Archive for June, 2013
Bermuda holds back over latest tax initiative
(CNS): The Bermudian government appears more reluctant than Cayman’s leaders to commit to the latest international OECD tax initiative ahead of the G8 summit, as Prime Minister David Cameron had hoped. The territory's premier has said he is willing to commit to more transparency but is not ready to sign the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax matters. The PM has invited the leaders of Britain's territories and crown dependencies to London in advance of the annual gathering of the G8 group, which will be hosted next week by the UK in Northern Ireland. While all three crown dependencies and the Cayman Islands have already given their commitment to the latest convention, if Bermuda and other territories refuse to sign, the UK government’s goal to get what it has described as its "own house in order" before the summit will be missed. Read more on CNS Business
Mac took cash in Vegas
(CNS): A new indictment filed in the local courts in connection with the charges against former premier McKeeva Bush shows that, despite comments by the RCIPS that charges against him had not been dropped, the UDP leader is no longer charged with theft. Nevertheless, the former premier is still facing eleven serious charges that relate to him taking cash or using his government credit card in casinos in Las Vegas, Florida and the Bahamas. On eleven different occasions between July 2009, just weeks after he was elected, and April 2010 the crown alleges that Bush made more than $50,000 of illegitimate transactions. No longer alleging theft, the new indictment still accuses Bush of unlawfully using the card while travelling.
Bush now faces six counts of misconduct in public office under the common law and a further five charges of breach of trust under the anti-corruption law, all of which would attract imprisonment penalties if Bush were to be convicted.
The Cayman Islands first premier is accused of beginning the illegitimate transactions with the government Royal Bank of Canada card in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, between the 10-15 July 2009, when he took $5,236 and incurred charges of $122.72. This is followed by more than $3,000 at the same hotel casino chain in Tampa just over a month later in August 2009, again with related charges.
In September, back again at the Seminole in Hollywood, Florida, he took over $1,500 and a further $2,016 was taken from the same location in October 2009, plus over a $1,000 and $2,000 spent on two separate occasions in November, the indictment alleges.
In 2010 the charges change from misconduct to breach of trust as a result of the implementation of the anti-corruption law. The alleged crimes are of a similar nature but also include transactions in Las Vegas, a non-business trip, and in the Bahamas, as well as more transactions at the Seminole in Hollywood, Florida.
In January 2010 Bush was back at the Hollywood Seminole, where he is alleged to have used the card to the tune of $3,012 on one occasion and a further $1,004 two days later. Then, in February Bush was in Vegas, where he allegedly spent almost $12,900 at the Mirage Hotel and Casino, the Bellagio Hotel and the Venetian Las Vegas Casino.
Just over a month later in March, transactions totalling more than $17,000 were allegedly recorded at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, as well as the Seminole in Hollywood, Florida. The last offence on the indictment alleges another unlawful transaction at the Seminole of more than $1,000.
Bush has categorically denied all of the allegations against him and stated that, where necessary, the money was paid back. On the campaign trail he said the cash withdrawals were for legitimate purposes as well as for his own security and medical assistance for his wife .
However, other sources allege that not all of the spending considered unlawful has been paid back. Furthermore, Bush also has to contend with the fact that government credit cards cannot be used to take cash, buy alcohol or for any other purpose than legitimate public business expense and they cannot be used as a source of advances. It is alleged that Bush also used the card on several occasions when he was travelling for pleasure.
Bush is due to appear in Grand Court on Friday 28 June.
See full indictment below.
Stormchaser Sailing Regatta
PAC trouble ahead
(CNS): Following the revelation that Roy McTaggart had decided to join the government benches last week, government said it planned to re-balance the Public Accounts Committee but it has not indicated how it plans to achieve the new line-up, which McTaggart will still chair. North Side MLA Ezzard Miller said Tuesday that he has no intentions of accepting any nomination for PAC. The independent member said eleven members voted against him last time and if his political ally, Arden McLean, also refuses, government would be forced to turn to the opposition UDP benches for a candidate. This could spell trouble ahead because the first reports PAC will consider are understood to be critical of the former UDP government.
Miller, who started as the PAC chair under the UDP administration, looked like the ideal candidate to join the committee now that McTaggart is sitting on the government benches. However, he told CNS there was no way that he would accept a nomination onto the PAC.
"Given that eleven of the members voted against me last time, I have no intentions of putting myself through the same humiliation as the House obviously doesn’t wish for me to be on that committee,” he said.
CNS has contacted East End MLA Arden McLean, who sits with Miller in the 'southeast corner' of the Legislative Assembly. While it is understood that he is also reluctant to accept the PAC nomination, there has been no response stating his position.
With UDP Leader McKeeva Bush already on the committee, should the independents both decline the invitation, the re-balance will include one of the other two UDP MLAs, Captain Eugene Ebanks or Bernie Bush, who will join McTaggart and two of the government back-benchers. Al Suckoo, Joey Hew and Winston Connolly were voted onto the committee following the swearing in ceremony at the end of last month and one of them is expected to resign before the re-balancing act occurs at the next LA sitting.
If they are replaced by a UDP member, this could increase the friction as the first four reports that will be delivered to PAC from the Office of the Auditor General sometime this month will be examining the spending and management of finances during the UDP administration and their findings are understood to be quite critical.
Miller also said that McTaggart would find himself in conflict in time as reports that will be produced over the longer term would be about this government.
McTaggart, a first time MLA for George Town whose campaign was endorsed by the Coalition for Cayman group, initially elected to sit with the eastern district members in the 'southeast corner' but later had a change of heart and decided to cross the floor to the government benches. He was then appointed as a councillor to both the minister of finance and the minister of financial services.
“Given that he will be now be involved in the policy and preparation of government budgets and finances, it will no longer be suitable for him to chair that committee,” Miller added.
Although PAC members in most countries are usually from the back-benches without any direct government duties, the decision by McLaughlin to put all hands on deck coupled with the size of the legislature means the PAC government members will all be working in government support roles, which Miller said was wrong.
The constitution needs to be changed, he said, in order for the premier to make the councillor, or junior minister, appointments because those roles are not provided for in the country’s ultimate law.
This is a point that McLaughlin has refuted, as he says the constitution clearly provides for a minister to appoint a committee in support of his duties. The premier has said that policy decisions will still be made by the ministers in charge but with such significant workloads ahead they all need support. The decision to appoint councillors, he said, was driven by the workload the government is facing, a desire to be as inclusive as possible and to utilize the skills and experience of as many members as possible.
However, Miller claims that the provision for a committee does not cover these appointments, and while he supports the concept, he believes that they still need to be lawful. He also took aim at McLaughlin, who he said had criticised the former UDP premier when he introduced the idea during the last administration and appointed MLAs at the time Cline Glidden and Ellio Solomon to the roles.
“If it was wrong for McKeeva Bush, then it must be wrong from Alden McLaughlin, too,” he said.
Legal blunders could cost public purse dear
(CNS): Local activist Sandra Catron is seeking compensation from the local authorities following a judge’s conclusion that the search and seizure of property during her arrest in connection with insults on social media was unlawful because a justice of the peace had signed the warrant without having any idea what he was signing. However, despite a catalogue of blunders and misinformation, as well as the “flawed” warrant that was thrown out by Justice Alex Henderson in the case against Catron, she is still facing possible criminal proceedings, which may only add to any successful financial claim she could get.
In an inexplicable turn of events, as the crown seems unlikely to be able to secure a conviction given the judge’s findings, Catron will be representing herself in a preliminary enquiry later this month. The crown has made a decision to continue with the criminal proceedings against her, despite having had such a clear indication that the case regarding misuse of an IT network is doomed.
Along with the significant number of procedural errors, Catron has also complained about the way the senior crown counsel from the Attorney General’s Chambers has behaved towards her during the progress of the bizarre case. Catron is not a qualified lawyer as she has been unable to secure articles but she has nevertheless taken on the crown several times already and won over various petty charges. Now she is accused of harassing another person via Facebook and text messages, an accusation which she has denied.
During her arrest last year in connection with the allegations she was subjected to an invasive search of her car, home and office, which included the seizure of significant amounts of personal property. Catron said she was "flabbergasted at the tactics used during the search”, when officers rummaged through envelopes containing insignificant things such as her law school grades.
However, during a judicial review the court heard that the warrant used by officers was signed by a justice of the peace who admitted that he had no idea what he was signing or why, when asked to do so by the officers involved and was shown no evidence to support it.
Following that revelation, the court also heard from the JP that despite being required by law, he did not swear an oath. The judge, shocked by the JP’s admission, declared the searches and the warrant unlawful. Justice Henderson found a number of other faults with the warrant and the process to acquire it and pointed out in court that it was “blindingly obvious” that a warrant application given to a justice of the peace by a police officer must be done under oath.
Catron is currently considering her compensation claim against the government after the judge had noted that the blunders could lead to damages but she has been hopeful that the crown would be willing to settle. With the warrant declared unlawful, Catron was also hoping the crown would drop what she believes is an absurd case against her. However, the crown has confirmed this week that the preliminary enquiry hearing on 25 June will continue, even though the prosecutors had admitted the “fatal defect” regarding the warrant.
During the judicial review the judge did not blame the justice of the peace but he did point the finger at the attorney general, as Henderson said any real consideration of Catron’s application for the judicial review regarding the search warrants would have seen the case dropped.
Aside from the problems with the warrant, Catron believes the investigation raises many other questions about police procedure and behaviour and the justice system in general.
“I find it appalling that a JP who has no legal training or understanding of basic offences can sign literally thousands of warrants over several decades. Undoubtedly there would have been many more that should have been found unlawful but were simply not challenged by anyone,” she said.
The irony was not lost on Catron that the presiding judge was himself the victim of an unlawful arrest and a questionable warrant in 2009 during the ill-fated Operation Tempura case. Justice Henderson was awarded $1.275 million from the public purse for costs and damages but it seemsthat no lessons were learned.
“No significant changes have been made since then,” Catron said, as she pointed to the continued failure by officers to follow proper procedure with warrants, which she believes should go before the courts. “The courts are there to put a buffer between the citizens of this country and the police but they are failing in this regard. People do not understand that even without a Bill of Rights there are many protections that are afforded under the law and the police have legal rules that they most also adhere to.”
Catron noted that the JP in her case, who was in his mid-eighties, admitted that never, in over two decades, had he ever questioned a warrant or refused to sign one when asked and he continues to sign search warrants for the RCIPS even now.
She said that during the recent judicial hearing it became very clear that the JP had no understanding of the charges, the crime, the warrant or anything, prompting the judge to ask how it was that the JP was signing such important legal documents. However, Catron said she thought it was pretty obvious why the RCIPS utilises JP’s such as this one.
CNS contacted the office of Deputy Governor Franz about the situation regarding JPs and Manderson, who’s office has responsibility, said that on appointment, JP's receive training on the correct procedures for signing search warrants and other documents. The JP Association also provides training for its members, he noted, but made no comment about the revelations in the case. During the trial the JP admitted under oath that he only attended some training session at the beginning of his tenure and there were no mandatory training requirements in place.
Catron said that the entire situation has served to highlight a number of major issues with law enforcement and the system, including the way that she believes the office of the Attorney General has conducted itself. She pointed to their attempts to cancel hearing dates without her consent two weeks before the trial was set to begin.
In another instance Catron was instructed via email to stop “further preparation of the skeleton arguments at this time” as they were considering dropping the case, only to then say they were going ahead on the very eve of the written arguments being due. The activists also said that a judge had already warned the crown at a directions hearing that it should “seriously consider the case” before the JR.
“I was rather surprised at how the entire process was handled,” Catron said. "I did not understand that attorneys could have such little regard for court procedures, court time and a general disregard for the opposing side. I am seriously contemplating a formal complaint to the chief justice laying out all of the facts,” she added.
“This has been an extremely stressful time for me,” Catron told CNS. “In addition I was suspended from my job because of it and still I have nightmares about people bursting into my house after the experience of the invasive police search.” She said eight officers had been involved in the search and arrest for what she described as a ridiculous accusation about insults over ICTA.
“Until you have experienced being handcuffed in your own home and detained, it would be difficult to explain how that feels. I have been grateful to have friends who have been able to counsel me through this.”
However, Catron said this was not just about her pain and suffering but the comments by the JP could bring about a barrage of legal cases against the police and the crown.
“If a justice of the peace can stand up in a court of law and admit that in twenty-two years he has never once refused to sign a search warrant and admitted that he wasn't provided with information or evidence, this could open the flood gates,” Catron warned. “This is a very serious decision by the judge and, given the previous issues relating to Operation Tempura, the public needs an explanation why JPs who have no legal training or even basic understanding of offences are still signing search warrants.”
Catron now has the option available to her to commence a separate lawsuit by way of a Writ of Summons for how the search warrant was executed as that fell outside the scope of the Judicial Review application.
The potential liability for the public purse in this case is not the only example where police warrants and procedure has led to crown cases being thrown out of the courts. The revelations of repeated procedural failures are common occurrences in the local court system. In another case just last week, the case against Dr Frank McField for obstructing police was dismissed at the halfway point when it became apparent that the seizure of property by police from his restaurant was unlawful.
Despite claims by the RCIPS that management would be focusing on improving training so that officers follow correct and lawful police procedure, almost every Grand Court trial is marred by police or legal department failures and errors. In some cases police or prosecution failures have seen defendants accused of very serious and violent crimes, even murder, walk free because of those errors.
Wheelchair racer pushes across US for dive charity
(CNS): A young paralympian racer from the US is currently pushing his racing wheelchair across the United States of America on behalf of a dive charity for people with disabilities which uses Cayman as its exclusive destination. Ryan Chalmers began his journey on 6 April in Los Angeles and is due to arrive in Central Park, New York, on Saturday. Chalmers will have pushed some 3,200 miles over 71 days raising funds for an organization called Stay-Focused, a non-profit organization that offers SCUBA diving experiences only in the Cayman Islands to teens and young adults with disabilities.
Chalmers’ incredible feat, which is the equivalent of more than one marathon every day for more than two months, has attracted considerable attention and the world’s media is expected in Central Park Saturday morning to meet him.
The charity for which Chalmers is going to Herculean lengths launched its first programme in Grand Cayman in March 2004 with two young girls who use wheelchairs. To date, Stay-Focused has run more than 25 programmes and over 100 physically- and intellectually-challenged teens and young adults have participated in the programme and at least 50 of them who first learned to dive in Cayman under this programme have returned to visit again, a spokesperson from the Department of Tourism stated.
The programme is made possible in the Cayman Islands as a result of the additional sponsorship and support provided to Stay-Focused by Red Sail Sports and the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, among others.
For more on Chamlers’ charity wheelchair push and the final leg of his journey log on to the Facebook page.
Nominations sought for construction design gongs
CNS): Organisers of the Governor’s Award for Design and Construction Excellence in the Cayman Islands are urging people to make nominations for this year’s awards as soon as possible because the event is being brought forward. As the current governor, Duncan Taylor, is expected to depart Cayman in August, the ceremony to hand out the local biannual architectural gongs is being rescheduled for 25 July, several weeks earlier than planned. Nominations are being accepted for commercial, industrial and residential developments, houses and renovations completed in the Cayman Islands.
Submissions for the Governor’s Award will be judged by a panel convened by the governor, which will decide whether and to what extent the design and construction of the nominated projects display the attributes of design excellence, creativity and innovation, sustainability and the environment, value, buildability and cultural response.
“The Governor’s Award programme is a great opportunity to raise the profile of organisations in the construction and development industry as well as acknowledging the hardwork and commitment of involved project teams,” a spokesperson for the organising committee said.
The governor will liaise with the Cayman Society of Architects, Surveyors and Engineers (CASE) and the Cayman Contractors Association (CCA) in promoting the awards, which were created to foster innovation, sustainability and excellence in the Cayman Islands construction industry.
The winners in each of the nominating categories will be announced at a function at the Governor’s Residence on Thursday, 25 July.
For more information on how to nominate a project is available at here or email info@governorsaward.ky
Permafrost thaw could be critical to climate change
(CNS): A NASA team is currently probing deep into the frozen lands above the Arctic Circle. The scientists are measuring emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane from thawing permafrost — signals that may hold a key to Earth's climate future. The permafrost zones above the Arctic Circle in Alaska hold tons of carbon and methane trapped in ice but as the frozen ground melts as a result of global warming the gases are released into the atmosphere. The principal investigator of the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE), a five-year NASA-led field campaign studying how climate change is affecting the Arctic's carbon cycle. Said it was critical to understanding global climate.
"Climate change is already happening in the Arctic, faster than its ecosystems can adapt. Looking at the Arctic is like looking at the canary in the coal mine for the entire Earth system," said Charles Miller, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. in a release from the space agency.
Permafrost (perennially frozen) soils underlie much of the Arctic. Each summer, the top layers of these soils thaw. The thawed layer varies in depth from about 4 inches to several yardsin the southern boreal forests. This active soil layer at the surface provides the precarious foothold on which Arctic vegetation survives. The Arctic's extremely cold, wet conditions prevent dead plants and animals from decomposing, so each year another layer getsadded to the reservoirs of organic carbon sequestered just beneath the topsoil.
Over hundreds of millennia, Arctic permafrost soils have accumulated vast stores of organic carbon – an estimated 1,400 to 1,850 petagrams of it (a petagram is 2.2 trillion pounds, or 1 billion metric tons). That's about half of all the estimated organic carbon stored in Earth's soils, NASA researchers explained.
In comparison, about 350 petagrams of carbon have been emitted from all fossil-fuel combustion and human activities since 1850. Most of this carbon is located in thaw-vulnerable topsoils within 10 feet (3 meters) of the surface.
But, as scientists are learning, permafrost – and its stored carbon – may not be as permanent as its name implies. And that has them concerned.
"Permafrost soils are warming even faster than Arctic air temperatures – as much as 2.7 to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit in just the past 30 years," Miller said. "As heat from Earth's surface penetrates into permafrost, it threatens to mobilize these organic carbon reservoirs and release them into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane, upsetting the Arctic's carbon balance and greatly exacerbating global warming."
Current climate models do not adequately account for the impact of climate change on permafrost and how its degradation may affect regional and global climate. Scientists want to know how much permafrost carbon may be vulnerable to release as Earth's climate warms, and how fast it may be released.
Now in its third year the CARVE investigation is expanding understanding of how the Arctic's water and carbon cycles are linked to climate, as well as what effects fires and thawing permafrost are having on Arctic carbon emissions. CARVE is testing hypotheses that Arctic carbon reservoirs are vulnerable to climate warming, while delivering the first direct measurements and detailed regional maps of Arctic carbon dioxide and methane sources and demonstrating new remote sensing and modeling capabilities. About two dozen scientists from 12 institutions are participating.
"The Arctic is warming dramatically – two to three times faster than mid-latitude regions – yet we lack sustained observations and accurate climate models to know with confidence how the balance of carbon among living things will respond to climate change and related phenomena in the 21st century," Miller warns. "Changes in climate may trigger transformations that are simply not reversible within our lifetimes, potentially causing rapid changes in the Earth system that will require adaptations by people and ecosystems."
It's important to accurately characterize the soils and state of the land surfaces. There's a strong correlation between soil characteristics and release of carbon dioxide and methane. Historically, the cold, wet soils of Arctic ecosystems have stored more carbon than they have released. If climate change causes the Arctic to get warmer and drier, scientists expect most of the carbon to be released as carbon dioxide. If it gets warmer and wetter, most will be in the form of methane.
The distinction is critical. Molecule per molecule, methane is 22 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide on a 100-year timescale, and 105 times more potent on a 20-year timescale. If just one percent of the permafrost carbon released over a short time period is methane, it will have the same greenhouse impact as the 99 percent that is released as carbon dioxide.
Characterizing this methane to carbon dioxide ratio is a major CARVE objective. The CARVE science team is busy analyzing data from its first full year of science flights. What they're finding, Miller said, is both amazing and potentially troubling.
"Some of the methane and carbon dioxide concentrations we've measured have been large, and we're seeing very different patterns from what models suggest," Miller said. "Wesaw large, regional-scale episodic bursts of higher-than-normal carbon dioxide and methane in interior Alaska and across the North Slope during the spring thaw, and they lasted until after the fall refreeze. To cite another example, in July 2012 we saw methane levels over swamps in the Innoko Wilderness that were 650 parts per billion higher than normal background levels. That's similar to what you might find in a large city."
Ultimately, the scientists hope their observations will indicate whether an irreversible permafrost tipping point may be near at hand. While scientists don't yet believe the Arctic has reached that tipping point, no one knows for sure. "We hope CARVE may be able to find that 'smoking gun,' if one exists," Miller added.
Trimming the fat (literally)
While I follow the current heated debate whether the size of civil servants can be reduced or what austerity measures can be implemented to save the government a buck or two, I must say that among all things that come to mind, the continuous 100% health care coverage for all civil servantsAND their dependents is what bugs me the most.
The reason this bugs me is not because I want to be spiteful, but over the last few years I have noticed that there seems to be an increasing trend among civil servants who are – let’s call it out of shape!
In this day and age, everyone knows that there are a many, many health issues which are directly linked to the poor lifestyle choices one makes (overeating, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, lack of exercise, etc). This has been discussed so many times I think I can hold back on another lecture in this regard.
In real life (meaning for people working in the private sector or being self employed) the cost of healthcare coverage is dictated by such things as whether one smokes, whether one is overweight or whether one partakes in any sports considered to be dangerous. Strangely, none of those factors appear to be issues when it comes to healthcare coverage for civil servants (which is fully funded by the government – hence the people of these Islands), despite it having been well documented that the cost of treating obesity-related ailments, for example, are sky high.
As a non civil servant, I feel that am being taking to the cleaner twice when it comes to healthcare cost. Firstly, healthcare cost is on the rise for everyone because there are way too many people who continue to make poor lifestyle choices, which then lead to certain ailments; those ailments are costly to treat and this leads to increased healthcare cost for everyone. Secondly, as a resident of these Islands, I am also paying indirectly towards the healthcare coverage for all civil servants, no matter if they chose to eat, drink or smoke themselves to near death.
If the premier decides that he cannot reduce the size of the civil service for whatever reason, so be it, and I am not discussing this here. However, I believe that the premier needs to also consider that it is not fair for the general public to continue to fund the healthcare coverage and the cost of treatment for people who themselves don’t seem to want to make an effort to try and stay healthy.
Now is a good time to look at the healthcare policies in place for civil servants, and consider whether civil servants who are clinically obese, who are smokers or who partake in dangerous sports should pay at least 50% of their own healthcare cost and a percentage towards their treatment. Also, civil servants should be paying a portion of the healthcare coverage for their dependents – this is pretty much the norm anywhere else. Perhaps then more civil servants would make an effort to live a healthier life style.
Cop who Tasered blind man may be charged
(BBC): The police watchdog has passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after a blind man was Tasered by police in Lancashire. Colin Farmer, 63, was stunned by a police officer who was looking for a man walking through Chorley with a samurai sword on 12 October last year. The officer is claimed to have mistaken Farmer's white stick for the sword. An IPCC spokesman said the CPS will now decide whether there is enough evidence for criminal charges to be brought. Tasers are designed to temporarily paralyse a target by delivering electric shocks of up to 50,000 volts. Farmer, who is registered blind and has suffered two strokes, was walking to a pub to meet friends at the time of the incident.
He said the electric shock forced him to drop his stick and fall to the ground. Mr Farmer was taken to hospital for treatment and later discharged.
A man carrying a samurai sword was later arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.