Archive for January, 2013
Cayman celebrates its culinary credentials
(CNS): Fast becoming one of the best culinary destinations in the region, Cayman is all about food this weekend with the start of the Department of Tourism’s annual food event, Cayman Cookout. International chef Eric Ripert will be hosting a packed weekend celebrating the best food, wine and beauty of Cayman with an impressive line-up of world famous chefs, wine experts and spirits blenders. With tastings, demonstrations, tours and dinners celebrating the barefoot elegance that only the Cayman Islands can deliver with its beach dining, the Cookout has become a top attraction for foodies. The event kicks off in earnest this evening at Royal Palms with the barefoot beach BBQ.
For much more on the events associated with the food festival visit the DoT website www.caymanislands.ky
Full speeches from court opening now available
(CNS): With the controversy of the legal practitioners bill, the issues regarding overcrowded courts as well as the need to settle the legal aid question, the Grand Court opening fed the debate on a number of important issues of public interest this year. From the Chief Justice’s annual report to the state of the important law reports, all of the addresses and presentations delivered on Wednesday morning are now in the public domain. CNS has collated all of the documents and posted them below for readers to download.
Resurgence of cholera in Cuba causes concern
(CNS): Public health officials are issuing warnings in Cayman regarding a resurgence of cholera on the neighbouring island of Cuba. Although the Public Health Department said that it is waiting for confirmation of the situation from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reports suggested that there have been at least 51 new cases since the renewed outbreak began on 6 January. So far there have been no deaths as a result of the latest outbreak and there are no travel restrictions in place but Cayman's Public Health Director, Dr Kiran Kumar, said anyone who must go to Cuba needs to take vital precautions.
“At this time, there are no travel restrictions. If you have to go, take vital precautions, such as: ensuring hygienic food preparation, boiling or purifying all water, and washing hands often with soap and clean water. Travellers should also carry an ample supply of oral rehydration salts,” he said. “Cholera is not present in the Cayman Islands and the chances of importation of cholera are limited. Even if it occurs, our excellent sanitation and safe water will prevent its spread. In addition, we have adequate facilities and drugs to manage any case should importation occur.”
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingesting contaminated food or water with cholera bacterium. It can take anywhere from five hours to five days for symptoms to appear after infection, although symptoms usually occur within 24-48 hours. Cholera infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe.
Travellers to Cuba are advised to contact their doctor immediately should they develop watery diarrhoea and vomiting within five days of leaving. It is also important to state their travel history to their doctor. This advisory is also applicable to travellers to Haiti and the Dominican Republic – the two other countries in the region affected by cholera.
Tips for Prevention
Travellers to Cuba or any endemic countries can greatly reduce the risk of contracting the disease by following these practices:
Drink only bottled, boiled or chemically-treated water and/or bottled or canned beverages;
Ensure that seals are unbroken when using bottled drinks;
Disinfect your own water – boil for one minute or filter the water and add two drops of household bleach or half an iodine tablet per litre of water;
Use bottled, boiled or chemically-treated water to wash dishes and brush teeth;
Use ice in your drink only if you know it was made from boiled or treated water;
Wash your hands often with soap and clean water;
Clean your hands before you eat or prepare foods, and after using the bathroom;
Eat foods that have been thoroughly cooked and are still hot, or fruit that you have peeled yourself;
Cook all vegetables. Do not eat salads or other raw vegetables;
Do not buy food or beverages from street vendors.
Caymancontestant lines up for model TV show
(CNS): The Caribbean's own version of CBS's internationally renowned show "Next Top Model" will be hitting the region’s television sets next month and local contestant Treveen Stewart from George Town (left) is listed among the starting line-up of 23 women. The contestants will vie for a spot on the weekly show, which works on the basis of a judging panel elimination until the last girl standing is crowned the "Caribbean's Next Top Model". The show will be hosted by Miss Universe 1998, Wendy Fitzwilliam, who will be one of the judges, along with photographer Pedro Virgil and runway coach Richard Young. The show, which was filmed in Trinidad & Tobago, will run for 11 episodes on One Caribbean Television and CaribVision.
Treveen will be competing against girls from Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago.
For more details www.caribbeansnexttopmodel.com or facebook.com/caribbeansnexttopmodel
‘5’ aim to repair UK damage
(CNS): Rebuilding the relationship between the Cayman Islands and the UK is at the heart of the mission of a government delegation headed for London this weekend. Rolston Anglin, the deputy premier, said that while there was other important business to attend to in the UK during the short trip, repairing the rift between Her Majesty's Government and the Cayman Islands Government (CIG) was “crucial”. He said that the delegation would be dealing with budget issues and looking at the situation in the London office, but primarily the trip would enable the premier to meet the overseas minister, Mark Simmonds, for the first time face to face, offering an opportunity to mend bridges.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday morning hosted by himself and Mark Scotland, Anglin said he was aware of public concerns over what are perceived as government jaunts but this was not the kind of meeting that could be “done over the phone”, as may have been suggested, because this needed to be face to face.
Although Anglin said he could not confirm the full delegation, CNS understands that eight people will leave for the UK on Saturday, including Anglin, Governor Duncan Taylor, Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, Attorney General Sam Bulgin, Financial Secretary Kenneth Jefferson and Rhonda Webster , the premier’s PA, as well as her executive aide, Paul Leonce, and Richard Parchment, who is now senior political analyst to Rolston Anglin.
The eight man delegation will be having various meetings, according to Anglin, but he said it was crucially important to rebuild the relationship with the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as the minority government navigates the next five months, ahead of the general election in May
His cabinet colleague, Mark Scotland, said that it wasn’t just about repairing the damage done to the relationship over the last few years for the current cabinet but to improve the situation for the next government.
Anglin said that he could not apologise for anything that may have happened in the past and there was "no sense crying over spilt milk”. He insisted that the CIG was not going to London “cap in hand” but theteam was “going to have a professional dialogue" on the budget and other key issues, and the government would make a full report next week on those talks when it comes back.
He pointed out that the nature of the relationship with some overseas territories led to friction, and while Cayman and the UK would not always agree, he said it was government’s job to protect the interests of the Caymanian people as far as the relationship was concerned.
“We need to recognize that we are a territory and there is a price to pay for that constitutional relationship," Anglin stated, adding that when matters of conflict arise the CIG had to push the agenda.
Nevertheless, Anglin acknowledged that the relationship over the last few years had gone way beyond the normal course of expected disagreement over policy. It was no secret that the former premier, McKeeva Bush, and the governor had a very strained relationship.
“We would be kidding ourselves if we thought they did not," he said, and indicated that, as a result, the aim was to repair the damage done. But, he said, CIG would promote the people’s best interests with every fibre of their being.
Anglin also spoke about the need to foster and strengthen relationships with othergroups in the UK with ties and interests in Cayman.
The deputy premier said the trip would also include some analysis of the situation at the London Office. The contract CIG has with the Tory peer, Lord Blencathra, the director of the office, had been renewed in November, and while there were no plans to terminate the contract, how CIG continues to utilise his services was important.
“When we have a representative in any country, we have to be strategic about what we are looking to get out of it, and in London it is important for us to have access to the right people but we must get value for money,” he said.
Lord Blencathra was contracted by the former premier in November 2011 in a controversial move, as it was the first time a foreign national has headed up the UK office in London.
However, Bush insisted at the time that Cayman needed representation in London to fight its corner regarding the threats to the financial services sector and to fight its corner in the deteriorating relationship with the UK. The sitting conservative peer was contracted at the princely sum of CI$19,500 per month to raise awareness about Cayman in Whitehall’s corridors of power as well as in London’s Square mile and the European arena.
Details of the London trip are expected to be reported at next Thursday’s Cabinet press briefing, as well as the results of the trip by Cline Glidden and Dwayne Seymour to see the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) regarding the situation with cruise tourism in Cayman.
O’Connor Connolly was absent from the briefing as she is understood to be suffering from the flu.
The briefing will be repeated frequently on CIGTV20 government’s own television channel during the course of the week.
Jam’s contractor general continues corruption fight
(CNS): A special report concerning the Office of the Contractor General’s (OCG) fight with government corruption in Jamaica has been published on the office’s website. Calling on the media and the public to read the report about government’s failure to reveal critical information to his office, he describes the situation as a matter of national importance. The government watchdog said this issue had potential “dire consequence, especially as it regards the principles of good governance, transparency and accountability.” The OCG has expressed grave concerns with the failure of the country’s Cabinet over the last seven months, to comply with several requests for information relating to four major public projects.
The OCG has also referred the Jamaican Cabinet to the Director of Public Prosecution for breaches of Section 29 of the Contractor General Act
See the report on the website www.ocg.gov.jm
CIG faces cash flow issues
(CNS): Government has denied that it will necessarily need to ask the UK for an extension to its overdraft when a delegation from the new minority government heads to London at the weekend. However, Rolston Anglin has acknowledged that budget discussions will form a key part of the talks between the Cayman team and Mark Simmonds, the UK minister, when they meet him. Sources tell CNS that although this is the month when the government traditionally collects a significant part of its revenue, it is still struggling to pay bills and manage the public coffers.
Speaking at the now regular weekly press briefing on Thursday morning, the deputy premier, who will be one of eight people going on the London trip, said government was monitoring its overdraft position and officials were waiting until the end of this week as more of the fees from the financial services sector continues to come in before they make any decision. He said there was no intention yet to extend the overdraft but cash flow issues and the budget itself will feature heavily in the London talks.
Rolston Anglin said that Richard Holmwood, the UK’s economic advisor assigned to the overseas territories, had been on island for his regular visit to review the budget performance, which Anglin welcomed, adding that it assisted in building credible, sustainable budgets.
However, it appears that the administration continues to face problems with cash flow in the face of persistent complaints that government bills are not being paid as finances appear to be stretched to the limit.
The Cayman Islands Government (CIG) cannot extend its borrowing any further under the conditions it agreed with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) following its approval of Cayman’s 2012/13 budget in August. In addition, there can be no appropriations to this financial year’s spending plans, which means no government departments will be able to spend more than the money they were given in that August budget. The budget was delivered more than two months late after McKeeva Bush, the former premier and minister of finance, was unable to prepare a budget that met with UK approval before the end of the 2011/12 financial year.
With the UK now keeping a closer eye on Cayman's government spending and revenue collection, it is not clear whether the CIG will be forced to ask the UK for more short term borrowing, or if it does, how the UK will respond given its position on the size of Cayman’s debt in relation to its revenue.
Farm claims success with return of nesting turtle
(CNS): In the face of mounting financial woes and international pressure from activist groups, the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm said the return of another farm turtle to nest in Cayman was an indication of the success of its conservation programme. A turtle nesting on Seven Mile Beach at the Grand View was discovered to be one tagged and released from the farm in 1987, officials said. This one turtle adds to a list of only 60 turtles from 31,000 released over the last 45 years that have actually come back to nest. Nevertheless, the addition was marked by the farm as important evidence that the tagging programme works.
From the 31,000 that have been released into the wild, 24,000 of those turtles were tagged and 4,500 given ‘living tags’ — a technique pioneered by Professor John Hendrickson and Lupe Hendrickson of the University of Arizona.
“This discovery in early January has been of significant importance because yet another ‘living tagged’ female demonstrates that turtles released by the Cayman Turtle Farm are continuing their life cycle by successfully nesting on Cayman’s beaches. It is always particularly heartening when one of our own turtles returns home to breed,” Walter Mustin, the farm’s chief research officer, said in a release.
In recent years the farm has selected around a dozen juvenile turtles at about one year old to be released. In the past the numbers were far greater but following the decimation of the farm by Hurricane Michelle in 2001 the numbers in the release programme were dramatically reduced and there were several years in which no turtles were released at all.
Once released, the turtles spend as much as ten years in the ocean before returning to the coast, foraging for food and slowly maturing. It is estimated that it takes a turtle between 20 and 30 years to reach sexual maturity in the wild, and once they do, they migrate to nesting areas to breed. Females come ashore to lay their eggs, frequently to the same spot where they were born, although this is not always the case.
“Our tagged turtles may well begin nesting in other locations apart from Grand Cayman,” said Geddes Hislop, the farm’s curator. It is not possible, therefore, for the farm to say how many of the female turtles in the remaining 30,939 animals that were released have survived.
The baby turtles in this latest nest were among the last to hatch this season after a fall in temperature delayed several of the nests from hatching. The farm said that about 30 eggs hatched but no live turtles were found and around 70 unhatched eggs were discovered by the Department of Environment’s research officer, Janice Blumenthal, and her colleague Paul Chin.
Hislop said the discovery was a great start to the year. “Seeing the results of our head starting programme takes many years of patient waiting so this recent find is a testament to the programme’s ultimate success.”
However, there is a continuing campaign against the Turtle Farm following the findings of the charity World Society for theProtection of Animals (WSPA) that documented a catalogue of problems relating to the condition of the turtles and the husbandry practices at the facility, and the discovery of just one new nesting female from the farm is unlikely to make 2013 a happy year for the struggling tourism attraction.
A report from a review commissioned by the farm is expected to be published shortly in connection with the damning findings of the charity, which farm officials have disputed. However, the WSPA is expected to increase its campaign this year toturn the farm into a real conservation facility.
The latest revelations in the farm’s own annual report have also done little to help improve the image of the Cayman Turtle Farm. The report showed that the farm is breaching the terms of its permit to discharge waste into the ocean as it has failed to reduce the effluent. Even more damaging is the massive losses still being sustained at the farm — a bill which is being picked up by the Caymanian tax payer.
CJ issues legal aid warning
(CNS): The issues that have taken centre stage for the local judiciary over the last four years remained front and centre as the courts started the judicial year on Wednesday at the Grand Court opening. Giving his customary reporton the past year and the hopes for the year ahead, Anthony Smellie, the Chief Justice, highlighted once again the issue of legal aid in the face of a proposed bill with which he has fundamental concerns. He pointed out that while the current system needed some reform it provided value for money, was not escalating in cost and ensured all those facing serious criminal charges had funding for a lawyer.
Smellie said that the draft Legal Aid and Pro Bono Legal Services Bill 2012, which was circulated last year for public comment, could be counterproductive as it may drive the already select few lawyers doing legal aid work away, creating a far greater problem at a time when the bill of rights now enshrines the right to representation. He warned that the bill of rights obligated government to fund qualified lawyers for those charged with serious criminal offences and who could not afford to pay for representation.
The bill, which was circulated last year, compels all lawyers to provide their services pro bono for 25 hours per year or make an annual contribution to the court of $2,500. With just a handful of lawyers in Cayman willing and qualified to do criminal defence legal aid work, the Chief Justice said forcing people to work pro bono could drive them away and be counterproductive. Obligating lawyers without experience in criminal defence work could also harm those people who need defending the most.
Legal aid has become something of a political football since the last elelction but its costs throughout the last four years have remained stable. The chief justice said that the perception of escalating costs was unfounded with the appropriation remaining around $1.8 million every year, despite the massive increase in legal cases. Last year 557 defendents in the criminal courts were funded via legal aid and represented by the handful of local lawyers willing to undertake the work.
The bill has now been sent to the Law Reform Commission, which had previousluy undertaken a report about legal aid, in which it concluded that the current system, that is managed directly by the courts, represented good value for money though required some reforms.
Smellie urged legislators to settle the matter of legal aid once and for all but he warned that the more elaborate the legislation, the more unwieldy and expensive things would become.
With government resources limited, the chief justice raised the issue of the long shelved plans for a new court house, but he said its delay was now presenting a very real problem. In a new constitutional era with enshrined human rights, delays in justice could present legal problems for government and the tax payer. He said the judicial system was in desperate need of a new court house.
He pointed out that there are only two secure courtrooms and most of the time judges and magistrates in the criminal courts are pressed to find a courtroom to sit in, given the escalating number of criminal cases in which defendants are often in custody.
Smellie said the courts needed to be running at least three trials a week in the Grand court alone if they were to dispose of the caseload within a reasonable time frame. At present the average is still 300 days from charge to trial, much longer than the international standard of 180.
The current courthouse was built some 40 years ago and the chief justice pointed to the pressing need for a modern facility to accommodate the needs of the various specialist courts as well as the criminal trials. He said it was very important that progress was made on the development of the new court this year.
Lawyer throws hat in ring for GT showdown
(CNS): Another independent candidate has declared his intention to run in George Town in the May General Election. Local lawyer Winston Connolly said on Thursday that he would be contesting a seat in the capital, adding that two months ago such a bid was “inconceivable”. Connolly remained tight lipped on what drove him to join the political fray in his press release announcing his candidacy, stating that it was for several reasons that would be revealed during his campaign. Connolly said he would be seeking C4C endorsement and is believed to be one of the candidates the group will endorse. Like his fellow C4C candidate Roy McTaggart, who declared Tuesday, Connolly has not yet set out his policy position on any of the major issues that will dominate the campaign.
In a release announcing his candidacy in the critical six seat district of this campaign, he said he felt compelled to put his hat, and experience, in the ring.
Connolly said he intends to focus on struggling families, professional advancement, education and local and global challenges facing all Cayman residents but he did not specify his position on the major issues.
“People who love their country can change it. Some of our previous statesmen recognized this. It is through political will, hard work and perseverance that we can move Cayman forward in the right direction,” he said.
Connolly spoke about wanting to meet with constituents to gain an understanding of their primary concerns as it is his intention to address them. He said that there were several challenges ahead but was enthusiastic and determined to face them.
As an individual he is not the answer, the independent candidate said, but together with likeminded, patriotic Caymanian leaders no problem is too big to resolve. He did not say which side of the Legislative Assembly those like-minded individuals would be if he were elected to office.
Connolly did say, however, that voters who want, and by all rights should demand, a more accountable government and a better country, ought to come out to support him and these other like-minded individuals.
“We need all hands on deck. The time for partisan politics is over. We need to work together and use all the resources we have to right the Good Ship Cayman. In so doing, we may better understand each other and move ahead as a stronger community and country that is based on mutual respect and understanding of each other,” he added.
“Politics which shuts you out if you are in the 'wrong' party, politics which tells you to settle for the status quo only divides us all. Our heritage was built on the premise that we are one people,” Connolly said in his announcement release.