Archive for June, 2012
Chris becomes first hurricane of 2012 Atlantic season
CNS): Posing no threat to land Chris became the first hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic season on Thursday morning when winds reached speeds of 75mph as the storm trundled towards the northeast some 625 miles off the coast of Canada. Chris is not only the first hurricane of the season but is one of only two June hurricane’s in history to form so far north with the other being Hurricane One in 1893 according to Jeff Masters of Wunderground. Being over such cool waters however means Hurricane Chris is likely to be short lived and predicted to become a post-tropical cyclone on Friday. Meanwhile, a broad area of low pressure over the Gulf of Mexico fuelling the inclement weather in Cayman has been given a medium chance of becoming a storm during the next 2 days.
The NHC said the area of showers and thunderstorms that extends from the north-western Caribbean sea northward into the south-eastern Gulf of Mexico and Florida had a medium 50 per cent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours but warned of heavy rains and localized flooding regardless.
Local weather forecasters in Cayman were calling for improved conditions and a gradual decrease in cloudiness as the area of low pressure moves into the central Gulf of Mexico away from our area.
For more on local weather go to www.weather.ky and for regional weather go to www.nhc.noaa.gov
G20 leaders back automatic information exchange
(CNS Business): The declaration by G20 countriesin Los Cabos this week that they will be leading by example when it comes to automatic exchange of financial information has been welcomed by groups campaigning against tax havens and offshore financial centres. Campaigners say such jurisdictions should not be allowed to pick and choose who they share information with via tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with specific countries but should automatically reveal information. With the world’s leading nations backing that position, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) said it was a step in the right direction and would go a long way towards curtailing tax evasion. Read more on CNS Business
Crisis centre plans crucial annual funding event
(CNS): Studies have shown that in economically difficult times, the incidence of domestic violence increases significantly and that three in four women will stay in an abusive relationship because they do not have the financial resources to leave. Last year the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre received 131 crisis calls and sheltered 30 women and 35 children, including providing them with meals, clothing and other daily essentials. In order to keep offering a safe haven to womanand children in danger the centre depends heavily on its annual major fundraising event in December the Jingle Bell Walk/Run which brings in around $50,000.
Maples and Calder and MaplesFS have partnered with the centre as the major sponsor of the event which is now in its 10th year and has contributed $5,000 to the 2012 event scheduled for 8 December.
“Maples and Calder is committed to many initiatives across the Cayman Islands, but we are particularly supportive of organisations that focus on helping those in need. Raising awareness is as important as the funding aspect, and the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre is doing a remarkable job in getting the word out about domestic violence," said Paul Lumsden, Managing Partner, Maples and Calder, Cayman. "The statistics are concerning and we must all do our part to ensure that everyone has the opportunity for a life free of violence.”
Allison Clark, Fundraising Committee Chair of the Board of Directors, thanked Maples and all the sponsors. “We are well into the planning stage of the 2012 event and are grateful for all of our corporate and individual sponsors. All of the money we raise at these events goes directly to fund operations of the Crisis Centre and we would not exist without these generous donations.”
For more information on sponsoring the 10th annual Jingle Bell Walk/Run in support of the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, please contact Allison Clark at aclark@investors-trust.com, by calling 749-3340 or visiting www.cicc.ky.
The Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, established in 2003, is the first and only safe shelter for the victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault in Cayman.
UN Environmental Summit Opens in Rio
(TIME Business): Leaders from around the globe gathered Wednesday to open three days of talks at the United Nations conference on sustainable development, where a sober, unambitious mood prevailed as negotiators produced what critics called a watered-down document that makes few advances on protecting the environment. Negotiators worked for months to hammer out a document that many hoped would lay out clear goals on how nations could promote sustainable development — making economic advances without eating up the globe’s resources.
But with time running out, contentious issues like technology transfers from rich to poor nations and new financing for developing countries were set aside. Diplomats agreed on what all call a mere beginning, a step toward a roadmap on how to embrace sustainable development at the conference dubbed “Rio+20″ — coming two decades after the landmark 1992 Earth Summit put sustainable development on the globe’s agenda.
'The future we want has gotten a little further away today. Rio+20 has turned into an epic failure. It has failed on equity, failed on ecology and failed on economy,” said Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace. “This is not a foundation on which to grow economies or pull people out of poverty, it’s the last will and testament of a destructive twentieth century development model.”
Governor says LA calendar based on budget
(CNS): In his response to the opposition leader about the unconstitutionality of the most recent meeting of the Legislative Assembly, the governor has avoided commenting on its legality but has pointed the finger at the budget delay. In response to a letter from Alden McLaughlin sent to him last week, Duncan Taylor said the proroguing and recalling of the country’s parliament on an annual basis is “inextricably linked to the preparation and presentation of the budget” and the delivery of the throne speech and budget address. As the premier, who is also the minister of finance, had not prepared the budget until last week he has been unable to give the governor a date to reconvene the LA.
In his letter the governor states that following Friday’s meeting he officially prorogued the LA, but he fails to address McLaughlin’s main concerns about its unconstitutionality. Taylor does, however, make it clear that the circumstances have arisen as a direct result of the failure of the premier to notify the governor’s office of his plans over the budget address.
Despite the lack of direct comment about the constitutional problem that McLaughlin had drawn to his attention, the opposition leader said Wednesday after receiving the letter that the purpose in writing had been served. “I think the governor has got the point,” McLaughlin told CNS.
The opposition leader explained that, despite comments made by the premier, his letter had nothing to do with the details of the business carried out last Friday during the meeting, which had past the deadline for the parliamentary year end. McLaughlin said it was about drawing a line in the sand regarding the constant abuse by the current government of proper processes when it comes to the Legislative Assembly.
“I wished to draw attention to the repeated abuse of the system and the governor’s silence on the unconstitutionality speaks clearly,” the opposition leader added.
Despite the issues regarding the legality of the most recent meeting of the country’s parliament, which was boycotted by the opposition, Taylor confirmed that it has now been formally prorogued as of Wednesday 20 June and has been gazetted.
In his letter to the leader of the opposition the governor states that “efforts to finalize the budget are on-going” but he gave no date for when he will be in a position to deliver the Throne Speech, paving the way for the premier to present his budget, which is currently in the hands of the FCO.
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See governor’s letter to opposition leader below.
UK asks for more on budget
(CNS): The UK has asked the Cayman Islands Government for more information on the budget that was submitted to the UK last week. Sources tell CNS that the FCO has not been given the necessary details on the CIG’s spending plans to offer its approval. In light of the request, the premier’s hopes of delivering the budget on Friday have been dashed and the chances of the budget making it to the floor of the Legislative Assembly and through Finance Committee before the end of the month have almost slipped away. The UK is unlikely to approve the premier’s request to add to the national debt unless it can see some evidence of cuts and real efforts to properly balance the public finances.
With public spending on the increase and a budget that does not balance once capital expenditure is included, UK approval for the borrowing is unlikely to be forthcoming. If the UK does not approve the borrowing, which is believed to be more than $40 million, the premier will have to either make cuts or go without the extra funding, which he says is needed to complete the schools and the remand centre as well as launch his solar panel project.
Opposition Leader Alden McLaughlin said Wednesday that he was increasingly concerned about the situation over yet another budget fiasco and Finance Minister McKeeva Bush’s inability to balance the books. He pointed out that this was the UDP’s third budget to be presented late and that the premier could no longer point the finger at the previous administration.
“To say it is worrying is an understatement. The budget is running contrary to the rhetoric from government, contrary to the three year plan he agreed to and contrary to the financial framework agreement he signed. I believe we are in a really bad situation. He can no longer blame the PPM for this. Deficits aren’t carried forward; these are his budgets,” McLaughlin added.
He described the tardiness of yet another budget as inexcusable and questioned how the premier, as minister of finance, believed he could deal with the most important thing government has to do while he was partying in London and Panama.
Anticipating many problems with the budget, McLaughlin said the process usually takes three weeks and that there was now no way the budget could go through the proper scrutiny in time for the year end. He said Bush would be forced to invoke emergency legislation to appropriate a temporary budget so government could function.
As part of the CIG’s agreement with the FCO all borrowing must be approved by London and the financial framework agreement (FFA) also requires a balanced budget, all of which must be presented to London three weeks before the Throne Speech. Bush should have sent the spending plans to the UK several weeks ago in order to be certain of making the financial year-end deadline; however, he did not forward his plans to the FCO until the end of last week.
With Bush presenting spending plans that do not include capital expenditures in operating expenses, the budget is not, despite his claims, in surplus. In addition, the borrowing requirement is in sharp contrast to Bush’s own claims that the government would do no more borrowing. The OT minister is unlikely to agree to the borrowing unless he sees evidence of genuine cuts in public spending.
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Miller: Findings back rollover
(CNS): Although the Term Limit Review Committee has recommended that government drop the controversial seven year term limit for foreign workers, Ezzard Miller says the findings of the report show that the policy has worked. The independent MLA says that, despite the recommendations made by the authors, their findings indicate that rollover has not driven business away but has worked and limited the number of people who are now eligible for Caymanian status. He said that removing the seven year limit and allowing everyone to apply for PR is nothing more “than kicking the can down the road” and will raise unrealistic expectations among foreign workers.
Miller is likely to be a lone voice on the issue, however, as it seems government, the opposition and large parts of the community are set to support the committee’s recommendation to pushthe term limit back to ten years. Nevertheless, despite being one of the few remaining supporters of rollover, Miller believes it is still the best policy.
He said the idea that because government will let all people who stay here for ten years apply for PR, more people will be granted residency is misleading as it cannot afford to allow many of those who apply through because it will not have the money to take care of low paid workers once they retire. He warned that making the system seem fairer to allow low income workers the right to permanently reside may sound politically correct but it wasn’t a realistic option.
Miller warned that allowing everyone to stay longer than eight years so they could apply for PR would place the Cayman government at risk of human rights challenges and would create false expectations because, while everyone would then apply for residency, government would have no intention of granting all but a few of the applications.
Although he admitted it might not be a perfect system, Miller told CNS that he supported the key employee system. “There is nothing wrong with principle behind the ‘key application’ process. I don’t agree with the TLRC that it’s the employer making the decision,” he said. “The decision is made by the board based on a lawful set of criteria.”
The independent member noted that to improve the application process, those given key status should meet all of the criteria established by government, not just one.
Miller emphasised that the report found that rollover was not the main issue impacting the Cayman economy so there was no real reason to remove it. He said that it was a fallacy that thousands of people had left because of the term limits. “As I’ve said many times before, immigration isn’t the problem. It’s simply not true that people have left en-masse. This was confirmed by CUC who had not lost the thousands of customers that they should have done if the exodus was a reality.”
Miller said the problem is government’s imposition of high fees and policies, which were crippling existing small business and preventing new entrepreneurs from launching start-ups. The North Side representative said the cost of borrowing was too high and the cost of fees even higher.
“Government has been addressing the wrong problem all along,” he added, pointing to endless amendments to the immigration law since the UDP administration took office. “But there have been no amendments to legislation to help small businesses. With the exception of bending laws and policies to meet the wants of his favoured major developers, who are lauded as economic saviours, the premier has done nothing to help the backbone of the economy.”
Miller told CNS that, given the current economic circumstances and the number of Caymanians out of work, the government should be turning its attention to reducing the number of permits. He said new jobs are no longer being created, which means young Caymanians need to be given the work that is currently held by migrant workers.
He conceded, however, that this was unlikely to be a priority for government considering the amount of revenue it now collects from work permit fees and its dependence on that money to pay for the ballooning public sector.
See full TLRC report here
Wolverines and Killa-Panthers remain undefeated
(GCFFA): After three weeks of flag football action, the Burger King Wolverines have positioned themselves as the team to beat in the Dart Women’s League, as they easily shut-out Maples Bliss last Friday night with a final score of 30-0.Quarterback for the Wolverines, Antoinette Lewis, completed 23 of 28 passes, including three for touchdowns and one interception thrown. Lewis’ favorite receiver was Benecia Thompson, who caught six balls, including one for a touchdown and extra points. Alex Terry was another favorite, receiving three balls and rushing one pass in for a touchdown.
Jahzenia Thomas and Joni Wood also contributed to the score with their catches in the end-zone resulting in touchdowns, and Lewis also utilized the height of Jessica Ebanks and Carrie Barnett, whose receptions added up to extra points for the Wolverines.
On defense, the Wolverines were led by Shinette Rhoden and Thomas, with three tackles each. Ebanks read the game well, gaining two interceptions and Barnett came up with one.
For Maples Bliss, who were without their quarterback, the team barely made it past the 40 yard line. Filling in the role of quarterback for Ellenor Berry was Loletta Hanna, who completed just five of 18 pass attempts, with three interceptions thrown.
Malaqui Awe helped Maples gain some yards with the four balls she caught. Somali Small also caught a ball, but there was little offensive action made by Maples to bring them even close to scoring.
Defense saw Maples with much more action as they tried to stop the Wolverines from gaining further momentum. Maples’ defense was excellent in the second half, as they prevented their opponents from adding to the already inflated score. Somali Small had five tackles and an interception, and Annique Holness also had five tackles and one sack to the quarterback. Sheyla Torres also had two tackles and two sacks, and Kamala Murugesu also came through with a sack.
Starting off Saturday morning’s games were Hammerheads Lady Sharks against Lone Star JagerMonsters. Quarterback for Lady Sharks, Hong Nguyen led her team to the 20-6 victory with completing 13 out of 23 passes, including two for touchdowns and two interceptions thrown.
Star receiver for the Lady Sharks, Scimone Campbell, caught two touchdown passes and three more balls. Sophia Foster was a next favorite look as she received four balls on offense.
Leading the defense for Lady Sharks was Lilia Conolly with eight tackles, including one interception that led to a defense touchdown. Campbell was also key on defense contributing with three tackles and an interception, and Judy Rivers also followed with an interception and two tackles.
The Lone Star JagerMonsters might have seen a closer game with Hammerheads Lady Sharks, but three interceptions thrown slowed any promising advancement by the team. Quarterback Tricia Miller completedjust 11 of 25 passes, including one touchdown pass to Erica Bosch.
Bosch received two more balls, followed by Renee Thompson with three balls and Monique Roberts with two.
Renee Thompson showed her dominance on defense with five tackles and one interception, followed by Nickey Martinich with four tackles and one interception. Bosch also chipped in with three tackles, and Roberts came through on defense with a sack to the quarterback.
The undefeated Androgroup Killa-Panthers retain their status as they beat the struggling Subway Stingers 19-0. Quarterback for the Killa-Panthers, Christina Hefner completed 23 out of 30 pass attempts, including three touchdown passes.
Cassandra Bodden, a favorite receiver of Hefner’s, caught two of the touchdown passes, and Lisa Malice caught the third. Bodden also had seven more receptions, followed by Heather Roffey with seven.
Androgroup’s defense also kept the Subway Stingers from scoring even though the team made it down to the end zone a few times. Heather Roffey led the defense with four tackles, followed by sister Gillian Roffey with three tackles. Stephanie Watler darted around the blockers adding two sacks on the quarterback, and two tackles.
Subway Stingers improved their game this week with quarterback Christina Pineda managing to move her team down the field with many attempts to tie the game. Completing 13 of 29 pass attempts, Pineda’s main receiver was center player Keisha Anglin, who caught the ball seven times. Despite having a tight defense played on her, Latoya Cover managed to receive the ball three times on some key downs for Subway.
Cover shone on defense with eight tackles, followed by Keisha Anglin with six tackles and Timisha Edwards and Dionne Anglin each with five. Rookie Nikki Ebanks bullied her way through to sack the Killa-Panthers’ quarterback twice.
Zulu Warriors put the spell on Hot 104.1 Cheetah’s winning 14-0. Quarterback for the Warriors, Jessica Pawlik, completed just six of 19 passes, with four interceptions thrown, but two passes ending in touchdowns. Dionne Whittaker also stepped in as QB, completing three of four pass attempts including one for a touchdown.
Shamar Ennis caught two of the touchdown passes, and when Pawlik stepped in as receiver, she helped gain yards the other way, catching three of Whittaker’s balls.
Leading Zulu’s defense was Adrianna Christian who managed to sack the Cheetah’s quarterback four times. Shari Seymour added four tackles to the defense, as did Whittaker with three. Hortencia Jackson also kept the Zulu’s defensive momentum up with her interception.
Although the Hot 104.1 Cheetah’s had a higher percentage in their throwing and catching game than the Warriors did, they were still unsuccessful in making completions where it counts- the end zone.
Quarterback Kimberley Rivers completed nine of 21 passes. Jessica Richards received three balls, followed by Sophia Dilbert and Jamesette Anglin each with two receptions.
On defense, the Cheetah’s show their strength with rushers Diandra Bodden and Amanda Nelson each coming up with a sack, interceptions by Jennifer Cotarelo, Tonia Ebanks-McLaughlin and two from Jamesette Anglin.
Week four of the Dart Women’s League sees Friday night’s game between Hammerheads Lady Sharks and Subway Stingers at 8pm. The first game at 10am on Saturday is between Maples Bliss and Hot 104.1 Cheetah’s. Both teams have seen losses in the past couple of weeks. The final two games of the day begin at 11am with the undefeated Burger King Wolverines against Zulu Warriors and the undefeated Andgroup Killa-Panthers against the Lone Star JagerMonsters.
Teenage girl charged with arson following house fire
(CNS): Police have now charged an 18-year-old girl who was arrested at the weekend following a house fire in George Town. An RCIPS spokesperson said the teenager was expected to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon charged with arson with intent to endanger life. The fire occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning at Oakmill Street in Windsor Park. No one was injured in the blaze as all of the occupants were safely removed from the house by emergency crews. Police have not named the young woman who is being charged with the offences nor have they stated if she was a resident at the house.
Cost of living going up despite fall in housing costs
(CNS): Despite the lingering recession in the Cayman Islands, the community continues to face inflation in the face of high transport costs as well as food and drink. According to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the quarter ending March 2012, inflation increased only marginally by 0.1% compared to last year. However, in reality Caymanians are spending 6.4% more on transport and fuel and over 5% more on food & drink compared to this time last year. The relatively low inflation rate was as a result of a fall in the cost of renting, which accounts for 40% of the goods basket used to measure the CPI.
“The downward pressure to inflation arose from the housing price index which declined anew by 3.9%,” Finance Minister McKeeva Bush said this week on the publication of the latest statistical information.
The increase in food costs was led by a whopping 11% rise in seafood, a more than 9% increase in oils and fats, a growth of 8.8% in the price of fruit and a more than 7% increase in soft drinks, including mineral water, as well as fruit and vegetable juices.
Since the last quarter results the CPI decreased by 1.1% because of housing costs, which declined by 4.9% due to the movement in imputed rentals for housing
Meanwhile, since December last year restaurants and hotel prices increased by 5.3%, driven mainly by a 38.1% increases in the average cost of accommodation services. Hospital service also drove up the cost of healthcare by 1.6%. Clothing and footwear went up by 1.6% above the level in December 2011 and miscellaneous goods and services went up by 1.2%.
The transportation index experienced a net increase of 1% due to increases in the average cost of vehicles purchased – some 6.4% — and transport services which went up by more than 2%.