ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 SPORTS | PAGE 17 AMERICAN FOOTBALL SHOWCASE GAME Pro scouts see Cayman players High of 86 Low of 76 Seas: Moderate to rough with wave heights of 4 to 6 feet today, 3 to 5 feet tonight. Small craft should exercise caution over open water today. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 ROOM AT THE TOP: VACANCIES AT CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION 178210_PRINT-Compass-6colx1*5.pdPage 1 12/8/14 11:20:19 AM Customs top job advertised 6th time Acting collector returns to immigration BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The start of 2015 brought the Cayman Islands government no closer to hiring a permanent leader for one of its largest and most lucrative departments, Cayman Islands Customs, nearly three years since Customs Collector Carlon Powery retired. Acting Customs Collector Samantha Bennett returned to her former position at the Immigration Department on Monday after spending a little over a year heading Customs under a secondment posting. It appeared Ms. Bennett would not be given the full-time job. According to a government statement is- sued last week, Ms. Bennett participated in the Ministry of Finance’s fi fth recruitment process for the job. The recruitment process was supposed to have ended in October 2014. “No candidate was appointed and it has been decided to continue the recruitment pro- cess in 2015,” the statement read. In the mean- time, Deputy Customs Collector Collie Powery will assume the acting collector position, which he held prior to Ms. Bennett’s arrival in November 2013. Regulations attached to the Cayman Islands Public Service Management Law state that no one can serve as an “acting” member of the civil service staff for more than 12 months at a time. Ms. Bennett was in her position at customs for 14 months. Carlon Powery, the former collector who retired in May 2012, served at Customs for 40 years. Since his departure, at least three acting collectors have fi lled in while the government conducted numerous recruiting exercises. The fi fth issuance of advertisements for the collector’s job aimed to fi ll the position by Oct. 31, 2014, according to ministry Deputy Chief Offi cer Anne Owens. The fourth round of advertisements, with an annual salary of between $105,000 and $126,000, had been sent out in late 2013. Three previous attempts to hire a new head of Customs failed when government rejected all of the applicants. Ms. Owens said at the time that the reason for not fi lling the position was because no ap- plicant met all the requirements. The collector of customs - a critical SEAMEN’S BENEFITS ‘NEVER ADEQUATELY IMPLEMENTED’ 13 years later, problems remain BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com A number of participants in the retirement assistance program for seamen and veterans received unauthorized benefi ts, and some may have been fraudulently earning payments, ac- cording to a review of the program completed by government’s Internal Audit Unit. The review, completed in late 2013 and recently released under the Freedom of Information Law, mirrored similar fi ndings of the Cayman Islands Auditor General’s Offi ce regarding the seamen and veterans’ benefi t program more than a decade ago. “It is our audit conclusion that the Seamen and Ex-Servicemen Benefi ts Program has never been adequately implemented since the program commenced,” the internal audit re- view noted. “The auditor general reviewed the program operations in 2001 and the same de- fi ciencies…have been identifi ed during out audit, despite recommendations made for im- provement [in 2001].” At the time the internal audit review was completed, in October 2013, approximately 862 seamen and seamen’s wives were receiving benefi ts of $550 per month. In 2000, the number of those receiving benefi ts was 250. Retired Caymanian servicemen – those who assisted the United Kingdom and its allies during World Wars I and II – numbered 190 in Minister: Gas prices should drop further Average below $4.90 per gallon BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The average price for regular, unleaded gasoline on Grand Cayman fell below $5 per gallon Monday as petrol stations re- acted to one local retailer dropping its price to $4.84 per gallon Friday. According to information released Monday by the Cayman Islands Petroleum Inspectorate, the average price per gallon of regular, self-serve unleaded was $4.89 for Grand Cayman stations. The prices were different at Rubis-supplied stations (av- erage $4.80 per gallon) and Esso-Sol sta- tions (average $4.99 per gallon). Stations that sell only full service or pre- mium gas are not included in the self-ser- vice unleaded averages. For regular, unleaded full-service, the prices per gallon include: Lorna’s Rubis in Bodden Town ($5.12), Jack’s Esso in North Side ($5.05), Four Winds Esso in West Bay ($5.05), Hell Road Esso in West Bay ($5.04) and Mostyn’s Esso in Bodden Town ($5.05). The price for premium self-service was $5.37 at East End Rubis. Gas prices at Little Cayman’s sole fuel station ($6.49 per gallon) and at Cayman Brac’s two stations (both $5.75 per gallon) have not changed over the last several months. The average $4.89 per gallon price rep- resents a 70 cent decline from the price Grand Cayman drivers were paying in mid- October, when the average was $5.59 per PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » Prices at the pump Monday were lower than Grand Cayman drivers have seen in years. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 • CAYMAN COMPASS CAMANA BAY 55 Market Street Jasmine Court 645-FILM (3456) Charges date from 2009 CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Jurors began hearing evi- dence Monday in the trial of Tichina Rickfield, assistant secretary to the Work Permit Board in 2009-10, who is charged with misconduct in public office and making doc- uments without authority. The charges are that be- tween Jan. 12, 2009 and Jan. 21, 2010, she com- mitted misconduct in a public office by falsifying Work Permit Board records. She also faces 15 charges of making a document with in- tent to deceive and without lawful authority or excuse during that time frame. Crown Counsel Toyin Salako opened the case, em- phasizing that what she said was not evidence, but was meant to assist in un- derstanding the case. She cited instances in which it is alleged that the board de- cided to refuse or defer a work permit application and the defendant changed the decision and recorded it as an approval. Ms. Salako said there were so many inaccuracies that she could not describe them as human error, but rather as deliberate acts. Chief Immigration Officer Linda Evans was the first witness called by the prosecu- tion. She said the Work Permit Board met twice per week, and for the meeting agenda, between 75 and 100 applica- tions would be normal. Ms. Evans confirmed that Rickfield was an employee of the Immigration Department and not a party to the deci- sion-making process. The chairman and board members are not employees of the department, she ex- plained. They are politi- cally selected and appointed by the governor. Though they receive a stipend, they are volunteers. Ms. Evans also noted that the defendant had le- gally changed her name; she was previously Sunshine McLaughlin and some- times logged into the de- partment computer system as Sunshine. The defendant is repre- sented by attorney Fiona Robertson. Justice Charles Quin presides. Ms. Salako said there were so many inaccuracies that she could not describe them as human error, but rather as deliberate acts. Trial starts for work permit board secretary Pistol seized in customs search BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman Islands cus- toms officers seized an un- licensed 22-caliber pistol during a routine search last week. The weapon was found stored inside a sealed con- tainer that had been brought to a residence in George Town. The two individuals responsible for the container were arrested on Dec. 30. Assistant Customs Collector Marlon Bodden said a 51-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman had a number of their personal effects in the container where the weapon was found. They had not been charged as of press time. Mr. Bodden said cus- toms officials did not be- lieve the 22-caliber pistol was connected to any other incidents of weapons ship- ments to Cayman and appeared to be a “one off” situation. He said the customs of- ficers involved in the search should be commended for their vigilance during what was an otherwise routine sealed container search. “We don’t just rely on our electronic scanner [for container searches],” Mr. Bodden said. DRIVER IN CAYMAN BRAC CRASH IDENTIFIED The driver who died in a late Friday night car ac- cident on Cayman Brac has been identified as Jose Abel Zelaya, a resident of the Brac’s West End. According to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Mr. Zelaya, 49, lost control of the Honda Logo he was driving at the in- tersection of Ashton Reid Drive and Songbird Drive and ran into a wooden fence post. The vehicle caught fire, according to police, and once the fire department extinguished the blaze, they found Mr. Zelaya be- hind the wheel. Police officers from Grand Cayman were on the Brac to help with the investigation over the weekend. REGIONAL BRIEFS Miami judge weds gays and lesbians after ruling against ban Lesbian and gay cou- ples were wed in Miami on Monday by the same judge who approved their marriage licenses, hours before Florida’s coming- out party as the na- tion’s 36th state where same-sex marriages are legal statewide. The addition of Florida’s 19.9 million people means 70 percent of Americans now live in states where gay marriage is legal. The cheers in the courthouse reflect how much the nation’s third- largest state has changed since the days of Anita Bryant, the former beauty pageant queen and orange juice spokeswoman who started her national cam- paign against gay rights in Miami in the 1970s. But signs of opposition were evident farther north, where more conservative Floridians live. In Jacksonville, Duval County Court Clerk Ronnie Fussell shut down the courthouse chapel, saying no marriage ceremonies – either gay or straight – would be allowed there. At least two other counties in northeast Florida did the same. “Mr. Fussell said some of his people felt a little uncomfortable doing it,” said his spokesman, Charlie Broward. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel cleared the way for the first same- sex weddings ahead of midnight, when U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle’s ruling was taking effect statewide. SpaceX shoots for launch to station, rocket landing on barge SpaceX is making another supply run to the International Space Station for NASA. But it’s the rocket’s return – not its takeoff – that has space fans talking. Minutes after Tuesday morning’s planned launch from Cape Canaveral, the first stage of the unmanned Falcon rocket will aim for a vertical test landing on a barge in the Atlantic. The California company has attempted such land- ings on the open sea, but never on a platform like this. SpaceX chief Elon Musk predicts a 50-50 chance of success at best. He says flying back boosters would allow them to be reused and save money. NASA’s previous delivery attempt by Orbital Sciences ended in a launch explosion in October. Researchers who lost experiments in the accident hustled to get replacements on this flight. Fake ‘Lord’ sentenced to nearly 2 years for welfare fraud A Minnesota man who once posed as Scottish no- bility has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for welfare fraud. Colin Chisholm pleaded guilty in November to improperly collecting $167,000 in welfare and food stamps. The 62-year- old agreed to the 21-month prison sentence imposed Monday under his plea deal. The Star Tribune re- ports his 54-year-old wife, Andrea Chisholm, pleaded guilty last August and has finished her sentence. They were arrested last March in the Bahamas. Authorities say the self-styled “Lord and Lady Chisholm” had more than $3 million in the bank, lived in a $1.6 million mansion on Lake Minnetonka in sub- urban Deephaven and owned a $1 million yacht during part of the time from 2005 through 2012 when they were ille- gally receiving benefits in Minnesota and Florida. Saints linebacker arrested in domestic disturbance New Orleans Saints linebacker Junior Galette was arrested Monday in a domestic violence case in which a woman says her face was scratched and her ear bloodied after an earring was ripped off. Galette was booked with misdemeanor simple battery stemming from the disturbance at the player’s house in Kenner, a New Orleans suburb. Prosecutors could later charge him. It is not clear if Galette has a lawyer. Officers arrested Galette after a 22-year- old woman called Monday morning, po- lice spokesman Lt. Brian McGregor said. He said an arrest under police Kenner Police policy was required because of vis- ible injuries. Because the case is in its early stages, it was unclear what punish- ment Galette could face from the NFL, which this past season adopted new codes of conduct in- volving domestic violence. The policy calls for a “baseline suspension of six games without pay for violations involving assault, battery, do- mestic violence, dating violence, child abuse, other forms of family vi- olence, or sexual assault. Consideration is given to possible mitigating or ag- gravating circumstances.” The 26-year-old player is the team’s sacks leader. He was signed as an un- drafted rookie in 2010 and in September signed a $41.5 million contract extension through 2019. © 2015, Associated Press Mr. Bodden said customs officials did not believe the 22-caliber pistol was connected to any other incidents of weapons shipments to Cayman. 2 US SKI TEAM PROSPECTS DIE IN AVALANCHE IN AUSTRIA Two prospects from the U.S. Ski Team were killed in an av- alanche Monday while skiing near their European training base in the Austrian Alps. The team said Ronnie Berlack, 20, and Bryce Astle, 19, died in the incident near the Rettenbach glacier in the mountains over Soelden, the venue for the annual season- opening World Cup races. Berlack, from Franconia, New Hampshire, and Astle, from Sandy, Utah, were part of a group of six skiers who were descending from the 3,056-meter Gaislachkogel when they left the prepared slope and apparently set off the avalanche. The other four skied out of the slide and es- caped unhurt. Officials in the Tyrolean re- gion said an avalanche alert had been declared for the area after days of heavy snowfall and mild temperatures. “Ronnie and Bryce were both outstanding ski racers who were passionate about their sport – both on the race course and skiing the moun- tain,” U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Tiger Shaw said. “Our hearts go out to the Berlack and Astle families, as well as to their extended sport family. Both of them loved what they did and conveyed that to those around them.” The tragedy has left the U.S. Ski Team “in shock,” Alpine director Patrick Riml said in Zagreb, where the American slalom team was preparing for a World Cup race on Tuesday. Head coach Sascha Rearick traveled back to Austria to be with the so-called development team Berlack and Astle were part of. © 2015, Associated Press3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 Entry with Glass of Wine CI$ 30.00 Canapés with Bottle of Wine CI$ 75.00 “United We Care” Fashion Show Thursday, 29 January at Camana Bay Cocktails start at 5:30pm All proceeds will benefit CIHS, Care, Feline Friends and Canine Friends. HOSTED BY Fashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion ShowFashion Show General admittance VIP Lounge Audit: Hospital using too much paper BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Daily reports to reconcile the Cayman Islands public hospital system’s cash col- lections cost too much money and wasted office space in the hospital as the daily data was printed out and piled up in administra- tive offices, according to a government audit. The audit of the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority completed in June noted that three reams of 8x11 paper were used each day to print cash reconcili- ation reports that quickly clogged up storage space and made it painstakingly diffi- cult to find any information via a manual search. “The retrieval of docu- ments was…noted to be te- dious,” an Internal Audit Unit review of the health author- ity’s operations stated. “The same information could be readily accessed [from the HSA computer filing system] when required.” Auditors also noted that a number of HSA staff spent hours printing out billing statements and stuffing them into envelopes to be mailed. “We were informed that staff tasked with collection and credit control spent a significant portion of their time placing statements into envelopes…time that could have been better spent on credit control and collection,” the report stated. “We are concerned that the current operations of the HSA, which require a high consumption of paper, limit the HSA’s efforts to reduce costs.” In response to a number of other concerns identi- fied in the June 2014 review, health authority officials re- ported low staffing levels as being at least partly respon- sible for difficulty in col- lecting past-due accounts from healthcare clients who were not 100 percent cov- ered by the Cayman Islands National Insurance Company. The HSA expected to have nearly $70 million in unpaid bills from services to patients by the end of the govern- ment’s current budget year in June 2015, according to gov- ernment financial records. The amount is referred to in the government’s 2014/15 budget ownership agree- ments as a “provision for doubtful debt,” meaning debts that have been owed for more than a year. If the projection of the additional unpaid bills occurs as fi- nance managers expect, the HSA’s unpaid receivable will increase from an estimated $45.8 million to $69.9 million in just two years. The total allowance for unpaid receivables has been compiled over a period of more than 10 years, and some of the bills owed are more than decade old. Then-Health Minister Osbourne Bodden said in June that the HSA faced a number of daunting prob- lems – not just staffing - as the public health agency tried to collect on massive unpaid patient bills. Included among those difficulties was that the “swipe-card” payment system used by the public hospital since early 2011 was not able to collect patient deductible payments for services outside of regular business hours. Most public healthcare system patients who are in- sured through the Cayman Islands National Insurance Company, or CINICO, do not have to pay deductibles on health services. However, some do owe payments for hospital services, and most other private insurance com- panies do charge deductibles for hospital services. It had been the intention to extend the swipe system to private sector insurers as well, but that never happened. Other problems with un- collected hospital bills in- clude the more common sit- uation of insurers refusing to cover services, or em- ployers not keeping up with insurance payments for em- ployees, Mr. Bodden said. Issues also arise with tran- sient workers who leave the islands without paying med- ical bills, or when tourists re- ceive medical treatments for which they can’t pay. “But this is not just a vis- itor issue. Many of these non- payments ... are from our own residents,” Mr. Bodden said. Looking at bad debts ac- cumulated over the past three-and-a-half years, Mr. Bodden noted that some $10 million owed consisted of in- dividual bills of less than $1,000 each. “If these patients would even pay these small bills, it would make a substan- tial contribution [toward re- solving the debt],” he said. “It is not good enough to think government will take care of this.” “We were informed that staff tasked with collection and credit control spent a significant portion of their time placing statements into envelopes.” HEALTH SERVICES AUTHORITY AUDIT This photo shows an example of the daily cash reconciliation reports compiled by the HSA. The LIME phone book is included for scale comparison.The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass offi ce. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS DAVID R. LEGGE AND VICKI L. LEGGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DAVID R. LEGGE A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will fi nd their own way” The departure of Samantha Bennett from the chief post at Cayman Islands Customs, coupled with the suspension of Chief Immigration Offi cer Linda Evans, means that Cayman is currently without stable leadership in two of the country’s major revenue- generating departments. Further — with the candidate search beginning anew for a new customs collector, and the circumstances of Ms. Evans’s paid suspension darkened by unspecified “allegations of misconduct” — there is no indication of when these important leadership positions will be filled. Such high-level vacancies demand immediate attention from Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, Premier Alden McLaughlin (who has ministerial responsibility for Immigration) and Finance Minister Marco Archer (who is responsible for Customs). Cayman needs to appoint sure and capable pro- fessionals to head up Customs and Immigration, whose combined annual budgets run in the tens of millions of dollars, and revenues collected in the hundreds of millions. From a public safety standpoint, Customs and Immi- grations are charged with ensuring that dangerous items and people are kept off our shores. In addition to being our first line of defense against what Cayman doesn’t want, they also are often our first public repre- sentatives to interact with what Cayman does want, and indeed requires — travelers from overseas. From an economic standpoint, Customs and Immi- gration are also key to facilitating the conduct of business in Cayman. After all, they serve as gate- keepers of the material and human capital that busi- nesses need in order to operate. Not having a permanent leader of Customs or Immigration is on the same level of seriousness as not having a commissioner of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. And yet, nearly three years after the retirement of Customs Collector Carlon Powery, the government is no closer to hiring a permanent replacement. Ms. Bennett, of course — and here’s a brief foray into bureaucratese — was on “secondment” from the Immi- gration Department to fill in as “acting customs collector.” Now that she is moving back to Immigration, she is being replaced by Collie Powery, whose recent job progres- sion at Customs has been “acting,” “deputy” and now “acting” again. (It’s enough to make one want to get in the business of printing government business cards.) Government’s latest re-advertisement of the customs collector job will constitute its sixth attempt to fi ll the position, which carries a salary somewhere north of $100,000 per year. It behooves the government to ensure that this sixth time is the charm, and that it is able to attract, identify and hire the best possible applicant for the position of customs collector — from within the department or without, from within Cayman or without. In regard to Immigration, the allegations against Ms. Evans must be dealt with as swiftly, thoroughly and transparently as possible. She, and we (meaning the Cayman public), deserve nothing less. She has now been on suspension for more than a month (at full salary), yet the public has heard nothing more about the case since the information was fi rst announced by government in early December. However the situation involving Ms. Evans is resolved, the government must make one of their primary resolutions in this New Year to prevent Cayman’s Customs and Immigration departments from remaining leaderless for long. The vacancies of Customs and Immigration are problems that demand — not a continuing series of “interim” this and “acting” that — but swift and decisive action. Room at the top: Vacancies at Customs and Immigration TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 • CAYMAN COMPASS The U.S. senator to watch in 2015 WASHINGTON – Standing at the intersection of three for- eign policy crises and a pe- rennial constitutional ten- sion, Bob Corker, R-Tenn., incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, may be the U.S. senator who matters most in 2015. Without an authorization for use of military force (AUMF) tailored to novel circum- stances, America is waging war against an entity without precedent (the Islamic State). Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons during negotiations that should involve congres- sional duties. And Russia is revising European borders by force and, like Iran, is the object of a U.S. experiment testing the power of economic sanctions to modify a dicta- tor’s behavior. As Congress weighs its foreign policy role regarding these three mat- ters, Corker treads the con- tested terrain between defer- ence to presidential primacy in foreign policy and the need for collective wisdom and shared responsibility. Were Barack Obama more prudent than vain, he would want congressional collabo- rators in problematic foreign ventures. He has, however, ig- nored the historical norm whereby presidents specify the authority they need. He has of- fered no substitute for the 60- word AUMF from Sept. 18, 2001, which authorized force against “those nations, organi- zations, or persons” complicit in 9/11. This was a decade be- fore the Islamic State — which is not a nation and has no clear borders or regime with which to deal — existed. Remember the “Khorasan group”? On Sept. 23, when announcing the beginning of airstrikes against the Islamic State, Obama cited this hith- erto unmentioned menace in connection with the U.S. mil- itary action. It has hardly been mentioned since. Should an AUMF mention it? Corker believes that con- gressional action legalizing Obama’s current military ac- tions would be akin to re- sponding to a teenager who habitually drives too fast by raising the speed limit. Nevertheless, many legislators, including some who are indig- nant about Obama unilater- ally setting environmental and immigration policies, seem re- luctant to leash him regarding war. Corker hopes an AUMF debate will, for the administra- tion, lay out a plausible path to stated goals regarding Syria. Meanwhile, the training of Syrian moderates re- mains as chimerical as the Bashar al-Assad regime’s barrel bombs are real, and Congress continues, Corker notes disapprovingly, to fund America’s wars off budget. Making a mockery of sup- posed budget targets, there was another US$73 billion “OCO” — overseas contin- gency operations — expendi- ture in the recent US$1.1 tril- lion spending bill in the 14th year of an “emergency.” The Banking Committee, on which Corker sits, has ju- risdiction over Iranian sanc- tions, and has passed new ones. Tip-toeing through a diplomatic minefi eld, Corker is working on ways for Congress to affect the negotiations pos- itively without jeopardizing them. Corker and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have drafted legislation requiring the pres- ident to submit to Congress, within three days, any com- prehensive agreement reached with Iran, and would have Congress hold hearings on it in 15 days. Congress would have an additional 15 days to introduce a joint resolution of disapproval. If the president does not submit any agree- ment, or if a resolution of disapproval is enacted, then prior sanction relief is ended. Iran might stymie this pro- cess by prolonging the nego- tiations until it reaches what Corker thinks Iran considers “the sweet spot”: At least for now, getting to “a screwdriver turn” away from possessing a weapon, then pausing. Regarding Russia, too, Corker and his committee are relevant to U.S. efforts at be- havior modifi cation. Vladimir Putin, says Corker, cannot be allowed to succeed in his aggression, and must pay a heavy price until he changes course. But he should not be forced to fail so calamitously that a destabilized Russia de- stabilizes the region. Banking and other sanctions, coin- ciding with a roughly 50 per- cent decline in the price of oil, have convulsed this ram- shackle country. In what may be a harbinger of an enlarged congressional role in foreign policy, Obama has signed legislation, co-introduced by Corker, that increases sanc- tions on Russia and provides US$350 million in military aid to Ukraine. Corker says he is a former builder of shopping centers, real estate entrepreneur and former mayor (of Chattanooga) who had — he forms a zero with his thumb and forefi nger — “this much” foreign policy experience before becoming a senator in 2007. Never mind. He has now visited 64 coun- tries, some of them multiple times, and his mind is un- clouded by long immersion in the conventional thinking of the foreign policy clerisy, with its inclination to disparage strong congressional initia- tives in foreign policy. George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2015, Washington Post Writers Group Venezuela won’t be saved by an empty beret BLOOMBERG VIEW Venezuela had a banner year in 2014: the world’s highest misery index (infl ation plus unemployment), a fresh recession, and a currency whose black-market value plunged faster than even the Russian ruble. As if that weren’t enough, Venezuela’s homicide rate has risen to second highest in the world. Unfortunately, President Nicolas Maduro doesn’t seem to have any good ideas — any ideas at all, really — for improving things. In his year-end review, he used the phrase “economic war” more than 60 times but offered no concrete plans for waging it. At any rate, with Maduro’s popularity at an all-time low, and parliamentary elections later this year, bold economic initiatives will be hard to pull off. His only option is to build consensus for some dif- fi cult economic reforms. Maduro said he plans “to perfect the currency system,” but he should instead junk the controls already in place that, along with a multi- tiered exchange system, have raised black-market currency rates to 27 times higher than offi cial ones. In a nation that imports three-fourths of its goods, this would greatly re- duce the shortages of every- thing from medicines to milk and toilet paper. Despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela can no longer afford to provide its citizens with the world’s cheapest gasoline, a subsidy that costs the government more than US$12 billion a year and benefi ts Venezuela’s rich more than its poor. Maduro said he would also trim unnecessary spending, hinting at cuts to Venezuela’s diplomatic presence. Why not cut military spending instead? From 2009 to 2013, Venezuela was the largest arms im- porter in South America and the 17th largest in the world. Venezuelans need less guns, more butter. To achieve these and other reforms, Maduro will have to work with his political oppo- nents — and he might start by, say, letting them out of jail. Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, in particular, needs to be released from prison, and Maduro should drop his far- fetched allegations against other opposition members. To preserve the integrity of this December’s parliamentary vote, he also needs to stop monkeying with Venezuela’s election processes. This won’t happen without some quiet but fi rm pressure from Maduro’s fellow Latin American leaders, whose economies have also been hurt by Venezuela’s economic dysfunction, beginning with its failure to pay for imports. Happily, President Barack Obama’s gambit to normalize relations with Cuba has given these leaders more ideological room to apply such pressure. Even before Obama’s Cuban surprise, Venezuelans already preferred the United States to Cuba. Now, with oil prices low, store shelves barren and no Castros in his corner, Maduro’s brand of Chavismo is beginning to look more and more like an empty red beret. © 2015, Bloomberg News GEORGE F. WILL GEORGE Without an authorization for use of military force (AUMF) tailored to novel circumstances, America is waging war against an entity without precedent (the Islamic State).5 CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 REGIONAL 345-623-6725 | www.caymanfinance.ky DID YOU KNOW... Financial Services. Moving Cayman Forward. Financial Services Construction Accommodation Arts Restaurants The Cayman Islands Financial Services Industry is the SINGLE LARGEST EMPLOYER of Caymanians? 430 483 657 1,418 2,455 Source: CIG Economic Statistics Office 2012 Cuba-US detente upends life for Cuban dissidents HAVANA (AP) — President Barack Obama told the world last month that engaging Cuba is the best way to strengthen people pushing for greater freedom on the island. Just a few weeks after it was announced, the U.S.- Cuba detente is upending the civil society Obama hopes to strengthen. The prospect of engagement between the two Cold War antagonists seems to be undercutting the is- land’s hard-line dissidents while boosting more mod- erate reformers who want to push President Raul Castro gradually toward granting citizens more liberties. The traditional dissidents say they feel betrayed by a new U.S. policy of negotia- tion with a government that Washington and the U.S.- backed opponents worked for decades to undermine. They say they fear that detente serves the Castro administra- tion’s aspiration of following China and Vietnam by im- proving the economy without conceding citizens signifi- cantly greater freedoms. “I think President Obama made a mistake,” said Berta Soler, head of the Ladies in White, Cuba’s best-known dissident group. “Cuba won’t change while the Castros are around. There will be posi- tive changes for the govern- ment of Cuba, but not for the Cuban people.” Moderates say the new balance of power inside the small, fractious world of Cuba’s opposition will pro- duce political change by of- fering Castro a type of en- gagement that’s harder to reject: a negotiated, more controlled opening meant to avoid the sort of disor- derly transition that scarred the former Soviet Union and, more recently, the countries of the Arab Spring. “Destabilization, disorder, anarchy, that’s never been on the agenda in the minds of Cubans, and whoever has this agenda isn’t going to be able to find space,” said Eliezer Avila, a 29-year-old computer engineer who leads We Are More, a small, year- old opposition group pushing for economic reform and po- litical pluralism. What’s unknown is whether the Cuban govern- ment will engage with the newly energized, more mod- erate members of civil so- ciety, or continue to sharply limit free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association as threats to the country’s single-party system. Raul Castro told Cuba’s National Assembly Dec. 20 that warmer rela- tions with the U.S. would not change the system. A major test will come during April’s Summit of the Americas in Panama, a gath- ering of Western Hemispheric leaders where Obama and Raul Castro are expected to meet. A forum including fig- ures from civil society inside Cuba is to be organized on the sidelines, and seems likely to spawn debate between the U.S. and Cuba, and among re- formers from the island. “There will be some ne- gotiations or discussions be- hind the scenes as to who gets invited, I would imagine,” said Richard Feinberg, a spe- cialist in U.S.-Cuban relations at the University of California, San Diego. Reform-minded Cubans have already begun testing the boundaries of free speech and association under the new relationship. Expatriate artist Tania Bruguera re- turned to Cuba shortly after the announcement to or- ganize a pro-reform per- formance piece Tuesday in the Plaza of the Revolution, the symbolic center of the Cuban government. Bruguera was to meet with government officials to request permission for the event. But Bruguera has said she will go ahead even without it, setting up a po- tential confrontation between young backers of the event and government supporters who consider it an affront to revolutionary values. Pro-government blog- gers have been attacking Bruguera on blogs and Twitter since her arrival. Around midday last week, Cuban cellphones received mysterious messages from a Florida area code offering cheap beer to those at the plaza around the time of Bruguera’s event, which was to feature an open microphone for anyone wanting to discuss their complaints and aspirations for Cuba’s future. Members of the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White during a demonstration in late December in Havana. - PHOTO: AP Cuban human rights group says short detentions increase HAVANA (AP) — An in- dependent Cuban human rights group says the gov- ernment has increased the use of temporary detentions of dissidents and political activists. Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation says the group recorded 8,899 short- term detentions of dissi- dents and activists in 2014. That’s about 2,000 more than the previous year and four times as many as in 2010. The detentions can last for a few hours or a few days, but do not lead to prison time. Some people have been detained several times in a month, so the total number of people de- tained is lower. Sanchez says his group counts about 90 people held in prison for political rea- sons – less than half the figure five years ago. “I think President Obama made a mistake.” BERTA SOLER, head of the Ladies in White dissident groupThe islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Community CALENDAR ■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR is published TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. It is available to charitable or nonprofit organizations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be faxed to 949-2662, brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Rd. or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 • CAYMAN COMPASS TUESDAY, JAN. 6 HIV TESTING: The Public Health Department advises that as of today there is free HIV testing available every Tuesday year-round at the Cayman Islands Red Cross on Thomas Russell Way. Anyone who wishes to get tested should arrive by 9 a.m. Testing will be available every Tuesday between 9 and 10 a.m. For more info, contact HIV/AIDS Coordinator Laura Whitfield at 244-2631. SISTER ISLANDS POST OFFICES: The Cayman Islands Postal Service office on Little Cayman will be closed all day today, while Brac facilities will close at noon for a staff function. All post offices on Grand Cayman will operate as normal. FILM COMPETITION: Registration is open for the Young Image Makers Short Film Competition. A prize of a one-week New York Film Academy movie camp scholarship (including round-trip airfare, accommodation and per diem) will be offered to the winner of each age group (10-13 years & 14-17 years). Check Cayman National Cultural Foundation website www.artscayman.org/young- image-makers. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 7 OPEN CANVAS: Visual Arts Society supports this event at Karoo restaurant, Camana Bay, 7 p.m. to close. No fee. Easels are provided for artist of all levels to enjoy painting and socializing with other artists. Participating artists receive complimentary tickets for house wine or beer. For more information, contact info@visualartcayman.com or jr@cib.ky, 546-9422. Also Jan. 14, 21, 28. THURSDAY, JAN. 8 DOCUMENTARY: The film “British Art at War” explores the work of Paul Nash, World War I artist. 5:30- 7:30 p.m. National Gallery. Screening and discussion led by artist and curator David Bridgeman. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served. Donations welcome. MONDAY, JAN. 12 WORKFORCE AGENCY: A representative of the National Workforce Development Agency will be in East End at the public library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The agency, in an effort to provide improved customer service to its clients in their job seeking efforts, will provide opportunities to register online with the NWDA, search the online job portal and self-referring for jobs; assistance with resumes and preparing for an interview. For more information, call 945-3114. PAINTING OPEN STUDIO: Drop-in Open Studio with instructor Chris Duty. 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Watler House Studio, Pedro Castle. This is an opportunity for adult intermediate artists to work at their own pace on their own projects with instructor’s guidance. To register, contact openstudio@ visualartcayman.com or 546-9422. $25 per day or $35 non-members. More info at www.visualartcayman. com. Also Jan. 19. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 14 WORKFORCE AGENCY: A representative of the National Workforce Development Agency will be in Bodden Town at the public library from 2-5 p.m. The agency, in an effort to provide improved customer service to its clients in their job seeking efforts, will provide opportunities to register online with the NWDA, search the online job portal and self-referring for jobs; assistance with resumes and preparing for an interview. For more information, call 945-3114. MONDAY, JAN. 19 WORKFORCE AGENCY: A representative of the National Workforce Development Agency will be in West Bay at the public library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The agency, in an effort to provide improved customer service to its clients in their job seeking efforts, will provide opportunities to register online with the NWDA, search the online job portal and self-referring for jobs; assistance with resumes and preparing for an interview. For more information, call 945-3114. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21 WORKFORCE AGENCY: A representative of the National Workforce Development Agency will be in North Side at the public library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The agency, in an effort to provide improved customer service to its clients in their job seeking efforts, will provide opportunities to register online with the NWDA, search the online job portal and self-referring for jobs; assistance with resumes and preparing for an interview. For more information, call 945-3114. GENERAL INTEREST IMMIGRATION BOARDS: The Work Permit Board resumes on Jan. 12. The Business Staffing Plan Board resumes Jan. 7. Cayman Status and Permanent Residents Board resumes Jan. 8. REEF RESTORATION: Certified divers are invited to work on the Cayman Magic reef restoration in George Town. A schedule of work dates and times is posted on Facebook under Cayman Magic Reef Recovery. Dates, times and places are listed under Events for volunteers to check and sign up. PINK LADIES: Coffee Shop at the Cayman Islands Hospital is open Monday- Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for breakfast, lunch, drinks, snacks. Take-out orders welcome, call 244-2661. Funds are donated back to the community. Contact pinkladiescayman@gmail. com. ARTISANS MARKET: Camana Bay Artisan Market every Wednesday. Visual Arts Society has artists displaying arts, crafts, paintings, prints, hand- crafted jewelrey & ceramics for sale between noon and 8 p.m. near Karoo. For more information about being a displaying artist contact info@visualartcayman.com or 546-9422 MIND’S EYE: Free guided tours for up to eight people are offered at Mind’s Eye – The Visionary World of Miss Lassie, Cayman’s intuitive artist. Tours by appointment, 10-11 a.m., second and fourth Saturdays. Contact the Cayman National Cultural Foundation by email at admincncf@candw.ky or 949-5477. HUMANE SOCIETY BOOK LOFT: North Sound Road. Open Monday 12:30-4 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also, Thursday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Volunteers needed for front desk a few hours per week. Contact humanesocietybookloft@ candw.ky or 946-8053. Donations of books, games, CDs, stationery, DVDs, cards etc in good condition always needed. SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Volunteers are needed on Tuesdays from 5:30-6:45 p.m. to assist with training athletes in track and field, bocce and football. Truman Bodden Sports Complex. Contact Penny McDowall, 516-2578, soci@candw.ky or pjmcdowall@gmail.com. LOST DOGS: The Department of Agriculture and veterinary students of St. Matthew’s University provide an online list of dogs housed at the Department of Agriculture Animal Rescue Shelter in Lower Valley. Anyone missing a dog can check www.smustudents.webs.com. RED CROSS THRIFT SHOP: Open Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at RC headquarters on Huldah Avenue. Book bargain every Thursday and Friday, a bagful for $5. BETHESDA COUNSELING CENTRE: At 68 Mary St., caters to all who seek help. Call 946-6575. Open Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Appointments available Saturdays and late evenings. Center is owned and operated by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. ART TALK FOR SENIORS: This National Gallery program engages people age 60 and over in conversation about art by focusing on a particular piece from the gallery or special exhibition every other Thursday. Admission is free, refreshments provided. 2-2:45 p.m. For more information, contact education@ nationalgallery.org.ky. ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP: For anyone who is a caregiver, spouse, child or friend of someone suffering from this debilitating disease. Group meets the last Wednesday of every month at the Hibiscus Conference Room at the Cayman Islands Hospital. Contact Dorothy at 924-4170 or email alzheimersgroup. caymanislands@gmail.com. C.A.S.K. KARATE: Free public Tai Chi at Camana Bay on Sundays (ongoing). 8:30- 9:30 a.m. Contact Greg Reid on 925-3367 or email caskkarate@gmail.com. WAITING FOR JOSEPHINE: This is an ongoing appeal for second-hand magazines for the waiting rooms at the Cayman Islands Hospital. Please take magazine donations to Books & Books at Camana Bay or deposit them in the big bin outside the Cancer Society on Maple Road (opposite the hospital). For more information, contact Carol Hay at 526-6932. SPECIAL NEEDS FOUNDATION OF CAYMAN: For anyone who is a parent, relative, friend or carer of a special needs child. Also for professionals interested in special needs. SNFC is a nonprofit organization providing information, resources, education and support with meetings, social events and newsletters. Contact www. specialneedsfoundation.ky. MUSEUM TOURS: The National Museum provides guided tours for students and school groups free of cost. Students will gain an understanding of Cayman’s geological formation, flora and fauna, seafaring and rope-making heritage, political history and more. Contact the museum to book a tour in advance at 949-8368 or email info@museum.ky. BUS DEPOT: The George Town bus depot’s operating hours are Mondays through Fridays, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. On the last Friday of each month, the bus depot is open until 9 p.m. for people wishing to use public transportation to attend “Culture Shock” in George Town. PAWS THRIFT SHOP: Bodden Town Shopping Plaza, opposite BT Post Office. Open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. Please don’t leave donations outside shop. Call Sharon, 324-9760; or Susanna, 916-3957 for more information. All proceeds for animal welfare. HUMANE SOCIETY THRIFT SHOP: The Claws-It Thrift Shop, 153 North Sound Road is always in need of donations of all types of clothing, shoes, household items, linens etc. We also welcome garage sale leftovers. Volunteers are always needed, too. Opening hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Fri and 9-4 Saturday. Call the manager Terri-Ann Watler at 945-5596 or email cihs.thriftshop@ outlook.com. NEW TO YOU BARGAIN SHOP: Run by National Council of Voluntary Organizations, is looking for volunteers to assist. Call Alta Solomon, 949-2124. Anyone clearing out unwanted items is asked to think of the NCVO. To donate, email ncvocoordinator@candw.ky To view projects see www.ncvo. org.ky. HUMANE SOCIETY dog walkers: Appeals for volunteers to walk dogs. Anyone who can spare an hour is asked to come to the shelter around 9 a.m. HUMANE SOCIETY DOGS ON BEACH: Volunteers meet at public beach at 11 a.m. on Sundays with shelter dogs for training and playtime. We are looking for volunteers willing to pick up and drop off the dogs to and from the beach. Contact the Humane Society at 949-1461 or call Susan at 938-9903; email susang@candw.ky. ST. GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH BARGAIN CORNER: Located upstairs at St. George’s Anglican Church Preschool on Courts Road, off Eastern Avenue. Last Saturday of the month, 7-11 a.m. MISS NADINE’S PRE- SCHOOL: Seeks volunteers for a few hours a week between 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 945-1078 or email Alta Solomon a.solomonncvo@ hotmail.com or Caroline Ebanks principalmn@ hotmail.com. CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: Is available for substance abuse help. Call the info line at 929–NANA (6262). ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Meets daily to help with drinking problems. For more information, call 926-9044 or visit www.caymanaa.org. AL-ANON GROUP MEETING: Are you troubled by someone’s drinking? Call 928-8843. OVERCOMERS OUTREACH: A Christ-centered 12-Step Recovery Group addressing addictions and those affected by them, bridging the gap between 12-Step groups and churches. Meetings at CI Baptist Church, Pedro Castle Road, Mondays, 7 p.m. For details, contact Virginia Castillo at 946-2422, or visit www. overcomersoutreach.org. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.compasscayman. com/caycompass/portal/ community-calendar.7 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 Academic invited to Paris to speak at European conference Roy Bodden to discuss Cayman’s history JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Caymanian academic and author Roy Bodden has been invited to a confer- ence in Paris to share his ideas on the territory’s his- tory, its brand of “voluntary colonialism” and the rivalry between expatriates and lo- cals, which he contends is threatening the stability of the society. Mr. Bodden was se- lected from more than 2,000 candidates to speak at the Council for European Studies Conference of the Europeanists in July. He was approached after the organizers of the conference read his book, “The Cayman Islands in Transition.” In a short summary of his presentation, Mr. Bodden out- lines his contention that the Cayman Islands is a society on the cusp of upheaval. He writes, “Voluntary co- lonialism has led to an iden- tity crisis among established Caymanians. This situation is further compounded by wage stagnation and income inequality which places es- tablished Caymanians at a disadvantage vis-à-vis expatriates. “I contend that this has implications for the dis- integration of Cayman so- ciety, with expatriates ac- cusing Caymanians of an “entitlement culture” and “established” Caymanians pejoratively labelling cit- izen expatriates as “paper Caymanians.” Such a toxic rivalry has spawned an un- healthy duality which, with no prospects for a rapproche- ment, leaves the Cayman Islands, as a society, at risk.” Mr. Bodden, also the pres- ident of the University of the Cayman Islands, said it was humbling to be recognized internationally for his work. He said the thesis of the book – that the Cayman Islands is a divided so- ciety – is more relevant now than ever. He said the well-publi- cized tirade last month by Health Minister Osbourne Bodden against his chief officer, Jennifer Ahearn, is a sign of deeper divi- sions within Cayman’s modern society. “I look at what we have just seen at the highest level of the government as a har- binger of things to come. We have to find a way to bridge the divide.” He believes deep divisions are caused, not just by immigration, but also by wage inequality in the Cayman Islands. “These things are not in- surmountable. If we can bridge the gap between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ we can be a great society.” Mr. Bodden’s presen- tation, “Deconstructing Development: Immigration, Society and Economy in Early Twenty-First Century Cayman,” will be featured as part of the session “Offshore Europe on the Move: The Dynamics of Euro-Caribbean Societies and Politics in the 21st Century” at the con- ference, to be held in Paris, France, July 8-10. Mr. Bodden Christmas Quiz winners Winners of the Cayman Compass Christmas Quiz 2014 Competition, sponsored by Foster’s Food Fair IGA and Pinnacle Media and published in the Cayman Compass, are: Sanaa and Naomi Archer (top photo), with the help of their mom, Tammy Archer; Anthony Lyons and Tracey Ebanks; and Anne Donalds, right. They each took home a gift card from Foster’s Food Fair. - PHOTOS: STEPHEN CLARKE CALENDAR ents The Cayman Compass Events Calendar is the ‘Official’ calendar of the Cayman Islands Entertainment Business Conferences Sports Culinary Fundraisers Award Ceremonies Add your event FREE CaymanCompass.com /calendarThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 • CAYMAN COMPASS gallon for regular, unleaded self-serve gasoline. Prior to October, local gas prices had remained steady since June 2014. The price drop in Cayman paled in comparison to re- ductions in the retail sale price in the U.S. and world- wide benchmark prices per gallon for Brent Crude oil. According to figures compiled by the American Automobile Association, av- erage retail prices for un- leaded gasoline in the 50 states were US$3.67 per gallon in mid-June 2014. By Monday, the average price had fallen to US$2.19 per gallon. The petroleum inspector- ate’s own research showed the average actual net re- duction in prices per barrel for Brent Crude oil between April and December 2014 was US$57 per barrel – about a 50 percent reduction glob- ally during the period. On Monday, the Associated Press reported that U.S. crude oil tumbled below $50 per barrel for the first time in five years. Planning Minister Kurt Tibbetts, who oversees the petroleum inspectorate as part of his ministry, said Monday that the interna- tional fuel prices indicate that Cayman’s gas stations still have plenty of room to cut prices. “As we speak, there is a small task force doing some investigation, and we intend to be meeting with both oil companies [Sol and Rubis] very early in the new year with a view to having some positive discussions about [pricing],” Mr. Tibbetts said. “The government is firmly of the view that the companies could be making a fair mark- up and the price still would be noticeably lower. “Depending on the out- come of those discussions, it is the government’s view that, if necessary, appropriate leg- islation will be put in place,” he said. Mr. Tibbetts declined to elaborate. However, his former ministry under the People’s Progressive Movement government of 2005-2009 had raised the issue of price control legisla- tion for retail gas prices. Last summer, Mr. Tibbetts spoke to the Cayman Compass about an agreement between government and Texas-based Navasota Energy stating that Navasota could be brought in as a consultant to negotiate with the oil com- panies regarding the poten- tial for a new fuel supply ter- minal in the eastern districts of Grand Cayman. “The Cayman Islands lo- cation has geographical ad- vantages for the supply of fuel to various other Caribbean jurisdictions,” Mr. Tibbetts said in June. “If [Navasota is] successful ... then we will sit and talk to these interested parties to see whether it is something that is feasible or not.” The proposal seeks to consider an onshore bulk storage facility that could initially fill fuel tankers heading to the central and eastern Caribbean Sea. If it goes forward, a storage lo- cation would need to be con- sidered close to shore, but in a far more remote area than the current bulk storage fa- cility in George Town’s Jackson Point. Mr. Tibbetts said in the long term, the eastern dis- tricts project could re- place the current bulk storage facility. “If something like this becomes feasible, it is very likely that Caribbean Utilities Company and other local en- tities could get their fuel much cheaper than they’re getting it now,” he said. “It could also be a means by which more competition is brought to bear in the retail fuel sector, but all of these things are what we are going to be examining.” Mr. Tibbetts said Monday that discussions were continuing with Navasota officials on the potential project. Minister: Gas prices should drop further “The government is firmly of the view that the companies could be making a fair mark up and the price still would be noticeably lower.” KURT TIBBETTS, planning minister CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Bosnian imam attacked over call to stay out of Syria TRNOVI, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The long-bearded man burst into the mosque’s yard and pinned Selvedin Beganovic to the ground. Shouting “Now I will slaughter you!” he plunged a knife three times into the imam’s chest and fled. It was no random attack: Beganovic has suffered seven assaults blamed on Muslim extremists in the past year – with three just last month. The apparent reason for the jihadi wrath? Beganovic uses his pulpit to tell the faithful in predominantly Muslim Bosnia they have no business fighting in Syria or Iraq. And he vows to keep preaching the message no matter how many times ex- tremists try to silence him. “That is not our war,” the imam told The Associated Press in his small north- western town. “Our jihad in Bosnia is the fight against unemployment. The care for our parents who have small pensions. The care for the so- cially jeopardized.” Some 150 Bosnians have joined Islamic militants in Syria or Iraq, officials es- timate, with many fighting for the Islamic State group. All are apparently mem- bers of a small community that follows an ultra-con- servative interpretation of Islam. Last month, a court in Bosnia charged a man believed to be the spiritual leader of the group with re- cruiting Bosnians to fight with Islamic militants in Syria and organizing a ter- rorist group. Beganovic, who preaches every week to a full mosque, tells his followers that groups like IS are spreading a “per- verted version of Islam.” “When did [the Prophet] Muhammad ever behead anyone?” he said. “When did he take a knife and slaughter an innocent journalist?” Of Islam’s 99 names for God – including The Mighty and The Avenger – the ones Beganovic likes most are The Exceedingly Merciful and The Exceedingly Gracious. “That is what we teach our children here,” he said. Dragan Lukac, the director of federal police, blamed fighters returning from Syria’s front lines for the at- tacks against Beganovic, which include severe beat- ings and knife slashes to the face, shoulders and hands. Investigators are still hunting for the attacker in last week’s knife assault. “Every person who comes back from that front line is a danger,” said Lukac. “These people are able to perform at- tacks on citizens, on property, on state institutions.” Militant Islam was all but unknown to Bosnia’s mostly secular Muslim popula- tion until the 1990s Balkans wars when Arab mercenaries turned up to help the out- gunned Bosnian Muslims fend off Serb attacks. These fighters, many of whom set- tled in Bosnia, embraced a radical version of Islam that Bosnia’s official Islamic com- munity opposes. The community’s leader, Husein Kavazovic, has re- peatedly warned Bosnians not to fall for extremist rhet- oric aimed at pulling them into the fight in Syria. “Our job is to keep re- peating, to keep warning that this is evil and cannot be jus- tified,” he said. That’s exactly what Beganovic has been doing – at the risk of his life. “These are dangerous people,” he said. “Their place is in a mental institution.” “Our jihad in Bosnia is the fight against unemployment. The care for our parents who have small pensions. The care for the socially jeopardized.” SELVEDIN BEGANOVIC,imamInjured Bosnian imam Selvedin Beganovic, 44, speaks during an interview at the mosque in the village of Trnovi, Bosnia. - PHOTO: AP Some 30,000 Germans protest anti-Islam rallies Protests against actions of group known as PEGIDA BERLIN (AP) — The square around the Cologne Cathedral was plunged into darkness Monday evening after the his- torical landmark in western Germany shut down its lights in a silent protest of weekly ral- lies in Dresden against the per- ceived “Islamization” of Europe. The symbolic act came as thousands of Germans dem- onstrated in Cologne and several other cities against the ongoing protests by the group calling itself Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, or PEGIDA, which attracted its biggest crowd yet in Dresden on Monday night. Cologne Cathedral provost Norbert Feldhoff, told n-tv that shutting down the lights was an attempt to make the PEGIDA demonstrators think twice about their protest. “You’re taking part in an action that, from its roots and also from speeches, one can see is Nazi-ist, racist and extremist,” he said on n-tv. “And you’re supporting people you really don’t want to support.” Only about 250 PEGIDA supporters showed up in Cologne, as compared to about ten times that number of counter-demonstrators. Similarly in Berlin, police said some 5,000 counter- demonstrators blocked about 300 PEGIDA supporters from marching along their planned route from city hall to the Brandenburg Gate. Another 22,000 anti-PEGIDA demon- strators rallied in Stuttgart, Muenster and Hamburg, the dpa news agency reported. But PEGEIDA’s main dem- onstration in the eastern city of Dresden, a region that has few immigrants or Muslims, attracted some 18,000, ac- cording to police. The dem- onstrations there have been growing from an initial few hundred in October to around 17,500 at a rally just before Christmas. Carrying signs with slo- gans like “wake up” the crowd chanted “we are the people” and “lying press” as they passed television cam- eras on Monday. In uncharacteristically frank words in her New Year’s address, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to stay away from the Dresden rallies. When the PEGIDA dem- onstrators chant “we are the people,” Merkel said “they ac- tually mean ‘you don’t belong because of your religion or your skin.” PEGIDA organizer Kathrin Oertel slammed the speech at the rally Monday, telling the crowd “in Germany we have political repression again.” “Or how would you see it when we are insulted or called racists or Nazis openly by all the political main- stream parties and media for our justified criticism of Germany’s asylum seeker policies and the non-exis- tent immigration policy,” she asked the cheering crowd. PEGIDA has sought to dis- tance itself from the far-right, saying in its position paper posted on Facebook that it is against “preachers of hate, regardless of what religion” and “radicalism, regardless of whether religiously or politi- cally motivated.”The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 2015 position in the Cayman Islands government - acts not only as revenue col- lector from imported goods, but also as the person who prevents the illegal movement of items into and out of the islands. Immigration Ms. Bennett’s re- turn to the top ranks of the Cayman Islands Immigration Department comes at a time of up- heaval in the agency. In recent weeks, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson agreed to extend the paid suspensions of two senior immigration officials who were placed on what is known as “required leave” in November and December of last year. Chief Immigration Officer Linda Evans is being investigated in regard to a number of alleged ad- ministrative violations, and Immigration’s director of boards and work permits, Kimberley Davis, is being investigated for alleged ad- ministrative violations. Both women will re- main on paid leave until the investigations are completed. Another senior official, Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Garfield Wong, faces a criminal trial later this year related to charges of drunken driving in a December 2013 in- cident. He has not been suspended from his post because the allegation in- volves traffic offenses. Acting Chief Immigration Officer Bruce Smith is filling in during Ms. Evans’s suspension. Customs top job advertised 6th time late 2013. They received the same $550 a month stipend, according to the report. Updated figures of just less than 800 seamen and 180 ex-servicemen were re- ported in the Legislative Assembly in June 2014. The government main- tains criteria for those seamen and veterans who apply for the monthly as- sistance, including require- ments that they earn no more than $2,000 per month aside from the $550 per month benefit, that they live in the Cayman Islands as their per- manent home and, in the case of seamen, have substan- tial proof their years at sea, such as a Seaman’s Discharge Book or other records. While the monthly amount per beneficiary is not large, it cost the govern- ment an average of between $7 million and $9 million a year during the period re- viewed by the Internal Audit Unit. Nearly $23.5 million was spent between 2010 and 2012 to provide the $550 per month benefit to seamen, seamen’s wives, veterans and their spouses. It is likely, according to the 2013 audit, that a sig- nificant number of seamen and veterans are deserving of the benefits. However, cer- tain cases reviewed by in- ternal auditors revealed un- authorized payments simply because government officials were not checking program criteria properly or at all. In one case, a seafarer’s account was credited with benefit payments totaling $11,500 over a 20 month pe- riod after he died. “We were informed that the seafarer’s death certificate dated July 20, 2009 was submitted late to the ministry,” the audit re- port noted. “There is no re- cord on file to document the actual date the certificate was received.” Another two beneficia- ries of the program earned more than double the max- imum monthly amount of $2,000 required to qualify for the program. One file showed monthly earnings of $4,480 prior to receiving the sea- man’s grant, another earned $4,101 per month before re- ceiving the benefit. “Not having a formal system in place to verify the continued…qualification of beneficiaries under the pro- gram could cost the govern- ment,” the report noted. Ministry officials re- sponding to the audit noted that the situations de- scribed above appear to be extreme cases, and in each instance, the names had been removed from the pro- gram. Government officials also noted that the previous Ministry of Home Affairs handled seamen and vet- erans’ claims during the pe- riod under review. The ministry responsible for the benefits program at the time had no formal system in place for deter- mining whether beneficiaries were still alive, other than reading the obituaries section of the Cayman Compass and “periodic checks” with the births and deaths registrar. There was also no system in place to determine whether seamen or ex-servicemen had moved from Cayman. Further, the audit raised some question about how a number of program ben- eficiaries were signed up in the first place. Looking at a sample of 124 seamen who were beneficiaries of the pro- gram, auditors found 69 per- cent were accepted into the program based on an affi- davit they submitted stating that they received less than $2,000 in monthly salary and that they had a certain number of years at sea. “Some of the beneficia- ries cannot present their Seamen’s Discharge Book as the document was either mis- placed over the years or lost during Hurricane Ivan [in 2004],” auditors noted. In the ex-servicemen’s benefit program, which began in the mid-1990s, an initial list of 200 beneficia- ries was presumably passed along to various government ministries that took over ad- ministration of the program during the next two decades. However, the ministry advised auditors in 2013 that it was “unable to lo- cate relevant documentation listing the names of these 200 servicemen.” The Internal Audit Unit generally warned the min- istry against relying on per- sonal affidavits without an independent verification pro- cess in place. “This exposes the ministry to the risk of providing finan- cial benefits to individuals who may not be genuinely entitled to it,” auditors stated. Promises During a June 2014 meeting of the Legislative Assembly’s Finance Committee, lawmakers promised to review the seamen and veterans’ benefit program. “Over the course of the next few months, we need to come to some decisions about this issue because the cost, rather than going down, is climbing and the number of persons on the waiting list just keeps growing,” Premier Alden McLaughlin said. “At the moment, we cannot ac- commodate anyone else on the list unless someone comes off, and usually they only come off by virtue of death or if they move over- seas. Even when they die, we wind up having to con- tinue the payment to their widow, and increasingly the widows are younger and younger.” East End MLA Arden McLean said the orig- inal policy had been “sold wrong” from the beginning in an effort to win votes in the 2000 election. “It was sold to the people that if you went to sea, you were entitled to it, and people continue to ex- pect it. That government from 1996-2000, they tried to win an election by pla- cating the seamen with an ex-gratia payment,” Mr. McLean said. As of the end 2014, The Progressives-led adminis- tration had not announced any decisions regarding program benefit changes. Seamen’s benefits ‘never adequately implemented’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Ms. Bennett CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Public pressure in UK dims soccer options for rapist Chad Evans, 26, out of prison and wants to resume career LONDON (AP) — He’s young, experienced and wants to play – but Ched Evans is also a convicted rapist and it looks like public opinion may prevent the forward from ever resuming his profes- sional soccer career. Evans, 26, is out of prison after serving time for raping a 19-year-old woman in his hotel room in 2011. Yet the reaction in Britain to his pos- sible return to the nation’s favorite sport is becoming more and more vehement. The high-profile case raises questions about the role of rehabilitation and challenges conventional wisdom that a convicted criminal who has paid for his offense should be given a chance to work. The situation is complicated by Evans’s lack of remorse – he insists he is innocent and has never apologized. Oldham, an English team that plays in the country’s third-tier League One, is con- sidering signing Evans but major sponsors Verlin and Mecca Bingo said Monday they will drop the team if he joins. Thousands have signed an online petition opposing his return. “I agree he’s served his time but it’s a very serious crime,” said Kath Woodward, a professor of sociology at Britain’s Open University who deals extensively with sports issues. “Remorse would go some way toward amelio- rating the situation. It’s very disappointing that clubs like Oldham are trying to get a reasonable player cheap. It shows the management of football (soccer) doesn’t un- derstand the changing times.” She said society’s atti- tudes toward rape and sexual harassment have hardened considerably since the days when former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was able to resume his boxing career after serving time in prison for a 1992 rape. “I can remember the idea you just have to put up with it, it’s part of life, but women now are not prepared to do that,” she said. “There’s a lot of public feeling against him coming back, a lot of public protests. The fans genuinely don’t want it.” HEDGE FUND FOUNDER SLAIN IN NYC APARTMENT NEW YORK (AP) — A 70-year-old hedge fund founder has been found shot dead inside his Manhattan apartment. Thomas Gilbert was shot in the head at his Beekman Place residence on the East Side on Sunday, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police were questioning his 30-year-old son, Thomas Gilbert, Jr., on Monday. No charges have been filed. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer. Police said a handgun was found near the body. The elder Gilbert founded Wainscott Capital Partners Fund in 2011. The fund, which focuses on biotech and health care industries, has $200 million in assets. Industry publication Hedge Fund Alert said in an August 2013 article that the fund had a net return of nearly 25 percent in 2012. Gilbert previously co- founded Syzygy Therapeutics, a biotech asset acquisition fund. He also was founder and CEO of an online teacher- education company called Knowledge Delivery Systems Inc. He was a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School. The shooting was a rare act of violence on Beekman Place, a tiny enclave just north of the United Nations in the Sutton Place neighborhood. QUEEN ELIZABETH II TO MAKE STATE VISIT TO GERMANY LONDON (AP) — Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II will make a state visit to Germany in June – the fifth such engage- ment of her long reign. The monarch will be accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh in the June 24-26 visit, which comes following an invi- tation by Joachim Gauck, Germany’s president. The queen and Prince Philip have made state visits to Germany in May 1965, May 1978, October 1992 and November 2004. The monarch also paid an official visit to Berlin in July 2000 to open the new British Embassy and again in 1987 to mark the 750th anniversary of the city. British soccer player Chad Evans, in 2009. - PHOTO: APNext >