Archive for July, 2012
Mac refuses to cut CS jobs
(CNS): In addition to a 10% tax of work-permit holders' income, the government will be introducing a directorship fee and another employment fee to firms employing foreign workers in jobs that could go to Caymanians in order to try and balance the 2012/13 budget. In a broadcast to the nation on Wednesday evening announcing the new payroll tax, Premier McKeeva Bush said he had refused to cut the 500-700 jobs needed for government to balance its books and had preserved the public sector workforce. However, the payback for that was the requirement that all civil service staff and their families will now make a contribution to their healthcare provisions and their pensions plans.
In a statement that demonstrated just how bad the state of government finances has become, the premier confirmed that, despite his promises to hold out on taxes, Cayman needed a new source of sustainable revenue and he would turn to direct taxation.
Although Bush claimed the so-called 'Community Enhancement Fee' was not an income tax, it will be calculated on the incomes and taken from the earnings of all work-permit holders who are paid more than $20K per year.
In what appeared to be an effort to soften the blow, Bush announced that employers of non-Caymanian workers and those employees would no longer be required to contribute to a compulsory pension scheme, cutting the burden to businesses.
Bush said that he had been under twin pressures from the UK to simultaneously cut spending and increase revenue.
“The FCO insisted that the Government strengthen its fiscal position by implementing a greater level of expenditure reductions,” he said. “The FCO is also of the firm view that the strengthening and improving of fiscal results for the Government must not occur solely as a result of reductions to expenditure, but revenues of the Government need serious enhancement and expansion.”
His statement listed vague references to savings in the public sector, such as cuts in marketing and the centralization of procurement. He also announced the sale of the police helicopter based on recommendations from the Expenditure Review Committee.
However, he said he had fought to hold on to benefits for veterans and seamen as well as assistance for churches and community projects.
There was, he said, a further request from London to reduce an additional $20 million “in areas of the budget which give grants to: Seamen/Veterans benefits, Social Services, such as the Elderly and Handicapped Persons benefits, temporary rental assistance and temporary financial assistance for persons who find themselves unemployed, Education Council Scholarships, grants to Community programmes such as apprenticeship programmes and church related programmes. To do this would truly make our community suffer much more than at present. I have refused that cut!” Bush stated.
As a result of a myriad number of announcements in the statement relating to the forthcoming budget, the premier said he would begin a serious of public meetings starting on Monday evening.
See premier's full statement below.
Payroll tax for expats only
(CNS): Full story — Foreign workers earning over $20,000 per year will be paying 10% tax on their earnings, a government official has confirmed. It is understood that, despite promises not to introduce direct taxation, rather than cutting operating expenses the premier is opting to make expatriate workers pay. Full details about the tax, which is being described as a "community enhancement fee" are expected later today. The premier made the surprise announcement to Cayman 27 on Wednesday morning amidst an island-wide power outage. Officials told CNS that the fee would be applied to the earnings of all private sector work permit holders who earn more than CI$20,000 but not expatriate civil servants.
Although revenue expectations have not yet been confirmed, government hopes to collect around $50 million for the public purse from the new tax, inside sources tell CNS. However, it is not yet clear how government proposes to collect the new revenue or how it will enforce payment.
The premier is expected to make an address to the nation on radio and TV onWednesday evening to reveal his government's intention to introduce the tax in the forthcoming budget in order to balance the books.
In an early reaction to the announcement the opposition leader said he was not surprised that this had happened. He said that the premier's failure to meet any of the requirements set down by the UK in the three-year plan and, more recently, the fiscal agreement had seen the UK place a gun to the premier's head as they can no longer trust him to cut revenue because he has persistently promised but persistently failed to deliver.
"This adds to the increasing uncertainty and concern that has been part of Cayman for the last three years and is bound to lessen the attractiveness of this place to do business, work or live," Alden McLaughlin said. "We have been treated to all sorts of uncertainty from budget to budget, as well as the constant breaches of procedure and process, along with attacks on officials and allegations of corruption and police investigations. And now in these already difficult times the business community has this to face."
The PPM leader warned that this form of income tax would make Cayman unattractive, presenting the danger that the ex-pat community would shrink and undermine the revenue government was trying to collect.
"The Miller-Shaw report had strongly advised against taxation as it will make the Cayman Islands less competitive in what is already a difficult global situation," he said. "This is the thin end of the wedge. Who would want to come and live in Cayman now?" McLaughlin asked, predicting that Caymanians would be the target for the next round of direct taxation if there was a mass exodus of the country's high earning work permit holders.
The independent member for North side, Ezzard Miller, pointed out that the premier had just spent the last three years amending immigration laws to attract this type of person and now, in an ironic twist, he was about to drive them all away .
Miller also questioned government's hope of collecting $50 million and estimated that it would be lucky to collect $10 million. Furthermore, there would need to be a new system put in place in order to collect the money, which would likely cost government more than a $1m as there is no infrastructure to collect from people's earnings at present, he noted.
"This is going to be the nail in coffin of the economy. Many of the people he spent the last three years trying to attract, for whom he amended the immigration law over and over again, will be driven away and, given the existing cost of living in Cayman, it will make us completely uncompetitive," he added.
Suggesting that government would collect far less than it hoped to, he said this revenue would have been found far more easily through cutting expenditure, such as the $10 million Nation Building Fund.
Business grinds to a halt
(CNS): Update 2:15pm — Electricity has been restored to the majority of CUC customers, according to Grand Cayman's power supply company, which said the island-wide outage this morning was the result of a fault at its Hydesville, West Bay substation. At present, electricity at the George Town Hospital and the Owen Roberts International airport has been restored. Customers along West Bay Road, South Sound, George Town, Bodden Town and North Side all now have electricity. A CUC spokesperson said that those customers who remain without power at this time will be restored in a phased manner to ensure system stability. CUC anticipates that powerwill be restored to all of their customers by the end of today.
The country's capital ground to a halt Wednesday morning when an island-wide power cut prevented many of George Town's businesses from opening. Today is the only day this month that three cruise ships are in port, but without power few businesses were in a position to open. Even Fosters Supermarket was forced to close its doors while CUC grappled with a major power loss.
Although the new Government Administration Building was able to draw on generator power and keep some government business going, other official buildings were closed.
All public libraries on Grand Cayman have now closed for the day and are expected to reopen tomorrow morning. The library on Cayman Brac remains open.
The Airport, Seven Mile Beach and Bodden Town post offices are now open but all other post offices on Grand Cayman remain closed.
Courts offices are currently closed and will reopen when power is restored to them. However, a small number of court sessions are underway to deal with urgent matters, according to the judicial administrator.
The Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) district office in West Bay is closed and will remain closed until power is restored. In the event of an emergency, contact the George Town Administrative Office at 949-0290.
The Department of Immigration, which did experience some disruption, now says that all Immigration services resumed as normal this afternoon.
While some private sector offices also switched to generator power many small businesses, shops and restaurants remained closed.
CIBC FirstCaribbean International bank branches at Plaza Venezia and Safe Haven are temporarily closed due to the island wide power outage and will reopen when normal electricity service has been restored. Customers are invited to use thebank's Main Street branch today.
CUC apologised for the inconvenience caused by the power cut, which began around 6:30am. A spokesperson said that further details about the outage would be released shortly.
Appeal court cuts 3 years from gunman’s jail time
(CNS): A gunman who had pleaded guilty to possession of an unlicensed firearm last year had his sentenced reduced by the appeal court Friday. Robert Lewis Terry was arrested in the basement of the Caribbean Club on Seven Mile Beach last year after staff called the police as they believed he and othermen were acting suspiciously. He was successful in his appeal to bring down his twelve year sentence to nine years. In a case partly heard behind closed doors, Lucy Organ of Samson McGrath argued that her client had not been given enough credit for mitigating circumstances, including his guilty plea, a lack of evidence of the gun being used and that Terry had no previous convictions for violence.
When Terry was arrested police found equipment, including a mask and gloves, that was likely to be used in a robbery in the back of the car which they said Terry was using.
However, Organ said there was never any evidence that Terry, who was not driving the car, was aware of the content of the boot or that he was involved in any conspiracy to commit a robbery. She said the crown had accepted that Terry only came into possession of the gun when he arrived at the car park under the Caribbean Club, and when the police turned up the men he was with had fled, leaving him in possession of the 9mm Glock pistol.
The defence attorney argued that the judge was not entitled to find that the defendant was in possession of a weapon in order to commit an armed robbery as there was no DNA evidence linking him to the mask or gloves in the car’s boot.
The appeal court judges agreed that the judge had failed to consider the mitigating circumstances when he handed down the 12 year sentence to the 26-year-old man in December last year and cut the prison term to nine years.
Even though Terry was in the carpark with several other men at the time of the incident, he was the only person charged as he was seen by the police to drop a bag into the bushes, which later turned out to contain the firearm and ammunition.
Grand Cayman loses power
(CNS): Residents on Grand Cayman woke up on Wednesday to an island-wide loss of power, and police are urging motorists and other road users to take extra care this morning during the blackout. Drivers should slow down as they approach junctions and be aware that traffic light signals are out. The RCIPS said that officers will be posted at major junctions in an attempt to alleviate congestion. CUC said that initial investigations revealed that source of the power outage appeared to be a problem at the West Bay sub-station, which appears to have affected the power company’s entire system. Crews have responded and are working as quickly as possible to restore power to customers, a spokesperson stated, but was unable to say when power would return as she offered apologies for the inconvenience to CUC customers.
Appeal reveals key evidence
(CNS): Evidence that a key crown witness had lied during the Grand Court trial of Raziel Jeffers (28) for the murder of Marcus Ebanks was revealed during an appeal court hearing, Tuesday. Michael Wolkind QC, who was representing Jeffers in his appeal against the murder conviction following a judge alonetrial in February, said telephone evidence demonstrating that Megan Martinez was not a truthful and consistent witness had never been shown to the judge and as a result there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice. He also argued that there was apparent bias on behalf of the judge as only weeks before the trial he had seen a secret dossier accusing Jeffers of three other murders.
Wolkind argued that the conviction against Jeffers was unsafe on two grounds when he began his presentation to the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal Tuesday morning. The British QC said that Justice Charles Quin had seen a confidential police report during an anonymity hearing that indicated his client was accused of three other murders. He was also described in the dossier as being one of the community’s most dangerous criminals and gang members who would not hesitate to kill and who had also ordered killings even from his prison cell.
However, neither Jeffers nor his defence team were aware that the judge had seen such a report at the time of trial.
Wolkind argued that the judge "knew too much" to be able to put it out of his mind as he was not just there to judge the law but in the absence of a jury he was also the tribunal of fact. He said in such an extreme case of accusations made by the police so close to his clients trial the risk of bias was great and the judge even if he believed he was putting it out of his mind would have found it very difficult.
He said it was overwhelmingly apparent that given such circumstances, if Jeffers and his original defence team had been aware of what the judge had seen they would have made an application for another judge to hear the case. The QC said the judge would have recused himself and another judge who was unaware of the police’s damming opinion of the defendant could have heard the case.
However, it was Wolkind’s second ground of appeal that appeared to really shake the conviction against Jeffers, when he revealed that critical evidence indicating that Megan Martinez was lying when she took the stand against Jeffers was never shown to the judge.
Wolkind argued that had the judge been aware that telephone evidence existed, showing that Martinez could not have been at home on the day she said she saw and heard Jeffers plot the murder in Bonaventure Lane in July 2009, he could not have found her to be a safe witness.
The QC pointed out that although Jeffers himself had brought the telephone records to the attention of his own defence lawyers, the crown and the chief justice the records were never analysed and presented at trial. As a result, the defendant missed a crucial opportunity to show that the evidence of Martinez, his former girlfriend who had grounds to hold a grudge against, was fabricated and she was not a credible witness as the judge had found.
With so much weight being given to Martinez’s testimony which Wolkind said was now completely in question the conviction could not possibly be safe.
“The significance of the call record cannot be overstated,” he said.
The defence lawyer said he could not explain, nor could his client, why evidence that clearly showed that Martinez’s movements on the day in question, according to the phone records, mirrored almost exactly those she had given to the police on interview in her first statement just a matter of days after the murder.
It was not until many months later after the teenage mother had split from the defendant and was shut out of the Jeffers family home that she then went to the police retracted her original statement and claimed to have heard Jeffers confess to a string of murders including the shooting at Bonaventure.
Wolkind argued that given the fact that the details she had given to the police in the wake of the shooting matched her phone record, the second statement made much later would have been viewed in a very different light at trial had thejudge seen the phone evidence. He said at the very least his client should have had the opportunity to cross examine Martinez’s evidence in light of the damning telephone records as he appealed for his client’s conviction to be overturned.
The appeal continues tomorrow in Grand Court One when Andrew Radcliffe QC will argue on behalf of the crown why he believes the conviction is safe.
Jeffers is currently serving a life sentence for the fatal shooting of Marcus Ebanks in July 2009 outside a home in Bonaventure Lane in West Bay. The crown claimed that Jeffers and another man had opened fire indiscriminately on a group of boys sitting in a yard just after sunset in an effort to kill Jose Sanchez one of Jeffers alleged gang enemies.
During the shooting, Sanchez along with Joe Bush escaped unscathed while Adryan Powell who was only 14 years old at the time received multiple gunshot wounds one of which resulted in him being paralysed. Ebanks’ younger brother Rod was also shot but he later recovered from his injuries.
Although Powell also identified Jeffers during the trial when he gave evidence via video link, the crown relied heavily on the evidence of Martinez who described what she believed were the suspicious movements of Jeffers on the evening of the murder and who testified that sometime later Jeffers had confessed to the shooting and had admitted that Ebanks was shot in error as his target had been Sanchez.
See related CNS story: Judge finds Jeffers guilty
Frasers in a flash
(CIOC): Brett and Shaune Fraser were in no mood for distractions as they whizzed through Heathrow Airport. The Cayman Islands swimming aces had just arrived from training camp in Dublin, Ireland and were intent on getting to the Olympic village with Bolt-like speed to maximise their rest and training time. Brett carries the flag for the Cayman Islands at the London Olympics opening ceremony on Friday. Two days later, Brett, 22, and Saune, 24, plunge into the 200 metres freestyle, the first of three events for each. Brett is in the 50m and 100m freestyle and Shaune goes in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
No wonder they are anxious to plough through the notorious London gridlock from west to far east, only about 20 miles but they could probably swim faster.
Chef de mission Lori Powell has made all the arrangements for the team. Brett has the honour of carrying the Cayman Islands flag at the opening ceremony on Friday. Apart from Shaune, his team-mates are Cydonie Mothersill, Kemar Hyman and Ronald Forbes.
“It’s good to be in London,” said Shaune. “We were in Dublin for about eight days which was nice to get used to the time zones and to get well adjusted. We’re looking forward to competing and getting things going pretty soon. “
“I’m pretty excited about carrying the flag,” Brett said. “Because I’m racing soon after, I’ve worked something out with Lori to just quickly come in and leave to get some rest. Right now, preparations are getting serious and I’m pretty excited about the days to come.”
Sales tax is a good alternative for Cayman
Sales Tax is simply a consumption tax paid at the point of sale to the consumer. Import duties, such as we now have, actually work based on the cost of goods imported and is therefore also indirectly a consumption tax, but it is collected by government when the goods arrive and before they are sold to the final consumer.mI believe that all of the parties involved in importing and consuming merchandise in this country would benefit if we replaced our current import duty system with a sales tax.
There are two types of importers addressed here: businesses that import goods for resale and entities that import goods for private or personal use.
In relation to the first type of importer I suggest that all of those who maintain a business establishment, such as retailers and wholesalers, should be issued an importer’s license based on their specific business license.
If the sales tax system is utilized then when merchants import merchandise for re-sale, they would simply have to pay the port charges and file copies of their invoices with the Port Authority, then have the goods scanned for contraband by Port Authority, and receive the merchandise.
Most point of sale software being used by businesses today already has an option for collecting sales tax. These licensed businesses would collect the sales tax on the retail amount of sales and pay it directly to the Treasury on a periodic basis.
The second category of importers would purchase a single-use importer’s license based on 25% of the value of the goods including the invoiced cost, plus the shipping costs.
What are the strengths and what are the weaknesses of this proposal?
Strengths:
A. Government will earn more revenue on the same amount of imports.
B. Retailers will have lower inventory costs – resulting in less capital outlay.
C. Consumers will pay lower overall prices even including the sales tax.
D. Consumers might support the local economy rather than shop overseas.
E. A substantial reduction in employees and operating cost of the Customs Dept.
F. Consumers will not experience much of a change with the new system.
G. Using a sales tax system would simplify the current varied import duty system that we have at present.
Weaknesses:
A. Relying on the integrity of retailers to pay collected taxes might be a weakness.
B. The private importers would pay slightly more for their imported goods.
C. Retailers might be burdened by the responsibility for collecting the sales tax.
D Duty Free Stores would need to be treated differently to maintain their status.
F. Relying on the integrity of merchants to pass savings to consumers is an issue.
The attached comparison reflects the income and savings realized if we discarded our current customs duty system and replaced it with a sales tax system. Please see attachment titled Sales Tax.
This analysis shows that government revenue from imported goods will increase based on the amount of mark-up that merchants charge their customers.
While nobody wants to really address the amount of mark-up that retailers make in Cayman, It is believable that with the cost of operating a business in these islands, a realistic mark-up has to be around 70% of the cost of goods and shipping.
Merchants have to take into account the cost of employees, utilities, government fees and business licenses, health insurance costs, pension costs, the cost of theft, the cost of spoilage, the amount that is invested in inventory, the cost of facilities, the cost of warranties, charity, fuel costs, property, vehicle, and liability insurance, and many other expenses. Additionally they must make a sufficient profit so as to cover rising prices, and the increased cost of restocking their inventory. Finally they must make a return on their total investment.
Market size is also a negative issue for businesses operating here, a country with a relatively small customer base and numerous competitors.
It is therefore safe to assume that operating costs are high, and average profit margins have to be considerably high.
The assumption here is that a 70% mark-up rate is average, and the figures below are based on that rate. However, the attached file, as I indicated above, includes various mark-up rates from 10% to 150%.
The figure used for this analysis is a sales tax rate of 17%.
In summary the attached Excel file titled ‘sales tax’ shows that no matter what mark-up rate the merchants presently use, a sales tax of the suggested rate (17%) would result in consumer savings of 4.10%.
The amount that merchants invest in inventory will decrease by an average of 18%, resulting in savings for the merchants. This figure is arrived at when the 22% import duties are removed from the current total cost price plus import duty.
Government revenue from imported merchandise will increase by 31% on the same amount of goods when the average assumed local mark-up rate is used.
When all of these savings are multiplied by the value of our imports it is easy to realize the significance of replacing our current import duty system, with a sales tax system.
An additional financial benefit is that the cost of operating the customs department will be reduced by having fewer employees, thereby bringing substantial savings to government.
Recent events in the Turks andCaicos Islands (TCI) indicate that a Value Added Tax (VAT) system has recently been introduced to commence next year. A VAT system as used is many countries of the world is similar, but more complicated than a simple sales tax, as I am suggesting.
With our own government facing revenue shortages, it is only a matter of time before we ourselves might be required to institute a VAT and this will create a substantial financial burden on merchants and sellers that are already overwhelmed with financial difficulties.
As the name VAT indicates ‘value added tax’, is similar to a sales tax but from the seller’s point of view is more complicated. The VAT is calculated only on the value added to a product. This will result in an accounting nightmare for local merchants and greatly increase their record keeping expenses, so as to prove the value that has been added. At the same time we would most likely still retain our import duty system, plus the value added tax of whatever percentage.
It therefore might be more beneficial to the local economy if we did away with our current customs import duty system altogether and substituted a more stable and economically beneficial sales tax system as I am suggesting.
In my humble view a VAT system is the first step towards an income tax system, as it requires businesses to provide government essentially with information on their earnings. TCI should not be too surprised that income tax will be their next alternative when the next budget crisis arrives.
We in the Cayman Islands should be more proactive in planning for our future, and my point is that now is the time to look for alternative revenue streams.
A sales tax system is therefore an alternative that we should analyze and take into consideration as to whether we will benefit by adopting this system and discarding our import duty system.
My purpose for writing this and any other article is to stimulate real debate and to encourage this country to move away from where we are, and with the hope that each of us will contribute more to building a better society.
My suggestions are not perfect and I am sure they can be improved. Your critique is welcome!
Byrne baby Byrne rugby inferno
(CRFU): Seconds away! Round 3 of the Cayman Summer Mixed Touch Rugby League finished last week with teams starting to flex their muscles and knuckle down to some tough games of touch rugby. The list of famous “Howards” is not long. Once you get past Stern, Hughes, Jones and “the Duck” there is scant left to celebrate. Until Now. May I introduce one Howard Byrne. Regular enthusiasts of touch rugby will be familiar with the exploits of Mr. Byrne who has for many years helped Genesis Five Nations come close to glory in the summer league.
DIVISION 1
However, against DART the crowd was treated to a virtuoso performance of touch rugby. Byrne simply bamboozled a bemusedDART defence with his moves. Opening his magical box of tricks he pulled out a cornucopia of windmill passes, exaggerated dummies, and exorbitant dives.
When he is in this type of form defenders have little or no clue as to what he will do next. In fairness, I’m not convinced his teammates or even Howard himself know for sure what’s coming up but when it works it is sublime. He racked up five tries and the Most Valuable Player award in an 8-0 drubbing of DART who will be heartened by the knowledge that they are unlikely to come up against another player of this type until… well until they meet Genesis Five Nations again.
In an exciting game between Stepping Stones and an under strength Maples2, it was the underdogs who took an early lead through an excellent line break from Justin Colgan. Stepping Stones looked out of sorts for much of the game as their passing faltered under pressure from a resolute Maples2 defence. Ray Galletly finally broke their duck in a nice overlap but was injured in the act of scoring hampering him for the rest of the game. Their greater experience at this level began to tell and Stepping Stones had the majority of possession and carried the greater try threat. Tries from Stuart Geddes (2) and Lisa Bird were answered by excellent scores from Alasdair Robertson and Sandra Patron for Maples2. The score was always close but the result was put beyond doubt when Vikki Piaso and Riley Mullen finished the job to make the 6-3 score to Stepping Stones a little flattering to the potential league leaders.
Maples1 cruised to a 6-1 win over Ogier. One of the aspects of the match that captain Marty Livingston will be proud of is the egalitarian way his team has of scoring points – six tries, six different scorers. Marx, Karl rather than Groucho, would have been proud of their utopian co-operative spirit of comradeship – all working together for the common good. Comrades Scott MacDonald, Ed Hayward, Jyoti Choi, Mark Fagan, Carmel Harms and Chandra Friesen shared the spoils. I can’t be sure but I swear I heard the quiet strains of The Internationale being hummed as they left the pitch!
Trident Titans showed that they belong in the top flight with a convincing 8-2 win over KPMG1 to move into third in the league table. Three tries from James Waters and two from Nic Swartz were decisive with David Laau, Jacqui Davis and Yi-Jing Chen adding the extras. Niall O’Sullivan and Ryan Eisenhammer put KPMG1 on the scoresheet.
DIVISION 3
Zolfo Cooper, sounding like the lovechild of a one night tryst between Frank Zappa and Alice Cooper but in actual fact a world leader in corporate recovery, restructuring, and financial advisory services, took on the communications giant LIME. This match had more ding dong than the Bells of Notre Dame after the Hunchback had been on a 24-hour cocktail bender of Red Bull, espresso and nicotine. DING! It started reasonably enough with early tries from Neil Coley and Tom Eliot. DONG! LIME answered with a neat score from Jonny Hillyard. BONG! A lively first half descended into a fractious second period as both teams were hell-bent on the win. CLANG! The to-and-fro of a pulsating game turned to push-and-shove as an extended period of impolite posturing finally ended with chill pills being dispensed all round. Zolfo Cooper finally ran out deserved 5-3 winners. In this type of form the bells will be ringing across the land for Zolfo Cooper as potential Division Champions.
Delta Force and GCM battled to a 5-5 draw with both teams extremely committed to their cause. Becky Dinwoodie turned in a star performance showing great enthusiasm, good ball handling and superb defence.
KPMG2 racked up their second win of the season with a 5-2 win over Credit Suisse. Two tries for Ian Roberton and one a-piece for Miguel Lopez, Greg Meaker and Kassi Desrochers sealed the deal with Ben MacDonald and Johann Prinsloo scoring for Credit Suisse.
Queensgate Grizz’s Old Fellas maintain their position in the foothills of Division 3 losing to Ernst & Young 3-7. Ronan McCarthy (3), Jonny Lewis (2), Curtis Wilson and Bronwen Gangler scored for Ernst & Young but it was their all round team performance that stood out. If they keep to that team ethic they should ascend the ranks pretty soon.
DIVISION 2
The Heineken Light Maidens continue to assert their own brand of Girl Power with an impressive 3-2 victory over Campbells. Tries from Sharlee Henshaw, Lisa Kehoe and Ashley Puschman sealed the win but it was the energetic performance of the diminutive Sinead Wagner who won the MVP award. Often acting as the conduit in all their best moves the pint-sized dynamo kept the Maidens going forward. The Two Jonnies (Doak and Lewis) kept the match tight but at the final whistle for Campbells it was a case of “Goodnight from me, and Goodnight from him!”
Harmonic continued on the winning trail with a four try haul from Kieron Lyons. He roared through the Walkers defence with ferocious speed and guile. Tim Rossiter weighed in with two tries of his own as Walkers failed to get to grips with Harmonic. James Melen, Martin Davies, David Byrne and Vikki Piaso scored for Walkers but the 6-4 score line secured Harmonics place at the top of the table.
Dark horses Island Heritage continue to move up the table into third with a worthy 3-1 win over lowly DMS. Helen Ennis played extremely well topping off her performance with a wonderful try. Brandon Smith and Marvin Gordon also scored for Island Heritage, with David Bakker answering for DMS.
Alastair Lum scored a fine hat-trick for Deloitte in a decent 6-2 win over Broadhurst. New arrival Yi-Jing Chen scored twice and Dave Acutt added the extras for Deloitte with Matt Keenan and Liz Austin crossing the whitewash for Broadhurst. The result leaves Broadhurst pinned to the bottom of the table but I’m guessing the après-rugby festivities are just as lively no matter what the result.
UBS earned their second draw in three games with a 3-3 result against Rawlinson & Hunter. Missing some scoring opportunities UBS will need to be more clinical as will Rawlinson & Hunter if they are to progress up the table.
Rogue employers exploiting construction workers
(CNS): Complaints from workers that contractors are insisting that they take out their own health insurance, workplace cover and pensions are justified the new labour department has confirmed. Caymanians and permit holders who are seeking work in the building industry do not have to be self-employed agents to work on sites and employers who hire workers, other than a properly licensed sub-contractor or consultant, should take on the liabilities for all employees. The director of the department has said that it takes a “dim view” of any employers who are attempting to exploit workers.He urged anyone who has been told to get their own insurance, health cover, pensions or pay for their permit to lodge a complaint with the department so it can follow up on the accusations.
Mario Ebanks told employers to consult the Labour Law or seek proper legal advice to develop lawful employment contracts. Meanwhile, he said Caymanian or non-Caymanian job seekers who have faced such demands from potential or current employers should report it to the Labour and pensions office, Immigration Enforcement, the Department of Commerce, the Health Insurance Commission, or the National Pensions Office
“During these tough economic times the Department takes a dim view of employers who exploit workers, of any nationality, who are trying to make a decent living and to support their families,” Ebanks said adding that officials will pursue complaints against rogue employers.
He acknowledged that there were contractors attempting to exploit workers and he said that although Caymanian workers could in some circumstances be employed as sub-contractors by general contractors this is extremely costly and would require the construction workers to also have trade & business licenses and be registered as self-employed. Ebanks explained that regular workers must be employed under lawful contracts.
“Employers must be careful to follow the definitions of: "employee", "employer", "conditions of service", and "contract of employment" as outlined in Section 2 of the Labour Law,” Ebanks told CNS. “An employer who hires or engages a worker, other than a properly licensed and documented sub-contractor, contractor, or consultant, will otherwise assume the responsibilities and liabilities of that person as an employee.”
He said the department has received complaints and confidential information where some employees are hiring employees, but are requiring those employees to cover their own Work Permits, Health Insurance, Pension, and also be deprived of overtime payments, public holiday pay, vacation entitlement and workplace injuries compensation.
“This is illegal, and will attract significant penalties with a successful prosecution,” Ebanks said adding that the most recent complaint was received by the department only on Monday.
Independent MLA Ezzard Miller said he too had received a number of complaints from his constituents who were struggling to find employment. He said Caymanians are being forced to act as sub-contractors and being told they must pay their own workplace insurance, health cover and pensions.
“This is exploitation pure and simple and the country’s contractors must start employing Caymanians directly as employees under lawful contracts in order to address the growing unemployment problem in particular among local young men,” Miller told CNS.
With a significant number of Caymanians employed in the construction industry, Miller said he was concerned that local workers were being pushed out of the sector in which they have traditionally worked so that major contractors can employ and exploit cheap labour via work-permits as overseas workers are far less likely to complain.