Archive for June, 2014
Cops continue rounding up burglar suspects
(CNS): With burglaries still seen as one of the most pressing crime problems in the Cayman community, the cops are continuing to apply pressure on suspects and have rounded up another man believed to be responsible for breaks-in around the capital. Police have charged a 27-year-old man from Bodden Town with a burglary that occurred in the South Sound area of George Town on Friday 13 June. He appeared before a magistrate in Summary Court Tuesday and has been remanded in custody.
UCCI helps to grow Cayman’s own teachers
(CNS): The University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) and the Education Ministry have worked together to design three quality education courses at the college to home-grow much needed teachers. UCCI President Roy Bodden encouraged people to sign up for the programmes, which have been designed to meet the needs of the local education system. Bodden said these teaching courses along with other courses and programmes designed to meet the needs of the local labour market, such as the nursing programmes and soon-to-come hospitality courses, demonstrate the importance of the UCCI.
The new Associate of Arts in Primary Education Programme prepares students to support teaching and learning in the schools, while the updated Bachelor of Science in Primary Education Degree prepares students to be qualified teachers. In addition, the new Post Graduate Certificate in Primary Education offers a 15-month programme for career changers or those holding a bachelor’s degree in another subject area who are in need of the education methods courses to become a teacher.
“We developed the curricula so that students learn best practice based on latest educational research,” said Terese Parker, Education Programme Leader. “We have ensured that education methods courses include classroom experience enabling students to connect educational theory with authentic teaching and learning in the classroom. Students will also benefit from knowledgeable and experienced instructors who will work closely with them to ensure their success,” she added.
Mary Rodrigues, the Chief Officer in the Ministry of Education said the programmes provide opportunities for students to meet the requirements of the Cayman Islands National Professional Standards for Teachers. “The standards define the professional attributes, knowledge, understanding and skills expected of all teachers in the Cayman Islands Public Education System,” she stated in a release from the college.
Tara Rivers, Minister for Education, urged students interested in teaching to sign up for the UCCI programmes. “There will be opportunities for individuals enrolled to work along experienced teachers in schools and therefore gain first-hand practical experience. The UCCI education programmes are specifically designed to bring together theory with practice and to ensure that potential teachers receive the necessary preparation to be successful in our school,” she stated.
Part-time and evening classes are being offered to accommodate students who are working full-time jobs. For further information and to apply, please contact Terese Parker via email, tparker@ucci.edu.ky, or call 623-0526.
Flowers Sea Swim draws biggest ever line-up
(CNS): Over 960 people signed up for the 22nd Annual Flowers sea swim this past holiday weekend, setting a new record for the race, which drew Olympians and elite swimmers from around the world to compete and hundreds to watch the open water spectacle. More than $100,000 of prizes and rewards were handed out to the competitors that swam the ocean course from the Ritz-Carlton to Royal Palms in the welcomed calm conditions. The race, which is one of the most important annual sporting event in Cayman’s emerging sports tourism calendar, was won by Mateusz Sawrymowicz in 18 minutes, 9 seconds followed by Keri-Anne Payne and Jake Zakale.
Mac furious over marinas
(CNS): The opposition leader became outraged on Friday over what he claims is the unfair treatment of Cleveland Dilbert and his application for a marina on Cayman Brac. During the Finance Committee session in which the environment department’s appropriations were being discussed McKeeva Bush attempted to move a motion to make Cabinet grant a costal works licence for Dilbert’s proposal alongside two other projects which government’s inner circle has passed without the requirement of an EIA. The marinas are all very different propositions and the minster responsible said each one had been considered on its own merits and Dilbert was not being discriminated against, as implied by Bush.
The committee chair, Marco Archer, refused to accept the motion from the leader of the opposition as he said finance committee did not have the authority to do what the motion was requesting. Despite Bush’s continued protestations, the finance minister stuck to his position and Bush said he would be bringing the issue to the Legislative Assembly as a privatemembers motion if the Speaker would allow it.
Bush then proceeded to berate both the environment minister, Wayne Panton, and director of the Department of Environment, Gina Ebanks-Petrie, over the situation in Cayman Brac, where three different potential marinas have been given costal works license approvals.
However, the one known as the Dilbert Marina which is planned for an inland pond by the side of the Alexander Hotel, was the only project that required an Environmental Impact Assessment. Although all of the project approvals are conditional on certain things, the scale of the Dilbert project and the cutting of a channel from the ocean inland led to the most stringent of the conditions.
Bush, however, believed that the requirement for Dilbert to undertake an EIA was discriminatory. The minister explained that the two other marinas are in areas which have been dredged before and the DoE is more aware of the impacts that these smaller scale projects will have. The owner of the Alexander recently announced for the second time this year that his hotel would have to close unless his marina project could go ahead. Although Cabinet has also issued an approval for the project against the DoE’s advice, the government has asked for an EIA. However, the owner seems reluctant to undertake such a study.
During his questions about the other smaller coastal projects, Bush became incensed and described the various explanations given by Panton about the other two proposals as “cockamamie answers” and went on to suggest the other two projects were equally significant. He accused the environment director of “fixing it” for what her minister wants while making Cleveland pay for an EIA.
Panton said Bush’s view of the other two marinas being equally as damaging was completely inaccurate and it was the risks associated with Dilbert’s proposals that had led the DoE to advise Cabinet not to approve it, which was why Cabinet had insisted on an EIA but Panton said the proper process was followed on each of the applications.
Bush told the minister he was sick of his "Nancy stories", as he yelled at the government benches saying, “We know what you did; we know how you operate!” as he hurled numerous allegations at the environment director about her department’s review of the Dilbert application. The opposition leader said the whole thing was duplicitous and carried out by “those purveyors of good governance and butter cant melt in their mouth excuses” who he said were doing what they wanted, whether it was auditing his travel or “digging out the Queen’s bottom”.
Panton said he and everyone else was familiar with the opposition leader’s position of “substance over process arguments in the past” but he was giving him the facts, and while they may be inconvenient, they were still the facts. He said in the case of all three applications the proper process was followed.
Dump runoff levels ‘safe’
(CNS): Despite widespread concerns that the George Town landfill is leaching unsafe levels of pollutants into the North Sound, the head of the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) has said this is not the case. Answering questions in Finance Committee last week, Roydell Carter said the latest results from tests conducted in the US on the leaching from the dump fall well within the “established safe parameters", and he assured MLAs that the results do not support the claim that there is noxious waste leaching into North Sound. The minister with responsibility for the dump admitted that there had been serious mismanagement of equipment in the DEH and Department of Vehicle & Equipment Services and said people would be held accountable.
With the landfill a critical issue in the Ministry of Health, Sports, Youth, and Culture, Minister Osbourne Bodden and the DEH director fielded many questions from the committee, especially from the opposition benches, about the current situation and future plans.
Bodden admitted a catalogue of problems regarding poor maintenance and mismanagement of major equipment but he committed to addressing these past issues going forward. He said equipment had been broken for some time, and with no budget to replace it the department was force to spend public cash hiring the relevant machines. The minister agreed with East End MLA Arden McLean, as he probed about what was happening, that the cause was a failure of staff to stick to proper maintenance schedules.
Bodden said he was going to make sure that these questions would not be asked again in the next Finance Committee as he revealed the DEH was hiring a fleet manager with knowledge of equipment to ensure that things changed.
“It will not be business as usual,” he said as he emphasized the need to properly take care of equipment that is used in such a stressful environment. He pointed out that many of the problems in the current collection and management of waste would be addressed in the forthcoming policy and subsequent tender for a new system, but said that in the meantime the dump could not be left in abeyance; rubbish still had to be properly managed.
He noted that the lack of funds in the budget to keep coving the landfill had contributed to the recent fire and that this was a false economy. Bodden made it clear that there were many problems with management of waste in general as well as with the management of equipment and he was now aware of what they all were, which was why it was so important to get the future plan right. He said he was learning nothing new from the issues being raised about the dump problems and the criticism coming from the opposition benches.
“We have a plan moving forward to correct it all and manage it the best way we can,” he told the committee. In the meantime, he said, equipment is expected in August and September to replace the broken down machines and the department has budgeted for marl to keep the dump covered to reduce the risk of further fires.
Although the almost $3.2 million line item for managing garbage was passed by the committee, the opposition leader registered his objection to the more than $2 million the ministry was receiving as part of a $4.6 million equity injection to cover the cost of the EIA for the dump as well as for the much need machinery. McKeeva Bush said there were more than enough reports on the dump and government did not need to spend any more money on them.
BT man cleared of rape
(CNS): Shane Connor (36) walked away from court on Friday a free man following his acquittal on a rape charge by a jury after a two week trial. Connor had denied raping a woman who claimed she had been drugged and found herself at his home where he had sexual intercourse with her against her will. She described being in a dream-like state, almost paralyzed and unable to stop Connor during the sex act, in which she said he moved her into several different positions but she had repeatedly asked him to stop. However, Connor denied forcing himself, saying they had consensual sex and she did not appear to be intoxicated.
In what was a very emotional and sensitive testimony, the complainant said she could not remember all the details of the allegedrape, including how she got to Connor’s house. She recalled arriving there and being in her car and urinating on herself. She said she was not in control of her body but Connor had led her inside to his bedroom and had sex with her, but feeling powerless, she said she was unable to stop him. She later concluded that she had been drugged as she had only consumed two beers and two shots of Hennessey during the evening at the bar where she met the defendant.
Connor, however, said the woman had chosen to drive him to his home in her own car after they had met up in the bar. She had parked at the back of the property in Savannah after asking if he had nosey neighbours. He said they had become intimate when they both got out of the car outside and that’s when he realized she had wet herself but he said she did not appear intoxicated. He said she just removed her clothes and threw them in the car.
Giving evidence on his own behalf in answer to the charges, Connor told the court the woman went willingly into the house with him and into his bedroom where she removed her underwear. Given what he said was an open invitation by a woman he had known for many years and whom he found attractive, he went ahead. He said they had sex in different positions, which he did not have to force her to take, and she had never said ‘no’ or asked him to stop during the intercourse. He said, however, that when he asked her to engage in oral sex she refused, so that did not happen.
Connor said there was nothing that would have suggested to him she was not consenting. He said that after the act they spoke and exchanged numbers and when she left he said he would callher to make sure she got home safely, which he did, and although he did not get through, the phone records reveal Connor's attempts to call the woman. Telephone evidence also confirmed that he had called her the next day as well and the two had exchanged text messages.
CCTV footage also showed that they had left the bar in George Town together before heading to Connor’s house, despite the complainant’s insistence that she would never have gone willingly with him and was insistent she did not leave with Connor.
The court also heard that the woman had first made the claim that she believed she had been drugged and raped more than a week after the event, when another friend had called her saying she had heard she had been with and had sex with Connor.
Connor’s defence team argued throughout the trial that the incident was consensual and it was only when people began to find out that the woman began making claims about being drugged and raped as it may impact her own existing relationship.
The defence convinced six of the seven jurors that there was enough reasonable doubt about the events and inconsistencies in the complainant's evidence to allow Connor to walk free.
Having been arrested in the wake of a separate allegation in March 2012, Connor served almost two years on remand before he was bailed after the complainant in the first case withdrew her allegation on the morning of a scheduled trial in February of this year.
Connor has no previous convictions for sex offences and protested his innocence from the beginning. Following the majority six to one verdict on his acquittal, Connor said he was truly grateful to his legal defence team at Stenning and Associates for all their hard work.
“Justice has been done after a long period of time and I can now finally move forward with my life,” Connor told CNS.
Caymanians get royal gongs for Queen’s Birthday
(CNS): The former and first chair of the Cayman Islands Standards in Public Life Committee, Karin Thompson is named a Member of the British Empire (MBE) and local business man Leonard Hew receive the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the latest batch of royal gongs. The awards for Thompson and Hew were announced this weekend as part of the Queen’s Birthday celebrations. Officials said Thompson was awarded for her work in the protection of children and Hew for his behind-the-scenes efforts to build local sporting capacity. The New Year’s royal honourees received their medals during the Queen's birthday parade celebrations on Saturday.
Cayman marked Queen Elizabeth II’s 88th birthday with a parade of senior uniformed services officers, youth service organisations and the police band in front of the Legislative Assembly.
New Year’s Honours were presented to Dr Saratchandra (Sarath) de Alwis-Seneviratne and Thomas M. Wood by Cayman Islands Governor Helen Kilpatrick, who also presented Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards to Jose Ardila, Mia Burke and Allison McDonald. The Duke of Edinburgh award scheme offers bronze, silver and gold awards to young people aged 14-24 years.
Man stabbed in road rage row
(CNS): A man was stabbed in the early hours of Sunday morningin a dispute over driving. Police said they are looking for witnesses to the stabbing that took place on West Bay Road near Royal Palms at about 1am. The RCIPS said the men got into an argument over the manner in which one or both of them were driving and a man in a small blue SUV-type vehicle was said to have stabbed the second man in the stomach. The injured man was taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital but police said the assailant left the scene. He is described as dark skinned with shaved or close cut hair, about 5’11”, slim build and in the He was in company of a stocky caucasian woman with long blond hair.
If anyone who witnessed this incident or have any information regarding this incident are asked to please contact DC Laura Ryding 949 4222.
Students pass through intervention programme
(CNS): A dozen young people received awards and commendations from the premier last week when he handed out the certificates to the students who were part of specialist programme at St. George’s Anglican Church. One of the volunteers on the Positive Intervention Now programme Alden McLaughlin congratulated the young people and encouraged them to carry on the good work. Danielle Bryan was the Overall Student winner in the project which helps vulnerable year 6 students prepare for the transition from primary to high school. The PIN after school programme caters to George Town Primary students as that is the catchment area of the church.
Students are identified for the programme by the school’s principal and counsellor for intervention. Students receive attention, instruction, guidance and positive reinforcement to help them gain the skills, knowledge and motivation they need to fulfil their potential. It runs three afternoons per week and volunteers from the church, businesses and community work with students in areas ranging from academics to the arts, etiquette and spiritual and character development.
Officials said the aim is to help the children discover new interests by exposing them to a variety of areas including social, cultural, historical, environmental and technical. Parents also commit to participate in parenting sessions aimed at further enhancing their skills and support.
All students taking part received certificates and McLaughlin also received a certificate, along with other sponsors and volunteers, for his work with the students over several years.
The next PIN programme begins in October. Those who would like to volunteer or make donations can call 926-1511 or 916-8522 or email PIN@candw.ky.
Driver in ICU after high speed smash on ETH
(CNS): A 29-year-old man had to be cut from his car on Saturday lunchtime after losing control of the vehicle around 100 metres north of the Yacht Club roundabout on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway. Police said that the smash happened at around noon today and involved a Silver Toyota Altezza, which was travelling south towards George Town when the driver lost control of the vehicle and veered off the road. The car sustained major damage when it crashed and the driver was pinned inside the vehicle. He was cut free by fire fighters and taken to the Cayman Island Hospital, where he is currently in the Intensive Care Unit.
Police said Saturday afternoon that the extent of the driver’s injuries were still undetermined and officers are now investigating the scene of the crash. Anyone who may have witnessed this accident is asked to call PC Rano Jackson at the West Bay Police Station on 949-3999.