The Ministry of Health and Culture will host an open house at the Government Administration Building to discuss the draft solid waste management strategy.

The open house will take place on Tuesday, 17 November from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

In additional to learning more about the proposed strategy, the public will also have the opportunity to hear from international consultants and local technical staff how it will impact the community.

Similar sessions will take place on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. On Wednesday, 18 November, there will be an open house on Little Cayman at the National Trust House from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. On Cayman Brac, the open house will take place at the Aston Rutty Civic Centre from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

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Steve and Becky from New Orleans came to enjoy the festivities.

The pirates on parade.

Parade goers were treated to the sounds of the steel pan.

Miss Cayman Tonie Chisholm

Two little pirates meet a “real” pirate.

The buccaneers arrive at the Pirates Landing.

The pirates were out in full force this past weekend with the start of the Cayman Islands’ national festival. Started in 1977 by National Hero Hon James Manoah Bodden Sr, then the ExCo Member for Tourism, Pirates Week was intended to increase visitor arrivals in a traditionally slow period for Cayman tourism.

Since then, the festival has grown to become an anticipated annual event encompassing several festivities, including Heritage Days in each district. The Pirates Landing took place in Hog Sty Bay, George Town on Saturday 14 November, followed by a street dance. The night before, revelers enjoyed fireworks on the George Town waterfront and a food festival featuring local cuisine. A family fun day followed on Sunday 15 November at Pedro Castle.

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The Department of Commerce and Investment (DCI) has seen a 100 per cent increase in new businesses each month since the introduction of new business incentives provided by Cabinet as a result of the new Trade and Business (T&B) Licensing Law.
Under the new law Cabinet may offer incentives to businesses that apply for a Trade & Business licence.
One of the incentives the department has presently is the licence fee incentive whereby it has defined, for the first time in Cayman, a small business and micro business.

The Department of Commerce and Investment has seen a 100 per cent increase in new business licences.

A micro business is defined as one that has less than four employees, not including the owner, and gains less than $250,000 in revenue.
If any business, in Grand Cayman or the Sister Islands, falls into that category it could apply for a 100 per cent exemption from the trade and business licence fee, but would still have to pay the administrative fee of $75.
“So technically if you were to fall into that micro category right now you could start a business up for $75, but you must be in compliance with at least the health insurance law,” said DCI Director, Ryan Rajkumarsingh.
He stated that the government wants to ensure that persons applying for this license are properly covered in the Cayman Islands by having adequate health insurance, which is for their own benefit.
Explaining the incentives Mr Rajkumarsingh said a small business gets various discounts depending on its location on the island.
For instance, a business located in George Town or West Bay gets 50 per cent off its fees.
If located in East End, North Side or Bodden Town it may get 75 percent off its fees.
Cayman Brac and Little Cayman businesses may get 75 per cent off their fees for small businesses as well.
Prior to these incentives the DCI saw an average of 70 new businesses startup each month. But, with the new incentives the average has risen to 140 new businesses each month.
“So we have seen a 100 per cent increase in new businesses registration with the incentive programme,” said Mr Rajkumarsingh.
Several more changes will be introduced once the new law has been implemented.
One such change is the composition of the board, which now allows public sector officers as well as private sector members, providing a better balance between government and the private sector.
The law will allow the board to be comprised of three public sector persons: the director of commerce or his designate, the director of planning and the director of environmental health, as DCI works very closely with the latter departments.
The law will permit the board to delegate some of its responsibilities to the Department of Commerce and Investment said Mr Rajkumarsingh, adding that by doing so DCI will be able to process licences more quickly.
“There is also a section of the law that if a person wants to have their licence expedited they could have an expedited licence within five days of requesting it, once their paperwork is in order,” said Mr Rajkumarsingh.
Another change stipulated in the new law is the introduction of new categories. Mr Rajkumarsingh noted that in 2007 there was a category for miscellaneous, but in preparation of the new trade and business licensing 10 of the largest sections within this category were given their own categories.
Some of these include gardening (landscaping), education and career guidance services, music and dance schools, pre-school and child care, property maintenance, car wash and janitorial services.
Furthermore the law recommends the creation of an Appeals Tribunal. This tribunal will be separate from the DCI or the Trade and Business Licensing Board. Persons who may not be satisfied with a decision granted to them may apply to this tribunal to hear their case.

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Cassandra Hurlston

Police confirmed that the late Cassandra Hurlston was found by family members who went searching for her after reporting her missing to the police late on the night of Saturday 7 November.

Concerned for Mrs Hurlston’s wellbeing, her relatives contacted the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) on Saturday around 11:15pm.

The missing woman was found by her family in a car in the vicinity of Tiki Beach in the early hours of the following morning and appeared unresponsive.

CPR was performed at the scene. She was later transported to the Cayman Islands Hospital where she was pronounced dead

Police explained that the case has become a coroner’s investigation.

“So now we are assisting them with their investigation at this point,” said Jacqueline Carpenter, public relations officer for the RCIPS.

“It’s going to be up to the coroner to confirm or determine what the cause of death was,” she added.

Despite public speculation on the cause of death, the police are currently not treating the death suspiciously, Ms Carpenter stated.

They are awaiting the pathology and toxicology reports, which were carried out around the same time as the post mortem.

Ms Carpenter told The Cayman Reporter it would take approximately six weeks before the reports are available.

Mrs Hurlston was 38 years old, a resident of Savannah and the mother of three children, ages 17, 10 and four.

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A George Town resident explains traditional Caymanian activities to students from Cayman Prep School.

People from young to old, residents to tourists filled Cardinal Avenue on Monday, 16 November in celebration of George Town Heritage Day. The event is a continuation of the islands’ annual Pirate’s Week festivities. Several food and craft tents were pitched offering local delicacies, and displaying old Caymanian relics and craftwork respectively. On Tuesday, 17 November East End will host its Heritage Day from 11am-2pm, with fireworks at 8pm. All the cultural days are sponsored by telecommunications company, FLOW.

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Two men, ages 50 and 54, a resident and visitor respectively, were killed in a single motor vehicle accident on Cayman Brac on Sunday 15 November. Both men were US citizens.

A third man in the car, age 48, a resident of Cayman Brac and US citizen, survived the serious accident and was flown to Grand Cayman on Sunday evening and underwent surgery at George Town Hospital. He was reported to be conscious after surgery and recuperating.

Initially, only the 50 year old and 48 year old were found at the accident scene.

While on the scene investigating the accident, RCIPS officers received information that a third man had been seen in the car as well earlier in the day.

Officers then made further checks of the area while the Fire Department assisted with the lifting of the vehicle, a Honda Odyssey Minivan, which was overturned.

At around 8:45PM the body of the 54-year-old male was discovered underneath the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Sunday night, Chief Inspector Frank Owens said the local US consulate has been informed of the deaths, and that investigations into the single vehicle accident are continuing.

The RCIPS Air Operations Unit transported accident investigators from Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac on Monday morning to carry out a full investigation.

The one vehicle accident occurred at about 5:15pm on Sunday on South Side Road East, Cayman Brac and police were on the scene shortly after to investigate. The vehicle was travelling East when it lost control and overturned.

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While it is being billed as a revolutionary redevelopment of the civil service, Project Future seems to be long on rhetoric and self praise and short on real, effective and timely change.

In reading through the Project Future programme, we kept thinking of the fast food chain TV commercials of the 1980s, in which a confused elderly lady inspects her hamburger and asks “Where’s the beef?”

We have to ask the same of Project Future.

While the aim of the project is said to be to streamline Cayman’s civil service, and to reduce government expenditure, its immediate actions seem to be doing neither.

While some 51 out of 80 recommendations from the Ernst & Young report on the rationalisation of the civil service will be followed through, it appears that the most contentious issues are those either relegated to the trash heap or pushed back to phases four and five of the project.

Of the 17 projects scheduled to take place in phase one, several are projects that were already in progress and which will entail significant government expenditure – including the airport redevelopment, development of cruise berthing facilities, and the development of a sustainable waste strategy.

Others in this first phase would seem to be resulting in negligible benefits or cost savings – such as moving the London Office to the Cabinet Portfolio, creating a single cultural entity out of a merger of the National Museum, National Art Gallery and National Cultural Foundations, and changes to the Tourism Attractions Board structure.

None of these entities are recipients of large amounts of government funds as it is. We have to ask about the obvious omissions, such as the $10 million dollars a year going to the Cayman Turtle Farm – which despite its obvious issues, government does not seem willing to cut from the purse strings.

The obvious civil service cost saving measure of having co-pays and deductibles for public employees’ health and pensions benefits is pushed to phase two or three – taking it conveniently beyond the 2017 elections.

Plus, it seems that the government has, instead of streamlining processes, created greater bureaucracy by creating two new bodies to administer Project Future – the Business Case Review Panel and the Strategic Reforms Implementation Unit.

And in announcing the actions to be taken in Project Future, there was no answer to questions on how much the project itself would cost – in preparing the required business cases and other administration.

Perhaps it is an anathema to any public sector to cut the red tape instead of increasing it. Perhaps it goes against the grain to effect quick and efficient expenditure cuts. But isn’t that what this was supposed to be all about?

Instead, it seems to have turned into another bureaucratic government programme which is long on talk and short on results.

We are keeping an open mind and hoping for positive results, but when we see government resources seemingly misallocated, so that non-urgent programmes and revenue-sucking entities are continually funded at the expense of education and other vital services, it just doesn’t seem to make sense.

Especially when the Office of the Auditor General tells us that the oversight of public spending is woefully lacking.

What we want to see, what we need to see, are real cost savings so that public funds go where they are most needed.

So please tell us. Where’s the beef?

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Premier Hon Alden McLaughlin has joined with the world in mourning the deaths of the 129 people killed in Paris on Friday.

The Premier, in a brief statement issued on Monday, commended the swift action of police in rounding up and detaining suspects in Friday’s attack as he extended sympathies to residents and visitors from France in Cayman.

“You and your nation are in our thoughts and prayers,” the Premier said.

Premier Hon Alden McLaughlin has joined with world leaders expressing solidarity with France following Friday’s terrorist attacks.

Mr McLaughlin, in his statement, also lamented that Friday’s attack in the French capital was not just an attack on that country.

“We know that the threat of additional terrorism attacks remains high, not only in France but throughout the civilized world. This was not just an attack on Paris and France, but an attack on all mankind,” he said.

On Friday, a series of coordinated attacks was carried out on bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a stadium killing some 129 people.

IS later issued a statement taking responsibility for the attacks in Paris.

On Monday French President Francois Hollande declared that France is committed to “destroying” Islamic State group after Friday’s attacks.

Mr Hollande, according to BBC.com, told a joint session of both houses of Parliament that he would table a bill to extend the state of emergency, declared after the attacks, for three months and would suggest changes to the constitution.

He said that France’s military campaign against IS in Iraq and Syria will also intensify.

The President also announced a series of initiatives he will be implementing such as 5,000 extra police posts in the next two years and no new cuts in the defence budget, as well as, making it easier to strip dual nationals of their French citizenship if they are convicted of a terrorist offence, as long as this did not render them stateless.

He also added that there will be a speeding up the deportation of foreigners who pose “a particularly grave threat to the security of the nation” and pushing for greater European action against arms trafficking and greater penalties for it in France, the BBC reported.

Mr Hollande will be travelling to meet US President Barack Obama and Russian Vladimir Putin in the coming days to discuss action against IS. World leaders meeting at a G20 summit in Turkey also promised tighter co-operation in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Mourners gathered in Paris to pray for those who lost their lives in Friday’s terrorist attacks in the French capital. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killings. Photo:BBC.com

On Monday France’s most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower, which has been illuminated in the tricolour colours of the French flag, reopened to visitors after closing in the wake of the attacks.

In a sign of solidarity landmarks around the world, including the London Eye, Rio’s Christ the Redeemer Statue, and the spire of New York’s One World Trade Centre, were also lit up in red, white and blue over the weekend.

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An earthquake, initially thought to be a magnitude 6, struck north of Honduras on Sunday (15 November) triggering a tsunami alert.

However Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) Director McCleary Frederick assured that Cayman was not in any immediate danger as the magnitude of the earthquake was revised downwards to magnitude 5.8 negating the need for concern from a tsunami alert.

Graphical representation of Sunday’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake that triggered a tsunami alert. Photo: PTWC

“We were never really under any tsunami watch, warning or anything else. Local tsunamis could affect coastal lines, no more than 100 kilometres from the earthquake epicentre with the earthquake being 105 miles away from us that did not apply to us. So as a result we did not feel the need to issue a warning to the public since there was no possibility of a tsunami based on the reports that we had, the information that we had,” Mr Frederick said in an interview with The Cayman Reporter on Monday.

According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center around 6.39pm Honduras time/7.39pm Cayman Islands time the earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea between Honduras and Cayman.

BNO News reports that the earthquake, initially listed as a magnitude 6 earthquake, was centred at 167 kilometres south-southwest of George Town with a depth of 9.1 kilometres.

Mr Frederick, when contacted for comment, confirmed the earthquake about 105 miles outside of Grand Cayman on Sunday night.

“It was initially a magnitude 6, but after looking at it was revised to a magnitude 5.8 and it was not felt as far as any report to us in the Cayman Islands. There had been no reports of damage,” he said.

After the earthquake the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, he said, issued a tsunami alert which is the standard protocol after earthquake 6 or above a warning statement.

However Mr Fredrick pointed to the statement issued by the PTWC which stated that “a destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.”

The statement also went on to add, that “there is a small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a hundred kilometres from the earthquake epicentre.”

Mr Feredrick assured that the HMCI is always monitoring earthquakes and the periodical small tremors that happen.

“In the event that there is a major earthquake that happens close to us and should residents feel violent shaking they could move further inland. If you feel a violent shaking as a result of an earthquake move as far inland from the coast and go to the highest point,” the HMCI director advised.

He said in cases of tsunami there may not be enough time to issue an alert so should residents experience violent shaking they should leave the coastline immediately and head further inland and get to the highest point.

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Cayman Brac has already begun to experience the benefits from the arrival of Cayman Airways newest plane, the Saab 340B+, as employment gets an added boost through the creation of 21 new jobs.

And Deputy Premier and Tourism Minister Hon Moses Kirkconnell says government is aiming to increase that figure significantly with the addition of flights from Cayman Brac to Cuba and Miami.

CAL’s newest addition- the Saab 340B+ passes through a water cannon after making its inaugural flight to Cayman Brac, its official route, on Friday at the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport.

He said more opportunities for employment will come to Cayman Brac and he is hoping that the young people on the sister isle make use of those opportunities.

“Cayman Islands Airport Authority, Fire Services and Cayman Airways -we are [all] going to drive and we are driving a 20 per cent increase in the last 12 months. [With] more gateways out of Cayman Brac obviously the opportunities are much greater and most of the [employed] people you have seen today [Friday] who have taken these jobs are between the ages of 19 and 27 and it’s the group that we wanted, the extremely well-educated and very good employees,” Mr Kirkconnell said.

On Friday CAL formally christened the $3M 34-seater Saab, which replaces the 30-seat Embraer E120 service. The new plane brings with it wider space, larger overhead compartments and better seating.

Mr Kirkconnell said finding the right aircraft for Cayman Brac has been a long road, but he was extremely proud to have delivered a better option for his constituents as one of the Brac’s MLAs.

The Deputy Premier said that growth has been happening at the Charles Kirkconnell airport with the employment of nine people in that last year; four at the call centre and five in the ramp and customer service area.

He also said three new security officers, two of whom are in training, have also been added to the complement at the airport.

“We are very proud to have more young Caymanians working here,” he said.

He pointed to the Fire Services at the airport, which he said, has added four new recruits.

Mr Kirkconnell said that more immigration and customs officers will also be hired “to start ramping up for the increased traffic through the airport.”

Deputy Premier Hon Moses Kirkconnell poses aboard CAL’s newest addition – the Saab 340B+ after he formally christened the plane on Friday when it completed its inaugural flight to the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport, Cayman Brac. Photos: Reshma Ragoonath

“The 21 jobs that we see created by taking the assets of this airport and utilising in a way that is going to take stress of Owen Roberts Airport on a Saturday going into Cuba it is going to strengthen the tourism product going into Miami and it creates the industry,” the Deputy Premier added.

Premier Hon Alden McLaughlin, who also addressed the christening ceremony, said with the new aircraft government wanted to encourage more staycations, private sector board meetings on Cayman Brac and more investment.

Mr McLaughlin also pointed to the employment benefits that the Saab will bring for ground operations and flight operations staff.

However he said, “It is also anticipated that that Saab will immediately double airlift capacity and bring with it an increase in visitations and business on the Brac. The Saab brings high levels of comfort and reliability and will be ultimately owned and operated by CAL.”

CAL CEO Fabian Whorms said the Saab has completed an “extensive degree” of maintenance and refurbishment and it is “in pristine condition.”

The plane, he said, has low utilisation and has about 30,000 flights from a design life of 90,000 flights.

He said in “practical terms this equates to more than 25 years of life left on this new plane.”

The CEO also said that while it had taken some time to get the Saab ready for flights he assured that when CAL purchases its second Saab the process of registration and certification will be significantly shorter.

Pilot Fredrick Whorms, who made the inaugural flight from Owen Roberts Airport to Cayman Brac, said he was pleased with way the plane handled.

CAL’s newest addition- the Saab 340B+ passes through a water cannon after making its inaugural flight to Cayman Brac, its official route, on Friday at the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport.

Editor’s note:

Correction: The headline of an article appearing in Monday’s (November 16) paper entitled- Saab 340B+ to fly to Cuba and Miami incorrectly gave the impression that CAL’s new plane will be used to make direct flights to Cuba and Miami. In fact those flights will be using CAL’s jets. The error is regretted.

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By SK

On 18 June 2013, the Progressive led government issued a press release titled, “Cayman’s Action Plan Includes Beneficial Ownership”. The press statement came on the heels of the UK taking over the Presidency of G8, at the 17-18 June 2013 G8 Summit in Northern Ireland.

The most interesting part of the press statement issued by the Cayman Islands Government is the third bullet point, which describes the Action Plan including the Beneficial Ownership. It reads:

“Conduct an assessment of whether a central registry of the beneficial ownership and control of companies is the most appropriate and effective way to improve transparency in support of domestic legal compliance and the implementation of cross border assistance in accordance with internationally adopted and implemented standards during 2015.”

The full text of the statement is available at:

http://www.caymanfinance.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/pruhome/pressroom/2013/caymansactionplanincludesbeneficialownership

The mentioning of the year 2015 at the end of the action is the crux of the press statement and reads like a prophecy, once examined in the light of global initiatives that followed the G8 Summit in June 2013.

The fundamental question of course that remains is how did the Cayman Islands Government know in June 2013 that ‘certain’ international standards would be proposed and implemented in 2015?

The UK Government, during its Presidency of the G8 adopted ‘Transparency’ and ‘Tax Compliance’ as two out of the three main goals to be achieved and implemented by the G8 nations collectively.

The UK’s G8 Presidency Report was issued under the signatures of the British Prime Minister David Cameron, who in the cover letter wrote the following remarks about the Public Registry of Beneficial Ownership:

“The first line of responsibility lies with the G8 members ourselves. We need to practise what we preach. And this is exactly what we have done in the UK. We’ve promised to introduce a public register of company beneficial ownership.”

The full report can be read at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/271676/G8_report_WEB_FINAL.PDF

On 26 March 2015, the UK Parliament made a law that would require the majority of UK companies to identify those “persons with significant control” (“PSCs”) over the company and maintain a register of those persons. The publically available PSC register would be fully searchable and freely available online. The Companies would also be required to maintain a PSC register from January 2016 and provide this information to the Companies House for inclusion on the public register from April 2016 onwards.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 8 July 2015 (2015/2058(INI) that speaks to the matter of Tax avoidance and Tax evasion by the Multinational Companies (MNC’s) operating in developing countries and involved in profit shifting, thereby depriving the developing countries population of their rightful benefits through tax collection.

The EU Parliament’s resolution also called for information on beneficial ownership of companies, trusts and other institutions to be made publicly available in open-data formats in order to prevent anonymous shell companies and comparable legal entities from being used to launder money, finance illegal or terrorist activities, conceal the identity of corrupt and criminal individuals, and hide the theft of public funds and profits from illegal traffic and illegal tax evasion.

The EU Parliament also called for the establishment, by the end of 2015, of an internationally agreed definition of tax havens, of penalties for operators making use of them and of a blacklist of countries, including those in the EU, that do not combat tax evasion or that accept it. It called on the EU to support the economic reconversion of those developing countries that serve as tax havens.

It also urged Member States with dependencies and territories that are not part of the Union to work with the administrations of these areas towards the adoption of the principles of tax transparency and to ensure that none serve as tax havens.

The EU Parliament decided to enforce this resolution by end of 2015 through its Financial Action Task Force’s (FAFT).

On 18 June 2015, exactly two years after the Cayman Islands Government had issued its statement on the Action Plan to include Beneficial Ownership, the EU placed the Cayman Islands on its Black List of countries that are considered ‘tax havens’ by the corporations and individuals involved in international tax evasion and tax avoidance.

EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told a news conference while announcing the Black List:

“The publication of the blacklist was a “decisive step” that would “push non-cooperative non-EU jurisdictions to be more cooperative and adopt international standards.”

Following the directives of the G8 Summit in June 2013, ‘The Base Erosion and Profit Shifting’ (BEPS) action plan was published by the OECD on 19 July 2013.

The two year action plan of the OECD that contained 15 action points also included setting up of the public registry of beneficial ownership in the OECD countries and adoption by their dependent territories through legislative reforms.

The recently concluded G20 Summit in Turkey (15-16 November 2015) was held in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris, France. The G20 leaders gave a strong message against the global threat of terrorism and the misuse of global financial institutions in terrorist funding.

The Russian President shared intelligence about companies from over 40 countries including the G8, financing ISIS activities through the multi-billion dollar illegal trade of crude oil from Syria and Iraq by ISIS through Turkey.

One of the key achievements of the G20 Summit of 2015 is the finalisation of the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan to reach a globally modern and fair international tax system. The BEPS Action Plan has been adopted and described by the G20 leaders as a unique and prominent example of modernisation efforts in the international tax area through the last decade and has addressed a very comprehensive set of issues to adapt the international tax system to the landslide changes in the way business is done.

It has been very elaborately laid bare the international initiatives being adopted globally in relation to the tax avoidance / tax evasion including profit shifting and possible use of tax evaded proceeds being used for terrorist funding as highlighted in the G20 Turkey Summit.

The Press Statement of the Cayman Islands Government issued in June 2013 and its very clear mentioning of the international initiatives for public registry of beneficial ownership seems to be an acceptance of FAIT ACCOMPLI by the Cayman Islands Government.

The fact of the matter is that in the face of overwhelming efforts by the G8, G20, EU and the OECD to tackle the tax havens most effectively in the year 2015 and now with the matter of terrorist funding emerging on a global scale suggests a stark reality for countries like the Cayman Islands that have developed dependency on the financial proceeds resulting from tax avoidance. Regardless of whatever nomenclature that we may coin, such as ‘tax neutral jurisdiction’, the reality of the situation does not change.

Is 2015 going to be the end of tax neutral jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands? It’s a question that now seems rather rhetorical, in light of what has transpired during the course of the last two years, since the Cayman Islands Government issued its 18 June 2013 press statement on the matter.

It is time to take our heads out of the sand and face the rather grim reality that stares us in the face. Only price that shall be paid is going to be paid by the Caymanians. The companies will go where the money flows. Perhaps it is time that the Government tell the people of these Islands what awaits them beyond 2015, after all the ‘slip’ in the June 2013 CIG statement gave it all away.

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Crime Reduction Strategy Report/ National Security Council.

George R. Ebanks

This week I thought that I would use the occasion to peer into and highlight some of the very valuable reports that our Government already has in its possession and which have already identified various effective ways to implement crime reduction strategies.

In May 2011, our own National Security Council (NSC) created a working group to recommend various strategies which should be implemented towards crime reduction within our Islands, both short medium and long term. The National Security Council is chaired by Her Excellency Governor Helen Kilpatrick and includes in its membership the Hon Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, various Cabinet Ministers; the Deputy Governor; the Commissioner of Police and private sector members.

Let us agree and acknowledge that this report was commissioned under the UDP Administration and because of our current mode of operation, it seems like with each general election, whenever there is a change in our elected Government, any reports and or initiatives are shelved or ignored. Such is the case with the 2011 report that was prepared for the National Security Council. It was a UDP commissioned report. But does that make it obsolete? Does that give rise to the report being filed away and its findings and recommendations ignored? Perhaps the main reason why the Chairman of the standing National Security Council can so easily discount and forget this report of 2011 was that that it was done by a diligent and concerned group of Caymanian civil servants and others. Whatever the real reason, the fact is that the report and its many findings and recommendations have not seen the light of day.

So, let us now look briefly at this report and see if it really can be of any use to our policy makers and our elected political leaders in crafting some effective crime reduction strategies to ensure that we all in these Cayman Islands can continue to enjoy a good quality of life and remain a low crime destination.

To no surprise; when the Crime Reduction Strategy working group set to work they discovered that there were a number of multifarious programmes currently being funded by government. Also that there were overlaps, duplications and gaps in these programs coupled with there being little coordination between agencies. The real issue was that there were, and still is the case, no real performance measures in place leading to there being very little evaluation of success or failure of the programmes.

Thus a free for all, where everyone does their “own thing”. In my personal view, a real recipe for disaster!

The Crime Reduction Strategy working group also recommended that to ensure coordination of programmes across agencies; that the established post of Director- Policy Co-ordination Unit in the Cabinet Office be filled partly for this purpose but also for other cross-departmental initiatives. They also made a few other valuable recommendations, some of which I highlight below in brief:-

• That Chief Officers should be made personally accountable for the success of the programmes they receive funding for; as well as those programmes that are run by NGOs that are funded by their Ministry/Portfolio.
• To ensure the public can monitor the effectiveness of those agencies involved in crime reduction, timely up to date statistics should be published on the success of these crime reduction programmes.
• That a consistent and age appropriate syllabus of drugs and alcohol education from the primary through to the secondary levels be established as a mandatory part of the curriculum. It is recommended that the National Drug Council work together to review what is presently being taught and develop a comprehensive curriculum with the Education Department.
• That the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Employment Relations are more proactive in assisting prisoners before they are released by assessing their housing and employment needs.
• That the BEST Model (Behaviour and Educational Support Team) be fully funded and supported as a means of identifying and dealing with at risk youth and ensuring inter-agency coordination and flexibility if these children (the likely criminals of tomorrow) are to be ‘treated’ effectively.

The report noted that Government seems to be good at starting new programmes, without proper success criteria, but is reluctant to close those down that are not producing the required results. I agree with this observation.

The Report concludes with the Crime Reduction Strategy group giving twelve relevant and effective recommendations and suggested solutions to our over-all crime reduction strategy. To-date none of these recommendations have been acted upon and no leadership shown towards implementing any of its valuable recommendations. The report is a public document and you can avail yourself to a full copy of the report and see the detailed twelve recommendations that I have mentioned.

The NSC commissioned crime reduction strategy was presented to our Legislative Assembly in March 2011 and then formally adopted and agreed by Cabinet in May 2011. To me, that means that it is official policy and should be fully implemented. It is high time that Her Excellency Governor Kilpatrick leads on this issue as Chairman of the standing National Security Council and fully discharge her responsibilities and charge the responsible Government Minister with responsibility for national security issues to move with post haste speed to secure the necessary funding and implement many of the sound and effective recommendations and solutions that were proposed by the working group who worked in good faith and worked diligently to deliver credible and “do-able” crime reduction strategies to our Cabinet, which if implemented, would benefit us all.

Let us all come together and realize that crime is a real dragon which will most definitely confront us all in a most painful way should we now not find the political will and leadership to re-focus our time, energies and resources to implementing many of the recommendations that are practical and can work.

Let us stop doing and wasting our time and resources on running the same old programs that have failed!

            And that’s my position on the matter.

George R. Ebanks

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Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (“CWC”) announced on 16 November that has agreed to sell the company to Liberty Global for about $8.2 billion.
CWC holdings in the Cayman Islands recently rebranded as Flow Cayman Islands. The company says it will continue as normal until the deal is complete.

Bill McCabe, CEO of Flow Cayman Islands.

Bill McCabe, CEO Flow Cayman Islands said, “As a joint entity we will combine the complimentary skills of both organisations materially improving our ability to continue to offer leading products and services to customers in the region where we operate.”
Mr McCabe continued, “For the Cayman operation specifically it’s business as usual until the deal is complete. We will continue with our plans to enhance the customer experience and continue to deliver innovative products such as the recently launched Flow TV product.”
In announcing the sale, Phil Bentley, Chief Executive of CWC said, ““Since we launched our new strategy two years ago, CWC has transformed itself into a leading regional quad play operator. The disposal of Monaco, the creation of our regional hub in Miami and the recent acquisition of Columbus accelerated our competitive positioning whilst at the same time generating significant value for shareholders and enhanced service levels for our customers.”
According to a press release announcing the sale, the recommended offer “delivers 86.82 pence per share to free float shareholders comprising shares in Liberty Global and a 3 pence per share Special Dividend.” This represents a premium of about 50 per cent to the undisturbed price of CWC as of 21 October.
Additionally, the press release states, “The non-free float shareholders have irrevocably undertaken to accept the alternative offers resulting in an overall blended offer price for CWC of 81.91pence per share.”
With almost 27 million subscribers that receive more than 57 million services, Liberty Global currently stands as the world’s largest international cable. It generates about $18 billion in annual revenues and has a large presence in Europe, with additional growth in the Caribbean and Latin America.
“While we remain confident that CWC’s unique and highly attractive business has a substantial long-term growth opportunity ahead of it, we believe the Recommended Offer represents an attractive premium for shareholders and secures earlier delivery of our long-term value potential, hence the Board’s recommendation today,” Sir Richard Lapthorne, Chairman of CWC said. “Taken alongside the irrevocable commitments made by John Risley, John Malone and Brendan Paddick, this offer will deliver a price per share of 87 pence to CWC’s free float investors and a 50% takeover premium to the undisturbed price on 21 October 2015.”
The CWC board was directly approached by Liberty Global and the company stated its confidence that “by joining forces at this time, we combine our high growth assets in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the scale and complementary skills of a truly world class global player, materially improving our ability to offer leading products and services to customers in the region we serve.”
Thanking the CWC employees, Mr Bentley added, “Liberty Global offers scale and world class capabilities and will be an outstanding custodian of our business, both for our people and our customers. The years ahead should bring new opportunities for further success, faster growth and enhanced customer benefits, built on the strong foundation we have created.”

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Eleven years ago a man named Tim Rossiter introduced the idea of MOvember, a month dedicated to men’s health, to the Cayman Islands when he moved to the country from Australia. November was the month chosen to commemorate this special health observation.
During the first year Mr Rossiter and a few friends managed to raised approximately $300, which they donated to the Cayman Islands Cancer Society.

Members of the MOvember Committee helped to raise $100,000 used to assist with building the chemotherapy unit at George Town Hospital.

Fast forward 11 years –the MOvember movement has become so popular that it has become one of the most anticipated men’s health events of the year.
The movement also stems from the MOvember Foundation, a global charity committed to men living happier, healthier, longer lives.
Since 2003, millions of others worldwide have joined the men’s health movement, raising $650 million and funding over 1,000 programmes focusing on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity.
Jennifer Weber of the Cancer Society said, “Hundred’s of MO’ bros and MO’ sistas have participated through the years and over $500,000 has been raised to help with educational expenses, year round screening expenses, direct financial aid for male cancer patients and $100,000 was used to help build the chemotherapy unit at George Town Hospital.”
Ms Weber stated that the movement’s impact on Cayman has been a “dramatic” one.
“Through the years more and more men have started taking better care of themselves and getting screened because they have learned more about prevention, and early detection through all the events and programmes. We have caught many prostate cancers through the charity screening programme and while we’re certainly never happy that anyone has cancer, if it’s out there, we want to help people catch it early so they can get it diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. Early detection leads to early treatment, and better outcomes,” she explained.
She added that the movement has assisted in saving the lives of fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, husbands, friends and co-workers in Cayman.
JS De Jager of the MOvember Committee mentioned that the committee’s campaigns are now including men’s mental health awareness, as it is important that the wider community is aware of these struggles as well.
This year MOvember month will feature the MOpen Championship golf tournament on Friday, 20 November, at the North Sound Golf Club. The MOsquerade Ball, which is MOvember’s finale night where the MO-bros and MO-sistas come out in their fancy dress and show off their MO’s. It will be held on Monday, 30November at Lone Star Bar & Grill.
The main educational event for the month will be on Thursday, 19 November, at 7:30pm at the Lions Community Centre.
Visiting from Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Hematologist/Oncologist Dr Antonio F Muina will speak on the topic ‘What’s the latest on Prostate Cancer’.
During his presentation he will discuss prostate and testicular cancer and answer other men’s cancer questions.
“The Cancer Society is just one small charity and alone we can do very little, like a raindrop in a puddle. But together with support from the community and other like-minded organisations, like the Lions Club of Grand Cayman, we can do so much to change lives and save lives in the community we all call home,” said Ms Weber.
She continued, “We are grateful for Tim Rossiter for starting MOvember, because what he did started a like a drop but caused ripples that continue to expand. Likewise, when the Lions Club of Grand Cayman lost a member of their club to cancer, they took that tragedy and turned it into a powerful movement that has become the PACCE event they host every July. MOvember and PACCE complement each group of passionate volunteers and when both are combined with the Cancer Society, together we can do so much.”

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A family of visiting “pirates” at the Pirates Week Children’s Fun Fair Day at Pedro St James on Sunday 15 November.

The event-filled first weekend of the Pirates Week National Festival was rounded out with the Children’s Fun Fair Day at national historic site Pedro St James in Savannah on Sunday 15 November. Scores of pint-sized pirates and their parents came to enjoy fun, food and refreshments on the breezy afternoon.

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That was how Manhattan District Court Judge William H. Pauley described the closure of one of Cayman’s oldest financial institutions due to bungling by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC.) As “collateral damage.”

This same federal judge was the one who authorised the SEC freeze order of $76 million of Caledonian Bank’s assets, which led to the 45-year-old financial institution filing for bankruptcy in February.

The SEC was investigating Caledonian Bank and its brokerage Caledonian Securities along with brokers Legacy Global, Clearwater Securities, and Verdmont for involvement in an alleged penny stock dump and trading in unregistered securities.

The SEC claimed the financial institutions had illegally sold worthless, unregistered penny stocks to investors and were holding millions of dollars in proceeds from those transactions in their company accounts.

Following the freeze order, there was a run on the bank by its depositors, precipitating the bank’s collapse.

Later, the SEC said they were mistaken regarding Caledonian’s role in the scheme and that rather than selling the penny stocks directly, Caledonian was only trading them on customers’ behalf.

In his opinion released last week on the case, Judge Pauley said the bank’s collapse was the direct result of mistakes by the SEC.

“This case offers fertile ground for agency self-examination,” the judge said, adding that the SEC’s key allegations were wrong when it issued the order to freeze assets.

“For an enforcement agency with vast investigative powers, the SEC’s disclosure was chillingly casual,” the judge said.

We do agree that the mistake was treated casually by the SEC, and would also dare to say that the judge’s own description of the bank’s closure as “collateral damage” also minimises the magnitude of the harm caused.

Not only did the Cayman Islands suffer yet another black eye in terms of our reputation as a financial jurisdiction, but there was a real, human cost to the bank’s demise.

Over 65 employees at Caledonian lost their jobs. This means 65 families lost an income. We have been told by government that job loss is one of the leading factors in the rash of foreclosures that have been seen in Cayman.

What we do not know is how many of those suddenly jobless workers found new employment, and if it was at the same level of income that they previously received.

We also know from government statistics, that underemployment is a growing problem in Cayman. Underemployment refers to an employment situation that is insufficient in some important way for the worker, relative to a standard. Examples include holding a part-time job despite desiring full-time work, and over qualification, where the employee has education, experience, or skills beyond the requirements of the job.

The Economics & Statistics Office reported in October that the underemployment rate of 4.9 percent in Fall 2014 fell to 4.5 percent in Spring 2015. However, the 4.9 per cent reported in Fall 2014 was nearly double the underemployment rate reported in 2013.

In Fall 2014, more than 1,100 people were classified as under-employed. Nearly 700 of them were Caymanians.

Even beyond the human impact of the job loss, Caledonian’s collapse also resulted in loss for its customers and depositors. At the time of its bankruptcy filing in February, Caledonian Bank had approximately 1,550 customers and nearly 1,900 active accounts.

While the SEC has recently authorised a settlement with Caledonian Bank, it is awaiting approval by the Cayman Islands Grand Court, and it is unknown how much depositors will be paid back on the dollar.

When overzealous foreign regulators, in jurisdictions which we must remember are competitors to the Cayman Islands, rush to judgment and crack down on locally-based financial institutions, the damage is real and lasting.

In addition to the direct damage caused locally, there is the potential impact of financial clients becoming wary of dealing with private banks in offshore financial jurisdictions such as ours.

Judge Pauley faulted Caledonian for agreeing to the SEC’s freeze order, noting that the amount frozen was three times its capital.

“This case reveals the dire consequences that flow when the SEC fails to live up to its mandate and litigants yield to the government’s onslaught,” he said.

However, caught between a rock and a hard place, what choice did the bank have?

Its capitulation was a foregone conclusion once the SEC put its big guns into play. And the injury caused by the SEC’s dire mistake has left Cayman with a lasting bruise that has yet to fade.

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Miss Dolly Solomon says she has complained but “there’s nobody to do anything about what’s happening in Cayman”.

Bodden Town resident Dolly Solomon continues to be hindered by flood waters whenever the district experiences rainy weather due to a lack of proper drainage.

Ms Solomon, who is over 79 years old and lives with her cousin and their guard dog, said she has been highlighting the flooding problem since last year but nothing has been done about it.

She further noted that there are several other areas within the district facing the same issue, including Cumber Lane.

When it rains, the water often travels from each direction gathering at the front of Ms Solomon’s house due to what she claims is inadequate drainage.

Water line shows how high water surrounding Ms Solomon’s home rose.

There are two drains close by her house, but they are located on the higher, opposing side of the street, closer to her neighbour’s house. As a result, her house is left to be swamped by flood water that the two drainwells are unable to collect.

“I have complained about it, but there’s nobody to do anything about what’s happening in Cayman,” she said.

When the flood waters rise too high Ms Solomon, who walks with a cane, is unable to leave her home unless assisted.

She added that the water also travels under her house – an old Caymanian home made from wood – thereby seeping into her wooden floors and dampening them.

“There’s no sun under there to dry it out,” she said. “It goes into the wood and will rotten it after a while.”

She further mentioned that the wet floors aren’t good for her to be walking on as it can lead to serious illness.

Ms Solomon’s home where flood water was so high she could not go out onto her walkway.

“Originally there was a two feet soakaway on each side of the road,” she said. But now that soakaway is gone, leaving her with only the two drainwells to depend on.

She hopes that the government can construct drainage on her side of the road to prevent the constant flooding of her home she has had to endure in the past.

Ms Solomon told The Cayman Reporter on Monday, 16 November, that the water was so high she could not go out onto her walkway.

She stated that she had reached out to Bodden Town MLA Alva Suckoo but had not yet received a response on what would be done about the situation.

Mr Suckoo told The Cayman Reporter that he very recently visited Ms Solomon and is seeking an update on drainage plans that are in the works for the district.

He noted that Minister of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing & Infrastructure Hon Kurt Tibbetts mentioned that his ministry is developing a drainage plan, which Mr Suckoo will urge forward.

“The issue is that all around Gun Square people have built homes and developed and they filled their properties to higher elevations than the existing areas such as Cumber and Belford,” said Mr Suckoo.

“As a result any flood water tends to run towards those areas,” he stated.

“But this is not a new problem it’s been going on for a very long time and needs to be finally resolved,” added the Bodden Town MLA.

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Florida mother Edith Mae Scott and her daughter Jaesha Hendrix, 21, in happier times. Ms Hendrix, also known as Jaesha Solomon, has been missing since the morning of Friday 23 October. Police are seeking the public’s help in locating her.

‘Contact your family’

It is nearing 28 days since Jaesha Hendrix disappeared from her Lakeside home in October and her mother Edith Mae Scott is getting desperate in her search for the 21-year-old.

Now the Royal Cayman Islands Police Services (RCIPS) is appealing to the young lady to reach out to her family or the police.

On Tuesday RCIPS Public Affairs Officer Jacqueline Carpenter said while the police had no new information on Ms Hendrix’s whereabouts she assured that “We are still looking for Jaesha.”

She said the police have cause to believe that Ms Hendrix is still on the island.

Ms Carpenter said that Ms Hendrix, who is a registered nursing assistant, could be either hiding or missing.

She issued an appeal to the young lady to come forward

“If she is in hiding we want her to know that she should contact her relatives and come forward, that we can resolve whatever issues exist together,” Ms Carpenter said.

Ms Hendrix, also known as Jaesha Solomon, has been missing since the morning of Friday 23 October. According to police, the 21 year-old woman was last seen at Lakeside Apartments where she lived.

While she is wanted for questioning in relation to an ongoing police matter the RCIPS said that they are concerned about her wellbeing.

Ms Carpenter said that inquiries continue to be made into the young lady’s movements, “But we cannot comment about interviews, or whether her personal accounts have been used.”

Ms Scott, when contacted by the Cayman Reporter on Tuesday, also appealed for her daughter to come home.

She said she has not heard anything new from the police on Ms Hendrix’s whereabouts and was surprised to have learned from media reports that her daughter was spotted in Bodden Town in a brown Honda CRV.

Ms Scott, who said her health has been deteriorating because of the stress of looking for her daughter, believes that Ms Hendrix is in trouble and is appealing to the community to help locate her.

“I am not holding up. It is very upsetting. I cannot sleep, I am on sedatives to keep me calm because I am crying all the time. I think that my daughter is in a real pickle and harm will come to her,” the worried mother said.

Anyone with information regarding Jaesha Hendrix’s whereabouts is urged to contact George Town Police Station CID at 949-4222.

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For the first time in Cayman all employees who choose to come forward with information about wrongdoing in their workplaces, whether public sector or private, will have the protection against dismissal through the introduction of Whistleblower law.
In fact, the proposed law, which is expected to be laid in the Legislative Assembly today when the house begins the Fourth Meeting of the 2015/16 session, makes it a criminal offence to take detrimental action against an employee in reprisal for making a protected disclosure of information.

Deputy Governor Hon Franz Manderson has been instrumental in bringing the legislation to the LA.

Under the provisions of the proposed law a person who takes such action “is liable on summary conviction, to a fine of $20,000, to imprisonment for a term of two years or to both; or on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term of five years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”

The new legislation seeks to create an environment where employees who may be privy to illegal activities can feel confident enough to come forward and discreetly report their employer without fear of retaliation.

Last April Deputy Governor Hon Franz Manderson assured that whistleblower legislation was a priority and was being progressed to ensure protection for employees.

The issue was highlighted then through the release of a report from Cayman Islands Complaints Commissioner Nicola Williams who had contended that Caymanian and non-Caymanian civil servants do not report wrongdoing in the government service because they believe they will be punished as opposed to the ones committing the wrong acts.

However the introduction of the new bill paves the way for a law “to encourage and facilitate the making by employees of specified disclosures of improper conduct in the public interest and to protect employees who make specified disclosures from being subjected to detrimental action; to regulate the receiving, investigating or otherwise dealing with disclosures of improper conduct; and for incidental and connected purposes,” as the bill description states.

Under the proposed law all employees who make disclosures of wrongdoing will have protection from detrimental action in reprisal, as well as, protection from defamation action. They could also be reinstated in their post if they are dismissed for making a disclosure.

The new law also seeks to create a designated authority to preside over the provisions of the law which will be responsible for “receiving, investigating and dealing generally with disclosures in accordance with the procedures of the law, as well as, monitoring compliance with the law.”

The Governor will have oversight of the designated authority which will be required to providing annual reports listing; the number of general inquiries relating to this Law; the number of protected disclosures received and complaints made in relation to detrimental action and the number of them that were acted on and those that were not acted on; the number of investigations commenced under this Law, as well as, the number of prosecutions under this Law.

Under the proposed law the Deputy Governor shall, on behalf of the Governor, lay a copy of the annual report in the Legislative Assembly no later than three months after the annual report has been transmitted to the Governor.

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Strategic Policy Statement expected in Fourth Meeting

The Fourth Meeting of the 2015/16 Session of the Legislative Assembly will begin today and it is expected that Premier Hon Alden McLaughlin will take centre stage to deliver government’s Strategic Policy Statement (SPS) during this session of the LA.

Whether that is today is still unclear, but it is confirmed from government sources that the SPS is going to be delivered in the coming days.

Premier Hon Alden McLaughlin is expected to unveil government’s plans for 2016/17 today when he delivers his Strategic Policy Statement.

The SPS sets out an outline of government’s development strategy for Cayman in the coming fiscal period 2016/17, as well as the budget.

This particular SPS is very critical for Mr McLaughlin and his Progressives-led government since it will lay the foundation of initiatives and plans for Cayman as the country heads toward the May 2017 general election.

Apart from the SPS, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Management and Finance Law, annual reports from CINICO and the Anti-Corruption Commission are expected to be tabled in the LA for review.

It is also expected that the long awaited Whistleblower Bill will be laid in the LA today as well.

While the contents of the SPS have been kept under wraps it is expected the multi-million Cruise Berthing facility will feature heavily in the Premier’s presentation.

At the close of the last sitting of the LA, at the end of October, Premier McLaughlin had informed the House that the SPS would not ready to be delivered on the proposed November 11 date which was the proposed start of the Fourth Meeting of the LA.

He instead asked that the sitting be adjourned to November 18.

The Premier did not explain what was behind the delay.

Last November in the 2015/16 SPS the Premier outlined his administration’s key fiscal priorities and broad strategic outcomes for the Cayman Islands.

He also set out Government’s financial targets for the next three financial years covering the period 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2018.

Among those initiatives listed in the last SPS was a planned $5 million toward efforts to revitalise George Town and improve the experience for residents and visitors. This, he said, would include the provision of an enhanced transportation network that supports connectivity to major traffic arteries. Public consultation on that plan started last month.

The Fourth Meeting of the 2015/2016 session of the Legislative Assembly is expected to commence this morning. Premier Hon Alden McLaughlin expected to deliver government’s Strategic Policy statement during this session.

In last November’s SPS, the Premier also outlined that government “will continue the preparatory work necessary for the fourth round of Mutual Evaluation in which the Cayman Islands’ Anti- Money Laundering/ Counter Terrorist Financing framework would be assessed for technical compliance with, and effective implementation of, international standards as set out in the revised Financial Action Task Force 40 Recommendations. The Cayman Islands fourth mutual evaluation is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2017.”

It is expected that the Premier will update the LA on those efforts.

The Premier is also expected to paint a picture of the government’s fiscal management of the economy and revenue derived from its initiatives over the past year.

Unemployment continues to be a challenge for the Premier and it is expected that job creation efforts aimed at addressing unemployment will also feature in the SPS.

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