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Nurses’ work shifts
The use of extended work shifts and overtime has escalated as hospitals cope with a shortage of registered nurses (RNs). Little is known, however, about the prevalence of these extended work periods and their effects on patient safety. Logbooks completed by 393 Cayman Islands hospital staff nurses revealed that participants usually worked longer than scheduled and that approximately 40 percent of the 5,317 work shifts they logged exceeded twelve hours.
The risks of making an error were significantly increased when work shifts were longer than twelve hours, when nurses worked overtime, or when they worked more than forty hours per week. Both errors and near errors are more likely to occur when hospital staff nurses work twelve or more hours at a stretch.
Several trends in hospital use and staffing patterns have converged to create potentially hazardous conditions for patient safety. High patient acuity levels, coupled with rapid admission and discharge cycles and a shortage of nurses, pose serious challenges for the delivery of safe and effective nursing care for hospitalized patients. While systematic national data on trends in the number of hours worked per day by nurses are lacking, anecdotal reports suggest that hospital staff nurses are working longer hours with few breaks and often little time for recovery between shifts.
Scheduled shifts may be eight, twelve, or even sixteen hours long and may not follow the traditional pattern of day, evening, and night shifts. Although twelve-hour shifts usually start at 7pm and end at 7am, some start at 3am and end at 3pm. Nurses working on specialized units such as surgery, dialysis, and intensive care are often required to be available to work extra hours (on call), in addition to working their regularly scheduled shifts. Twenty-four-hour shifts are becoming more common, particularly in emergency rooms and on units where nurses self-schedule.
The Cayman Legistative Assembly should restrict the number of hours a nurse may voluntarily work in twenty-four hours or in a seven-day period. The Health Ministry has considered bans on mandatory overtime for nurses and other health care professionals, the PPM government should pass bills prohibiting mandatory overtime for nurses, doctors, paramedics and EMTs. No measure, either proposed or enacted, addresses how long nurses, doctors and paramedics may work voluntarily. The Health Ministry recommends that voluntary overtime also be limited.
The well-documented hazards associated with sleep-deprived resident emergency physicians have influenced changes in house staff rotation policies. In contrast, although shift-working nurses have been the focus of numerous studies, it is not known if the long hours they work have an adverse effect on patient safety in hospitals. The purpose of this is to examine the work patterns of hospital staff nurses, doctors, paramedics and EMTs and to determine if there is a relationship between hours worked and the frequency of errors.
Long road for disability policy
(CNS): The Steering Committee driving the Cayman Islands towards a new policy to ensure that people with disabilities are not discriminated against say they are determined not to let their report end up on a shelf gathering dust like other policy initiatives. So, as well as determining specific goals, they are also outlining detailed action plans, identifying who does what and when and laying out a monetary timeframe for each goal to be accomplished. The Cayman Islands Disability Policy 2014-2033 (because the committee believes it will take two decades to implement it in its entirety) aims to ensure that those with disabilities live with dignity, are respected and have the opportunity to participate fully in society.
“This is not just for people with disabilities; it is for all of us because we never know what challenges will face us until they hit us,” according to committee member Shari Smith, Director of the Sunrise Adult Training Centre.
The public consultation phase, in which members of the committee gave presentations, listened to feedback and answered questions in all the districts, has now ended and the committee will now compile and analyse the data collected through the meetings as well as the online surveys, Smith said.
“The core team will present this information, along with suggestions on whether changes to the actual policy needs to occur, or whether areas have been addressed through the various strategies and action plans, to the Steering Committee for approval on edits and recommendations,” Smith told CNS.
At the same time a Cabinet paper on the policy is being drafted and she said the plan is to have recommendations, edits, and the Cabinet paper completed for end of June to submit for Cabinet approval. In addition to the Cabinet paper, the Legal Subcommittee is also working to complete their work on the recommendations and guidelines for the formulation of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and the Secretariat, which is recommended in the policy, as well as the recommendations for legislation of a Disability Law and recommendations to existing laws to bring in line with the policy and legislation for persons with disabilities, Smith said.
The wide-ranging draft policy includes big budget initiatives that may take time, such as a purpose-built training facility in a centralised location for people with disabilities to replace the Sunrise Centre, which has long been identified as inadequate for its purpose, as well as far less costly goals that can be implemented quickly.
Quality education for all ages is a primary goal, not just focusing on making sure that suitable curriculums and courses are available and that special needs children and adults are given the right services, but also ensuring that the physical barriers to learning, for example making sure that all government facilities are wheelchair accessible, are eliminated.
Because of gaps in rehabilitation and habilitation services, sometimes people have to leave the Cayman Islands in order to receive the services they need so that they can live a more independent life. Currently, the draft document notes, some families are having to split up, so that one parent takes a child with disabilities aboard to get the help they need, while the other parent stays at home with the other children.
Another major goal is ensuring that everyone has access to high quality healthcare, including mental health patients. A significant area of concern is health insurance and the draft document outlines a number of issues, including that under the current law, the basic Standard Health Insurance Contract (SHIC) Plan does not cover assistive devices that may be required for persons with disabilities. There is also no one responsible for ensuring full compliance by employers and health insurance providers. Services such as speech and occupational therapy are covered only where medically necessary, and so in many instances these are left to the discretion of the insurance provider rather than the health care practitioner.
Equal job opportunities is another major goal, starting with the first challenge: convincing employers to consider them when hiring. A broad goal to ensure that people with disabilities enjoy their highest level of independence and full inclusion in society, includes appropriate strategies to deal with discrimination and stigmatization, as well as practical matters, such as making government buildings accessible, equal access to public transportation, and making sure that people with disabilities and their caregivers have access to the information they need.
Currently the collection, analysis and dissemination of information on persons with disabilities is limited, the draft document notes. Therefore, the committee is proposing a National Register of Persons with Disabilities (NRPWD), which, among its many benefits, would give policy makers a base to prioritise policies and prepare budgets.
Constant policy evaluation is a critial part of making sure that this policy document stays current and does not end up on a dusty shelf. Therefore, the National Council for Persons with Disabilities will not only monitor the implementation of the policy and review the results but will also take a proactive approach to adjusting it to keep up with changes to priorities, obligations, expectations, as well as resources.
See the draft document below.
To contact the Steering Committee:
• Email Shari.Smith@gov.ky (CIDPSC Secretary) or Robert.Lewis@gov.ky (CIDPSC Chair),
• Dedicated email: ci.disabilitypolicy@gmail.com ; or
• Radio Cayman’s Facebook, or
• Write to Cabinet Office at P.O. Box 105 KY1-9000
Beyond the classroom
Last week, MinisterTara Rivers was featured on Cayman 27’s The Panel in which she indicated the failure of schools to adequately deal with students’ behavioural issues was a result of poor communication, lack of specialist resources, and accountability. Unsurprisingly, members of the public lashed out at her for her perceived passing of blame upon the education system, yet many failed to find fault in their own blame.
Some even ventured as far to claim it was the fault of a faulty immigration policy that they claimed had imported a culture of delinquency. Everyone, it seems, is willing to pass blame on the perceived cultural changes Cayman has undergone, yet we are reluctant to look closer to home.
For all our pride in our seafaring traditions, we fail to acknowledge that for generations, there has often been a lack of a constant father figure within the home. Prior to the success of the tourism and financial industries of the seventies, most Caymanian men had little choice but to venture to sea to make a living for their families. Whilst admirable, it would be naïve to ignore the number of children born overseas and out of wedlock whilst these men were away.
Even more ironically, for a country with a rather long history and high rate of miscegenation the slander of immigrant ethnic groups is unusually tolerated. However inappropriate to discuss, given our stringent Christian heritage, few can argue that divorced and multiethnic families are hardly a new phenomenon. Despite this fact, many Caymanian adults point to the lack of a father figure and these foreign elements as a significant contribution to the behaviour problems of some modern Caymanian youth.
Statistically, there is a correlation between delinquency, trauma and the lack of a strong family unit . However, further examination of the numbers show that there is an even higher correlation between such behaviour, physical and mental health and socio-economic status. Children who are reared in long-term destitution are far more likely to engage in delinquency.
Thus, it can be ascertained, that ‘bad behaviour’ is not a result of only the lack of traditional two parent home, but can also result from the limited opportunities available to them due to their socio-economic status. Despite this, a combination of personal resilience and the availability of positive alternatives to their current situation have been proven to prevent anti-social behavior and a destructive lifestyle.
What seems to be missing, is the acknowledgement of how we often treat children and the proven negative consequences it has on their development. Recently, a Compass poll found that the vast majority of respondents believed corporal punishment and exclusion were appropriate penalties for misbehavior. Many reason that they were treated as such when they were children, without having any serious repercussions on their development. Never mind the fact that they are the generation that has produced the current ‘troublemakers’ of society, they fail to see that such practices often have counterproductive results.
The use of corporal punishment, quite fittingly to the topic of education, often results in damage to a child’s brain development and a lower IQ. Rather than instilling moral behaviour, children who are physically reprimanded have been found to be more creative in their deception. It can also, more worryingly, make a child prone to aggression. Interestingly, despite the ease in which the proponents of the broken home argument turn to statistics to prove their point, they are far less likely to accept the numbers pointing to their own parenting habits. Rather, they brush it off by saying there is a differentiation between abuse and discipline even though both produce strikingly similar results.
Rivers also touched upon the poor care available for children with mental health issues and disabilities- a problem which Cayman has long grappled with, albeit unwillingly. With the introduction of the draft National Disability Policy, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel, yet it still doesn’t begin to address the attitude towards psychological and physical disabilities. Despite being the minority, Caymanians are more than 5 times more likely than non-Caymanians to suffer from a disability. Unsurprisingly, with limited care and treatment, this places a sizeable segment of the population at a great disadvantage and whilst the policy is welcome step, we will be playing catch up for a very long time until attitudes change.
Likewise, public perception of juvenile drug use and its effect of behavior and scholastic achievement is completely out of sync with reality. According to the National Drug Council statistics, more than half of all students surveyed reported no drug use at all. More interestingly, despite the vehement opposition towards cannabis use and its odd juxtaposition to delinquency, use is only 12.8%. Instead, it is alcohol, which is most popularly used (54%), followed by tobacco use (14.4%).
More notably, albeit a marginal difference, females were more likely to report illicit drug use than their male counterparts despite males being more frequently penalized. This in itself could be for a number of reasons due to the fact that, although drug use can be associated with delinquency, such behavior is often the cause of a number of social, cultural and economic factors.
What the above shows is that there is a huge disconnect between what we’re willing to acknowledge is true as opposed to what we believe to be true. The poet Khalil Gibran once said: “Of life’s two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a labourer’s hand”.
As a young Caymanian who has struggled with my mental health and substance abuse, I can testify to the validity of this statement. I grew to not fear physical, verbal and psychological attacks from the outside. Instead, I internalized them which, as shown above, can be quite harmful. Whilst my stubbornness has kept me resilient, it was my fortune to have met a number of special people along the way.
Teachers who went above and beyond what people typically expect of them and instead were the parents and friends many of their students didn’t have. Rather than instructing those like myself what they thought to be right, they taught us how to seek out the lives we desired. With patience and care, they taught us how to question the world around us and question ourselves. Such lessons cannot be purchased, nor are they simply born into. I was fortunate to meet such persons – many children never do.
To me, that is the greatest fault in the system. If we are to address the problem of poor academic performance, anti-social behavior and poor mental health, we must sincerely endeavour to seek out the true underlying problems behind the matter. Nor can we continue to expect positive change from our youth when we are keen to label those who make mistakes as undesirables. As opposed to imparting blame, as we are oft prone to do, we would be best to understand that things are not as black and white as they may seem. It may even be harder to accept that for all our efforts, not every child will turn out the way we intend them to.
As we may see from the above, there are a number of factors that may impact the behavior and well-being of a child. Often times, the greatest trauma is hardest to treat, as it requires not only a mere change in policy and funding, but a high level of diligence and care. Each child is unique in their character and circumstance and thus must be nurtured in a holistic sense that caters to their individual needs. Thus, it is not just the system that must change, but rather our entire manner of child rearing.
Deserters: part of the problem
Iread a previous Viewpoint about Cayman Brac's plight and felt compelled to expand on the issue from the perspective of a Caymanian with a long-standing love for the island, and a love and respect for many of the Brackers who have chosen to stay on their beloved island come hell or high water – and between Paloma and the recession, Brackers had big helpings of both.
Loving the Brac and seeing many Brackers struggling through the hard times there is heart-wrenching to me, so I need to share this because I become saddened and distressed whenever I hear or read about the sad economic plightof Cayman Brac. Some Brackers may be offended by what I have to say, but to them I say: If the shoe fits, wear it! Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
There is a significant cadre of people who sit idly by watching from the comfort of their posh residences and they nary lift a finger to come to the aid of Cayman Brac even though they have the influence and means to effect some changes. Who are these people of whom I speak? Heartless politicians? Nay. Apathetic rich "expats"? Nay. They are Cayman Brackers. And they are part of the problem.
As the economy of Cayman Brackers continues to slide, Brackers who want to achieve the success that is measured by wealth and position continue to do what countless now-successful Brackers have already done in times past: they pack up and leave Cayman Brac to seek their fortune in Grand Cayman, or the USA, or wherever the grass is greener. Makes sense to me. Historically speaking, Brackers are not so foolish as to remain on an economically blighted island and expect to make their fortune. What is distressing is that when they do make their fortune, far too many Brackers just about completely forget from whence they came. I call them "Deserters".
It is shameful that these same now well-off Brackers – men and women who could make a huge difference by investing some of their wealth and making their influence known back in their home island – have chosen to pretty much put home and their own people on low priority. Yet they have the audacity to stick out their chest and proudly proclaim themselves "Brackers"! Empty words! Even emptier souls. They or their parents may be born on Cayman Brac, but they are "Brackers" in name only and poor examples of Brackers at that. Their hearts belong to their big houses, fancy cars, social status, and fat bank accounts.
Some of the well-off Brackers and children of Brackers in Grand Cayman go "home" to visit the Brac now and then and some have modest houses there. But it is pitiful and astonishing how so many of these so-called "Brackers" forget about the plight of their home island until holiday season or long weekends or weddings or graduations or the Agriculture Show. Or funerals. While on the Brac, they join their family and friends in wailing and lamenting how badly the economy of Cayman Brac has slipped and how tough things are on the island.
To you I say: If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem! If every well off and influential Bracker in Grand Cayman and the USA were to have brought just some of their resources and influence and talents and business acumen to bear in bolstering "their" island, the Brac would now be a lush and flourishing Shangri-La; Cayman Brac would be the jewel of the Cayman Islands.
But, sadly, once the wedding is over, once the Agriculture show has ended, once the long holiday weekend draws to a close, the Deserters get on the plane and when back to their Grand life, they forget about the plight of their family and friends back home. If you are a Bracker and have a close family member or friend who fits the description of a Deserter, I would make them hang their heads in shame every time I see them. I hope the term "Deserter" sticks and becomes a meme; it fits so well.
For all the combined wealth andinfluence Brackers are said to have in the Cayman Islands, from what I understand, it is a rather young female expat who is now investing millions on the island. And yeah, Brackers, there is the potential that she will have a whole lot of influence on your island. Probably already does. Of course government will bend their ears her way. That is the way things roll. But don't go bashing her! Nature abhors a vacuum. She is doing what some of the more well-off Brackers should have done long ago but did not. She is writing cheques, investing in the island lavishly. Doubtless her investment dollars will bring hermuch say-so in shaping the future of the island. More so perhaps than any one Cayman Bracker. She saw potential that far-too-many stick-out-chest Deserters were either too myopic, too lazy, or too comfy in their Grand lifestyle to give a hoot about.
Brackers: please don't groan and complain and snivel and whinge and moan when you finally perceive you are loosing control of your beloved island and it is being overrun with foreign influences. It's too late then anyway. Someone has to take control. Your people never did. In the absence of Brackers with foresight to invest there, it was inevitable that someone would start buying land and writing cheques to develop the island. Be mindful: with money comes influence. That is the way the world works. Cayman Brac may be a wonderful place but it is not immune to the workings of money and politics.
Brackers: Don't let it be a surprise that present and future foreign investors' concepts of how they want the island to develop is at odds with yours. That too is inevitable: they are not Brackers. To the Deserters who don't put out any meaningful effort to bolster Cayman Brac now but are thinking about retiring back to the Brac: don't be too shocked if you hardly recognise your home island when that time comes.
I see the writing on the wall. Cayman Brac as we have known it is done! A new day has dawned. Don't get blinded staring at the sun. Brackers, had their chance to make Cayman Brac into something they could be proud of, but now it is obvious that they really did not want it. This saddens me greatly. When Brackers are finally on the outside looking in and relegated to feeling like second class citizens on their own island, maybe they can take some small comfort that at least someone from somewhere saw potential on Cayman Brac and seized profitable opportunities that the Deserters turned their backs to.
In conclusion, Brackers: the next time you want to complain to someone about the plight of your island and opine what can be done about it, call up a well-off Deserter friend or relative and remind them that their continued apathy and desertion of Cayman Brac count among the reasons Cayman Brac is dying on its feet. Hmmm? Maybe it is fitting that funerals are a big draw in bringing the Deserters back to the island.
Dilbert Marina flooding fears
(CNS): A homeowner on Cayman Brac whose property lies on the banks of the Saltwater Pond fears that if the proposal to develop the pond into a marina goes ahead, this may cause flooding in the surrounding land, including his own property. In a letter sent to a number of local and British politicians and officials, Robert “Peter” Bradshaw says the “unintended consequences for a project of this magnitude should not be taken lightly”. Noting that the developer, Cleveland Dilbert, who owns the adjacent Alexander Hotel, is “aggressively lobbying for this project to be endorsed”, Bradshaw calls for “a much neededdebate to clearly define national policy for future development of Crown Lands”.
The letter, which is co-signed by Carlton Ebanks, the owner of the Coral Isle Club, located next to the proposed channel to the marina, was sent to Environment Minister Wayne Panton and the two district representatives, House Speaker Juliana O’Connor-Connolly and Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell, as well as Department of Environment Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie and Planning Director Haroon Pandohie, and copied to the UK’s Overseas Territories Minister Mark Simmonds and the Foreign and Commonwealth Environmental Audit Committee.
Bradshaw writes that government is “under pressure of public opinion to grant a green light to the proposed marina project” but says he has “personal, serious and valid concerns”, primarily the flooding threat to the neighbouring low lying areas, including his own home.
“My objection stems from the proposal presented to government for consideration of a coastal works license as there is severe scarcity of supporting engineering andscientific data, bearing in mind the geographical location, to whether or not the intended works will withstand severe weather including hurricanes of whatever category the island may experience. This is not a matter of if but when,” Bradshaw writes.
He says the proposed one hundred foot breach of the existing storm ridge that protects the low lying area around Saltwater Pond “along with the removal of the buffering habitat, namely the reef, will increase the vulnerability of this coastal area, stretching from the proposed channel to the western end of the island.”
This was clearly stated by the Department of Environment in its report on the project, Bradshaw notes and points to the marine life that will be damaged or destroyed, which will impact the dive industry. “Such thoughtless surgery to enable this type of project, present or future, calls for a national policy with a skilled and powerful legally backed system of coastal zone management,” he states.
“The unintended consequences for a project of this magnitude should not be taken lightly, considering the DOE report; therefore, I humbly ask, as the developer is aggressively lobbying for this project to be endorsed, that he should be made to comply in earnest with the statutory requirements from the relevant government departments,” the letter says. “What economic benefits it brings, along with the unintended consequences, should give rise to a much needed debate to clearly define national policy for future development of Crown Lands.”
He says that developers are “interested primarily in the accounting benefits” but he is “solely interested in the detrimental impact to my family and way of life, which could be compromised.” Disputing claims that the project will increase the value of his property, he asks, “What value will it have if it is always under constant threat of rising sea levels, severe weather and not to mention the insurance factor if such threats come into play?”
Listing more of his concerns, he asks, “Who will maintain such coastal works in perpetuity; will it be the government or the developer? Will the developer be able to complete such a project financially and meet the statutory requirements? Who will be responsible for the liabilities incurred by any unintended consequences?”
Bradshaw also questions whether the approval of this coastal works licence will set a precedent of future crown property development “after the advice from their technocrats is totally ignored”.
He says the developer “has yet to allay my fears and concerns” and says the onus is on Dilbert “to refute the assessment of the DOE in documentform and produce his EIA, bathymetric surveys, engineering drawings and other supporting information for public viewing”.
Related CNS articles:
Failure to lead on education
Everyone says it: ‘the children are our future’, ‘education is the “key”’, ‘better to teach a man how to fish than to feed him’, etc. It all boils down to the same widely accepted set of conclusions: that education is arguable the most important aspect of a society’s development, success and progression. That education is the best value-for-money investment a country could make towards reduced poverty and enriched livelihoods of its people; that education is one of the easiest ways to target the issue of unemployment.
But the constant failure of the Cayman Islands to address its deficiencies in the country’s education system is not just ironic and worrying in the above context, it's completely baffling.
Politician after politician has made strong campaign promises to fix the education system in the Cayman Islands only to leave office with that system being perceived as worse off than they found it.
Why?
For sure, no one should underestimate the extent of work required to address education in this country. Finance, the role and quality of teachers, parents, curriculum and a range of other factors all impact the extent to which this country will ever experience ‘success’ in our education system.
But we should expect to see an improvement. At a minimum we should expect to see a clear effort to make positive changes towards our ultimate goal. And we absolutely must expect honesty when politicians promise positive changes. (That may be somewhat naïve but we should still expect it.)
Politicians continue to fail to lead on education because they refuse to do the simple things or answer a few key questions:
- What are the skills being demanded now in the Cayman Islands labour market, and what are the ones projected in the future?
- How is our current curriculum catering to that current and future need?
- When was the last time we carried out an assessment of the extent to which our education system was delivering what we need it to deliver?
- Why is the system so intensely politicized, either by the intrusion of politicians or parents?
- Why do we have strategy after strategy being 'fine-tuned' by successive administrations to no true end/result?
- What are our leaders doing to make us all believe (so intensely) that education is not truly a priority of the government?
It may take forever to get answers to such questions. In the meantime the people can conclude from widely accepted anecdotal evidence that:
- The quality of high school graduates, particularly from the public schools, falls far short of that being demanded by the private sector.
- The government then 'helps' to take up the slack by employing some of these students.
- UCCI, the local government owned community college, is barely respected in the private sector, with possibly a few exceptions.
- There are almost 20,000 work permit holders and while many of these are low skilled workers, there are likely several thousand middle to high wage earning jobs that Caymanians would have access to if they were better prepared by our education system.
- The substandard education continues to impact our democracy because far too many voters continue to be too easily manipulated by politicians who get through their election campaigns with almost no discussion on policy or what they will do to address the country’s issues.
- Behavioural issues which have existed in the schools for the best part of two decades have only gotten worse with each new political administration.
- The government has made a significant investment into the physical facilities in the public sector education system. It now needs to urgently make a similar investment into the quality of the teachers and the actual curriculum (by answering some of the questions listed above), so that the former investment is not a complete waste of public funds.
Our leaders, it seems, spend an inordinate amount of time researching options and having back to back meetings. We would like for them to make the assessment, speak with the stakeholders and make decisions on what actions to take. Then take those actions with urgency.
Are we all just being too naïve in expecting that? Or are they failing us?
LIME iPhone customers can now use LTE
(CNS Business): Local telecommunications firm LIME Cayman Islands say their iPhone customers can finally receive 4G LTE on their handsets now that Apple has authenticated its network. The firm said it is the only mobile operator in the Cayman Islands to be an authorized iPhone dealer and the only network that a 4G LTE iPhone device will work on. “This means blazing fast speeds wherever you are in the Cayman Islands, with 100% 4G LTE coverage,” a release stated. LIME said it launched 4G LTE in November last year and have continued to expand their portfolio of 4G LTE devices. CEO Bill McCabe said, “We’ve been working with Apple to certify our network to ensure that customers will have a great experience having turned on LTE for iPhones. Read more on CNS Business
Suckoo to be ‘man on ground’ at new PPM office
(CNS): Government ministers Wayner Panton and Osbourne Bodden will be holding constituency clinics at the new PPM office in Bodden Town, which formally opened on Saturday, but it is PPM back-bencher Alva Suckoo, with the support of his veteran colleague, Anthony Eden, who will be the “man on the ground” at the constituency HQ. Suckoo said he wanted to develop a reputation for being the MLA that always answered his phone and always tried to tackle the issues presented by his constituents. The new office was formally opened on Saturday, almost six months since the party acquired the house behind Wendy’s in the Countryside area of the district.
Although the house where the district MLAs will be based has been in use since November, various issues served to delay the formal ribbon cutting but the office is now staffed during business hours and will offer an open door opportunity, Eden said, for people not only to stop by and discuss what’s troubling them but to discuss matters and raise ideas as well.
“This is an important link to the community where we can keep an eye on the issues and do our best to solve them,” Eden added.
Panton, the financial services minister, who will hold his surgery on Friday afternoons, said the office in Bodden Town, which is a housed inside a family home, was reminiscent of the one in George Town, creating the right kind atmosphere that fits well with the ethos of the party. Bodden, meanwhile, will meet with constituents on Thursday afternoons.
Suckoo said he would spend most of his time there supporting the ministers as well dealing directly with constituency matters. He said he was also tasked with building up the party membership in the district, as he urged those who came out to mark the opening to encourage their friends to come and join the party.
With unemployment concerns being most common constituency issue being raised by those visiting the office since it opened, Suckoo said one of the major goals for the Bodden Town PPM team was to encourage the development of small business in the district to create localized jobs and boost the district’s own economy, helping people to work as well as live in what was once the country’s capital.
Suckoo said government was discussing possible incentives to help generate entrepreneurs in the district and is focusing more on tackling the unemployment across what is still Cayman’s fastest growing constituency. He also revealed that the cabanas designed for craft, food and local art vendors would soon be in use but the units, which were constructed during the last administration, had not received planning permission.
Suckoo explained this was because there was no usage policy but the government had now undertaken that task and was expecting approval from planning to open them in a matter of weeks, creating an opportunity for local artisans to get the entrepreneurial ball rolling in the district.
Alongside the plans for boosting business, the opening of the boxing gym and the playing fields and track at the primary school to the public was offering new opportunities for residents to get fit. In addition, mended street lights and the start of a major road works programme was already improving life in the district.
$5K for return of Anti-Christ
(CNS): The sculpture on Cayman Brac that some residents have described as devil worship is, in fact, the artist’s concept of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelations, which he intends to burn down to the ground, symbolising the fires of Armageddon … as soon as his Anti-Christ is returned and he received the required permission. Foots is offering a CI$5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief who stole the top of his sculpture – a goat’s head on a cross – which he needs to complete the final stage of this artwork, a video of the fire, which will be used to raise funds for the Humane Society. Foots said that he is a Roman Catholic and has created many religious works of art, some of which have been exhibited at the Brac's Heritage House.
Although he has explained the concept of this controversial piece of art with many people on the island, the 60-year-old artist said that no one who took part in the demonstration last week had talked to him about it or his faith and he said they were protesting simply because they did not understand it.
“This particular sculpture was designed to make a video,” he said, “and it’s ready to be burned down. I’ve put everything in writing to the police and to various government departments, I’ve spelled out everything upfront, I’ve explained to various people on the street, and what’s going on, I don’t understand.”
The sculpture, located on the south side of the island, is a 6-foot mound created using old used pallets and scrap lumber covered with metal lathe, and then rock and cement as the final layer. The dried bones seen in the mound are from a dead cow that Foots found on the Bluff, which were thoroughly dried and he insisted there is nothing about the work that is a health hazard. The bones and the faces in the mound depict the lost souls in Revelations, he said.
The whole structure was washed in a solution of rust to give it the dramatic red colour. The goat’s head he used to depict the Anti-Christ on the cross with the ‘666’, which was also dried, was given to him by a friend who butchered the animal last Christmas.
Foots said that this and the cross it was nailed to, which have been missing since 16 April, are critical to the overall concept and if he doesn’t get them back he will have to reproduce this part of the work for his video, “Stand By Me”, which will be produced by a production company in Virginia and for which he composing an original soundtrack.
He said the mound, the gravestone next to it and the cross have all been vandalised four times now, which he has reported to the police. The vandalism and the theft, he said, are the real crimes and not his work, which is not breaking any laws, despite the claims of the protesters and questioning by the police.
The planning department has been contacted regarding the sculpture and the artist has been advised that the Cayman Brac and Little Cayman Development Control Board, which is the planning authority for the Sister Islands, has decided that it does not constitute development and therefore does not require DCB approval.
Foots said he has been trying to get permission from the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) to burn down his sculpture, which he calls “Apocalypse Now”, for over a month. Ironically, if he had been able to complete the project, the people protesting his artwork and demanding its removal would have nothing to protest, he noted. In the past when he burned something on that piece of property, he just got verbal permission from the local DEH officer, Thomas Augustine, he told CNS. However, this time he was referred to the director, Roydell Carter, whom he emailed on 7 April but has received no response.
The artist who created the multi-piece underwater sculpture and tourist attraction The Lost City of Atlantis, which lies off the north coast of Cayman Brac, is experienced building large pieces of art and is also a local contractor. He said the fire, which will only be lit when the weather conditions are right, will be contained inside the mound, which is designed to collapse into a heap of rubble as it burns. As an added precaution, he said, the Fire Service has agreed to have a truck at the location on the day of the fire and to douse the embers to make sure it is completely out.
The next day all that remains will be removed by Scott Development. The artist said he has assured the DEH director that it will be a very safe, well-monitored burn that will cause absolutely no harm to the surrounding environment and he is hoping to get permission from Carter soon.
Foots, who is a committed Christian and an animal lover, said “Apocalypse Now” depicts the Battle of the Ages, and he connects this with the Human Society because for him the people who rescue abused and neglected animals represent the triumph of good over evil. This gives rise to the theme and title of the video, “Stand By Me”, dedicated to those who stand by God and stand by the innocent and vulnerable.
The burning of “Apocalypse Now”, is the first part of a trilogy, Foots said, and after it is burned he has two more works to create, though he said that these will not be controversial. He also wants to make the parcel of land, which is 32 feet wide stretching to the Bluff and is designated Land for Public Purpose, into an open air art gallery, called "Dreamland", for everyone to enjoy.