Archive for July 10th, 2012
2013 Election Day and other holidays confirmed
(CNS): Although officials have not yet confirmed that Cayman will be marking the Queen’s Birthday on Monday 17 June 2013, all of the other public holidays next year, including the election day, been officially released by government. January, May and December all have two holidays each as both New Year’s Day and National Heroes Day fall in January as usual. Likewise December has Christmas Day and Boxing Day, both occurring midweek. In additionto Discovery Day on 20 May, Cayman has a public holiday for its much anticipated general elections on Wednesday, 22 May. A list was recently gazetted under an Elections Office notification as expected holidays.
Corporate Manager in the Deputy Governor’s Office, Christine Wright, has confirmed all holidays for next year barring the Queen’s birthday, which is still awaiting the nod from the UK. The Queen’s Birthday is celebrated in Cayman with a public holiday in June on the Monday following the Saturday designated as the official observance in the UK, Wright explained.
The public holidays in 2013 are:
Tuesday, I January: New Year’s Day
Monday, 28 January: National Heroes’ Day
Wednesday, 13 February: Ash Wednesday
Friday, 29 March: Good Friday
Monday, 1 April: Easter Monday
Monday, 20 May: Discovery Day
Wednesday, 22 May: Elections Day
Monday, 17 June: Queen’s Birthday (to be confirmed)
Monday, 1 July: Constitution Day
Monday, 11 November: Remembrance Day
Download the attachment below listing the ten holidays.
Cayman football boss to host first local meeting
(CNS): Jeffrey Webb, the FIFA Vice President and President of the Confederation of North Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), will be hosting his first CONCACAF executive committee meeting and strategic retreat this week on Grand Cayman. Officials from the football organisation said the meeting was about the objectives, vision, structure, and governance of CONCACAF, with emphasis on financial planning,competitions, development and branding. "This occasion is not only important in the history of football in the Cayman Islands, but it is also important in the history of CONCACAF," Webb said Tuesday.
"This will mark a turning point for CONCACAF, as we will, over the next few days, analyse every aspect of the confederation with the aim of creating a business plan. We will be reviewing everything from the structure to the finances of CONCACAF. Our aim is to ensure that CONCACAF is properly positioned as a major sporting organization to serve and complement its member associations and to develop football throughout the region," the president who was elected in May added.
The Cayman governor will also host a reception at the Governor's House on July 12 for the visiting dignitaries and the Cayman Islands Football Association will host a gala dinner the following day at the Ritz-Carlton in honour of Webb's election to the Vice Presidency of FIFA and the Presidency of CONCACAF.
Immigration department begins opinion survey
CNS): The Cayman Islands Immigration department is seeking the opinions of its customers in order to fine tune the latest changes to procedures at one of government’s busiest entities. The Customer Service Satisfaction Survey 2012 is now being circulated and is also available on-line. The public has until Monday, 23 July to complete the form which seeks to find out how the recent changes to the department’s procedures has affected its users in the workplace – and how can they be improved. Chief Immigration Officer Linda Evans said the data returned will allow the department to fine-tune its focus on key areas of service, especially though the Key Performance Indicator section.
This current undertaking follows 2009’s comprehensive Customer Service Satisfaction Survey which was undertaken by Deloitte. That information was used in drafting the department’s Three-Year Strategic and Business Plan. It also guided the revision of internal goals and procedures.
“Feedback from the first survey was meaningful and used to streamline new services,” said Ms Evans. “Public participation in this new survey will therefore help us determine the way forward.”
The department has secured the services of Deloitte to administer this follow-up survey, and to offer a comparative analysis on the results. Local business groups have been approached directly, but the public is encouraged to complete the questionnaire online, which takes only 10 to 15 minutes.
For more information, contact the Department of Immigration at 949 8344 or go to survey
Water Authority to begin major GT pipe project
(CNS): A major upgrade to the water supply pipeline on Sheddon Road in George Town begins this Sunday which will see stretches of the road closed at night until the project is complete. Officials from the water authority said the crews will be stating the work between Dr Roys Drive and Harbour Drive as well as a small section at the Elgin Avenue junction. The authority said it is replacing the current 8-inch diameter pipeline with a 12-inch pipeline to increase the capacity of the system and improve reliability. "The main pipeline that runs along Shedden 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 has become insufficient to deliver water efficiently and reliably,” he added.
The upgrade works is expected to continue for a period of around three months but will be carried out in sections to minimise the inconvenience to businesses, residences, motorists and pedestrians. The Water Authority also said it had taken steps to ensure that service to customers in the area is not affected.
“For each section we work on, 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 shift as a safety measure. In order to minimise the inconvenience to the motoring public, the Water Authority will perform most if not all of the upgrade work at night, between the hours of 10pm and 6am,” added Washburn.
During the pipelaying work the affected section of Shedden Road will be completely closed for normal traffic with access only available to residents. All motorists will be required to use alternate routes. Traffic flow will be facilitated at either end using temporary traffic signals or flags.
The Shedden Road pipeline replacement project is part of the Water Authority’s ten-year capital plan to expand and upgrade its water and wastewater infrastructure, officials stated in a release Tuesday.
For more information on the Water Authority and their role in the Cayman Islands, please visit www.waterauthority.ky
Academics sign story books at local store
(CNS): A former UCCI professor returns to Cayman this month to share his latest collection of short stories later this month, a few days ahead of the current UCCI president, roy Bodden, who will be sharing his collection of Caymanian stories he overheard as a boy, A Gathering of Old Men. The two academics will be holding a signing at Books & Books in Camana Bay on the Monday 23 and Thursday 26 July. Keith Jardim taught English at UCCI and hosted a local reading club and writers’ workshops before leaving Cayman in the summer of 2010. Bodden is one of Cayman’s best known writers, cultural historians and a former politician but isnow the university’s top man.
In his collection Bodden delves into his boyhood memories of listening in on conversations by the old men who gathered at his ancestral home, the Guard House, as they talked about everyday life and the issues facing an evolving Cayman Islands.
Expanding on the themes explored in an earlier collection, Stories My Grandfather Never Told Me (CNCF, 2007), the stories explore how the forces of colonialism and imperialism, globalization, racism, greed corruption, a toxic expatriacy and the search for identity, helped to define the Caymanian personality.
Meanwhile, Jardim will be presenting Near Open Water, his latest collection of stories from regional societies that seethe on the edge of chaos, where crime encompasses both the rulers and the ruled, and where representatives of the state are as out of control as the youth.
"The stories play nicely with the disjunction between place as redemptive and place as punitive/purgatorial. The sense of foreboding that pervades all of the stories is impelled by this tension … the work is 'postcolonial' in the very best sense of that critical label,” says Lois Parkinson Zamora, Professor of English, History, and Art. University of Houston.
Both free events will include an author presentation, group discussion and book signing.
Government lawyer turns storyteller
(CNS): Douglas Schofield, the deputy solicitor general in the Cayman Islands attorney general’s chambers has published a debut novel which surprisingly does not have the islands’ offshore sector as its theme. Although a legal thriller, Schofield has chosen to write the story of a legal secretary, in his native Canada who as well as battling the villain of the story is also battling addiction and her ex-husband for custody of their child. In ‘Flight Risks’ although Schofield draws on his experiences as an attorney, according to the books promotional material, to produce a book which has broad appeal, he appears to have resisted the temptation of using his Cayman home as the backdrop.
“Anyone who enjoys a suspense-filled page-turner, with gut-wrenching twists and turns and an unlikely but utterly compelling heroine is going to love this story,” says Schofield about his book. Hopeful that readers will be hooked, the attorney is already working on ‘Day of Grace’ a sequel to the novel.
‘Flight Risks’ is published in paperback by Miwk Publishing, in the United Kingdom, and in eBook format by eBookIt.com and is now available from on-line retailers.
The lead character in Schofield’s novel is Grace Palliser a legal secretary, recovering addict, and divorced mother who lost custody of her daughter, who uncovers a plot to make false claims on dormant accounts of Holocaust victims. Murder, abduction, spying, international terrorists, and plot twists are the key ingredients which has a menaced woman as its central character.
Contest opens for underwater pictures
(CNS): Cayman’s private sector tourism body is looking for underwater photographers to enter their work into this year’s Underwater Photography Competition which forms’ part of the annual Underwater Film Festival. CITA said its photography competition is open to anyone — professional or amateur, local or visitor — who wishes to submit photos to be considered in the contest but the pictures must be taken here in Cayman. Internationally renowned professional photographer Cathy Church will be leading a panel of judges to determine the winners. Winners will be announced at Festival in November with prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in five areas.
Contestants can submit pictures under the following categories Cayman Wrecks, Turtles,
Critter/Macro, Scenic, which cannot include turtles, stingrays and/or wrecks and Creative which offers an opportunity for advanced photo editing by 12 noon EST on Monday, 29 October.
The rules and regulations can be found on the entry form at www.cita.ky/photocompetition.
Each first place winner will receive a $250 Camana Bay gift card. Second place winners will each receive a $150 Camana Bay gift card and third place winners will each receive a $100 Camana Bay gift card.
Other prizes for winning photographs include Caybrew beer and the winning images printed on canvas by Cathy Church. All winning photos will be exhibited at both the International Underwater Film Festival and Camana Bay for the month following the Film Festival.
In addition, a ‘Best in Show’ award will be given to one of the first place photos as an overall best of the best. This grand prize winner will receive a trip on the Aggressor Fleet to a location of their choice Cayman, Belize, Turks & Caicos or the Carib Dancer in the Bahamas.
The ‘Best in Show’ prize is valued at $2,695, and includes accommodation, diving, air, weights, weight belts, all meals and snacks, non-alcoholic beverages, local beer and wine.
For more information on the Underwater Photography competition, contact CITA at info@cita.ky or 345.949.8522
New Lion president emphasizes team work
(LCGC): Local Lions from the Grand Cayman have elected Ian Callow as president at their recent change over luncheon. Callow accepted the Presidency of one of the longest extant service clubs in the Islands and promised to uphold the values that the Lions are known for throughout the community. He emphasized the vibrancy that teamwork brings to any organization and the entire community, shifting the accent as it does from individual to collective endeavor.
“I have chosen the theme for my year as President “I am a Lion, serving our community” as our motto in helping us to achieve our objectives for the year,” he told a packed audience at the installation of the new executive of the LCGC for 2012-2013 year.
Guests from every service club in the Cayman Islands were on hand to watch as the new board pledged their commitment to teamwork. “Together we can achieve so much more by working together,” the new LCGC President said.
He pledged a year in which as a team, the LCGC would achieve its set goals while having fun, and working towards specific goals in the community.
Building team spirit within would go hand in hand with the club’s sight, social services and youth programmes for which the organisation is cherished in the community and indeed around the world.
“I’m looking forward to leading the Lions Club of Grand Cayman and helping ensure that we continue to provide much needed assistance to those less fortunate than ourselves. It is particularly significant this year as we will be celebrating the club’s 40th anniversary serving the Cayman Islands”.
He underscored his commitment to new programmes such as the inaugural PACCE (Prostate & Colon Cancer) Event and continued support for the Lions signature events such as White Cane week would continue with renewed vigour, he noted.
He said that the membership had two choices – to be involved or committed. “Each of you today has been given a sticker that I would like you to place on your mirror. Every time you look at it you will be asking yourself the question “Am I a Lion,” he added.
Outgoing President Mitch Ebanks took the opportunity to wish the new President every success in all his endeavors in the year ahead. He briefly outlined the club’s achievements in the previous year including continuation of sight screening for over 1,000 school children, the annual Christmas gifts delivery throughout the community and the all-island children’s Christmas Party.
Lion President closed with “I look forward to everyone’s support as we head into this new Lionistic Year. We know that we have to work harder to get sponsorship and donations in the current economic climate but we have already seen some fantastic support for our new event PACCE which will benefit men in our community who are suffering with prostate and colon cancer. The proceeds will be split between the Cayman Islands Cancer Society and the Cayman Islands Hospice. Our supporters in the business community are still as committed as ever to helping us to improve the lives of some of the less fortunate in our community”.
About Lions Clubs International: Lions International is the world’s largest service club organization, with nearly 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in 193 countries. Since 1917 Lions Clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world. For more information about Lions Clubs International logon to www.lionsclubs.org.
Police charge one over road-stop gun seizure
(CNS): One man has now been charged following the recovery of a firearm after he was pulled over by RCIPS officers last week in George Town. The 37-year-old man has now been charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ganja and is expected to appear in court Tuesday. The gun was seized after police stopped a vehicle in North Sound Road at around 1.30am on Friday 6 July. As the car stopped one of the people inside ran off but he was chased on foot by the officers. He was then arrested a short distance away from the car and a firearm and ammunition were found on the suspect, a police spokesperson stated.
Two other men who were with the armed suspect were also following the incident but they have now been released on bail while enquiries continue, police said.
Anyone who has information about crime in the Cayman Islands is asked to call George Town CID on 949-4222, the RCIPS tip-line 949-7777 or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477(TIPS).
Wife faces trial after injuring husband’s testicles
(CNS): An East End woman is facing charges of grievous bodily harm as a result of an alleged attack on her husband earlier this year at their home in the district. Arlene McFarlane appeared in Grand Court on Friday and pleaded not guilty to the charges of maliciously wounding her husband. The crown claims that McFarlane grabbed and squeezed her husband’s testicles so hard she caused him serious harm, which led to the victim needing medical attention. McFarlane, who was released on bail, will face trial on 1 April.