ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – Wednesday May 27, 2015 SportS | page 22 eXHaUsTInG HOCKey aCTIOn sTILL FUn Jamaican visitors enjoyed annual tournament High of 89 Low of 78 Slight to moderate with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. editorial | page 4 Can ‘LOne WOLves’ dO MUCH MOre THan HOWL? Civil servants balk at healthcare co-pays BrenT FULLer bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The organization representing Cayman Islands government workers has informed the deputy governor that it would accept re- quirements for civil servants to pay a por- tion of their healthcare only if that policy is made “optional.” In a two-page letter to Deputy Governor Franz Manderson sent on May 20, the Cayman Islands Civil Service Association said it was “reiterating” an earlier position that pay- ment for healthcare should come with choice in providers. “The civil service will not be taxed to fur- ther subsidize the health system utilized by the entire country,” the letter, signed by as- sociation President James Watler, stated. “[We] are willing to consider co-pay or other changes provided it is (1) with choice, (2) optional, (3) fair.” Essentially, the organization takes the posi- tion that, if government workers are required to pay certain monthly allotments for health- care coverage, they want to go somewhere other than the Health Services Authority for care or keep the option to continue receiving free healthcare from the government. At the moment, neither retired civil ser- vants nor active government workers are re- quired to make any payments toward their healthcare, and monthly premiums are funded entirely by taxpayers. Retiree rates under the Cayman Islands National Insurance Company plans are $870 per month for non-married individuals, $1,306 for non-married people with chil- dren, $1,741 for married couples, and $2,176 for the CINICO family plan. Similar rates for working civil servants are $416 per month for single adults, $832 for married couples and the same for single adults with children, and Residency application tests undeR way 18 months after Immigration Law change BrenT FULLer bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Approximately 350 permanent residence- seekers in the Cayman Islands will be taking the required “history and culture test” as part of their PR application over the next five to six weeks. The first batch of tests was given to 19 people at the University College of the Cayman Islands campus last Friday, and another 38 candidates for permanent residence took the test on Saturday, immigration officials said. Another group of applicants will be given the test this Friday and Saturday and each week thereafter, with the goal of completing all of the tests for current applicants around the end of June or the first week in July. Acting Chief Immigration Officer Bruce Smith said Monday that the department is at- tempting to get the history and culture tests done without further delay due to the earlier holdups that have occurred in hearing perma- nent residence applications under the revised Immigration Law. “We’re trying to get this done as quickly as possible,” Mr. Smith said. “The applicants are getting very anxious.” According to records provided by the Immigration Department in late March, 337 residency applications had been received since changes to the law made that status far more difficult to obtain. Since Oct. 26, 2013, when amendments to the Immigration Law took effect, none of the PR applications has been heard because of legal uncertainty sur- rounding how to interpret the points system that governs whether an applicant will be ‘Tall challenge’ to hire more Caymanians The Cayman Islands civil ser- vice now employs more than 2,600 Caymanians – about 74 percent of the central govern- ment’s total workforce, ac- cording to Deputy Governor Franz Manderson. However, substantially in- creasing the number of local hires in the central government service may prove to be a “tall challenge,” considering the way the public sector staff is structured at the moment, Mr. Manderson told law- makers this week. The latest government human resources report, for the govern- ment’s 2013/14 budget year, had a total of 947 non-Caymanians working in the civil service, roughly 26.5 percent of the total workforce, not including stat- utory authorities and govern- ment-owned companies. About 70 percent of those non-Caymanian workers, more than 650 people, are employed in just four government depart- ments, Mr. Manderson said. The Education Department accounted for the largest per- centage of non-Caymanian workers in the civil service, em- ploying a total of 32 percent of all non-Caymanian civil service PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » Crews continued to work Tuesday to finish the Godfrey Nixon Way repaving project. An engineer with the National Roads Authority said the crew got a late start Monday night, delaying work on the road by at least one more day. The NRA had hoped to complete all paving work by Tuesday morning. Paving is done on one side of the road, leading from Eastern Avenue to the roundabout. On Tuesday night, NRA workers will close the other side of the road, leading from the roundabout, in hopes of finishing the work before the morning rush hour. Once the paving is complete, possibly as soon as Wednesday morning, NRA senior engineer Edison Jackson said crews will still have to lay down road markings and finish sidewalks. He does not expect any further road closures on the busy George Town throughway once the paving is complete. - pHoto: taneos RaMsay Work on godfrey Nixon Way nearly finished2 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Islands Constitution Order, 2009] as well as a new Children Law and the in- creased need for legal aid as- sistance,” Mr. Bulgin said. A number of changes pro- posed for the current Legal Aid Law will be brought be- fore Cabinet “shortly,” ac- cording to Mr. Bulgin, but few are likely to save government money on the provision of legal aid services. One of the requirements in the draft bill, which had not been made public as of press time, will ensure that a “duty counsel” is available to pro- vide legal advice to detainees at local police stations prior to the arrested subject being in- terviewed by officers. “It is a constitutional requirement,” Mr. Bulgin said. Another change to the Legal Aid Law is a general clarification of what legal services can be provided under the Legal Aid Law. Typically, the large majority of those funds have been dis- tributed in criminal cases, but the attorney general said the fund should not be lim- ited to criminal court. Mr. Bulgin said civil law courts and family courts are also candidates for legal aid assistance, particularly in cases involving child care, custody and adoption matters. To help determine who re- ceives legal aid, the revised law will seek to establish a “director of legal aid” under the judicial administration whose job it will be to receive and consider applications for that funding. The director will also maintain a list of local attorneys willing to under- take legal aid work. Historically in Cayman, fewer than a dozen attorneys provide representation to legal aid clients, although in recent years there have been a few more added to that list. They are paid $135 per hour, which is comparatively low com- pared to legal fees charged to non-indigent defendants or participants in civil cases. Those fees can range any- where from $350 to $750 per hour, or higher, depending on the nature of the case. In previous years, the payment of legal aid fees by government has been de- layed for months at a time when the fund “ran out” and had to be replenished by ad- ditional payments. Jose Sanchez faces charges from March 2014 at Club Inferno CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Jose Guadalupe Sanchez, 28, appeared in Summary Court on Tuesday to con- firm a date for his trial on charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and causing fear or provocation of violence. Sanchez is in the middle of a Grand Court trial for the Sept. 2014 murder of Solomon Webster. Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryll Richards concluded her evi- dence last week and defense counsel Mark Heywood then submitted there was no case for Sanchez to an- swer on possession of an unlicensed firearm. Mr. Webster, 24, was shot after becoming in- volved in a confrontation between Sanchez and a third man, Shaquille Bush. Justice Charles Quin ruled there was a case to answer. Mr. Heywood then indi- cated that the defense would not be assisted by having the court call Mr. Bush to give evidence. He said the likeli- hood was that he would call Sanchez to give evidence. However, matters have not yet reached that stage be- cause Ms. Richards made an application that has required the court to be closed to the public. That hearing con- tinued Monday and Tuesday. Sanchez’s Summary Court matter arose from an inci- dent at Club Inferno in West Bay on March 16, 2014. He pleaded not guilty and a trial date was set in November but could not go ahead. Magistrate Valdis Foldats confirmed July 14 as the date for trial on these charges. He noted that if Sanchez is in custody on that date, he will be brought to court; if he is not in custody, he was bailed to attend. WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2015 • CAYMAN COMPASS BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The cost of providing legal representation to in- digent criminal court defen- dants, as well as in certain civil and family court cases, has nearly doubled over the past five years. Cayman Islands Attorney General Sam Bulgin told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that the legal aid budget has increased from what was a “$1.5 million [per year] constant” to $2.7 million in the upcoming 2015/16 gov- ernment fiscal year. “This has been brought about in large part by the ad- vent of a bill of rights [in the www. 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Contact us about our Fibre Internet and TV options today! www.tonymosleylifeinsurance.com “[The increased costs have] been brought about in large part by the advent of a bill of rights as well as a new Children Law …” SAM BULGIN, attorney general AG: Human rights drive up legal aid costs Erik Henriksen was misidenti- fied in the caption of a photograph on the front page of Tuesday’s Compass. We apologize for the error. Mr. Henriksen is pictured here, far left, with the other partic- ipants in the Race for Grace event: Andreas Greve-Isdahl (who placed second), Tabitha Crowley, John- Kaare Aune, winners Tommy and Tom Sperandeo, James Bergstrom, Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden (third) and Mark VanDevelde (best car in show). CORRECTION Murder defendant has assault case in Summary Court3 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Wednesday May 27, 2015 Charities Bill back for third time Tries again for nonprofit regulation Brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands gov- ernment will try again – likely before the end of the year – to pass legislation aimed at pre- venting nonprofit organiza- tions from being set up to cover various illegal activities. The proposal, known as the Charities Bill, has failed twice in the past five years. In 2010 it fell apart before making it to Cabinet after a number of local nonprofits complained it would effec- tively end charitable giving in the Cayman Islands. The charities said the provisions in the bill would make it too expensive for them to operate, forcing them to close. Last summer, a revamped proposal was bounced from Cabinet, with lawmakers tight- lipped on whether they would eventually support the bill. Attorney General Sam Bulgin said Monday that his office has begun consulting with accounting firms, law firms and charity groups con- cerning the bill, with an eye to having the legislation in place “by the end of the year.” “There is still some mis- understanding about the scope of what government is attempting to do,” Mr. Bulgin told the Legislative Assembly on Monday. “Some people are of the view that if they do a fundraiser with hot dogs, they will be re- quired to get the names and addresses of the per- sons who purchase the hot dogs as part of their due diligence exercise. “We’re not interested in who’s buying hot dogs,” he said. What lawmakers in Cayman, and also world- wide, are concerned about are efforts to establish a leg- islative framework for non- profits that seeks to account for donations those groups receive, ensuring they are not used to assist or as a front to launder drug money or fi- nance terrorist attacks. Mr. Bulgin pointed out that the most recent U.S. interna- tional narcotics control report, issued in March by the State Department, flagged Cayman and “expressly mentioned that the Cayman Islands should pay greater attention to the non-profit organization sector.” “To be forewarned is to be forearmed,” the attorney gen- eral said. “These [international] regulatory agencies are talking to each other. It is clear that there is some degree of mon- itoring going on and it has been established that we are not there yet.” The new draft of the Charities Bill has not been made public, but the 2014 ver- sion of the bill did not apply to private charities, which are al- ready regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Under the 2014 proposal, public charities would have had to file annual returns with a charities registrar estab- lished by the legislation within six months of the end of their respective financial years. Charities would have been re- quired to employ acceptable accounting standards, main- tain proper records and con- duct audits. However, charities that were registered compa- nies under the Cayman Islands Companies Law would have been exempt from the 2014 bill’s audit requirements, since those are already required in the Companies Law. The bill also required char- ities to maintain the names and contact information of all donors. In cases where this information was not readily available, the fundraising method used must be detailed. The 2014 bill granted the attorney general the au- thority to inquire into the op- erations of a charity and take action when the organiza- tion may have been engaged in misconduct or committed a criminal offense. The bill further sought to regulate how fundraising activities have to be car- ried out. Specifically, fund- raising efforts should not unreasonably intrude on pri- vacy, place undue pressure or make unreasonably per- sistent approaches to poten- tial donors. In their attempts to raise funds, organiza- tions were further prohib- ited from making false or misleading representations about the extent and ur- gency of funding needs, the use of funds or the activities, achievements or finances of a charity or company. Mr. Bulgin said any such legislation that comes be- fore local lawmakers is not an attempt to disparage the good work of the many chari- ties that support the Cayman Islands community now. “Nobody is trying to pre- vent charities from oper- ating, quite the contrary,” Mr. Bulgin said. “The government is trying to create the neces- sary framework to encourage and facilitate the operations of these charitable organiza- tions. One way of doing so is to protect them from any un- necessary international scru- tiny and criticisms by en- suring they have [a] proper regulatory environment within which to operate. “We should not sit and wait until the country is in- dicted or blacklisted and then we seek to react. We should be proactive about it. Some of those who are now questioning the need for the legislation will be the first to ask ‘how is that the govern- ment never saw it coming?’“ Cardinall Avenue to close for street fair Jewel levy jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com A street fair is planned for Cardinall Avenue in downtown George Town on Thursday. To facilitate the Culture Shop fair, the road will close from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. from the Harbor Drive entrance to Albert Panton Street. The West Bay Pirates Week Committee, in collabo- ration with the Pirates Week Festival, is hosting the street from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Traditional arts and crafts will be on display and food will be provided by well- known Caymanian chefs such as Miss Corita, Chef John’s BBQ, Darvin Ebanks and Marcie Hydes. Entertainment will include John A. Cumber Primary School’s Pan N Riddim steel band. “This event is a monthly affair aimed at giving cruise ship passengers a taste of Cayman and to revitalize the George Town city center for all to enjoy, locals and visi- tors alike,” said Eziethamae Bodden, coordinator for the West Bay Pirates Week Committee. The street fair will also showcase thatch works by some of Cayman’s best straw work artists, including Lizzy Powell, Rosemae Ebanks, Effie Ebanks, Carlene Carter, Marcie Hydes and Marlena Anglin. Craftsmen Billy Banker and Deal Ebanks and catboat maker Kem Jackson will also have some interesting works for visi- tors to browse.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 office. MARK BUCHANAN Some of the leading names in economics – New York University’s Paul Romer and Nobel laureates Robert Lucas and Edward Prescott – have gotten into an unusually public tiff over the proper use of math. Academic as it may seem, the battle reveals a deeper rift in a discipline that is supposed to be aimed at making us all better off. In an unceremonious out- burst, Romer accused sev- eral colleagues – including Lucas and Prescott – of using mathematics dishonestly to support their ideological be- liefs. In constructing theories about how economic growth happens, he suggested, they slipped preposterous as- sumptions into their eco- nomic models to guarantee the results they wanted. His denunciation of such “mathi- ness” has triggered a storm of commentary. The problem Romer iden- tifies, though, goes far beyond the growth theory in which he specializes, and runs deeper than a mere squabble between academic camps. He is objecting to the way many economists use mathematics, which is different from the way physicists or biologists or engineers use it. There’s some weird his- tory here. In its style, a great deal of modern economic theory follows the norm es- tablished in the 1950s by Kenneth Arrow and Gerard Debreu. They started with an extremely abstract mathe- matical model of an economy – a set of producers, con- sumers and commodities – and then built theorems about its properties. Their fa- mous result was that, under a gamut of conditions, this imaginary economy would possess a unique equilib- rium, one set of prices that would perfectly match pro- duction and consumption. Debreu held a position at the Cowles Commission at the University of Chicago – a research institute devoted to linking economics with mathematics and statistics – where he helped educate a flock of young mathematical economists in this approach. They spread it through the profession, where it still pre- vails, with economists setting out axioms and assumptions, making propositions and proving them. As a result, many of their papers end up reading like lectures in pure mathematics. This mathematical-purist approach came from a rather odd place. As Roy Weintraub relates in his excellent book “How Economics Became a Mathematical Science,” Debreu took his perspec- tive from a secret group of French mathematicians who, starting in the 1930s, worked under the pseud- onym “Nikolas Bourbaki.” The Bourbaki group thought mathematics should have an almost religious purity, re- fined and unsullied by con- tact with the practical. Educated in Paris, Debreu came under their influence, and then shifted from math- ematics to economics. Weintraub argues that Debreu played a decisive role in transforming eco- nomics – “not only the field’s self-image, but its concept of inquiry itself.” Ever since, economic math has been Bourbakian, primarily con- cerned with formal struc- ture. Practitioners downplay the need for realistic as- sumptions, as Paul Fleiderer noted in his brilliant essay on chameleons. They use highly dubious supposi- tions to generate a result, which they then use as a foundation for giving ad- vice to policymakers. This is pretty much the opposite of good science. Scientists generally enlist mathematics only as a tool, and ultimately value prac- tical understanding above theoretical rigor. They care deeply about the plausibility of the assumptions used in any model. Models, of course, are always oversimplified – one might say “wrong” – but it’s what they get right that matters. A sphere is a good model for the Earth not be- cause it lacks any geograph- ical detail, such as mountains or valleys, but because it gets the rough shape right. The Bourbakian influence in pure mathematics actually caused a rift between phys- icists and mathematicians back in the 1980s. The formal and pure Bourbakian ap- proach seemed useless to the physicists, whose more prac- tical approach seemed sus- pect to the mathematicians. Since then, that rift has dis- appeared as math has moved on. Economics apparently hasn’t recovered yet. Romer’s disagreement with Lucas and Prescott, then, might actually be about what economics should be. Like a physicist, chemist, or biologist, Romer wants to do economics of the real world. The others – along with their colleagues in the more rarefied theo- retical heights of economics – want to do “mathematical economics,” which they see as the study of a certain class of abstract mathe- matical models. If you were looking for advice on how to get out of a deep recession, whom would you call? Mark Buchanan, a physicist and Bloomberg View columnist, is the author of the book “Forecast: What Physics, Meteorology and the Natural Sciences Can Teach Us About Economics.” (c) 2015, Bloomberg News WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2015 • CAYMAN COMPASS During his contribution to the budget debate in Legislative Assembly last week, East End MLA Arden McLean expressed frustration over the government’s unwillingness to fund some of the needed projects in his district. Despite bringing up the matters in the quarterly Cabinet meetings he has the constitutional right to attend, and despite the fact that the projects would not require huge amounts of money, he couldn’t get the government to move forward. Such is the plight of an independent representa- tive in a single-member constituency when the elected member is not a part of the sitting government. As a lone wolf, Mr. McLean is in the position of either begging or biting for the needs of his constitu- ency. Frankly, he has our sympathy, as does his other single-member “best-bud” Ezzard Miller, who can’t get much either for his district of North Side. As a political rule, lone wolves might howl, but unless they travel in packs, they rarely bring back much in the way of spoils for their constituents. If the Cayman Islands moves to single member constituencies, Mr. McLean and Mr. Miller may likely have other equally frustrated representatives with whom to commiserate, including elected members from the official opposition party. One of the potential unintended consequences of adopting single-member constituencies is that suc- cessful candidates who aren’t part of the government may find it very difficult to get things done for their so-called “mini-districts.” The reason is simple: The sitting government is likely to favor the people and the projects in the voting districts of its own members. The 2010 Cayman Islands Electoral Boundary Com- mission stated that one of the major appeals of single- member voting districts was to facilitate a “readily identifiable representative to whom concerns can be addressed” and to maximize accountability of those representatives. In other words, if a particular constit- uency isn’t getting the things it wants or needs, the voters will know who to blame. But there’s more to it. A spiteful sitting govern- ment could also plan to put needed, but unpopular, infrastructure, such as a new cargo dock, a new fuel storage facility, a composting/recycling center or even a new landfill, in independent constituencies. (At one point, there was actually talk among certain politi- cians of “dumping the dump” in the district of North Side as “payback” to Mr. Miller for one perceived transgression or another.) In a country such as the Cayman Islands, where voters are used to the largesse lavished upon them by representatives who are part of the controlling gov- ernment, lone wolves who come back to their districts empty-handed might find it difficult to be re-elected. For this reason, single-member constituency regimes in small countries tend to support large, established political parties, at the expense of indepen- dent candidates. According to a 2005 University of Essex study, in post-colonial countries where political parties are weakly entrenched, as they are in Cayman, the orga- nizational capacity of an incumbent large party could very well be “in a position to generate support across the country, allowing it to overwhelm a poorly orga- nized and dispersed opposition.” More ominously, it concluded that “over-large majorities can be expected to be delegitimizing and threatening to democracy.” If one party were to gain dominance in the Cayman Islands, lone wolf independent representatives, such as Mr. McLean and Mr. Miller, could quickly find them- selves at the top of the endangered species list. Can ‘lone wolves’ do much more than howl? What calculates isn’t always right in economics 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 find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Wednesday May 27, 2015 FINAL WEEKEND MAY$29$&$30$$*$8:00pm$ May$31$–$6:00pm$ $ Tickets: Adult $25, Child (12 and under) & Senior (65 +) $15 Healthcare Pharmacy Grand Harbour, Fosters Strand, Funky Tangs & Harquail Theatre 949 5477 Healthcare Pharmacy Grand Harbour, Fosters Strand, Funky Tangs & Harquail Theatre 949 5477 CNCF$acknowledges$ annual$funding$from$ the$Government$of$the$ Cayman$Islands$via$the$ Ministry$of$$Culture$ artscayman.org$ Facebook.com/caymanculture$ TwiNer.com/@caymanculture$ Most child abuse goes unpunished, experts say Only a fraction of cases reported to police JaMes Whittaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The vast majority of sex offenders in the Cayman Islands are getting away with their crimes, according to sta- tistics from police investiga- tors and trauma counselors. Despite recent survey re- sults suggesting one in five young girls have suffered sexual abuse by an adult, the police Family Support Unit, the main investigative body for child abuse, has had just 41 cases referred since January 2014. Statistics on the number of convictions were not avail- able, but counselors be- lieve only a very small per- centage of abuse cases are prosecuted. Detective Inspector Lauriston Burton of the Family Support Unit said many victims were fearful of going through the inves- tigative process and of their identities being disclosed. He said the Pan American Health Organization report suggesting some 19 percent of teenage girls had been sex- ually abused was “alarming.” “We don’t believe we are getting all the reports we could be getting,” he said. He said most refer- rals come to the unit, though some cases are in- vestigated by the Criminal Investigation Department. Dr. Taylor Burrowes Nixon, a trauma counselor and the deputy chair of Cayman’s Mental Health Commission, said most sexual abuse cases are currently going unpunished. She said the investigative process is often very slow and the police are some- times reluctant to prosecute, even when counselors believe there is sufficient evidence. More frequently, she said, children are reluctant to go through the investigative pro- cess or are talked out of it by family members. She said, “We must re- spond to wrongdoing swiftly and unequivocally in sup- port and protection of the wounded, and also ensure that offenders, and those complicit, are held legally responsible and provided with behavioral intervention with sentencing. “Without a reasonable and timely response on both sides of the spectrum, we will continue to protect of- fenders and shame victims into silence. They can’t speak up comfortably if they know they are the ones punished.” Dr. Sophia Chandler, a psy- chologist who works with vic- tims of sexual abuse at the Cayman Islands Hospital, said many cases go completely un- reported to adults and only emerge in anonymous surveys like the PAHO report. For those who do speak up, many don’t want to pursue a criminal investiga- tion, and even when they do, it is a long and rocky road to secure a conviction and many do not stay the course. “The vast majority of sexual abuse is within fam- ilies or the close friendship circle. For the child, reporting it means totally disrupting what has been the norm in the family,” she said. “A lot of children do a cost/benefit analysis and de- cide they may not be be- lieved. There really is a dis- connect between the amount of abuse happening and what breaks through to the courts.” She said in many cases, parents or guardians are com- plicit in the sexual abuse, or are unwilling to support their child in making a report. In numerous cases, she said, mothers are financially or emotionally dependent on the abuser – a boyfriend or stepfather – and choose to believe them, rather than their daughter. “For some women, it at- tacks their ego. They think, ‘I couldn’t tell this guy was a creep; he was more interested in my teen daughter than in me.’ It is easier to say she is a liar, than I am a fool. It hap- pens more often than you would like to think. Sad to say, that is the reality,” she said. Dr. Burrowes Nixon, who also runs a monthly sup- port group of the survivors of sexual abuse, said com- plicity of family members is common. “For many victims, their neighbors and their fami- lies knew what was hap- pening and nobody stopped it,” she said. Dr. Chandler sees around 40 to 50 patients a year suf- fering from the consequences of sexual abuse. Dr. Burrowes Nixon estimates she has seen around 60 patients who suf- fered sexual abuse as chil- dren over the past six years. The work of both coun- selors is funded by the Hedge Funds Care charity, which is also funding a new out- reach program through the Red Cross called “It’s not your fault” to reach high school students. Carolina Ferreira, deputy director of the Red Cross, said its role is education and outreach. The organization offers “darkness to light” training – a program that helps adults identify and intervene in child abuse cases. It has also produced a documentary on DVD high- lighting the prevalence of sexual abuse in Cayman and is running a “Protection Starts Here” campaign to raise awareness of the role parents and the community can play in preventing abuse. Ms. Ferreira said the Red Cross would also like to see mandatory minimum stan- dards for all youth organiza- tions, including sports clubs and summer camps, requiring background checks on coaches and other youth workers. She said the topic needs much broader attention than it is getting. “The first thing is to ac- knowledge we have a problem, and not just because it is the topic of the week. This is a generational problem, en- trenched in our history, in our culture, and being brought in from outside as well.” “For many victims, their neighbors and their families knew what was happening and nobody stopped it.” Dr. Taylor Burrowes NixoNThe islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Wednesday May 27, 2015 • Cayman Compass Friday, 5 June 2015 at 6:30pm Lobster Pot Restaurant Applications will be available at the event, and in accordance with the rules of international pageants, potential contestants should not have attained the age of 25 by1 Jan 2016 in order to participate in the Miss Cayman Islands Pageant. Please email Ariana.seales@gmail.com or 1caymangirl@gmail.com for more information Meet & Greet BBQ LOADED FRIES CHICKEN BEEF Now serving you from 2 locations: Savannah and Seven Mile Beach Windsor Park graduates emergency response team George Town group is fifth to undertake 14-week training program Carol Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Windsor Park Community Emergency Response Team celebrated completion of an exten- sive training program with a formal ceremony and catered dinner at the Town Hall in George Town on Saturday. Twenty-five residents re- ceived certificates after 14 weeks of course work that in- cluded disaster risk man- agement, vulnerability as- sessment, fire safety, search and rescue and preliminary damage assessment. In addi- tion, the graduates are now certified in first aid and CPR. The course was held at the Wesleyan Holiness Church Hall on Anthony Drive and orga- nized by Hazard Management Cayman Islands. Hazard Management is the govern- ment agency charged with pre- paring for and responding to national threats such as hurri- canes and earthquakes. The volunteer community teams are organized to help neighborhoods cope with a disaster using their own re- sources should they be cut off from help or when emergency services are stretched. The teams become local contacts for the National Emergency Operations Centre. George Town MLA Roy McTaggart congratulated the Windsor Park team members and thanked them for giving up personal time to learn how they could better help their neighbors in the aftermath of a disaster. “Such selflessness was once typical of the Cayman Islands. It is good to see that it still thrives in these busy times,” he remarked. Mr. McTaggart pointed out that past experiences with powerful hurricanes had brought home the im- portance not only of neigh- borly assistance but also of having information provided by knowledgeable people on the ground. “With their new skills, the men and women gathered here tonight will be key to how their community fares post- crisis. Their efforts will make difficult circumstances more tolerable, and could even mean the difference between life and death,” he said. Hazard Management di- rector McCleary Frederick presented the team’s au- thentication certificate legiti- mizing the team and its func- tion as a community disaster preparedness group. Team leader Samantha McField re- ceived the certificate on be- half of members. Premier Alden McLaughlin and Red Cross director Jondo Obi presented certificates of course completion to the grad- uates. Mr. McLaughlin, who is also an elected representa- tive for George Town, thanked them for doing their part to make the district and the Cayman Islands stronger and more resilient. Omar Afflick, Hazard Management’s deputy director, served as emcee. Guests included friends and relatives of the gradu- ates; Joseph Thompson and Jonathan Christian from the Fire Service, who assisted with training in fire safety and search and rescue; Danielle Coleman, former Red Cross disaster manager, and Red Cross members who assisted with training. Hazard Management Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Red Cross have successfully trained and estab- lished CERT teams in North Side, North Sound Gardens Community, West Bay, Belford Estates in Bodden Town, and now Windsor Park. Residents interested in forming a team for their neighborhood may contact Simon Boxall, awareness and education officer, at Simon.Boxall@gov.ky; or Omar. Afflick@gov.ky; or phone 945-4624. Windsor Park Community Emergency Response Team members gather for a group picture before receiving their backpack emergency kits. Windsor Park team leader Samantha McField receives her course certificate from Premier Alden McLaughlin. - Photos: simon BoxallThe islands’ most-trusted news source 7 Cayman Compass • Wednesday May 27, 2015 $1,242 for families. Finance Minister Marco Archer said last year that the projected liability in Cayman’s public healthcare system was es- timated over a 20-year pe- riod at $1.18 billion and that something would have to be done to decrease that figure in the medium term. Mr. Archer said insti- tuting civil servant co-pays is only one option available to government. Among other changes proposed are in- creasing the government’s mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65; reducing the current “lifetime” healthcare benefits cap for civil servants from the current $5 million; and considering a “graduated scale” of health benefits for retirees based on their years of service in government. The retirement age in- crease is expected to be ap- proved later this year, Mr. Archer said. Mr. Watler said the civil service had no problem with that as long as government workers could re- ceive a draft proposal to con- sider. He said uncertainty around retirement age issues was causing “unnecessary fear, uncertainty, doubt and distrust” among civil servants. Lowering the $5 mil- lion lifetime cap on health- care benefits seemed likely to meet with some resistance. “We look forward to ... learning what projected healthcare costs have gone down since the last round of negotiations that will allow the government to now con- sider reducing the coverage,” Mr. Watler’s letter read. Minister Archer said in December that the $5 mil- lion lifetime cap was more than double what many high-ranking private sector workers receive, including partners in law firms and accounting firm managers, whose plans are typically capped around $2 million to $2.5 million. The graduated coverage plan for retirees in the gov- ernment sector was worth exploring, but Mr. Watler in- dicated that other options to reduce healthcare costs should also be considered. “[These include] spouses of civil servants working in the private sector having to use their private sector in- surance as their primary coverage,” he suggested. Now, spouses of civil ser- vants are eligible for full cov- erage under CINICO plans in the same way as govern- ment workers, regardless of whether they are employed or not. Mr. Watler also said the Civil Service Association ex- pected to be participating in whatever government group is to consider adding co-pay- ments or deductibles to the current healthcare plans. “If the civil service is not directly represented at the beginning ... we will again end up with unworkable, anti-social proposals that do not progress because of their unintended nega- tive consequences to the Cayman Islands.” workers. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service em- ploys about 25 percent of all non-Caymanian government workers, Mr. Manderson said. Her Majesty’s Prisons Service employs about 8 percent of all non-Cayma- nian workers in the civil service, and the Department of Children and Family Services employs about 5 percent of the government’s non-Caymanian workforce. More than half of the employees of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service were listed as non- Caymanian, according to the human resources report. Of the RCIPS’s 449-person staff, including police offi- cers and civilian workers, 232 (51.7 percent) were non-Caymanian. The Department of Education reported 265 of its 676 employees (nearly 40 percent) were non-Cayma- nian. However, that figure does not separate out public school teachers, of whom about 52 percent are non- Caymanians, the latest fig- ures from 2013 show. Other departments within government employ signifi- cant numbers of non-Cayma- nian employees, but they are not large enough to signifi- cantly change the overall per- centages within the service, the government 2013/14 HR audit report showed. For instance, in public safety communications (911), 12 of its 21 employees in the public safety communications office (about 57 percent) were listed as non-Caymanians. The government’s legal affairs office listed 28 of its 51 em- ployees (55 percent) as non- Caymanian. Thirteen of 17 employees in the auditor gen- eral’s office were non-Cayma- nian, according to the report. Mr. Manderson said Monday that the situation would improve and that the government had some major successes to report on Caymanian employment and promotion within the civil service. During 2014, 267 civil ser- vants had been given promo- tions or had their salaries in- creased due to outstanding job performance evaluations. About 89 percent of those pay increases were given to Caymanians, he said. “There are healthy signs of Caymanians obtaining senior management posi- tions in the civil service,” Mr. Manderson said. At the other end of the hiring spectrum, the govern- ment hired 87 Caymanian interns during the past summer and intended to have a similar summer internship program later this year, the deputy governor said. successful. That legal uncer- tainty was cleared up earlier this year, and the next step is for the prospective perma- nent residents to take the his- tory and culture test, which accounts for up to 20 points on their PR application. Successful applicants must re- ceive 110 points out of a pos- sible 215 to gain PR, which is the right to remain in Cayman for the rest of one’s life. A number of applicants who took the history and culture test that was ad- ministered under the old Immigration Law have pri- vately expressed frustra- tion to the Cayman Compass about questions on that 20-question test. Some of the questions provided to the Compass last year from the old test revealed that they included queries about the names of the wood beam that ran through the center of Cayman-style houses [the crosspiece], the name of the pen in which live turtles were kept [a kraal] and the name of a local fiddle player who once per- formed at the Grand Ole Opry [Radley Gourzong]. Under the new test, which has 40 multiple choice ques- tions, each correct answer will be worth half a point, with a maximum of 20 points. Successful applicants must earn other points in a system that judges them based on nu- merous categories, including investment in the islands, vol- unteer work, their job, their earnings, their age, their na- tionality and any Caymanian connections they may have. Once the tests are com- plete, each application will be evaluated to determine suc- cess or failure. According to Mr. Smith, the “contentious applications” will be heard by the Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board. However, applications where the person clearly has enough points to earn perma- nent residency, or obviously does not have enough points, can be heard by one of two Immigration Department ad- ministrative workers. Mr. Smith could not state exactly when applicants would begin hearing back about their permanent resident status, but with the administration of the tests, the final hurdle to the board or immigration staff considering those applications has been removed. Test class Dozens of permanent res- idence applicants have en- rolled in a test class at the University College of the Cayman Islands since early April. The class is designed to help them study for the Immigration Department history and culture test. The class costs $200, not counting additional ex- penses for buying books, and consists of a month- long, weekend course aimed at assisting potential “new Caymanians” in taking the permanent residence test. The course can be taken on Saturday or Sunday, typi- cally lasts for four hours, and will be taught by either UCCI professor Livingston Smith or professor Christopher Williams. Following completion of the course, UCCI will pro- vide the Immigration Department with the names of the class participants. Several books available at the UCCI bookstore have been listed as approved study materials. They in- clude: “The Cayman Islands in Transition: The Politics, History and Sociology of a Changing Society” by J.A. [Roy] Bodden, “Founded Upon the Seas: A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People” by Michael Craton and the New History Committee, and “Caymanian Expressions: A collection of say- ings and phrases used in the Cayman Islands” by Kevin Goring, ‘Tall challenge’ to hire more Caymanians CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Residency application tests under way CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Civil servants balk at healthcare co-pays CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The Immigration Department is starting to process permanent residency applications. - PHOTO: CHRIS COURT HOme fOR dISabled yOUTH makIng a mOve Charles DunCan cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com Government signed a new lease last week to move residents of Maple House, children and young adults with severe disabili- ties, to a new, larger home in the Northward-Bodden Town area, according to Community Services Minister Osbourne Bodden. The original plan had been to lease the property for a year while government renovated Maple House. But now, Mr. Bodden told the Legislative Assembly, his ministry is in talks with the owner to buy the property outright as a new permanent home for the government- run program. “Given the increase in de- mand for services and the complexity of the issue, the current site is no longer a feasible and safe option,” Mr. Bodden said. “The facility in Bodden Town that we have leased is a much larger facility, much more suitable as it stands. My opinion is that we should be looking at a purchase of that property going forward,” he said. The new home, the minister said, will need some minor renovations before res- idents can move in. Maple House, opened in 1993, provides 24-hour care for children and young adults with disabilities and special needs. It also offers day-care services for young adults with disabilities. The current home, off Walkers Road near the Cayman Islands Hospital, has been growing beyond capacity for the four-bed- room home. Staff at Maple House said they could not comment since the deal had yet to be finalized. The Department of Children and Family Services, which over- sees Maple House, did not respond to questions by press time.8 WORLD&REGIONAL Wednesday May 27, 2015 • Cayman Compass We Buy Gold!We Buy Gold! Cash For Gold Silver, Coins and Broken Jewelry Cash Paid on the Spot! Call 927-8565 Cash For Gold • Shedden Road Copy-Print-Scan Forms Printed *Small Deals* Internet Café Internet and WiFi Access Thompson Bldg-Downstairs Main St, George Town 345-746-5072 Open from 9am -7pm Cayman Karate Academy Introduces LOSE WEIGHT FEEL GOOD LEARN SKILLS FAST PACE & FUN 1 Alexander Place, Dorcy Drive, GT Call: 929-2928 mmaconditioningcayman@hotmail.com #TRAINLIKEACHAMPION Burn up to 800 Calories per class!!! Burn up to 800 Burn up to 800 Burn up to 800 Burn up to 800 At least nine killed in massive storms in Oklahoma and Texas Pounding storms in Oklahoma and Texas over the holiday weekend left at least nine people dead and a dozen people missing, according to city and state officials. In addition, thousands of structures were damaged in the storms, scores of people were forced to flee their homes and tens of thousands of people were left without power as these storms rav- aged the region. Flash flood watches con- tinued in southeast Texas on Tuesday morning, with more storms expected until the afternoon, the National Weather Service reported. Severe storms remained pos- sible in Oklahoma as well, with a large swath of the state facing heavy storms through the rest of the day. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday he was de- claring a state of emergency in 24 counties, adding them to the 13 counties where emer- gencies were declared ear- lier this month. In Oklahoma, 44 counties remain under a state of emergency. President Obama said Tuesday that he had spoken with Abbott and offered fed- eral assistance. “We have FEMA personnel already on the ground,” Obama said. “They are co- ordinating with Texas emer- gency management author- ities and I will anticipate that there will be some sig- nificant requests made to Washington. My pledge to him is that we will expedite those requests.” A teenager in Texas believed to be heading back from her high school prom was among the victims of the flooding, friends and family said. One man was found dead in San Marcos on Sunday. Authorities in San Marcos say they are searching for 12 missing people, all of whom were believed to be at a social event in the city of Wimberley, between San Antonio and Austin. However, the number of missing people is not pre- cisely known because officials say people were coming and going from that event. Local media outlets re- ported that a family was gath- ered at a cabin in Wimberley for a vacation over the weekend, when the waters rose, knocked the cabin off its supports and sent it down- stream. The people in the home, including at least three children, are among those be- lieved to be missing. About 1,220 people in Hays County were forced to evacuate from low-lying areas, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Tuesday. Meanwhile, tornadoes have been confirmed in the cities of Houston and Austin, as well as in Coryell and Lampasas counties. Three people in Houston were confirmed dead by Tuesday afternoon due to the flooding, according to a spokes- woman for the mayor’s office. Houston, the biggest city in Texas and the fourth-big- gest city in the country, had activated its highest level of emergency operations man- agement for the first time since Hurricane Ike struck in 2008. More than 10 inches of water had fallen in the city by Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service said. “The challenge is that most of the city is fine and the streets are clear and people don’t realize that just a mile away, they have a dan- gerous condition,” Houston Mayor Annise D. Parker said at a news conference Tuesday. Heavy rain in Houston with about 2 or 3 inches of rain per hour overnight on Monday night and into Tuesday caused bayous to swell far beyond their banks, stranding drivers on major roadways, according to the Capital Weather Gang’s Angela Fritz. Flood warnings also re- main in place for the entire Houston metro area until 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. Many city workers in Houston were told to come in to work late, while city schools were closed and munic- ipal court hearings canceled. The University of Houston said it was closing until noon due to flooding. Fans at Monday night’s NBA playoff game between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors were forced to re- main inside the Toyota Center due to the weather. Meanwhile, more than 55,000 people in the Houston area were without power on Tuesday morning, according to CenterPoint Energy. The energy company, which is headquartered in Houston, said it was sending out hundreds of inspectors to assess the damage and restore power. © 2015, The Washington Post Motorists are stranded along Interstate 45 in Houston after storms flooded the area Tuesday. - Photos: AP Members of the Houston and Webster Fire departments help residents evacuate through the floodwaters surrounding their homes in Houston.9 WORLD&REGIONAL Cayman Compass • Wednesday May 27, 2015 Closed-door trial in Iran begins for US reporter TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian security court on Tuesday began the closed- door espionage trial of an Iranian-American reporter for The Washington Post who has been detained for more than 10 months. Jason Rezaian, the Post’s 39-year-old bureau chief in Tehran, is being tried in a Revolutionary Court on al- legations of “espionage for the hostile government of the United States” and pro- paganda against the Islamic Republic, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported. The IRNA report did not elaborate. Rezaian’s brother, Ali Rezaian, later told The Associated Press in Washington that the pro- ceeding largely involved him hearing the charges. Rezaian’s lawyer, Leila Ahsan, could not be reached for comment. The Post has said Rezaian faces from 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted. Rezaian, his wife Yeganeh Salehi and two photojournal- ists were detained on July 22 in Tehran. All were later re- leased except Rezaian, who was born and spent most of his life in the United States, and who holds both American and Iranian citi- zenship. Iran does not rec- ognize other nationalities for its citizens. Salehi, wearing a tradi- tional black Islamic veil, re- fused to talk to waiting re- porters as she left the courthouse after the hearing Tuesday. She looked upset and covered her face with the scarf as she departed in a yellow taxi, sitting in the back seat next to an older woman. The Post later re- ported Rezaian’s mother, Mary Rezaian, had accom- panied her to court, but also could not attend. Last week, Rezaian’s lawyer said Salehi, who is a reporter for The National newspaper in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi, and a freelance photographer who worked for foreign media, also will stand trial. The photogra- pher’s name has not been made public. The Post and U.S. diplo- mats have criticized Rezaian’s detention and the handling of the case. Salehi has been barred from traveling abroad, the Post said, adding that its requests for a visa for a se- nior editor to travel to Iran went unanswered. “There is no justice in this system, not an ounce of it, and yet the fate of a good, innocent man hangs in the balance,” Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement. “Iran is making a statement about its values in its dis- graceful treatment of our col- league, and it can only hor- rify the world community.” Ali Rezaian said he be- lieved Iranian authori- ties had two main docu- ments they were using at his brother’s trial. One was a form letter Rezaian submitted online in 2008 after the election of U.S. President Barack Obama, of- fering to help “break down barriers” between America and Iran, his brother said. The other was an American visa application he filled out for his wife that asked for it to be expedited at the time because of a looming Iranian election, noting “sometimes it’s not the best place to be as a journalist,” his brother said. “There are other specific pieces of evidence that we believe that they are going to use to support the charges, but what I can say is that those are two of the most significant ones,” Ali Rezaian said. “So I think you can see what kinds of evidence they are basing their entire case on, and that’s taken 310 days of my brother’s life.” U.S. officials repeatedly have pressed Iran to release Rezaian and other jailed Americans, including during talks on the sidelines of ne- gotiations over Tehran’s con- tested nuclear program. Iran and world powers hope to reach a comprehensive agree- ment on the program by the end of June to ease economic sanctions on Tehran in ex- change for it limiting its ura- nium enrichment. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said diplomats would continue to raise Rezaian’s case and those of other detained Americans at nuclear negotiations. “We continue to call for all of the absurd charges to be dropped and for Jason Rezaian to be released imme- diately,” Rathke said. The judge assigned to hear Rezaian’s case, Abolghassem Salavati, is known for his tough sen- tencing. He has presided over numerous politically sensi- tive cases, including those of protesters arrested in con- nection with demonstrations that followed the 2009 presi- dential elections. IRNA said Rezaian’s hearing ended after a few hours, and that Salavati would decide on the date of the next one, without pro- viding further details. His brother said Rezaian just wants to prove his innocence. “He’d never do anything malicious to hurt Iran, or the United States,” Ali Rezaian said. “And we want to be as loud and clear to everybody in the world.” The Post has said Rezaian faces from 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted. Jason Rezaian, in 2013 - Photo: AP US retUrnS 25 looted ArtifActS to itAly ROME (AP) — The United States on Tuesday officially returned 25 artifacts looted over the decades from Italy, including Etruscan vases, 1st- century frescoes and precious books that ended up in U.S. museums, universities and private collections. Italy has been on a cam- paign to recover looted arti- facts, using the courts and public shaming to compel museums and collectors to re- turn them, and has won back several important pieces. The items Tuesday were either spontaneously turned over to U.S. authorities or seized by police after in- vestigators noticed them in Christie’s and Sotheby’s auc- tion catalogues, gallery list- ings, or as a result of customs searches, court cases or tips. One 17th-century Venetian cannon was seized by Boston border patrol agents as it was being smuggled from Egypt to the U.S. inside construction equipment, police said. U.S. Ambassador John Phillips joined Italy’s cara- binieri art police to show off the haul. It included Etruscan vases from the Toledo Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 17th-century botany books from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and a manuscript from the 1500s stolen from the Turin archdiocese in 1990 that ended up listed in the University of South Florida’s special collections. “Italy is blessed with a rich cultural legacy and therefore cursed to suffer the pillaging of important cultural arti- facts,” Phillips said, adding that Interpol estimates the il- licit trade in cultural heritage produces more than $9 billion in profits each year. Police said several of the items were allegedly sold by Italian dealers Giacomo Medici and Gianfranco Becchina, both convicted of trafficking in plundered Roman artifacts. After the objects were recovered, Italian authorities confirmed their provenance. A Carabinieri Italian paramilitary police officer stands next to ancient artifacts returned to Italy by the United States, on display in a Rome Carabinieri barracks - Photo: APNext >