Archive for July, 2013
Robbers strike at another doorstep victim
(CNS) Updated 10:45am: Robbers have claimed another doorstep victim following a mugging outside a home in Prospect, on Mahogany Way, at around 10pm Thursday. Two suspects approached the 60-year-old victim, one armed with what appeared to be a handgun and the other with a machete. The robbers grabbed the man's gold chain from behind as he approached his front door. He fell to the ground and the two suspects ran from the scene. No other property was stolen, no shots were fired and no injuries were reported. The suspects were both men between 25 and 30 years old, with "whitish" complexions and shirts tied around their heads. One was 5'6"-5'8" in height, 145-160lbs and had what appeared to be a handgun. The other was 6'-6'2" and carried a machete. Both suspects spoke with Caymanian accents.
The robbery comes just two days after a violent attack on another man as he entered his home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Robbers jumped the victim hit him on the head and stabbed him before fleeing with his iPhone. Then on Wednesday night, two men mugged a bus driver of his fares at the George Town bus station. They escaped with a small amount of cash and no one was hurt.
Anyone who was in the area at the relevant time and witnessed the robbery, or the suspects before or after the incident, is asked to contact George Town Police Station on 949-4222, the RCIPS Tip-Line 949-7777, or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS).
YNBSP scholarships will be honoured
(CNS): The government has said it will continue commitments already made to support students receiving grants via the Young Nation Builders Scholarship Programme (YNBSP). A group of scholarship holders had made public their concerns that government was pulling their funding, even though the finance minister had explicitly stated in his interim budget address that provision had been made for those scholarships. Premier Alden McLaughlin has emphasised his commitment to the provision of educational opportunities and development of young people but said that administration of the YNBSP had been transferred to the Education Ministry. "The Office of the Premier is not structured to deal with administering a scholarship programme," he said.
On 26 June in his address to the Legislative Assembly on the government motion for the 2013/14 interim budget, Finance Minister Marco Archer had stated that students who have already been awarded scholarships to study overseas under the “Promotion of Nation Building” appropriation will not lose financial support, even though government was taking a different approach to the Nation Building Fund (NBF) in general. He made it clear that provision had been made in the 13/14 interim budget to continue in these areas where the government was already committed.
Archer said this now accounts for 112 recipients with grants valued at just over CI$2 million dollars for the 13/14 financial year. The interim budget also includes a commitment to maintaining the Education Council Scholarship programme, which has a projected 13/14 budget of some CI$10.76m, for around 1,200 new and continuing local and overseas students. In addition, government funds 61 students via the Ministry of Tourism under its scholarship programme at around CI$600,000 per annum.
Government said in a release that its policy was that both the YNBSP and Education Council scholarships should be managed by the Ministry of Education. Therefore, the YNBSP has been transferred,under a new appropriation, to the Ministry of Education.
McLaughlins said, “The Office of the Premier is not structured to deal with administering a scholarship programme. It has neither the expertise nor the personnel necessary to do so effectively. Scholarships are properly a matter for the Ministry of Education and that is why I have decided to transfer the YNBSP to that ministry.”
Government said its immediate priority is to honour the commitments that have been made. In addition it is committed to ensuring that current scholarship recipients continue to meet the standards set out in the existing criteria under which the scholarship funding was released.
Officials also plan to conduct a review of the entire Young Nation Builders Scholarship Programme, to ensure value for money, fairness to all applicants and transparency in the way in which the scholarship fund is structured and administered.
A significant number of new YNBSP applications have been received between July 2012 and 15 June 2013 (the cut-off date for applications under the programme.) The vast majority are for under-graduate and post-graduate studies, and will be considered under the existing Education Council Scholarship criteria and application process.
New recipients will no longer be able to receive scholarships from both the Education Council and the YNBSP.
Other applications, which include requests for sports-related scholarships for secondary education overseas, will be considered in line with the availability of funding and established priorities. No new applications will be considered beyond the 15 June 2013 cut-off date.
“There should be no doubt about my personal commitment and that of the government to providing educational opportunities and to the development of our young people,” the premier said, following the circulation of a press release by some of the scholarship holders who had set up an on-line survey to gauge support for the Nation Building Fund scholarships set up by the former premier, Mckeeva Bush, which had attracted controversy over the lack of transparency regarding the selection process.
Accusing the current premier of threatening to discontinue it and cut off their money, the group circulated a release Tuesday asking people to take part in a survey to show their support for what they said was a scholarship programme that gave young people a chance that had been refused scholarships through other programmes.
The controversies surrounding the YNBSP mounted during the election campaign when the former education minister, Rolston Anglin, revealed that students who had lost scholarships via the normal route from the Education Council due consistent and poor performance or attendance had been given new ones by premier at the time, McKeeva Bush, via the YNBSP.
When Anglin became education minister he made a damning statement in the Legislative Assembly, criticizing McLaughlin, his predecessor in the ministry, for what he said was the disarray regarding scholarships. Anglin claimed he had “inherited a disaster” when it came to scholarships and made it clear that he would sort out the mess and remove scholarships from non-performing students and that the Education Council would begin to enforce the criteria.
As a result of the “clean-up” by Anglin, some students did lose access to funding but it appears several of them managed to get money via the YNBSP, which appears to have been awarded on the discretion of Bush and not based on transparent criteria.
WB church gives money back
(CNS): Following the backlash from the wider community over the government donations given to churches from the controversial Nation Building Fund established by the former premier and UDP leader, McKeeva Bush, the Wesleyan Holiness Church has returned almost three quarters of a million dollars to the public purse from a grant of $1.3 million that it had received. The church has also said that once it has resolved a land purchase, it expected that the land or its full value would also be returned to government. The church decided to return the cash following the negative publicity and because it recognised that the public coffers were not in a position to afford the grant.
The church also recognised that it could not afford to build its proposed $2.6 million fellowship centre and hurricane shelter, so on Sunday, 7 July, its members voted almost unanimously to return the remaining money. The church did retain 10 percent ($80,929.43) for accounting, labour and administration costs from the balance of $809,294.25 remaining from the $1.3 million grant.
Five churches have so far returned $949,769.83 of the money that had been handed out via Bush’s controversial fund, which he appears to have administered himself. The first was Hillside Chapel on Cayman Brac.
Minister of Finance and Economic Development Marco Archer accepted a cheque for $728,364.83 from the Wesleyan Church on Wednesday, 10 July, as well as a letter outlining the church’s vote. He was also given a copy of the letter to the church from Bush, who had been a member of the congregation, granting $250,000 to clear its then-existing building loan and use the rest as a down payment for the purchase of land adjoining the church. The church also gave the minister a statement of accounts detailing the money received and spent so far by the church, including on its shelter project and to pay off loans.
“I am extremely grateful to the Wesleyan Holiness Church for their decision to return this money to government and to the people of the Cayman Islands,” said Archer, who had been critical of the distribution of the nation building grants on the campaign trail and the way it had been managed. “I’m equally grateful to Hillside Chapel, Red Bay Church of God Holiness, Webster Memorial United Church and Fellowship Baptist Church who have also returned funds to government,” he added.
A total of 28 churches in the Cayman Islands received $5,188,416.67 in grants from the Nation Building Fund between financial years 2009/10 to 20012/13, according to the FinanceMinistry.
Dilbert retires among ministries’ CS reshuffle
CNS): The deputy governor has confirmed that Leonard Dilbert has now retired from the civil service but all other staff have been accommodated in the newly aligned government ministries and portfolios without an increase in headcount or job losses. Dilbert had been the premier’s chief of staff, a position created by McKeeva Bush when he held that position, but he had been left out of the reshuffle when the new PPM government took office and reshaped the ministries and portfolios to accommodate the additional two cabinet ministries, as per the 2009 constitution. Franz Manderson confirmed Thursday, however, that Dilbert had asked to retire after 25 years of public service.
Meanwhile, in an email to CNS Thursday, the deputy governor also noted that he was hoping to soon resolve the situation regarding two other senior civil servants who have been on the government payroll for the past four years but who have not yet been given posts. Deborah Drummond, the former deputy financial secretary, and Diane Montoya, a former chief officer, were both left out of the ministerial reshuffle after the UDP election victory in 2009. They have since been receiving salaries but have not had formal posts.
Manderson did not indicate what his plans were but he said he was hopeful of addressing the situation “in the short term”.
Confirming Dilbert’s retirement, Manderson said he had accepted the former chief of staff’s request and his last day was 4 June, as he thanked him for his many years of service.
During his tenure Dilbert served on the team that produced the framework for the Cayman National Cultural Foundation, led the work that gave rise to the establishment of the National Drug Council and played leading roles in the Cayman Islands’ (and the region’s) first ever National Assessment of Living Conditions, the Porter-Groome review of the Cayman Islands’ educational system and the Allen & Clarke Report on the health system and wellness in the Cayman Islands.
Dilbert is a well respect and published poet and he will be using his retirement to further his literary work. Dilbert said he would continue to work to “broaden and deepen public and corporate understanding, ownership, and enjoyment of the many opportunities and blessings available to us in this community, especially through the language of the arts and crafts.”
Cruise line to add ship
(CNS): The flagging cruise tourism sector may have a small boost ahead of the development of cruise berthing facilities. During a short trip to Miami this week, Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell said he managed to persuade at least one cruise line to add Cayman to the calls of an additional ship, boosting passenger figures by around 200,000 over the next two years, ahead of what is hoped to be at least one completed pier by the end of 2015. Kirkconnell said his meeting with the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) and other cruise stakeholders was very positive and they were very interested in the moves Cayman has made recently, with the business case for the berthing facilities being produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the removal of politicians from the process.
Speaking to members of the press Thursday, Kirkconnell said that he believed the FCCA and cruise lines needed to see the commitment from the new government to the cruise industry. He said they needed some reassurance over the much needed improvements for passengers at the terminals in George Town, such as more shade and better signage, among other issues. All of the requests, Kirkconnell said, could be dealt with relatively quickly as most of the changes were already underway.
“We put our best efforts forward and asked them what they needed us to do, and most of it was what you could describe as low hanging fruit which has already been identified and is in hand,” he added.
While the progress on the cruise berthing facilities was an important part of the meeting, Kirkconnell said the business case for the potential development will not be complete until at least October. As a result, something needed to be done, he said, to try and improve the situation in the short term and increase the number of ships that plan to call on Cayman.
“I believe local businesses and operators involved in cruise tourism will begin to see improvements soon,” he said, as he acknowledged the worrying decline in numbers so far this year. Although the cruise ships set schedules two years out, Kirkconnell said at least one line has already committed to adding a ship to its Cayman schedule.
U-15 football may bring 3,000
(CNS): With around 800 players and officials coming to Cayman next month for the CONCACAF Under-15 Tournament, the addition of friends, family and fans could see almost 3,000 people coming to the islands during the almost two week football contest. Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell said that the tournament, a development competition for young players, could be worth more than $20 million to the local economy. With a hotel tab of more than one million dollars being picked up by the regional football federation just for players and officials, plus a need for some 50 rental cars, food and drink and other sundries, the ultimate spend by them and their guests with local business is expected to be many more millions of dollars.
From the preparation beforehand and the flight revenue for Cayman Airways, which is organising charters to bring teams, officials and guests to the contest, to the money that will be spent by the many guests coming with the players and officials, Cayman can expect a significant boost to the economy during what is traditionally one of the slower months of the year.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Cayman Islands Football Association VP Bruce Blake, Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden, Tourism Minster Moses Kirkconnell and former sports minister Mark Scotland all lauded the hard work of everyone involved so far and promised an entertaining event that would being economic reward and, more importantly, provide great experience for Cayman’s national teenage players.
The tournament will see 23 teams coming to the Cayman Islands from the Caribbean and Central America to compete in the tournament, which is part of the vision of Jeff Webb, the president of the regional football body, to develop youth football. As a Caymanian, Webb was able to pull strings to enable CIFA to host what is a major completion that could open the doors for more sports tourism events, an area which Kirkconnell said the government was extremely keen to exploit.
“It is an investment for the future, too, as our goal for sports tourism is as a partnership and there is not a better partnership than one that builds youth programmes,” the tourism minister said, adding that government would do what it could to make this a successful tournament. In addition to the millions that CONCACAF will spend in Cayman for the tournament, he said, the money spent by the guests and the ultimate showcasing of Cayman would have a massive multiplying impact, making the tournament worth more than $20 million for the domestic economy.
Bodden said it was a “win win situation” as it would be great experience for local teams as well as for the tourism sector. “It is pleasing to see the return of international football to Cayman and it will be a great stimulus for our players. We have some already on football scholarship overseas and this should generate more local interest,” he said, adding that it would help Cayman to measure where youth football is as he encouraged everyone to come out to the games.
Mark Scotland appealed for more volunteers. So far, around 70 people had committed, he said, but CIFA expected that it would need around 200 people in just about every sphere, including IT, security, administrative support, as well as ushers, and many more hands were needed to help the football competition go well.
Blake explained that the 24 teams would play each other in four groups of six at three of Cayman’s local grounds but other pitches would be used for practice. The eventual winners of each group will move on to the semi-finals and the two winning teams will then meet in the final at the Truman Bodden Stadium. He said all of the first round games would be free but there would be a $10 charge for the semis and $15 for the final. He said he had big hopes for Cayman to make it through to at least the semis as the local teen players had shown they were playing well at the recent friendly matches with a visiting Honduran team.
He, too, urged people to volunteer and explained that the money being spent was targeted at local service providers but where Cayman business could not meet the needs they would have to buy overseas.
Blake also pointed to some of the logistical issues that a small nation like Cayman faces with such a major tournament, from not enough coaches to ferry players and officials around to a shortage of ambulances, but he said they were being as resourceful as possible. For example, Cayman’s school buses could become the team coaches for the duration of the contest.
In addition, Blake called for sponsors from the local economy to help CIFA offset some of the costs it was expected to fund to upgrade facilities at the pitches. Although the bulk of the tab for the contest is being picked up by CONCACAF, government is spending around $200,000 on the upgrades and CIFA would also have to pay some of the bills.
Robbers mug local bus driver for fares
(CNS): A driver was robbed of a small sum of cash on Wednesday evening by two passengers who wanted to be taken to Rock Hole. The report was made to the RCIPS at 8:07pm last night (10 July) and the robbery took place at the Bus Depot in Edward Street, George Town. The bus driver told police officers that he had collected two men from Coe Wood Beach in Bodden Town, but when the bus reached the depot, the men asked to be taken to the Rock Hole area. When the driver refused, one of the robbers pushed an unknown object against his neck and demanded his cash. The men made off with a small amount of money from inside the vehicle and were pursued by people at the scene. However, they escaped on foot in the Mary Street area of the capital.
An extensive search was conducted involving armed officers, the K9 Unit, Marine Unit, and uniform officers but the subjects were not located. No shots were fired and no one was injured in the incident.
Police released a description of the two men, who both spoke with a Caymanian accent.
One man was around 5'3" tall, 23-25 years of age, slim built, side burns with a well-kept beard and haircut, brown complexion, wearing a white t-Shirt with light blue 3/4 jeans. The second man was said to be about 5'6", in his early 30's, with a slim build and wearing a black T-shirt.
Police are appealing to anyone who was in the Coe Wood Beach area of Bodden Town around 7:30pm on 10 July or at the bus depot at around 8:05pm to contact Detective Constable Bowen at the George Town Police Station at 949-4222, or if you wish to remain anonymous please call Crime Stoppers at 800-8477(Tips).
C4C backbencher takes first official overseas trip
(CNS): Coalition for Cayman government back-bencher, Winston Connolly, who has been appointed as a councillor in the education and employment ministry, took his first official overseas trip recently when he accompanied Director of Labour and Pensions Mario Ebanks to a conference in Trinidad. Ebanks and Connolly attended the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 8th Meeting of Caribbean Ministers of Labour. The meeting focused on the theme "The Caribbean and Labour, 2013 and Beyond: Strengthening Decent Work for Development", which officials said was paid for by the organization and not the Cayman public purse. In a release from the department, Ebanks said he and Connolly were able to network and share ideas and concerns.
“One important fact reinforced at the meeting is that while we are all different territories in the Caribbean, our issues and challenges are very similar,” he said. “I was particularly pleased that the meeting, and the final communiqué, also began to look at the impact of social issues on the workplace, and the importance of focusing on productivity, resilience, and competitiveness within the Caribbean workforce and industry. It is important for the Cayman Islands to maintain a prudent presence at such regional and international meetings and conferences, while recognizing the budgetary pressures and time constraints.”
Nineteen of the 22 ILO Caribbean Member States and non-metropolitan territories were represented at the meeting, the largest turnout ever for the conference. The Cayman Islands is considered a non-metropolitan territory as it is a United Kingdom overseas territory.
“Meeting and collaborating with our neighboring countries on the topic of labour was extremely useful,” Connolly said. “It helped us get a better sense of what other countries in the region are facing and how they are overcoming issues in their labour market. It was also very important to meet with our Caribbean counterparts and extend the hand of collaboration. I look forward to interacting further with them and the ILO.”
According to the release, the meeting focused on a range of topics, including the development of Decent Work Country Programmes, ratification of ILO Conventions on Occupational Safety and Health, employment policy and the maritime sector, the execution of a number of capacity building initiatives targeted at government officials and social partners, and the establishment of a Caribbean Labour Market Information System and its deployment in various countries.
British man dies after being shot with police Taser
(BBC): A man has died after being shot by police with a Taser stun gun in Manchester. Police said the man, named locally as Jordan Begley, "suffered a medical episode" after the Taser was used at about 20:15 BST in Gorton on Wednesday. Paramedics tried to resuscitate the 23-year-old at the scene before he was taken to hospital, where he died. Greater Manchester Police have referred the incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said: "Police received a 999 call reporting a disturbance on Beard Road in Gorton where there was a man with a knife. Officers were dispatched immediately and arrived in eight minutes. On arrival, a Taser was discharged to detain a 23-year-old man.”
"At this time it is unclear what happened, but at some point afterwards the man suffered a medical episode. Paramedics performed first aid on the man at the scene before he was taken to hospital where he sadly died," he added.
IPCC files show ten people have died following the police discharging a Taser.
$1m spent by candidates
(CNS): According to the submissions from the 46 candidates in the May general elections who complied with the law and submitted their accounts to the Elections Office by the 28 June deadline, they collectively spent close to $1 million on their respective campaigns. The PPM, which fielded 15 candidates, ran up a bill of $336,808, averaging $22,454 per candidate, well under the $30,000 limit per head for party members, and the UDP spent a more modest $225,326.37, an average of $18,777 per candidate. However, while both parties had a shortfall between the money they spent and the money they raised, the PPM came closest to raising the full revenue of its campaign, with just a $18,456 gap, compared to a difference in revenue raised and cash spent by the UDP of $39,224.
The spending by independent candidates, who were allowed to spend up to $35,000 each, varied greatly, with the losing candidate in North Side, Joey Ebanks, spending the least at only $5,119.02, while Bo Miller exceeded his spending allocation with an election campaign bill of over $35,568.
Ten candidates failed to reveal their expenses at all, but the new supervisor of elections said there were no sanctions in the law regarding candidates who do not submit returns if they do not win. All of the candidates who were returned submitted their expenses but none of the ten who missed the submission deadline were returned.
Supervisor of Elections Wesley Howell told CNS that the Elections office is writing to Miller, who ran in George Town, to clarify his expenses to see if there was an error in his accounts that led to him to exceed the legal limit on any an individual campaign.
The results, which were published by the Elections Office this week, also reveal some interesting differences in the amounts of money some candidates managed to raise for their campaigns and the ones which were left to pick up the costly bill themselves, despite not gaining a set in the LA.
Ebanks, who spent the lowest amount, submitted that he raise no money at all and therefore used his own finances to fund his controversial campaign, which was conducted online and on the airwaves of Vibe FM. Meanwhile, his opponent, who swept to victory in the district of North Side with over 75% of the vote, spent $29,143.06 from the $29,500 he raised.
The lowest spend by a candidate who was actually returned was Juliana O’Connor Connolly, who ran to return to office in the district of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. She spent considerably less than her two PNA colleagues in Bodden Town, Mark Scotland and Dwayne Seymore, who both spent just under $25,000 each, and her West Bay colleagues, Cline Glidden and Rolston anglin, who spent almost $29,000 each. O'Connor-Connolly, who joined the PPM after the elections and was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, laid out just $14,223.30 on her campaign, having raised some $14,195.00. Given that she now holds one of the top earning posts in government, O’Connor-Connolly achieved one of the best results for her campaign investment.
Shortfalls between revenue raised and money spent was common for several independents, including most of the C4C candidates. Jackie Haynes, who failed to win a seat in the capital, raised only $2,342.86 but spent $22,476.96, leaving her out of pocket more than $20k. Her colleague, Jude Scott, spent $25,342.76 on his campaign but received only $2,342.86 in revenue, leaving him with a personal bill of some $22,000. C4C candidate Sharon Roulstone managed to raise $9,194.29, but having spent almost $23k, she too faces a significant tab.
Meanwhile, Mervin Smith and Tara Rivers in West Bay both spent $24,399.49 each on their joint campaign, but having only raised $2,342, the bill for Smith is likely to be considerably more painful, since he failed to gain a seat. Both Winston Connolly and Roy McTaggart also had shortfalls in their revenue versus their expenditure, but having won their seats, the $19,000 shortfall for Connolly and the $10,000 for McTaggart, who raised the most money of all the C4C candidates, may feel like money well spent.
One of the most unusual expense returns was that of Stefan Baraud, who raised the most revenue of any candidate — a whopping $60,718.16 — but spent $34,375.52.
The campaign expense period only covers the eight weeks following Nomination Day, however, and expenses incurred before that date are not included in the expenses submitted.
Of the ten candidates who failed to submit their expenses, Matthew Leslie, who ran an almost entirely web-based campaign in George town, told CNS that he estimated having spent about $28,000. He said he had missed the submission deadline due to ill-health and intended to send in his expense account as soon as possible.
The other nine candidates who failed to reveal how much they raised and how much they spent were independents Frank McField in George Town, David Bodden and Maxine Moore in the Sister Islands, John McLean Jr in East End, Arnold Berry, Charles Clifford and Vincent Frederick in Bodden Town and both the independent candidates in West Bay, Dwene Ebanks and Andrea Christian.
Addition: Charles Clifford contacted CNS on Thursday to say that he had submitted his returns but had missed the deadline. He said that he spent $18,233 and raised $14,800 in contributions.
See details from elections office below.