Archive for January, 2013
Churches get $400k from fund
(CNS): Close to a half million dollars was given to churches from the controversial Nation Building Fund created by the former premier and administered by his ministry, during the 2011/12 financial year. According to a document released under a freedom of information request submitted by the independent member for North Side, Ezzard Miller, 11 churches received $420,548 from the public purse for a variety of reasons. A further $1.5 million was randomly given to people and causes connected to the arts, sports and community activities across a diverse spectrum. Almost $8000 was also used for the proposed Christian heritage monument in George Town.
From a $3000 grant to fund a Caymanian’s efforts to get on the US TV Show X-Factor to $15,000 for the UCCI’s observatory, the grants range from as little as $300 to as much as $750,000.
Although a significant portion of the funding appears to be going to worthwhile causes, it has always been controversial for variety of reasons. While the former premier has insisted the funds given out under the nation building programme are transparent, the actual criteria and reasons for granting one application over another have not been spelt out.
Most of the grants appear to be to assist young people in their education or cultural development with grants being given to sports clubs, the scouts and brownies as well as a local half-way house. The vast bulk of the money however, went to around 85 students who were given scholarships under the programme, which is outside of the normal scholarship application process. Amounts to individual students ranged from as little as $588 for a summer camp scholarship for one student to as much as almost $46,000 to another scholar studying in the US.
The grants have also caused controversy because these scholarships are not dealt with by the education department and again, the basis on which these special educational grants are awarded has not been defined. In this third full financial year of the fund’s existence around $1 million was given to the various students.
See full details of where cash was allocated below.
Twenty-five refugees sent back to Cuba
(CNS): Efforts of twenty five Cubans attempting to flee their country have been undermined after Cayman officials sent them all back to their neighbouring island of Cuba this week. Yesterday, Immigration officials repatriated the migrants, who had landed in the Cayman Islands in early November with an escort on Cayman Airways. The group also included the two men who had escaped from the Immigration Detention Centre late last week. Only five migrants that arrived in Cayman at the end of December now remain at the detention centre in George Town while waiting to be processed by the Immigration Department.
Activists step up campaign to ban paraquat
(CNS): Local campaigners who want to see the poison paraquat banned from the island will be holding a candlelight vigil to remember all the dogs in the Cayman Islands that have been poisoned by the deadly herbicide. Activists will meet at Smith Cove Saturday evening at 5-30pm when they hope to raise more awareness about the persistent problem. Almost 5,000 people are estimated to have signed a petition to ban the poison, which killed another four dogs over the Christmas and New Year break. A Facebook group has also been created to measure how much support exists for banning the importation of paraquat, which is generally used by local farmers as a weed killer.
Campaigners also plan to hold a public meeting at 7pm on Wednesday, 16th January, to discuss the way forward in having the herbicides banned in the Cayman Islands. The meeting will be held at L'Ambience Room, at L'Ambience Apartment Complex on Fairbanks Road.
The activists are also hoping to record all of the pets that have been killed, usually as a result of eating food which has been deliberately contaminated with the poison, so they can guage the true extent of the problem. They hope this information will persuade the government to ban the substance and regulate other poisons that are imported on to the island.
Paraquat, one of the worst poisons, is particularly unpleasant as it is almost always fatal once an animal has eaten food poisoned with it. There is no cure and the dogs die a slow and painful death as their respiratory systems collapse.
Although government itself no longer imports the poison, Paraquat along with many other dangerous toxins is unrestricted and anyone can import and buy the herbicide.
There are no restrictions on the importation or sale of the herbicide in the Cayman Islands, so there is nothing to prohibit individuals from bringing it intothe territory.
For more details go to https://www.facebook.com/BANPARAQUATCAYMAN
Annual ultra-marathon will follow new course
(CNS): Runners participating in the 2013 Off The Beaten Track marathon will be following a new route through the beaches, bush and back roads of Grand Cayman and crossing a new finishing line, officials have said. The gruelling 50 kilometre run won’t be revealed until a week before the race but the organisers stated that the runners will be crossing the finish line at Tiki Beach on Sunday, 24 February. The physical demands of the race are significantly more challenging than a typical road race. Relay team members can compete and only run a fraction more than 5 miles each.
For those entering as individuals, they will run an epic 50 kilometres across a course designed to mirror the gruelling Marathon des Sables ultra-distance race, run in the hot sands of Morocco every year.
“There are a great many runners here in Cayman, and I urge all of them to come out,” said title sponsor and organizer Krys Global’s CEO, Ken Krys. “The team aspect allows everyone of all levels to participate, while experienced marathoners can choose to run solo.”
No stranger to challenges, Ken faced the Antarctic Ice Marathon and Amazon Jungle Run in 2011. This year he braved dog sledding in Norway, 42 km Marathon Du Finistere in France, and just recently, the 212 km Manaslu Mountain Trail Race in Nepal.
All proceeds raised from the race will go to charity. Facing Africa, the primary beneficiary, is an organization that sends teams of surgeons and medical supplies to sub-saharan Africa to battle a devastating disease called Noma, which causes deformities of the face in predominantly young malnourished children.
This year’s local beneficiaries are Cayman’s Ark and the NCVO (National Council of Voluntary Organisations).
Longstanding partner and key supporting sponsor, Lynne Byles, Managing Director of Tower Marketing, said that the race has many positives for Cayman encouraging health and fitness, promoting the Islands as a sports tourism destination, and raising funds for worthwhile charities.
Cayman’s business community is challenged to enter their corporate relay teams. This year there will be prizes for the fastest individual male, individual female, all-female relay team, all-male relay team, co-ed relay team, and corporate relay team. Runners will enjoy a hearty post-race meal during the medal distribution ceremony in the scenic comforts of Tiki Beach.
Online registration is now open on www.caymanactive.com with fantastic early bird entry fees available until 24 January. Costs are just US$240 for relay teams and US$80 for individuals. After 25 January full entry fees apply at US$300 for relay teams and US$100 for individuals.
The race starts at 6am this year and is set for Sunday 24 February.
Local dengue cases highest in three decades
(CNS): Officials have confirmed that there were 34 cases of dengue fever reported to the authorities in 2012, which is the highest number recorded in the last thirty years. The Cayman Islands normally sees one or two cases a year and usually in patients who have travelled to endemic countries. During this past year however there were 23 local transmissions, 19 of which were residents of West Bay. In total the public healthdepartment investigated 94 potential cases of the disease, which is spread by the aedes aegypti mosquito.
Since the last government update on cases in Cayman, four new suspect cases were reported, none of which had a travel history, while 17 results came back from the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre with only three positive tests. With one case reported so far this year and the test results, which came through over the last week, there are now just nine results outstanding.
Of the 34 confirmed cases only eleven appeared to have contracted the disease in an endemic country while the remaining 23 were all infected locally. In addition to the 19 West Bay residents, two were living in George Town and two more in Bodden Town.
Some 25 people have been admitted to hospital and treated for suspected dengue with 13 of them turning out to be positive and three patients still awaiting results.
Cayman selected to host regional vet’s conference
(CNS): The Cayman Islands will be welcoming hundreds of animal doctors and experts in 2014 when it hosts the 2014 CbVMA Biennial Conference in the Cayman Islands. The announcement that Cayman will be holding the next conference was announced at the 27th Biennial Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association (CbVMA) Conference which was held in Trinidad in November. Along with the news that Cayman will be host for the specialist conference the local delegation also heard that Dr Nigel Elliott of the Cayman Islands was elected as Assistant Secretary/Treasurer to the association’s Executive Council. Dr Alfred Benjamin also received a special award to acknowledge his many years of support to the conference.
At the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Conference, the Cayman Islands received the CbVMA Ceremonial Mace from the Trinidad and Tobago Veterinary Association. The Ceremonial Mace is a new tradition for the CbVMA to be passed on to the country which will be the next CbVMA Biennial Conference host. The mace will be kept on display at St. Matthew’s University.
Dr Alfred Benjamin also received a special award at the Closing Ceremony to acknowledge his many years of support of the CbVMA conference.
A spokesperson said the local veterinary medical association was looking forward to hosting the 2014 conference which is a first for Cayman’s veterinary community
This conference boasted over 200 participants from the Caribbean, Central & South America, the USA, Canada, and South Africa. The Cayman Islands delegation included Dr. Alfred Benjamin, Dr. Kanyuira Gikonyo, Dr. Brandy Darby, and Dr. Brendan Lee, all of whom are active members of the Cayman Islands Veterinary Medical Association.
Most of the conference was dedicated to academic sessions for veterinarians, providing continuing education in the areas of companion animal, food-producing animal, equine and marine animal medicine and surgery, veterinary public health and more. There was a strong emphasis on animal welfare issues, as well as promotion of the One Health concept, which is essentially a multi-disciplinary approach to solving global health issues.
This was also the first CbVMA Conference to provide continuing education sessions for the veterinary technician. The TTVA received accreditation from the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) as a provider of Continuing Education (CE) thereby allowing the participating veterinarians to receive internationally recognized CE credits.
Mac disputes opposition job
(CNS): McKeeva Bush suggested on Thursday that he should be the leader of the opposition, given that he leads a group of four, as does the PPM leader. Speaking for the first time in the country’s parliament since his government was removed from office via a no confidence motion in December, the former premier found his voice in the chamber again after remaining silent at the last meeting. Bush goaded the PPM leader, Alden McLaughlin, whom he described as the member who was “purporting to be the leader of the opposition,” following McLaughlin’s criticism of him for his failure to consult on legislative amendment. McLaughlin implied it was Bush’s fault that legislators were having to deal with eleventh hour emergency bills for the offshore sector.
While the former premier’s seat may have changed it was very clear that his opinion of the opposition leader had not. Speaking from his new position on the opposition benches he claimed that McLaughlin should not have the audacity to criticise what he did as the financial services minister after the opposition leader had got Cayman on the OECD grey list when he had responsibility for the sector while in government.
Bush questioned whether McLaughlin had the right to be the official leader of the opposition as he only led four members in the same way that Bush now led the four remaining UDP members in the Legislative Assembly. “I don’t know if he is the leader of the opposition or whether I am, as I have four members,” the former premier and first elected member for West Bay said.
The opposition leader who was addressed as such by the speaker said in a later debate that the issue raised by Bush was a constitutional matter. McLaughlin said the proceedings couldn’t go on when a question remained over who was actually the leader of the opposition. He pointed to section 68 of the constitution where it defines the opposition leader as essentially the person who commanded the most support from a combination of members outside of the government. He implied that he was that person and was therefore not in an unconstitutional position. However, he invited anyone who believed he was to read the document.
The speaker noted that she had received nothing from the governor, whose remit it was to appoint that position, to suggest that the current opposition leader wasn’t in the role constitutionally.
The row regarding who was the real opposition leader came about during the debate on one of three pieces of emergency legislation. The bills relating to Cayman’s offshore sector were brought by Rolston Anglin in his new position as the minister for financial services. Alden McLaughlin pointed out that the amendments were a result of the previous premier’s failure to properly consult with the offshore sector. Although he said the opposition was supporting the bills, the legislators ought not to have found themselves rushing legislation through the House to meet an important OECD deadline of 21 January.
He said there had been a clamour of representations to the governor’s office when the original amendment laws were passed last August, objecting to the bills and berating the lack of consultation. He pointed out that Cayman was in danger of falling foul of the latest OECD peer review if the laws weren’t amended with haste, and the jurisdiction could fall short of meeting regulatory global compliance standards.
“I would have expected that the former premier, the first elected member and who had responsibility for these, would have taken the opportunity to explain what went wrong,” McLaughlin said. In response, Bush angrily denied that anything had gone wrong and began goading the opposition leader about his job.
He said he had not planned to speak on the issues regarding the amendments to the financial services laws but as the third elected member for George Town had used the opportunity to take him to task for something he didn’t do, he was going to speak. Bush said that despite saying he was going to be consolatory he wasn’t going to be berated and allow people to tell lies on him. “When it comes to legislation that was needed in this country I followed my advisors,” he said pointing to the financial services secretariat and financial councils he had set up. He denied being at fault over the emergency legislation and stated that his record in office spoke for itself, as he was the one who had restored confidence to the industry. He said that despite everyone ‘running to the governor about everything’, the good he had done for the country and his record in office could not be erased.
He said the person purporting to be the opposition leader should be the last one to get up and talk about problems with financial services legislation, adding that it was McLaughlin who had previously caused Cayman to be on the OECD grey list. He said that when he was premier he was forced to travel extensively to get Cayman off it, and he had been “criticized, cussed and blamed,” as he improved Cayman’s standing in the financial world while his predecessor had lost the country business. “And he has audacity to come here this afternoon to try to chastise me,” he added.
Bush said that as far as he understood there had been lots of consultation but people would always complain. He said that with what else that was going on, he did not know everything about who had approached the governor to say what, but they appeared to have gone to him about everything else, hinting at his arrest before Christmas and his stated position that the governor is behind the conspiracy against him.
Bush was bailed in December by police and is expected to be questioned further in connection with several criminal investigations in February.
Voter register may reopen
(CNS): Caymanians who are qualified to be voters but who missed the 2 January deadline to register for the May 2013 general election are expected to get another chance if the governor agrees to extend the registration period to the end of this month. In her first motion as the country’s new premier, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly presented the proposal to the Legislative Assembly Thursday and gained the support of the entire House. She told members that after discussions with her Cabinet she had written to the governor asking him to re-open the registration process for a few more weeks and he had said he would consider the request if there was consensus among all of the legislators.
O’Connor-Connolly said that while there had been a last minute rush with almost 1000 people registering on the last day it was understood that there were still at least 3000 potential voters in the community who, for whatever reason, had not made the deadline. She acknowledged that some people may have elected not to register because they do not want to serve as jurors or even for religious purposes, but she said government was of the opinion that this was not the case for all of them.
As the deadline had come very close to the Christmas and New Year holiday she said some had missed it because they were not able to get the necessary documents together in time and give representations made by members of the community to the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). She said every effort should be made to give everyone a chance to register.
Congratulating the elections office, which she described as one of the best in the world, as well as campaigners who did lots to get several thousand new voters on to a register expected to be well over 18,000 by 1 April, O’Connor-Connolly said an extension could see more people register. The premier said it was a very important part of the progression and development of a democracy that as many people as possible were empowered to fully participate.
She gained the backing of the opposition whose leader, Alden McLaughlin, said his members had received representations about people who missed the deadline and added that, provided that the necessary amendments could be made to the law, the PPM was fully in support.
He said assuming the governor agreed, he urged everyone who is entitled to get on the voters register for what would be an important general election.
Speaking on behalf of the two independent members, Arden McLean offered his support and said he had raised the idea in another recent debate regarding the elections law. He said with improvements in technology it would not be that difficult for the register to be properly updated in time for the May election. He reminded everyone however, that the responsibility lies on citizens of the country to register and there were many provisions to help them. He said serving as a juror should not be a barrier as that should be something Caymanians are proud to do.
On behalf of the UDP the former premier offered his backing as well, noting that it had been extended for the 2009 election as well. McKeeva bush said it would be worth it as it could attract another couple of hundred new voters. He said getting on the register was very important no matter where those who were entitled came from. “We don’t want to disenfranchise anyone so we will support the extension,” he added in his new capacity as leader of another opposition party.
The motion asks the governor to extend the registration period until 31 January, readers should check back to CNS for details of when the register will re-open.
Short film released about turtle farm controversy
(CNS): A short film has been released by the UK based environmental affairs magazine The Ecologist highlighting the controversies surrounding the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm. The short feature comes in the wake of an independent review of the farm commissioned by the farm’s management following the publication of findings by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) that indicated things at the facility were less than ideal. The review has not yet been published. Animal rights and conservation activists have launched an international campaign to persuade the local authorities to turn the Farm into a real conservation facility and put an end to the farming of sea turtles.
Alongside the film and the campaign by the WSPA, whose own damning report alleged overcrowding, disease, injury, poor husbandry conditions and a catalogue of other problems, some UK MPs have also filed a motion in the British parliament with the backing of some 65 members from across the political spectrum, calling for action on the WSPA findings.
The film published on Thursday by The Ecologist, which was founded in the 1970s and is the oldest conservation and environment related publications in the UK, examines the WSPA findings and talks to the local department of environment and the farm’s director.
The Cayman Turtle Farm, which costs local tax payers some $10 million in subsidies every year, is the last of its kind in the world and is now undergoing international pressure to change its model. Undercover footage shot by the WSPA, which is featured in the film shows some of the issues at the heart of the campaign. As well as the welfare concerns the film highlights the risks to human health, financial costs and the alleged failures in its conservation mandate.
Since the WSPA first turned its attention on the Farm, officials there have persistently denied the allegations of cruelty. The farm has defended the conditions, its history and its research and conservation programme, stating the farm is a facility the Cayman Islands 'can be proud of'. It has also accused activists of attempting to undermine the farms revenue base whilst at the same time stating they want to work with the farm.
A review was carried out at the Farm in December and officials said that results of that review were expected this month but it is not clear when it will be released to the public.
The film includes comments from the farm’s MD Tim Adam, Gina Ebanks-Petrie, the environment department’s director as well as local marine personality Guy Harvey and local restaurant owner Isley Ebanks among others.
For more info visit: www.theecologist.org
See related stories on CNS: Cayman-turtle-farm-undergoes-review
Law interns cut their teeth at Mourant
(CNS Business): Eight young Caymanians recently completed internships with leading law firm Mourant Ozannes after cutting their teeth on the world of offshore law. The students, who are now returning to their studies, gained valuable insight into various legal practice areas including funds, finance and commercial litigation, working with the firm’s corporate services, compliance and accounts departments.
Mourant Ozannes says it is committed to supporting bright young talent in the Cayman Islands and offers internships to students who meet the firm’s criteria. Managing Partner, Neal Lomax, said, "Mourant Ozannes is committed to the development and progression of Caymanians. Our intern programme helps us to identify promising individuals who may be offered the opportunity to progress to our scholarship and articled clerk training programmes. We are pleased to be able to provide this experience to several students each year."
All eight interns were A-Level students about to begin or already undertaking their university studies. Alicia Thompson is now at the Truman Bodden Law School, Asha Wilson is now at UCCI, Rashana Singh is at the University of Sterling in the Business and Social Studies honours degree programme, Taylor Clarke-Wint is studying Marketing at Southampton Solent University, Aaron DaCosta is at the University of Kent in an honours LLB programme, while Haymond Rankine has graduated from the University of Tampa with a Bachelors of Science with honours in Business Management. Elizabeth Wauchope is currently completing A-levels at The Kings School Canterbury in the UK, and Clare-Louise McGrath at Cayman Prep & High School.