Local News
Brac crews to test mettle with mock emergency
(CNS): Following the recent simulated air plane crash on Grand Cayman that put emergency crews through their paces, fire crews, police offiers, medical personnel and airport staff on Cayman Brac will be put to the test to hone their emergency response skills during a mock crash. The exercise called “Rescue Me” has been organized by the Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) and will be staged at the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport (CKIA) on Tuesday 25 November. The focus is similar to “The Real Deal” exercise that was held in Grand Cayman earlier this month.
The time and exact location of the exercise is confidential but motorists in Cayman Brac are being advised to expect some traffic disruptions around the CKIA area today.
“Emergency Responders will render appropriate services in order to save life and property and the airport and airline will focus on taking care of family and friends of the victims of the mock airline crash in the immediate aftermath of the incident,” officials stated.
“The Real Deal” saw for the first time family and friends of crash victims assisted by officials as well. CIAA’s senior manager, safety management systems and chairman of the Airport Emergency Planning Committee, Andrew McLaughlin, said, “The Real Deal exercise revealed that continued improvement is needed in this vital area as the airport and airlines continue to work together with the limited resources available to ensure proper treatment of friends and family during this very stressful time.”
The Airport Emergency Planning Committee comprises representatives of CIAA, Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Services, Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Health Services Authority and the Sisters Islands Emergency Committee (SIEC). During this exercise they will be assisted by the Cayman Islands Red Cross, Government Information Services, Public Safety Communications Centre 9-1-1 and airline partners.
CIAA would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, however these types of exercises are necessary in order for CIAA to meet international requirements and to test the readiness of emergency responders.
End of the West Bay Road
(CNS): Four ladies from West Bay battling to save the coastal road that has served as a highway from West Bay to George Town for over hundred years received disappointing news Friday, when the Court of Appeal upheld a Grand Court’s decision to throw out their legal action on a time technicality. The ladies had argued through local attorney Anthony Akiwumi that the start point could not be the signing of the so-called ‘NRA agreement' in December 2011 as it was a closed door deal, which was not made public until after the strip of road was closed and handed to the local developer, Dart Realty. However, the court said it was satisfied that Justice Alex Henderson was correct to find the action out of time. This means that the merits of the case have still not been considered by a court.
This is, however, likely to be the end of the road for the women, in more ways than one, unless they can raise the necessary funds to fight the issue before the Privy Council in the UK.
The women were granted legal aid for the case when it was heard before Henderson. But because of arguments over when the deal was truly made, an issue that remains in question because of the closed door nature of the talks and the fact that the deal remained under wraps, the details of the action filed by Alice Mae Coe, Annie Multon, Ezmie Smith and Betty Ebanks have never been examined by a judge.
As a result, the women raised their own money to fight the decision by Henderson on appeal and if they are to take the case to London they will once again need to finance that action themselves.
If, however, this is the end of the West Bay Road, Dart is, in the near future, likely to receive the remaining strip of the 4,000 metre stretch of the road, given to him in the closed door swap.
The strip given to Dart before the general election in 2013 is now mostly under sand after the developer planned to begin work on revamping the public beach. However, ongoing negotiations between Dart and the government on elements of the same deal have stalled that project, though work continues on what will now be a beachfront resort on the site of the former Courtyard Marriott.
If the developers are given the remaining strip of road, it will be able to develop what will be a significant stretch of beachfront property on the very last remaining unspoilt strip of Seven Mile Beach.
During the election campaign the PPM had promised to renegotiate the controversial NRA agreement with Dart and had stated that they wanted to find a way to retain a through route for the original West Bay Road around Dart’s development.
However, the PPM said after coming to office that the deal was legally binding and they could not pull the plug. In addition, negotiations over the last 18 months to balance the deal back in favour of the public purse stillappear to be making slow progress. Promises by the PPM to overturn the concession given to Dart of a 50% accommodation tax rebate on all his tourist properties for the next thirty years have not yet been fulfilled. Where government now stands in this deal remains unclear.
Cops deny ignoring Jolly Roger collision
(CNS): The police have said that the collision between the 45 tonne Jolly Roger and a group of teenagers in a boat made from cardboard, which occured on Saturday 15 November, was not reported to them until the Monday after the incident. An RCIPS spokesperson said that a marine unit was assigned to the cardboard regatta, which was part of the Pirates Week activities. He said that the officers aboard did not ignore pleas for help from the teenagers, one of whom sustained a mild concussion when the pirate ship sank their home-made boat, but were unaware of the situation. The police, he said, were rescuing other people whose cardboard boats had sunk.
As the officers were behind the Jolly Roger, they did not witness the collision.
However, the police have confirmed that an investigation is underway and when complete a file will be passed to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for a ruling regarding the possible prosecution of the captain at the time.
Police said that officers from the joint marine unit were at the time engaged “rendering assistance to other participants of the race whose vessel had sunk” and the incident was not reported to the police until Monday 17 November by a concerned citizen who had witnessed the event and who was “deeply concerned”, the police spokesperson stated.
There were no calls received by the emergency communication centre (911) on the afternoon of the incident. A teenage girl who was in the cardboard boat and was hit on the head as the pirate ship ploughed over the cardboard boat was treated for a mild concussion.
“While we cannot go into specifics of the investigation, we can confirm that statements have been recorded from the injured party and her parents,” the police stated Friday. “All persons spoken to so far have indicated that they did not alert any of the authorities at the time for assistance.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident can contact Inspector Ian Yearwood or Constable Cyril Gordon on 949-7710.
Driver killed in car smash
(CNS): A 39 year old Caymanian man was killed in the early hours of Saturday morning in a single vehicle collision close to the Lighthouse restaurant in Breakers. Police said the driver who was the sole occupant of the black BMW collided with a light pole at around 1:20am this morning. The man local had been travelling west from East End when the smash happened. Police have not yet confirmed the cause of what appears to have been a high speed collision but the driver may have been drunk-driving. He was taken to George Town Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The RCIPS said they are seeking witness to the smash and anyone who was in the vicinity who may have witnessed the collision or have any information that can assist the investigation is asked to contact George Town Police Station at 949-4222.
Three Cubans end migration efforts in Little Cayman
(CNS): Following the passage of another group of Cuban migrants through the Sister Islands over the last two days, three out of the 18 refugees who first arrived in Cayman Brac waters Wednesday morning (19 November) got off on Little Cayman Thursday. The two men and one woman were transferred to Cayman Brac this afternoon and the remaining 15 refugees opted to press on with their journey towards Central America. One of the two men has been in the Cayman Islands twice before, officials confirmed. The twelve men and six women in this group are travelling across the open ocean in an 18-ft, wood and metal vessel equipped with a small engine.
The three people who elected to stay behind will be taken to the Immigration detention centre in Fairbanks which was only recently cleared of refugees with the exception of one person after a large number were repatriated to Cuba at the beginning of November.
Over 100 government cars smashed up annually
(CNS): Figures released following a freedom of information request by a CNS reader have shown that on average around 104 government vehicles are involved in road collisions every year in Cayman and almost 20% of those are police cars. Although the information was limited, the RCIPS said that on average it has over 18 vehicles involved in car collisions every year, while other government agencies collectively have an average crash rate of about 86 cars smashed each year. The FOI confirmed that the worst year for the police was 2012, when they had 20 cars involved in accidents. Meanwhile, across the rest of government 2011 was the worst year, when 90 cars were crashed.
More reviews for education
(CNS): With no school inspections for almost six years and plans by the minister to overhaul the governance model for education, the Education Ministry has committed to spending around $300,000 on both a base line inspection of all government schools and a review of the system by KPMG. Minister Tara Rivers announced thatthe information from the independent inspection and review would reveal the quality of teaching and learning, evaluate the system and identify what works and what doesn’t. The consultant review will also examine alternative models for managing the education system and may see some schools put under private management, copying charter or academy type schools in the UK.
Rivers joins a long line of education ministers all of whom have come into office promising a new era for education and the subsequent changes to legislation or policy in a battle to improve standards. Now, when Caymanian high school graduates are performing in terms of exam results, better than at any time since records were kept, Rivers is promising more radical changes.
During a ministry press briefing on Wednesday morning she revealed that Mary Bowerman, a former member of the now defunct schools inspectorate, which suffered as a result of staff losses and the failure to replace them, will lead a team of six independent inspectors, most of whom are understood to have come from the UK. They will visit every government primary and secondary school throughout this academic year to undertake a focused inspection, looking at standards in maths and English, student achievement and the quality of teaching and the school’s management.
The aim is to assess exactly what the situation is “on the ground” and to assess the gaps and problems as well as focus on what is working already. It is expected to cost government in excess of $230,000. Reports will be produced on each school, which the minister promised would be made public on the ministry website, while a full report on the entire government school situation will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly by the end of this academic year.
Meanwhile, Roland Meredith, an education consultant contracted via KPMG at a cost of over $45,000, will conduct the review of governance and policy, which will be completed by January. The consultant will be looking at the possibility of taking schools from the direct management of the education department and introducing school boards and autonomy. He spoke about the need for innovation and preparing schools to prepare their students for the world as it will be when they leave school and the need for change and innovation.
He said he was looking to recommend models to fit the Cayman context and what the demands were of employers in this economy.
The minister and Winston Connolly, the education councillor, both denied that the education system would be privatized and committed to ensuring that there would no divisiveness or selection if that was the route that the government felt would work. They both promised free and equal access to education for all local children, regardless of their academic or other abilities, as they acknowledged the numbers of local kids with special educational needs. Connolly said the education ministry was not “concentrating only on the academically inclined or the rich” as government was committed to the best possible education for all local children.
But Connolly emphasised that education is not just the responsibility of government and that parents and employers need to be involved too. He spoke about the students in government schools as commodities, saying local businesses were “buying our product”, when he talked about government school graduates.
Once the results are in from both the baseline inspections and the review, Rivers said the ministry would act quickly to implement recommendations, with some changes possibly being implemented by the 2015 school year.
The minister is by no means the first to want to overhaul education and make major changes as it has been a constant theme over the last two decades. Numerous reviews, reports and consultations have taken place with policy and legislative changes having a mixed impact on the system.
However, there has been a steady increasing trend in recent years that has seen growing numbers of students leaving school with five GCSE or equivalent passes, with Cayman now measuring up well when compared to statistics in the region and in the UK. And while local students may becoming more academically inclined, the job market has become far more competitive and has seen local students struggle to find work in a labour market which is now saturated by work permit holders and overseas workers willing to work for lower and lower salaries.
See more details of the parameters of the inspections and the review in the release below.
Developers claim $60M raised for road
(CNS): Investors behind the proposed development of an 18 hole golf course, mixed use town and resort in Frank Sound claim that they have raised the $60M financing required for the public-private-partnership on the East-West arterial extension, with the Cayman government. The road project is required, the developers say, to make the North Side project a reality. Ironwood developers also revealed, this week, that they have appointed GLF Construction as the contractor to build the road, despite that firm’s previous experiences here and the dispute with the UDP administration over the cruise birthing project. Officials from the Ironwood proposed development said they are now waiting on the government go ahead and agreement to begin the road works.
Speaking on behalf of the developers, Denise Gower said, “Ironwood Development Group shares the optimism the Premier has recently “Ironwood Development Group shares the optimism the Premier has recently expressed that this public-private-partnership will be completed before the end of the year and looks forward to the completion of this infrastructure project that will literally pave the way for the future of the Cayman Islands.”
Joe Beaird, Chief Operating Officer of GLF visited Grand Cayman this week to finalize construction contracts which, Ironwood said could see the start of the road construction as early as December. Beaird, together with the Ironwood developers, met with government officials and visited the road site.
Ironwood said that GLF Construction Corporation’s “excellent business pedigree and track record” led to it securing the managing contractor for the road. They have a proven track record of successfully undertaking large international engineering and construction projects in both the private and government sectors, together with vast experience in the port construction arena.
“Their financial stability, bond ability and international experience enables them to oversee this venture where they will be employing local contractors to carry out the construction works,” the developers said in a release.
GLF’s most recent experiences in Cayman however, were not the best aftera preliminary agreement between them and the former premier Mckeeva Bush was terminated when the then UDP leader turned his attention to Chinese partners.
Ironwood revealed that the $60million financing to pay for the road would come from CTL Capital, LLC, a New York based finance provider once the Licensing Agreement by the Cayman Islands Government has been completed.
Salvage effort lands two boats on North Sound reef
(CNS): The RCIPS Joint Marine Unit responded to a distress call Tuesday evening when a local fishing boat with six people on board, which was towing a sail boat, landed on the reef in the North Sound. Police explained that the 43ft local fishing boat had gone out to sea to help recover a boat which had been left at sea after the Canadian captain was airlifted to hospital here in Cayman by the US and Jamaican coast guards last week. The Cayman Defender responding to the fishing boat’s distress call at 6:53 last night and found it as well as the sail boat it was towing grounded on the reef near Fisherman’s Rock though no one was injured.
The incident occurred when the captain was attempting to negotiating the main channel as it towed the 25 foot unoccupied sailboat which it had recovered in open seas. It was not until early this morning, however, at high tide that both vessels were removed by the Captain who was able to maneuver the boats with the rising high tide.
The sailboat had been left at sea after the man piloting the vessel gave a distress which was responded to by Jamaican & American Coast Guards. The sailboat captain of was airlifted by by the US Coast Guard helicopter and brought to GCM last Friday 14 November but the vessel was left unattended.
Tourists appeal for help over lost jewellery
(CNS): A couple who are visiting the Cayman Islands this week are appealing to the broader community to help them find some missing jewellery and other personal items. The police have issued a public service announcement on their behalf saying the visitors from the USA lost these their wedding rings and sentimental items while at Smith Cove, in George Town on Sunday 16 November. Although it is not clear how the couple lost the jewellery and other pieces of property there was no indication that they were robbed or that the items were stolen. Anyone who found jewellery on the beach at Smith Cove, however, is asked to contact the George Town Police Station on 949 4222.