Archive for August, 2014
Onerous customs coding to be simplified
(CNS Business): Responding to continued complaints about the time importers are spending at the customs department as a result of the new coding system, the government is not only drastically reducing the number of codes but for a small flat fee of $5 customs officers will now take care of the coding for them. At a press briefing Thursday, Premier Alden McLaughlin said that importers can use the same form for declaration of invoices and leave the coding for customs, which will take place in a back office. They can produce this document, pay duty and then walk away, he said, and then customs officers will go through the “tedious exercise” of coding each item. Read more on CNS Business
Customs to launch online registration of devices
(CNS): Registering electronic devices when leaving the Cayman Islands is not mandatory, the premier stressed at a press briefing Thursday, and said that there were other ways to prove to customs when residents re-entered the Cayman Islands that devises such as iPads, iPhones and laptops were not new, such as data sent, received or stored before the traveller left the islands. However, registration would provide the owner with proof of when it was purchased if they were questioned by a customs officer, he said. Following the press briefing, the collector of customs told CNS that the customs department will be offering an online submission of the process to register items effective next Monday, 11 August.
The modification of the current form to allow for registration will be completed over the next couple of days, according to Collector of Customs Samantha Bennett. She said the new form will list the locations where it can be submitted for those who choose to do the process manually and it will also outline the process to submit electronically.
When the process is in place, people submitting forms electronically must also provide two pictures one of the item to be registered and the other picture of the serial code on the item (if applicable). However, Bennett said that customs will require that the electronic submission to be done 24 hours before travel to allow for processing. A confirmation will be emailed back to the owner from customs once the item has been processed and registered, she explained.
“Again, we want to reiterate that the registration processes outlined above are not mandatory,” Bennett said. “However, it will be up to the passenger to prove to a customs officer (if asked) upon their return to the Island that duty is not applicable.”
The link of the modified process will be available here. The form will outline several customs locations for people to submit the form with the item and these include:
- Airport: 6am-11pm (everyday)
- Courier Section, Post Office, Seaport, Headquarters: 8.30-4pm (Monday to Friday)
- Collections Office: 8.30-4pm (Monday to Friday) 8.30-12pm (Saturday)
- Cayman Brac Airport: 6am-11pm (everyday)
ICTA reveals vicious circle
(CNS): A report into the recruitment practices at the Information and Technology Authority (ICTA), triggered after a Finance Committee hearing last year that resulted in the early pay-off of the ex-managing director, has revealed the vicious circle government has created for local people when it comes to top level posts. The report by the board into what happened over at least two jobs at the ICTA followed a now notorious meeting in parliament last October when MLAs were exposed to the extent of the barriers faced by Caymanians trying to get work, not just in the private sector but in government as well. The report shows that the experience and qualifications required for some government posts make it virtually impossible for local people to fit the bill.
With requirements for people to have ten years experience in an ICTA environment when the agency itself is barely that old and for all regulators to have law degrees and be called to practice at the local bar as well as the professional and technical qualifications, the chances of Caymanians ever being able to qualify appear slim at best.
The fact, however, that local telecomms expert Alee Fa'Amoe is now at the helm of the ICTA as a result of the chain of events, demonstrates that it is possible to find the right man for the job at home. But government's own regulations and stipulations appear to make fitting a Caymanians into these types of position a distant possibility, fuelling assumptions that these jobs must go to foreigners and leaving government bosses paying mere lip service to proper recruitment practices.
The vicious circle is further fueled by the lack of resources for training and encouraging young Caymanians into entry level positions, where they can begin to gain the experience while also taking their necessary technical and academic qualifications.
The report (posted below) which was released to CNS via an FOI request focuses on how two senior members of staff were recruited from overseas for the ICTA and contracts sent and signed by the would-be foreign employees before the requirements to try and recruit a local were ever met. The scandal blew up when Ezzard Miller, the independent member for North Side, probed the former MD over how jobs could have been promised to overseas workers before the deadline for application submissions locally had passed.
The issue raised concerns among MLAs that job advertisements were being tailored for specific candidates and that the proper processes were being circumvented to cherry pick people. While allegations of such practices have been widespread in the private sector it was a rude awakening for the politicians that this was also happening in the public sector.
While the former MD, David Archbold, has categorically denied any such practice, he had mislead the Finance Committee about the chain of events over the recruitment process concerning two jobs. Whether or not those jobs were tailored for specific candidates may always remain an open question but the ICTA report illustrates the barriers that government is putting in place for certain posts and creating the assumption that locals can never be qualified.
The report was compiled by Dale Crighton, the ICTA board chair, and it reflects concerns about criteria. Pointing to recommendations about recruitment practices, especially what he calls the "questionable" practice of issuing conditional contracts to potential employees before the local recruitment routes were fully exhausted, Crighton also laments the requirements of some jobs.
He points out that now that the telecomms industry has evolved in Cayman there are potentially more people who are capable of doing the job and that some of the restrictive criteria has to be addressed. "…[W]e have now been operating under the ICTA law for in excess of ten years and have proof of a vibrant open market in operation," Crighton writes in his report to the minister, Kurt Tibbetts.
"This begs the question: Does the Authority still need the same overseas resources that were required when the ICTA Law and open market was being created? The board is of the opinion that a needs assessment and subsequent review /update of relevant job descriptions be carried out by an outside entity as the current requirements make it very difficult for Caymanians to qualify for senior posts in the ICTA," the chairman adds.
See full report below.
Robbery went horribly wrong
(CNS): The crown’s key witness in the trial of Raziel Omar Jeffers, who is accused of murder in the shooting of Marcos Mauricio Duran on Thursday, 11 March 2010, gave evidence about what Jeffers, her lover at the time, had told her about the events during and after the death of Duran. Meagan Martinez told the court that when faced with three masked gunmen, the ‘numbers man’ had first tried to get back into the apartment he just left, but her Aunt Rickie, who lived there, wouldn’t let him in. So he turned and faced his attackers, but as he tried to wrestle with “Pinga” for one of the guns, it went off, shooting Pinga in the leg, Jeffers had told her. “Patchie”, another of the gunmen, had then shot the numbers man, she said.
But at the time Jeffers did not know what had happened. According to her evidence, he later told Martinez that he had been in her aunt’s apartment and was in the living room with her watching TV when Duran arrived on his rounds selling 'numers'.
Jeffers sent a messages to his “soldiers”, who were waiting under the stairs leading up to the second floor apartment, when Duran arrived and again when he left, so they knew when to rob him, Martinez said. When Jeffers left the apartment he saw the “poor numbers man” slumped over by the door, with blood from his head dripping down the staircase and he had to jump over it to get downstairs, the witness said. As he left he heard her aunt screaming.
Martinez was still at the hairdressers, where Jeffers had dropped her earlier that evening, and he called her there sounding panicky and told her to ask her cousin, the hairdresser, to drive her to where he was in Ebanks Road to pick him up, which they did. She said that later he told her that this made her an accessory so he now owned her, and if he went down, everyone went down, including her and her Aunt Rita.
Thursday night after the murder he tried to contact “the boys”, Martinez said, and told her it was urgent that he spoke to at least one of them to find out how everything got so messed up, how the plan had gone so horribly wrong. But he couldn’t get hold of them.
But the next day, she said, Jeffers learned what had happened and he told Martinez about it that Friday night. Jordan Manderson (Pinga), who had been shot, was taken by the others in what was supposed to be the getaway car driven by Craig Johnson to his father’s house. He and Johnson spent the day that Friday cleaning Pinga’s blood from the back seat of the car with H7 bleach, but they had washed the whole car so it didn’t look suspicious that only the inside was clean, Martinez said.
Jeffers told her to call her aunt and tell her that she had heard it was the “Logwood guys”, members of the rival West Bay gang, who were the robbers, Martinez told the court. But she hadn’t done so because her aunt was still really upset.
Martinez said she knew that by this he meant Robert Bush, Jose Sanchez, Andy Barnes and others. She said the boys that Jeffers had recruited to rob the numbers man – Jordan Manderson, Joshua Ebanks (Patchie), Austin Jackson, as well as the getaway driver, Craig Johnson – were part of the Birch Tree Hill gang.
She said she knew that the guns used in the shooting were Jeffers’ because he had told her that he had supplied the weapons. She had also seen him with one of them, “the .44” several times, including once at his mother’s house, and he had told her it was “his favourite toy”.
The court also heard from Aaron Hydes, who on the night of the shooting had gone to the house where his cousin, Pinga, lived. As he arrived he saw a white Honda Accord pull up outside the house. He recognized the car because it belonged to his sister and the driver, Craig Johnson, because he was the father of his sister’s children. Pinga was helped out by Johnson and another man, who then got back into the car and drove off. Pinga was clearly badly injured and Hydes said he could see the bone sticking out of his leg.
His father came out and Hydes said he overheard Pinga tell him that he had been shot by Andy Barnes. Pinga’s father called an ambulance but a lady pulled up in a car and took them both to the hospital, Hydes said.
Meagan Martinez will continue giving evidence in Grand Court Friday.
Related story on CNS:
FCO scholarship for master’s degree
(CNS): Future leaders of the Cayman Islands are urged to apply for the UK’s prestigious Chevening Scholarship Programme the UK’s flagship scholarship programme funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Chevening team are particularly interested to hear from applicants in the Cayman Islands who wish to study Good governance, Financial management, Public administration and law, Commercial / economic development or Environment. Awarded to outstanding individuals with leadership potential, a Chevening Scholarship offers financial support for a Master’s level degree beginning September 2015 at one of the UK’s leading universities.
Applicants have until 15th November 2014 to submit their application.
Awards are typically for a one-year Master’s degree, in any subject at any of the UK’s leading universities.
To be eligible for a Chevening Scholarship, you must be a citizen of a Chevening-eligible country and intend to return there after your studies; hold a degree that is equivalent to at least an upper second-class honours degree in the UK; have completed at least two years’ work or equivalent experience before applying for a Chevening Scholarship; be able to meet the Chevening minimum English language requirement; be able to obtain the correct visa, and receive an unconditional offer from a UK university.
A Chevening scholarship usually offers a monthly stipend, travel to and from your country, a thesis or dissertation grant and tuition fees.
Applicants should read the online guidance and be able to demonstrate how they meet the Chevening selection criteria before submitting an application. Further details of closing dates and priority subject areas are available at www.chevening.org/apply
Students get taste of government career
(CNS): Lucille Williams-Fernandez (18) and Taylor Clarke-Wint (20) were trying out life working for government at the health ministry this summer. The government sector interns are both at university, one studying marketing and the other integrated health, and both have been rolling up their sleeves and getting into the thick of it. As minister responsible for youth as well as health, Osbourne Bodden said it was imperative to have the input of young people in government. "We must place young people in positions where they can be mentored, gain valuable employment in their field of study and let their voices be heard."
Lucille is a junior student at Stetson University in the USA and currently pursuing a major in Integrative Health Science. She said she enjoyed her experience at the Ministry, where her duties included lending support to the human resources and finance sections along with other projects within the Ministry.
“As a student looking towards a future career in medicine, my most memorable experience was attending a meeting on the Adolescent Health Study Report and being able to offer my opinion as a young person growing up in the Cayman Islands,” she said as her time drew to a close. “Being at the Ministry for the past month has taught me that not everything is as simple as it seems. There is a process for everything! I have also witnessed first-hand how the Ministry works for the people of the Cayman Islands – always keeping their best interest at heart.”
Meanwhile, Taylor who is enrolled as a third year student at Southampton Solent University in the UK with a major in Marketing with Advertising Management started this week said she was looking forward to understanding more about what the ministry does and how they go about contributing to society.
As a way to enhance employment opportunities for the Cayman Islands’ youth, the Ministry plans to continue these internships now and in the future. Both interns said they are grateful to government and urged other young people to take advantage of future internship opportunities.
Authorship of doctored report partially clarified
(CNS): In the fallout of revelations that a report on the behaviour of students at public schools was doctored tocut out many of the critical findings of the author, a former member of staff at the Education Ministry, Favourita Blanchard, issued a statement Wednesday in which she categorically denies being the person who amended the document. Shortly afterwards, the chief officer in the ministry issued her own statement in which she states that Blanchard did nothing wrong but fell short of saying she did not make the changes, only that she did not do so on her own. Without saying who had, in fact, cut out large parts of the critical report, Mary Rodrigues said that the consultant “actively sought the input” of both Blanchard and the ministry’s former chief policy adviser, Dr Jo Wood, who had oversight of the report.
In 2012 consultant Dr David Moore was hired by the ministry to do a study of the behaviour of students and how bad behaviour is managed. The resulting 2012 report was heavily redacted by someone, which resulted in a second sanitised version of the report in 2013. Among the many issues raised by Moore and his team was the sexualised behaviour of some primary school children and highly disruptive behaviour by a small group of students, particularly at the John Gray High School.
A long and comprehensive list of recommendations for the schools, the Department of Education Services and the ministry to adopt was also slashed to a few points.
The existance of both reports and fact that the initial document had been drastically altered was revealed during the recent sitting of Finance Committee. During the responses to questions in Finance Committee, and subsequent press coverage, the involvement of Blanchard, a former senior evaluator at the ministry was mentioned by Rodrigues.
“Following the recent press reportings on the Ministry of Education’s Behaviour Report, I was
named by the press in some instances, and in others it was implied that, I am the person who amended, edited, doctored (and other descriptive terms), the said report," Blanchard said in her statement.
"I wish to categorically state that, as a person of high ethical and moral standards, I would never change the content or indeed the findings of a report written by someone else and I deny any accusation of my having done so. These suggestions are false and indeed, libellous.
"I wrote to the Ministry of Education when this story was first reported in the press, seeking their assistance to publicly clear my good name. This entire situation has caused me undue stress and a stain on my professional integrity. I am requesting the press retract these statements immediately as they are without foundation.
"The Ministry of Education has assured me that they will be issuing a statement to clarify this situation and to clear my good name and I trust that this is done expeditiously and that the matter of any involvement by me in 'altering or doctoring' this report can be laid to rest," Blanchard stated.
In response, Rodrigues issued a statement on behalf of the ministry "to set the record straight that Mrs Favourita Blanchard did not unilaterally change the draft inspection report."
She said, "Mrs Blanchard, the only employee in the inspections unit at the time, was instructed by the Chief Officer to liaise with the consultant on any editing to be made to the draft report, to ensure the report met the quality standards required of all inspection reports."
Confirming that Blanchard did nothing wrong, but without exonerating anyone else from the ministry or clarifying who had written the amended document, Rodrigues said she "was only undertaking her duties as instructed by the Chief Officer. In all her time working with the Ministry, Ms Blanchard’s work was of the highest moral and ethical standards."
She continued, "It is important to clarify that from the very outset it was the expectation that the consultant would engagewith the local team throughout the drafting process, and that he actively sought the input of both Mrs Blanchard and the Chief Policy Adviser from the Ministry, who was assigned in an oversight capacity in the absence of a Chief Inspector."
Commenting on the work of Dr Moore, whose report had been heavily slashed, the CO said she "would also like to make clear that in no way is the credibility of the consultant being challenged, as he has many years of distinguished service and expertise, and his services were very much valued by the Ministry of Education."
Relevant stories on CNS:
Report quality challenged (25 June 2014)
Secret report slams teachers (23 June 2014)
Minister tours new facilities at WB Sports Centre
(CNS): New changing rooms at the Ed Bush Sports Centre in West Bay have brought the stadium facilities in line with requirements for international football tournaments, governemnt officials say. Turnaround of the project took three months, from April to July of this year, and cost $1.493 million. Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden said the construction team. had "done a fantastic job in pulling this off. Any doubts I had about the time constraints were quickly laid to rest.” He said the project showed an “incredible value for the money put in” and hoped it would help to “solidify the government’s support for the future development of sport on-island, including sports tourism”.
The Public Works Department recently handed over the keys to the newly completed facilities in West Bay to the Ministry of Sports.
The 5,884-square-foot building includes two changing rooms that each accommodate a 20 person team. Both have their own lockers, whiteboards, a coaches’ room, showers, and a restroom.
Players also now have direct secure access to the changing rooms, so that they do not have to mix with the press or other officials.
Other facilities include a medical suite, anti-doping control room, and a referees’ dressing room, all with their own restrooms and showers. In addition a VIP reception area, secretariat suite, and media/press conference room all overlook the playing field.
Parking services now accommodate large buses and persons with disabilities. Meanwhile brand new public bathrooms have also been added to the building, as well as a concessions room with two roll-down grilles to serve the multitude of fans that attend football games in the district.
In addition the project management team designed and constructed the new structure with the future of the stadium in mind.. As such the roof of the new structure was engineered to provide the base for a possible new grandstand in the future.
Anson M. Stuart, Project Manager for Public Works, and Delano Bush, Site Manager at Arch and Godfrey, led the tour. Garth Arch, Managing Director at Arch and Godfrey, Pedro Theye, Senior Architect at DDL Studio, Alexi Ebanks, Architectural Designer at DDL Studio, and Joel Francis, Senior Policy Advisor in the Ministry with responsibility for Sports, Youth, and Culture, were also present.
Arch commended the efforts of everyone involved with the project, especially Project Manager Dean Gaffigan, and Site Manager Mr Delano Bush, both at Arch and Godfrey.
Government undertook the project to ensure that the stadium would be CONCACAF approved for all future tournaments, including the U-15 girls’ championship beginning on 6 August.
Officials expect the site to be furnished within the next couple of days, in preparation for the start of the tournament.
Representatives from CONCACAF and CIFA also did walkthroughs of the new structure to ensure that the building met all CONCACAF requirements for the upcoming U15 girls’ competition which gets underway this evening Wednesday 6 August 2014.
Dog slaughtered on West Bay beach
(CNS): A man was arrested Monday evening but bailed following what appears to be a senseless and inexplicable slaughter of a young German shepherd mix dog. King belonged to 14-year-old Jimmall Facey, who was playing with the dog, which was not much more than a puppy, on West Bay public beach when he got into an altercation with a 58-year-old man in the area. In an effort to get away from the man, the teenager put his dog on a leach and got on his bike but as he began to ride off with some haste he dropped the leash and as a result the man grabbed the dog. Jimmall told the police that he watched as the suspect broke his dog’s neck and threw King's body in the sea. Horrified, the youngster retrieved his pet’s body and took it home.
According to reports on Cayman 27, it was Jimmall’s mother, Julet Facey, who then reported the shocking slaughter to the police.
“So if you would kill a dog, tell me what you would do to my child,” she asked on the TV news broadcast. “What message are you sending to me as a mother? Well, I kill the son’s dog; that could have been your son.”
Her son added, “If he grabbed me, that’s showing me what he did to the dog [is] what he [would] do to me. Throw me in the sea and nobody would never find me.”
Although the man was arrested he has so far been bailed without charge.
Customs policy absurd
(CNS): The decision by the customs department to start enforcing a 30-year-old policy to have people register their own electronic items before they travel so they do not get charged duty on them is absurd, the Chamber president has said. Johann Moxam is urging the duty enforcement agency to concentrate on the real crime, such as the recent Operation Spearfish, and stop undermining business with pointless and frustrating layer of bureaucracy. In a statement this week that has wide support, the president of the business body pointed out that in the modern age everyone is traveling with electronic devices and registering them before they leave is a step backwards. Customs bosses, however, claimthat it will "provide a smoother" transition.
The policy, which has been in place for three decades, requires those traveling with electronic devices to register them before leaving to verify on return that they are not new acquisitions by the traveller trying to dodge the tax.
However, the Chamber president said, "We live in the information age and carrying electronic devices is a way of life and a business necessity. Registering electronic devices is a waste of time and money and falls into the category of absurdity. We should be trying to simplify the travel experience rather than complicating it with policies that should have been abolished years ago. The Chamber supports lower duty rates for retailers, which would encourage more residents to purchase these items locally rather than abroad. Policy makers and customs officials are placing the emphasis in the wrong area,” Moxam added.
He said Operation Spearfish was the type of exercise where customs should continue to direct resources, as he commended recent efforts to seize containers that are suspected to be packed with stolen goods. The practice of stealing and shipping the booty off island is believed to be common and has gone on almost undetected for years.
“The enforcement section of customs should be commended for taking this action. Stolen goods and contraband distort the local marketplace and harm both businesses and the consumers who purchase the stolen and illegal items. The Chamber encourages customs to focus more energy in this area so that persons who are involved in this illegal activity are brought to justice, not on wedding dresses and registering electronic goods,” Moxam said.
Although the Chamber says that some advances have been made in creating a more business-friendly environment in Cayman as a result of its partnership with government on the Future of Cayman initiative, Moxam warned that there are still too many antiquated and anti-business policies that are regressive and detract from making the Cayman Islands an attractive place to do business.
The customs department has defended this latest clampdown and said that customs has always encouraged the completion of this form for passengers to help clear up customs queries when travelers return. “Otherwise, the customer could be subject to be paying duties on an item," Samantha Bennett the customs boss stated. “It is the passenger’s responsibility to satisfy the officer that duties are not applicable when bringing the item back into the country."
Import duty is charged at 22 percent for electronics, which could prove very costly for travelers, especially if they already paid duty on those items when they first purchased them.