CNS): The leader of the opposition has welcomed the findings of the Term Limit Review Committee (TLRC) and has urged government to remove the controversial rollover policy as soon as the public consultation period is over. The findings of the committee echo the sentiments put forward by Alden McLaughlin last year when he suggested that government remove the seven year term limit and allow all workers to apply for permanent residency (PR) if they stay on island for eight years. He had also recommended improving the criteria for PR and making that the point where the vetting process takes place — a recommendation adopted by the committee.
The opposition leader said he was very pleased with the findings, and although he had no quarrel with government publishing the report for public consultation, McLaughlin said that once that was over it needed to move quickly to stabilize immigration. He pointed to the continuous uncertainty as the most damaging issue when it comes to immigration and said it was important government settled the policy once and for all.
“We need to get away from the stigma caused by the policy and create some certainty surrounding immigration,” McLaughlin said.
Following the delivery of the committee’s report to government last month, the premier revealed last Friday that Cabinet had not yet discussed or adopted the findings but wanted further public input before any decision would be made.
The report recommends that government drop the seven year term limit, and in particular the key employee application process, which was the first hurdle that foreign workers needed to mount in order to be able to stay long enough to apply for PR.
It recommends that government implement a fairer and more transparent permanent residency application process for every work permit holder that stays on island for eight years. The committee said that it is at that point that foreign nationals should be either granted the rightto reside permanently in Cayman or be asked to leave for a fixed period of no less than one year, causing a genuine break in stay before being on the island continuously for ten years.
See full report here.
NDC urges schools to talk about drug misuse
(CNS): As the Cayman Islands joins the global community in commemorating International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June, the National Drug Council is asking schools to dedicate teaching time or hold events to highlight the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, free from alcohol, drug and substance misuse and abuse. This year’s theme is “Global action for healthy communities without drugs”, which the NDC says poses challenges to the educational system both in terms of health and educational outcomes. Substance abuse has been linked to academic difficulties, absenteeism and school drop-out and the NDC boss said schools play a crucial part in keeping students drug free.
“The active participation of educators, school support staff, students, officials and parents is required to offer the necessary support to those within our schools that abuse substance and to implement evidence-based interventions that prevent substance use in schools,” said Joan West-Dacres, Executive Director of the NDC. “Schools have a critical role to play in improving awareness and equipping students with strategies to make informed decisions about substance use.”
Substance use has a detrimental effect on the prosperity and health of all nations and is well recognised as a significant barrier to both teaching and learning. It has been associated with a host of high-risk behaviours, including crime, illiteracy, unprotected sex and violence, mental and physical health, and traffic accidents.
According to the 2010 Cayman Islands Student Drug Use Survey conducted among Years 7-12, about 54% of students have used alcohol in their lifetime, with 32% engaging in binge-drinking (5 or more drinks in one sitting) during the past month. The study also showed that while 20% of students have used marijuana (ganja) in their lifetime, 14% have smoked cigarettes during the year prior to the survey.
The National Drug Council is currently analyzing the data from its most recent survey conducted in the schools in April of this year.
Despite these frightening statistics, the NDC pointed out that many of Cayman’s students are choosing to refrain from any drug use. The 2010 survey results showed 54% of students not using any drugs. 57% of them also reported that their parents take the time out to talk to them about the importance of avoiding alcohol and drugs and over 40% report being involved in wholesome activities, such as youth groups or sporting practices, weekly.
The commemoration aimed at sensitising the public about substance abuse and its devastating impact on individuals, families and communities will mobilise communities and stakeholders in combating substance abuse. The NDC said it would be preceded by public and private school presentations, youth dialogues, media campaigns and distribution of pamphlets and information sessions. The NDC also stated that it would be pleased to provide support anytime through presentations during the school year.
For more information please call the NDC at Tel. 949-9000, Fax. 949-6264 or email:
info@ndc.ky or visit us at www.ndc.ky
Free Caribbean films on show at local theatre
(CNCF): The fourth edition of the amazing Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase will be presented from July 9 – 14 in the Studio at the F.J. Harquail Cultural Centre, featuring documentaries, features, short and animated films. The 4th TCFS offers 39 unique looks at the Caribbean and its diaspora. From award-winning films such as the Barbadian/UK documentary Catch A Fire directed by Menelik Shabazz to Eduardo Barberena’s socially conscious and controversial feature Cheila: A House for Maita, to fun animated films such as Jose Garcia’s The Mischievous Rabbit, the TCFS is sure to educate, inspire and entertain audiences of all ages.
The Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase (TCFS) is an annual film festival representing filmmakers from the Caribbean, Africa and its diasporas. TCFS is produced by the Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase Office, a division of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) located in Havana, Cuba. CNCF is the Organising Committee for the Cayman Islands.
The Showcase is a creative and effective way to share films not readily available online, in theatres or in stores. Organisations, businesses and schools are welcome to attend the Festival as well as browse the film synopses from the various Showcases and rent TCFS films. All films are subtitled when not in English.
TCFS is supported by ICAIC, UNICEF, UNESCO and MINCULT, and seeks to encourage film and audiovisual co-productions among Member States as well as promote the exchange of films and audiovisuals to be disseminated through the national broadcasting TV stations of the Member States.
Three TCFS films will also be shown on Cayman27.
June 27- 20 Years at 7:30pm
July 1 – Free Swim at 11am
July 4 – 20 Years at 7:30pm
July 5 – Free Swim at 8pm
July 8 – Free Swim at 11am
July 8 – Baobab Tree at 1:30pm
July 11 – 20 Years at 7:30pm
Click here to download a copy of the official show lineup
Click here to view the 4th TCFS synopses
Man stabbed in neck is stable, say police
(CNS): A 34-year-old man is currently receiving treatment at the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town for a serious stab wound to his neck, police said Thursday. The man was admitted to the hospital in the early hours of this morning after he reportedly received the wounds in the Windsor Park area during a party at Hawkins Drive. Police were alerted after the man was admitted to hospital, where he remians in stable condition. Detectives investigating the incident are now appealing to witnesses to the incident, which reportedly happened around 3:15am when some fifty people were in the area.
Police said they want to speak to anyone who was in attendance at the social gathering and saw anything that could assist the enquiry.
Anyone with information should contact George Town CID on 949-4222,the RCIPS tip-line 949-7777 or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477(TIPS).
Activist calls for boycott of movie depicting teen rape
(CNS): A local activist has called on people in Cayman to boycott Adam Sandler’s latest film as the movie uses the subject of statutory rape for laughs. "That’s My Boy" is a comedy about a 13-year-old schoolboy who has a sexual affair with his teacher. Marilyn Conolly says it glorifies rape and abuse and is no laughing matter. She’s calling for people to boycott the movie on the local big screen. “This movie portrays statutory rape of a 13-year-old child as the basis for the comedic material later in the film,” she told Cayman 27.
“The statutory rape of the child is portrayed as normal behaviour; it is endorsed as appropriate sexual behaviour for a 13-year-old male and shows scenes where the male's friends actually high five him, congratulating him on the relationship with him and his teacher, which in the Cayman Islands is rape.”
Representatives for Hollywood Theatres declined comment, the local news channel reported.
Conolly told CNS, "Having worked on issues dealing with women and children for about 17 years, I have seen the devastating effects of sexual abuse on children both from dealing with this issue in the community and from the perspective of the prison system; therefore I continue to advocate for the prevention of child sexual abuse by training adults to be responsible for the protection of children. While there are many aspects of this problem to address, I have focussed my efforts on prevention.
"Despite my views on this film, I do not support censorship especially under the present guidelines for the Cinematograph Board, which is why I did not approach them. I chose instead to share my views with others in our community who, if they agree with my comments, can choose to withhold their support of this film. Everyone has a right to their opinion and I understand that we will not all be on the same page. However, discussion is healthy to bringing this issue to light.
"The important outcome for me is that we as a community begin to speak about the issue of child sexual abuse because regardless of whether persons agree or disagree with my views and my suggestion to boycott, once we as a community start to discuss this issue it is only then that we can make progress on addressing this epidemic that is destroying our community through our lack of knowledge, tacit public acceptance and/or inaction by those who can make a positive difference in the life of a child."