Archive for July, 2012
El Nino could curb Atlantic peak season storms
(CNS): Experts at the U.S. Climate Prediction Centre revealed Thursday that the emergence of an El Niño in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, may limit the development of hurricanes in the Atlantic as the storm season reaches its peak in September. The weather boffins said that the number of warm spots across the central Pacific has grown indicating an El Niño may form before the storm season reaches is busiest time. “Overall, the forecaster consensus reflects increased chances for El Niño,” the centre said. This phenomenon in the Pacific increases wind shear inthe Atlantic that can keep tropical systems from forming.
The experts said observations reflect a likely progression towards El Niño and favour the development anytime from now until September the busiest period when storms form in waters off the African coast and intensify as they travel across the Atlantic.
This hurricane season started with four named storms in its first month — the most since the National Hurricane Center began keeping records but the season is still expected to be relatively quiet, with a total of nine to 15 named storms four to eight of which are expected to become hurricanes.
The phenomenon of El Niño usually forms every three to five years as warm surface waters in the Pacific Ocean shift from west to east. Those warmer waters form upper atmospheric storms that can thwart hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. While El Niño can dramatically reduce hurricane formation, it does not eliminate it.
As the climatologists made their predictions Thursday there was no sign of any tropical storm formation across the Atlantic.
Capital projects poorly run
(CNS): In his latest report the auditor general has raised concerns about how government manages major capital projects. Alastair Swarbrick used the new Government Office Administration Building (GOAB) and the high school projects as case studies and found a number of problems, from a lack business cases and undefined roles for politicians and administrative staff to problems with financial management practices and standards for how these projects should be built. He pointed to a waste of scarce resources and lack of accountability, though he did note some good practices during the construction of the GOAB.
“While there are problems with the government’s management framework for major capital projects, we found good practices used in the building of the Government Administration Building,” Swarbrick said on Thursday as his report was revealed to the public. “The government may wish to consider these for standard practice for the management of all future major capital projects.”
But with significant gaps and weaknesses in how government manages its spending on capital projects on the whole, he said the public was not getting value for money. The high school projects came in for considerable criticism by Swarbrick, who said his team found significant problems with project management.
The public auditor said the construction of the high schools was handed over to the Ministry of Education to build when it did not have the management expertise or experience to execute such a project. The lack of an experienced project manager together with the involvement of politicians in the conceptual design phase resulted in the projects being poorly managed and controlled.
“Government needs to ensure that effective and robust practices are in place across the public service to manage these significant capital projects to demonstrate due regard for value-for-money. We found it is left up to the individual ministries to determine how it is done,” he noted.
The auditor did find, however, that the procurement process was followed and in both cases the process was fair and transparent. But the company selected to construct the third high school in West Bay began work before a contract was signed, which ultimately resulted in significant costs to government when it was forced to stop the project as the economic downturn hit.
For more on the auditor general’s view of these key controversial projects and a full copy of the report check back to CNS later.
Air arrivals continue to grow with 7.5% rise in May
(CNS Business): After a slight fall in April, air passengers arriving in the Cayman Islands increased once again this May when compared to the same month last year, statistics from the Department of Tourism have revealed. The almost continuous rise in tourism arrivals which began some two years ago saw a 7.5% increase in May compared to 2011, which had also recorded a significant increase on 2010. This May was the second best since 2001, with 25,193 arriving at the airport. Meanwhile, down at the George Town port, arrivals were considerably more disappointing. Arrivals fell below last year’s figure to 90,551, the worst cruise arrival statistics for May since 2000. Read more on CNS business
Clock ticks on deadline for postal vote applications
(CNS): With the much anticipated referendum on one man, one vote and single member constituencies only two weeks away, the deadline for those wishing to apply for a postal ballot is Friday. Campaigners from the OMOV movement are urging people to ensure that if they will not be on island on referendum day, which is Wednesday 18 July, that they apply to vote by post. Following the premier’s decision to allow the vote before the May general election but selecting a July date and insisting on 50% of the entire electorate plus one vote set a significant challenge for those spearheading the campaign for a more democratic system.
A spokesperson for the OMOV movement urged everyone that supports OMOV to ensure that they vote and, if they are away, not to miss this Friday’s deadline for an absentee vote.
As a result of the high bar set by the government in order to defeat its own referendum, it will need 7,582 'yes' votes to carry and anyone who supports OMOV but misses their chance to vote will be adding to the ‘no’ vote.
Further details on absentee voting as well as mobile voting for those who are working on referendum day or those who are infirm and unable to get to the polls is available on the elections website at www.electionsoffice.ky
VAT a step closer for people of TCI
(CNS): Despite growing opposition across the territory people in the Turks and Caicos Islands are more than likely going to paying VAT in the very near future. The new VAT Bill passed its reading with the TCI Advisory Council on Wednesday paving the way for the bill to the Consultative Forum for debate next week. Acting Governor Patrick Boyle who headed the session said the introduction of VAT was “hugely important for the future development’ of the UK’s overseas territory where direct rule was imposed in 2009 following a corruption scandal and massive mismanagement of public money. “VAT will help ensure that public services receive a steady and predictable income,” he added.
“Public finances have fluctuated wildly in recent times. Under the present system if the money dries up what do we do – stop providing essential services?,” the acting governor asked rhetorically in the wake of the council’s approval but in the face of mounting local opposition.
“I am certain that the incoming Government in November will be grateful to benefit from such an improved future cash flow. The introduction of VAT will help put this country on a stronger footing for the future by spreading the same tax take over a broader more stable range of sources,” Boyle said. “The introduction of VAT is not about taking more tax, it is about creating more stable public finances.
He said the interim government had listened to concerns about cost increases and making a large number of things zero rated.
“We have ensured that the consumer will not pay VAT on their electricity and water supplies, nor will they pay more for their VAT exempt essential items – rice, flour, fresh meat, fruit and vegetables – and a host of other everyday items too. We also made sure that VAT was not applied to resort Strata fees, which was a key piece of feedback from the Consultation period,” the acting governor added.
VAT will be applied however to legal, accounting, architectural or air-conditioning services which have not previously included tax in their sales price. This means the cost of doing business will increase by 11% though the Boyle stated that registered firms will have the benefit of being able to offset the VAT that they pay out to their suppliers against the VAT that they bring in from their clients.
“We also believe that it is fairer to have all significant businesses here in the Turks and Caicos Islands paying their share of the tax burden,” he said. “The proposed rate of VAT of 11% is deliberately set no higher than Accommodation Tax. Indeed, VAT will replace this and a number of other taxes will actually make administration easier for both Government and business.”
Boyle claimed that government had listened and was trying to do what is right for the future of the Turks and Caicos Islands. “I shall work with the Chief Financial Officer to ensure that in addition to the planned development programme with businesses, that we also reconsider how we might better communicate the undoubted benefits of VAT to the TCI with the consumer too.”
However, Turks and Caicos Independent Business Council opposing the new tax has claimed that there has not been any real consultation over what it sees as an inappropriate tax for the islands. Echoing the new business action group’s sentiments the local architectural profession has also raised its objections and concerns this week. Members of the profession say their industry is already hard hit by the numerous challenges in the local economy and that VAT is fundamentally flawed and not conducive to economic sustainability in TCI.
The profession presented government with a position paper setting out alternative proposals but according to a letter sent to the TCI government’s chief financial officer on 3 July by the local architects no feedback was received.
$81M deficit row rolls on
(CNS): The MLA for East End has revealed a note prepared by the financial secretary in the spring of 2009 advising the government of the day that it was running a deficit of $18 million, only three months before the year finally ended with the now infamous $81 million deficit. The document, which was dated 30 April, showed a decline in revenue of $14 million on the budget predictions for that year but an increase in spending of $7 million. The revelations in the Legislative Assembly by Arden McLean further fuelled the long-running dispute between the current UDP and former PPM governments over how the deficit managed to increase so significantly in the last quarter of the 2008/09 financial year.
The figures supplied by the financial secretary were based on the general ledgers and McLean questioned, once again, how in the last three months of that year the deficit could have grown by a further $63 million.
“It is extremely unfair for this government to come here and keep saying that the PPM had an $81 million deficit and that his government has improved it, yet we can’t see the accounts that can explain all of this,” McLean told his legislative colleagues. He said the document (posted below) demonstrated that some three weeks before the election (the note was presented at the beginning of May) the financial secretary was advising Cabinet that the government was running an actual deficit far smaller than the figure it is now accused of accumulating.
The opposition has over the last three years persistently queried the current government’s claim that there was an $81 million at the end of the PPM’s administration and the UDP has in return persistently pointed to the significant deficit figure, along with the spending on the high schools, as the root of all of its financial difficulties.
During the debate McLean pointed out that when Cabinet first heard of a potential deficit, the PPM government had pushed for cuts across the civil service. When the Cabinet note was presented to them in May, it appeared things had worked and the government had averaged a monthly deficit of $2 million for the first 9 months of the year.
However, the figures claimed by the UDP when it came to office later that year suggested that the new government then proceeded to run a more than $21 million average monthly deficit for the last three months of the year, something McLean said was hard to believe.
In response to the Cabinet note being made public, the premier spent a considerable portion of his reply to the debate on the government’s stop-gap budget motion referring to a speech made by Financial Secretary Kenneth Jefferson in July 2009 in which he sought to explain the chain of events that led to the eventual $81 million shortfall.
Jefferson claimed at the time that he forecast a $68 million deficit as early as February 2009 and government worked towards decreasing the forecast deficit of Cl$68 million to the Cl$29 million deficit that was presented in the 2008/9 supplementary budget brought to the Legislative Assembly on 20 March. But even as far back as October, Jefferson said, he was warning government of a major deficit due to increasing expenses and a major fall in revenue. It was then that a policy directive was issued to all public entities to reduce operational expenditures by 6% and implement a staff freeze.
Jefferson said he had warned that without bringing a supplementary budget there was a real danger that the promised reductions would not materialize, but the PPM government did not heed that advice and agencies were allowed to continue to spend their original budget.
By February Jefferson was forecasting an operating deficit of $68 million, and according to the statement he gave in July of 2009, this forced Cabinet to make even more drastic spending cuts.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Cabinet was informed by the Portfolio of Finance and Economics that a forecast for the year to 30 June 2009, done as of 9 February 2009, indicated a deficit position of Cl$68 million,” Jefferson claimed and added that the supplementary budget eventually brought to the House was unrealistic.
Given all of this, it is still not clear why a deficit of only $18 million was forecast by the FS in the Cabinet note presented just weeks before the election.
As government has still not presented any consolidated accounts since 2004, the actual spending and earnings of the PPM administration have still not been made public, and despite promises by the current administration to address the issue of financial reporting, government has failed to complete any annual reports.
Statement in the Legislative Assembly 1 July 2009 by Financial Secretary Ken Jefferson (pdf)
ICCI looks outside the family for new boss
(CNS): Dr Tasha Ebanks Garcia who will be taking up the post as president of the International College of the Cayman Islands this month will be the first person outside of the founding Cummings family to take on the job since ICCI opened its doors more than 40 years ago. Garcia will also be the youngest president to serve at ICCI, at only 38 when she succeeds Dr. John Cummings, who will retire this summer. Garcia who is also a part time TV host takes up the post during tough times when many students are struggling to pay for tuition and when the college needs to ensure the academic programme is in step with the needs of a sophisticated and ever-changing job market.
“I welcome this opportunity to be part of ICCI, as it has played such a strong role in providing higher education in this country,” said Garcia. “I have always been passionate about higher education and the impact that is can have in transforming lives and the fortunes of families into success stories. I am looking forward to becoming part of ICCI’s story.”
One of Dr Ebanks Garcia’s initial goals will be establishing a mentoring programme that would match new students with alumni and students in their senior year.
“It is not unusual, when engaging in tertiary education, to feel a bit lost at sea. But matching students with alumni, who have been through it and can provide guidance, can help students get on track and stay on track. So instead of feeling lost, they will feel anchored in support,” Garcia added.
The Board of Trustees unanimously supported Dr. Ebanks Garcia appointment along with the Cummings family who founded the college in 1970, says ICCI deputy chair Cathy Frazier.
“Dr. Ebanks Garcia personifies the inspiring, motivated, community-driven leadership that will be needed to lead ICCI to its next exciting chapter,” said Frazier. “She recognises the need for expanding the scope of education to students who may need extra attention, empowering them to be leaders and examples to others. Her academic qualifications, personal sensitivities, experience and professionalism will bring a new vitality and dynamic leadership to ICCI. We are all excited to have her join the college.”
For nearly 35 years, co-founders Dr. Hugh Cummings and then Dr. Elsa Cummings have held the president’s job. A few years after Hurricane Ivan, Hugh Cummings’ eldest son, John, took on the job in 2008 to help rebuild the college and get it back on solid financial footing.
"I am extremely pleased that the Board has found such a wonderful and able replacement,” said Dr. Cummings. “She is exactly what the college needs at this point in time in its life cycle. All future, current and past students of ICCI, should now give Dr. Ebanks Garcia all of their support as she takes on this demanding job."
Over the course of four decades, ICCI is still the only institution which offers associates, bachelors and masters degrees in the country and is internationally accredited.
Before earning her PsyD, Dr. Ebanks Garcia worked in TV broadcasting and print media for several years, holding various roles in sales, human resource management and product management. Spending much of her spare time doing community service work with organizations such as Junior Achievement, Hope Centre and through the church she decided to return to school to eventually completing here PsyD in psychology at Alliant International University in California.
Last year, she joined the clinical team at The Wellness Center where she engaged in family therapy work that focused on working with families in divorce and included child custody evaluations for the courts. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Ebanks Garcia is a programme facilitator for Passport2Success, an initiative that has been instrumental in helping at risk young people develop work place readiness skills and address barriers to success from a therapeutic perspective. She also teaches at ICCI part-time and hosts and produces Cayman27’s “Let’s Talk to the Experts”.
Dr. Ebanks Garcia plans to scale back her clinical practice to take on the president’s job full-time, she feels strongly that there are not enough psychologists willing and able to do child custody evaluations so she will be continuing that work as well as family therapy on a part-time basis at The Wellness Centre. With the start of the talk show season approaching Dr. Ebanks Garcia will continue to put the spotlight on Cayman’s social issues through her work on “Let’s Talk to the Experts”.
Local unemployment climbs
(CNS): Despite good news from the country’s experts that the local economy is improving, the government’s latest annual economic report shows that unemployment continues to climb, with over 1,700 Caymanians registered as unemployed – some 9.8% of the local workforce. Given that not all those who are currently out of work will necessarily register with the labour department, the real figure is likely to be considerably higher. According to the Economics and Statistics Office report, the labour force grew slightly at 0.8% in 2011 to 37,620 and although Caymanians benefitted the most, with the number of employed locals rising by 1.1%, the number of Caymanians out of work has also risen.
The overall number of unemployed was 2,353, with the unemployment rate rising by 0.1 percentage points to 6.3%. The number of Caymanians unemployed reached 1,732, resulting in a Caymanian unemployment rate of 9.8% in 2011. As expected, the unemployment rate for non-Caymanians was lower at 3.1% with 621 people recorded as unemployed.
One of the main factors affecting the unemployment of local workers as opposed to foreign nationals was the continued shrinking employment activity in the construction sector, which fell by 6.3%. Related manufacturing, mining and quarrying also fell by 7.5% and there was a fall of over 10% in administrative and support services, where many locals are employed.
At the close of the year, work permits had contracted by 2.9% from the 20,452 recorded a year ago to 19,852. By 31 March this year, according to the immigration website, the number had fallen again slightly to 20,309.
The rising levels of unemployment set against the numbers of work permits continues to cause concern, however, and during the budget debate the independent member for North Side, Ezzard Miller, warned government to keep a closer eye on unemployment levels among local workers because of the long term implications.
Miller said that government needed to get a grip on the number of unemployed Caymanians given that the over-employment rate was running at 60%. As the government is depending on work permits for funds, it is tempted to ignore the rate of unemployment among local workers. He said this was a vicious circle because government then had to spend more on social support for those who are out of work.
Unemployment is also particularly high in Cayman among young people leaving school and college, where unemployment levels are believed to be around 35%. In the ESO’s latest report on the labour force, which was released in May, only 55% of those aged between 15-24 who are currently in the workforce are employed. More than 50% of the country’s unemployed have been without work for 12 months or more, while almost one in every six has never had a job.
Related story on CNS Business
See ESO report below.
Jailed fraud suspect also faces civil suits
(CNS Business): David Keith Self, who is currently on remand at HMP Northward facing multiple charges relating to financial crimes, has also been served with three civil suits regarding his alleged fraud and misappropriation. The white collar suspect is being sued for more than US$1 million that he is said to have stolen while working as an insurance manager on Grand Cayman. Last month local attorneys Campbells filed three suits on the suspect in his jail cell on behalf of the victims of the suspected crime — Landis insurance company, Landrin Insurance Corporation and Warco Insurance. Read more on CNS Business
Cayman rugby celebrates
(CRFU): The Cayman Rugby Football Union celebrated its 2011/12 local rugby season with their annual player’s dinner on Friday 29 June. The traditionally all male affair which is now open to female rugby players and more recently guests and partners, was attended by over 200 people at Ristorante Papagallo. Guest speaker for the event, Shane Williams MBE, was a big hit with the local rugby fans answering questions on his professional and international career and making himself available for autographs and photos whenever asked.
The focus of the evening being the opportunity to join with friends, family, colleagues and team mates in order to celebrate a year of all things Rugby in Cayman and to give thanks to the volunteers, staff members and sponsors without whose support the continued successes of Rugby in the Cayman Islands would not be possible.
Successes, to name but a few, included Cayman’s rise to being ranked 2nd in the Caribbean at Rugby 7’s, 4th in the Caribbean in Men’s XV’s and 66th in the IRB World Rankings and 1st in U19’s Men’s Rugby.
On Saturday 30 June Williams also took part in the John Gibson Hangover match taking on the Cayman U19 squad before their departure to Mexico to compete at the NACRA U19’s championship where the team will be looking to retain their Championship earned on home soil.
No doubt the Hangover Match was not Williams’ biggest test since his retirement from international rugby in on 3 December 2011 but having come out of professional retirement to take a contract in Japan with the Mitsubishi Dynaboars in June, Williams showed all the flare and skill which saw him named IRB International Player of the year in 2008 and will no doubt be a huge inspiration for the U19’s on their Mexico adventure.
2011/12 player awards:
Most improved female player (Sponsored by DMS Offsore): Valerie Coerver
Female players’ player award (Sponsored by Stuarts Walker Hersant): Joanne Ziegler
Female player of the year (Sponsored by Heineken Light): Joan Murphy
Junior male player of the year (Sponsored by CRFU Angels): William Hayward
Most improved male player (Sponsored by Artifacts): Yohann Regnard
Men’s Player of the Year (Sponsored by Magners Cider): Marco du Plessis
The Club Person of the Year award, which is awarded to the individual who volunteers the most time and effort to Cayman Rugby, went to Mark Lea for his dedicated service to the Cayman Rugby Union in keeping the South Sound rugby pitch manicured and marked throughout the season.
The CRFU would like to give a special thank you to all their Partners & Sponsors for the 2011/12 season especially;
Platinum Sponsors: MAPLES, Heineken, Z99, IT Outsource, Hews, Caymanian Compass, International Rugby Board, North American Caribbean Rugby Association, Cayman Islands Government Department of Sport, CIOC
Gold Sponsors: DART, Greenlight RE,
Silver Sponsors: PWC, KPMG, Cayman Rehab Services
Bronze Sponsors: Fidelity, Clan Construction, Krys Global, DHL, Queensgate, John Doak Architecture, Cayman Islands Helicopters, Global Captive Management Ltd, Comfort Suites, Water Authority