ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – Wednesday July 8, 2015 sports | page 16 TriumphanT reTurn for Cayman Team Seniors inspired and juniors excelled High of 90 Low of 79 Moderate with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet. editorial | page 4 The ‘saniTized’ sChools reporT: mysTery solved Audit report Schools projects overran by $25M Former education minister Rolston Anglin interfered in process, auditor general finds Charles dunCan cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com The government’s schools building projects had cost overruns of at least $25 million, and former education minister Rolston Anglin in- terfered “to a highly inappropriate degree” in the procurement process, according to a re- port from the Office of the Auditor General re- leased on Tuesday. The report examines the capital projects to plan and build three high schools and expand several primary schools. Only one of the high schools – Clifton Hunter – has opened, at al- most double the cost of the proposal. The pri- mary schools project ran over budget by more than a third. “Government has spent far more than it should have and got far less than it wanted when it originally decided to build the new high schools and additional classrooms,” Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick said during a press conference Tuesday. He added that the “audit was delayed sig- nificantly by a lack of cooperation” from edu- cation ministry staff. Mr. Swarbrick said the ministry “lacked formal record keeping of the project and were unable to provide my audit team credible doc- umentation to support various decisions made during the course of the project.” The lack of records and the way the project was managed “increased the risk for fraud and corruption,” Mr. Swarbrick said, but he noted that auditors did not find any specific criminal incidents of corruption or fraud. However, he said, “The former minister of education from 2009 to 2013 [Mr. Anglin] was Webb Was director of Jack Warner’s cayman company miChael Klein and BrenT fuller mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com; bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Jeffrey Webb was a director of Jack Warner’s Cayman company J&D International, which obtained World Cup TV rights and sold them for millions, according to court docu- ments obtained by the Cayman Compass. Both former CONCACAF president Webb and his predecessor Warner were charged in May by U.S. authorities with corruption and racketeering. J&D International was set up in May 1995 by Warner and was used to sell the 2002 World Cup TV rights for the Caribbean region for $4.25 million to the Caribbean Football Union, an organization that Warner controlled at the time as its president. Cayman Islands Grand Court docu- ments show that Webb was a director of J&D International. “J and D International Limited” was struck off the company register on Dec. 31, 1997. The company was then restored to the reg- ister on Sept. 5, 2005, after Webb submitted an affidavit as J&D International’s director, and the company paid outstanding fees of $7,906.70. The company’s registered office was changed at the same time from Dr. Roy’s Drive to the address of Webb’s attorney Waide DaCosta’s law firm. The company was again struck off the reg- ister on Oct. 29, 2010. The TV rights agreement between Cayman-based J&D International, proud team returns to Cayman A triumphant Cayman Islands team flew into Grand Cayman Monday afternoon armed with some impressive hardware – 33 gold, silver and bronze medals won at the NatWest Island Games XVI in Jersey. The athletes posed with the Cayman flag outside Owen Roberts International Airport after being greeted by their proud families, friends and supporters. Pictured from left are: coach Kenrick Williams, manager Barbara Wilson, Karim Murray, Alexander Pascal, Lacee Barnes, Dominic Dyer, Ashleigh Nalty, Daneliz Thomas, Perry Anglin, Rochel Gardiner, Tyrell Cuffy, Tahj Lewis and Gerome Bodden. The team won 14 gold, 11 silver and eight bronze medals. For more on this story, see page 16. - pHoto: JeWeL LeVy Audit report Government assistance lacks oversight Charles dunCan cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com Government assistance pro- grams operate with little oversight and no criteria to decide who gets assistance such as free health- care or supplemental income, ac- cording to a new report from the Office of the Auditor General. The report also found that some people received government assistance “on the basis of polit- ical direction,” though instances of this have been decreasing. Public assistance programs account for almost 10 percent of government’s core budget, which was more than $50 million in the 2013-14 fiscal year, ac- cording to the report. The Office of the Auditor General looked at 12 programs covering bene- fits for seamen, veterans and in- digents, most going through the Needs Assessment Unit. Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick said the report found that individual assistance pro- grams, providing money or ben- efits directly to Caymanians, “are operating without objectives and there is no measurement of their performance.” He added, “Government has PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL Wednesday July 8, 2015 • Cayman Compass Boost your TV & Internet experience by signing up for any Logic Fibre Bundle starting at $99 and get one month free service including the HBO premium pack. Contact a Customer Care Representative today or visit logic.ky for promotion details. www. REGmovies.com SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any lm starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. y x TERMINATOR: GENYSIS 3D (PG13) 1:05 I 3:40 2D I 7:00 I 9:40 2D JURASSIC WORLD 3D (PG13) 1:00 I 3:45 2D I 6:30 I 9:15 2D INSIDE OUT 3D (PG) 1:10 2D I 4:00 I 7:15 2D I 9:45 MAX (PG) 12:45 I 3:20 I 6:50 I 9:25 MAGIC MIKE XXL (R) 1:20 I 4:10 I 7:20 I 10:05 TED 2 (R) 1:10 I 3:50 I 7:10 |10:00 *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. - WEDNESDAY - $8.00 CarePay defendants to face more Grand Court charges Brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Two of the three defen- dants now charged in the criminal probe involving a Cayman Islands public hos- pital system business con- tract had the charges against them transmitted to Grand Court following a Summary Court appearance Tuesday. Cayman Islands busi- nessman Canover Watson and his personal assistant Miriam Rodriguez are due to appear in court again on Friday, July 17. The two are currently scheduled for a Nov. 2 trial in the Grand Court. They are free on bail under the same conditions already stipu- lated by the court in earlier proceedings. Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Patrick Moran said the Crown would seek to join all charges against Watson and Rodriguez together. The third defendant in the case, former FIFA Vice President Jeffrey Webb, was not mentioned in Tuesday’s court appearance. He is currently being held in Switzerland awaiting extra- dition to the U.S. in connec- tion with a racketeering and bribery case involving world football’s governing body. Webb, Watson and Rodriguez were jointly charged Friday with one count of conspiracy to con- vert criminal property, con- trary to the Cayman Islands Penal Code. In addition, Watson and Webb were jointly charged with two counts of con- spiracy to defraud, con- trary to common law and one count of breach of trust by a public officer, contrary to the Cayman Islands Anti- Corruption Law. Watson was already facing 10 charges in the Cayman Islands Grand Court, including six charges for al- leged money laundering. Rodriguez was already facing two charges of money laun- dering in the Grand Court. SpaceX close to figuring out rocket failure during launch CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX still is trying to figure out what caused its rocket to break apart during liftoff nine days ago, but is get- ting close to an answer, the company’s chief executive said Tuesday. The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket carrying cargo for the International Space Station had just lifted off on June 28 when the accident occurred. Speaking Tuesday at a conference in Boston, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the trouble appeared to be in the upper stage, with an over- pressurization of the liquid oxygen tank. Nevertheless, the California-based com- pany is putting together what he calls a “super-de- tailed” timeline, millisecond by millisecond. So far, nothing seems to fit “all the dots,” Musk told at- tendees of the space station research and development conference. But he hopes to have something definitive to say by week’s end. Musk said the accident was “a huge blow” to SpaceX. It occurred on his 44th birthday – “a real downer.” The main intent was to de- liver more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the space station, including the first of two docking ports for crew capsules in develop- ment by SpaceX and Boeing. The Dragon capsule carrying all the cargo slammed into the ocean, along with the rocket wreckage. A secondary objective, at least for the company, was an attempt to land the first-stage booster on an ocean plat- form just off the Jacksonville, Florida, coast. Previous tries had failed, and Musk con- sidered it his best chance to achieve a solid vertical touch- down – until the entire rocket was lost in flight. Musk told the crowd that he sees rocket reusability as key to lowering space- flight costs and opening up space travel to the masses. He noted that any business, especially involving space, needs to take big chances to attain big success. The company’s six pre- vious delivery missions con- tracted by NASA had gone ex- ceedingly well, as did a trial run in 2012. Overall, it was the third lost shipment in eight months – Orbital Sciences Corp. in October, the Russian space program in April, then SpaceX in June. Police arrest man hurt in stabbing A man who suffered serious stab wounds to the head and chest Saturday morning is being held in hospital under police guard after being arrested on suspi- cion of attempted murder. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said the injured man, a 23-year-old from West Bay, was found at the scene of a shots fired call around 6 a.m. Saturday on Sunburst Lane. In addition to at- tempted murder, police arrested him on sus- picion of firearms pos- session and aggravated burglary. Police said shots had been fired at a home on Sunburst Lane prior to the stabbing, but no one was injured. The man remained in critical condition at press time Tuesday. He had not been charged with any offenses by press time in connection with the shots fired incident. No one has been ar- rested in connection with the man’s stabbing. The incident was believed to be the result of a do- mestic dispute. Cayman Islands businessman Canover Watson and his personal assistant Miriam Rodriguez are due to appear in court again on Friday, July 17. In this June 28, 2015 file photo, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft breaks apart shortly after liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. - PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 3 Cayman Compass • Wednesday July 8, 2015 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. The ‘sanitized’ schools report: Mystery solved Wednesday JuLy 8, 2015 • Cayman COmpass Mary Rodrigues, then chief officer of the Ministry of Education, ordered her staff members to rewrite a highly critical report on behavior in Cayman Islands government schools, according to emails the ministry fought to withhold from public view. The report had been completed following a three- week inspection led by U.K. consultant David Moore in November 2012, but it was not published until June 2014 when Opposition lawmakers tabled two versions of it in the Legislative Assembly. The “original draft” was a 28-page document that contained pointed critiques aimed at particular schools (such as John Gray High School) and that was armed with substantial recommendations (such as giving prin- cipals greater powers to fire incompetent teachers). The “sanitized version” was a 15-page document stripped of specifics, bereft of important findings (such as problems with sex abuse reporting) and padded with all manner of “positive-sounding” filler. Officials deemed even the toned-down draft too hot to handle, so they “buried” both reports for some 18 months before law- makers effectively “leaked” them to the public. Last year, this Editorial Board posed the following query: “Who ordered the editing of the report and who did the actual editing?” The response from our officials was silence. Their reaction to an open records request lodged by a Compass reporter was a more active refusal. Only fol- lowing many additional months of delay, and interven- tion by the Information Commissioner, did the ministry reluctantly release the relevant emails, primarily a dialogue between the ministry’s senior policy adviser Jo Wood and Mr. Moore. Excerpts from a pair of those emails serve as the double-barreled smoking gun, and provide us with the answers we sought. In February 2013, Ms. Wood wrote to Mr. Moore in regard to his original draft, saying, “Mrs. Rodrigues has asked [local educator and deputy lead inspector Favou- rita Blanchard] to almost rewrite the report until it meets the expected standard.” (For the record, in the same email, Ms. Wood stipu- lated that Ms. Blanchard “decided she should not tamper with the integrity of the report” — which supports Ms. Blanchard’s later disavowal of responsibility.) In September 2013, Ms. Wood wrote again to Mr. Moore, saying, “Favourita and I continued to work on the report after Mrs. Rodrigues had a [quality assurance] check done on it. We used your executive summary as the basis for this report, rather than the fuller report, which is still being used for internal purposes.” And there we have it: the who, the where, the how and the why. Unfortunately, while the ministry has been dragging its feet — first on the report, then on the emails — years have passed, and hundreds of students have passed through schools riddled with identified problems that officials wouldn’t publicly acknowledge. Mrs. Rodrigues has moved on from her post atop public education to a different but equally important role, spearheading a special team tasked with imple- menting the EY report on streamlining Cayman’s public sector — an initiative from which we still await tangible results. In regard to the Ministry of Education, now led by Minister Tara Rivers and Acting Chief Officer Christen Suckoo, a new Education Bill has been unveiled that would modernize Cayman’s current legislation and provide a flexible framework for schools funded by the government, but run by the private sector. Currently, we anticipate with great interest the results of a new “baseline inspection” of all government schools, to be produced by U.K. consultants who began their work last year. We don’t know what the new report may say, but we can promise you that this and any report on Cayman schools will draw intense scrutiny from the Compass. Providing a superior education to our children is not only the most important issue facing the country today, but, in terms of the success or failure of future generations of Caymanians, it is arguably, in the long term, the only important issue. 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” FroM CayManCoMpass.CoM “Voting districts: And then there were 19,” July 7 I mostly agree with this editorial. We seem to be pushing ahead with change for the sake of change and not because the change will achieve any true measure of equal representation. We need to all stop and take a deep breath before we do any additional damage to this country. mack Boland “Man shot and killed in central George Town,” July 3 For the richest island and the most expensive in the Caribbean, I give you all warning: These Cayman Islands were known in the older days as sea, sand and sunshine, “the islands that time forgot,” now are nothing more than a place for bloody drug-induced gangs and thugs. I am so sick of this, with so few answers, all we hear are more cameras and funding. We will soon be known as bloody island. Brian Bodden “Internal audits, public information,” July 3 Can we all see the ben- efits of having the Cayman Compass as our Number 1 source of daily news for the people and the Islands? I see a lot of issues that are being brought to light by the Compass that me or you could not have done. Keep up the work, Cayman Compass. Maybe one day the people of Cayman would see how im- portant the Compass is. Ron Clair Ebanks “Immigration appeals delays revealed,” July 2 The fact that the auditors found, “members of the ap- peals tribunal not responding in a timely manner, ineffi- cient work practices, lack of knowledge for database they were supposed to be using, inadequate staffing, compro- mised confidentiality, etc.” are not new to those whose lives have been effected for years by the “ineffective practices” going on behind those doors. I have a friend who has been fighting an ineffective, inefficient system for over eight years now – has spend thousands of dollars (some she had to borrow!) and hun- dreds of hours going back and forth – and to this day, still has no answer to her ap- peal of eight years. It’s just rotten luck that her appeal wasn’t one of the 43 appeals chosen to be reviewed by the Internal Audit Unit. They should have made a deci- sion either way to prevent her time and money being poured into the system unnecessarily. The time and money she has spent has not benefited her in the least. Since the audit proved such incompe- tencies, shouldn’t the depart- ment be required to reim- burse the affected parties? Jo Hydes Europe’s difficult next steps Washington Post Editorial Board Tuesday’s European summit promises to be a critical moment in that re- gion’s long-running financial crisis. Whatever else he ac- complished by persuading a healthy majority of his people to vote “no” on a bailout plan, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has brought the situ- ation to a head. Mr. Tsipras goes to the summit with the visible backing of his people; if German Chancellor Angela Merkel thought she could force him out of power through a financial squeeze, she must think again. Though French President François Hollande declared Monday that “the door is open to discussions” with Greece, Ms. Merkel, standing by Mr. Hollande’s side, made clear her fundamental and un- changed position: no money for Greece unless it agrees to far more structural re- form than Mr. Tsipras has heretofore countenanced. Furthermore, Ms. Merkel seems to speak for most, if not all, of the other member countries of Europe’s common currency, who do not relish throwing more good money after bad in Greece, notwith- standing the harsh impact of austerity thus far. In a sensible world, Greece never would have been ad- mitted to the euro zone on the basis of economic data that ev- eryone knew or should have known were cooked. In a fair world, Germany would be less sanctimonious about the need for austerity in Greece – and more reflective about the fact that German bankers were quite happy to lend much of the money that the Greeks wasted on their way to na- tional bankruptcy. In the real world, however, the Germans hold all the cards – and they can plausibly claim to have taken on much new financial risk on Greece’s behalf since the crisis broke a half-decade ago. Berlin is also right that Greece’s economy is deeply dysfunctional and needs thor- ough growth-oriented reforms. The way out, if there is one, would be a grand bar- gain: The creditors write off a portion of the debt, in re- turn for irreversible, verifi- able structural reform, as the International Monetary Fund hinted in its latest analysis of Greece’s debt. If, having demonstrated popular support for his po- sition, Mr. Tsipras finally of- fers to spend political capital on a compromise, Ms. Merkel should take him up on it, for the sake of European unity and stability. If, however, Mr. Tsipras takes the referendum as a cue to raise the ante, then he, and Greece, will probably be out of the euro zone, forced to accept chaos, poverty, isolation – and their share of the responsibility. © 2015, The Washington post5 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Wednesday July 8, 2015 IN OVER 90% OF NETWORK TESTS ACROSS MORE SPEED GEORGE TOWN, WEST BAY, BODDEN TOWN AND EAST END, DIGICEL’S LTE NETWORK WAS BODDEN TOWN AND EAST END, DIGICEL’S LTE NETWORK WAS FASTEST. VISIT STORES FOR DETAILS. ACROSS THE ISLAND Carnival to begin cruises to Cuba in May By Kelsey JuKam kjukam@pinnaclemedia.ltd The Carnival Corporation announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Commerce have granted the company approval to begin travel to Cuba. Carnival intends to begin cruise trips from Miami to Cuba as early as May 2016, becoming the first American cruise company to visit the country since the 1960 trade embargo was implemented. The week-long Cuban itiner- aries will fall under Carnival’s new “fathom” brand, which fo- cuses on trips where passen- gers sail to a destination in order to volunteer there, ac- cording to the Associated Press. “We’re incredibly excited and humbled by this poten- tial opportunity to help trav- elers experience the amazing beauty and culture of Cuba, while being able to provide ed- ucational and cultural exchange activities that will benefit both the traveler and the Cuban people,” fathom president Tara Russell said in a press release. Passengers will travel aboard a 710-passenger vessel called the MV Adonia. Despite recent efforts by the U.S. government to normalize relations with Cuba, there are still stringent guidelines American travelers to Cuba must follow. Leisure tourism remains illegal. Visits to the country must fall under one of 12 categories, including hu- manitarian projects and “sup- port for the Cuban people.” According to Carnival, its new Cuban itineraries will comply with those guidelines. “We know there is strong demand from travelers who want to immerse themselves in Cuban culture, so this is a his- toric opportunity for us to en- able more people to experience Cuban society,” said Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corp. Each day, under U.S. regu- lations governing Cuba visits, passengers will have to spend at least eight hours involved in some type of cultural ex- perience, the Associated Press reported. Carnival will be working with Cuban authori- ties to receive approval on that end and to help facilitate so- cial, cultural and humani- tarian exchanges between cit- izens of the two countries, according to the company. The fathom brand also in- cludes seven-day cruises on the same Adonia vessel to the Dominican Republic, which will begin in April 2016, leaving from Port Miami. Prices for the week-long cruises to the Dominican Republic start at $1,540 per person, while prices for the seven-day trip to Cuba start at $2,990 per person, excluding taxes, port and other govern- ment and related fees, and in- cluding all meals on the ship, onboard social impact im- mersion experiences – such as Spanish classes – and on-the-ground cultural im- mersion activities. The fathom brand ex- pects to attract 37,000 travelers annually. According to a report by the Associated Press, the Treasury Department has recently ap- proved licences for six pas- senger vessels, including Carnival’s, to visit Cuba only. MSC Cruises recently an- nounced plans to base a 2,120-passenger ship in Cuba. The Swiss-based company will offer itineraries that feature a stop in Grand Cayman. The new Cuba routes are making some in Cayman un- easy. Tortuga Rum President Robert Hamaty says Cayman needs to do more to court the cruise industry, especially as it looks to expand to Cuba. It is just another reason, he says, to push through plans to build a new cruise ship dock in George Town. Neither the Ministry of Tourism nor the Cayman Islands Tourism Association re- sponded to calls for comment by press time. Carnival Corporation has announced that its 710-passenger ship Adonia will begin carrying passengers to Cuba from May 2016. - PHOTO: Carnival COrPOraTiOn via aP THree CHarged fOr unliCensed firearm CaROl WINKeR cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Two men and a woman were charged Tuesday with possession of an unlicensed firearm following their arrest in Bodden Town on Saturday. Jose Guadalupe Sanchez, 28, Ashley Leticha Terry, 26, and Sean Luke Dunbar, 21, appeared in Summary Court separately. The firearm was described as a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Crown Counsel Candia James said it was alleged that Sanchez was trying to take the firearm into the Everglo Bar, but was stopped by a security guard. When police were called, Sanchez allegedly tried to hand the gun to someone else, who refused to take it. Ms. James said Terry al- legedly took the gun, put it under her blouse and then placed it under a car. Sanchez’s defense attorney Michael Snape advised that Sanchez chose to be tried in Grand Court. Magistrate Grace Donalds refused Sanchez bail and set the matter for July 15, when a preliminary inquiry will be held before the charge can go to Grand Court. Ms. James did not object to bail for Terry, noting that she had no previous convictions. The Crown agreed to sug- gested bail conditions, which include a specified residence, curfew from 8 p.m. till 6 a.m., surrender of travel documents and a $5,000 surety. Terry is charged with pos- session of the firearm and ac- cessory after the fact. Details of the accessory charge are that, knowing that Sanchez possessed an unlicensed firearm, she concealed it with intent to impede his prosecu- tion. Terry was also charged with possession of ganja with intent to supply following a search of her apartment. No election was made as to which court Terry wanted her matters heard in and the charges against her were set for July 15 also. Dunbar’s bail hearing was heard in chambers rather than in open court and had not been completed by press time.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Wednesday July 8, 2015 • Cayman Compass very involved in the man- agement of the projects, in- cluding inappropriate direc- tion around procurement.” “We found this involve- ment to be outside the laws in place for the management of public funds and obscured accountability for the cost overruns conservatively esti- mated to be greater than $25 million on the projects we re- viewed,” he added. The report accuses Mr. Anglin of pressuring his min- istry staff to incorrectly re- cord payments to contrac- tors. The report also said Mr. Anglin directed contracts to local companies with in- formal directives when ten- dering the project and gave those local companies flex- ible treatment when judging the quality of their work. Mr. Anglin declined to comment as of press time Tuesday but said he was re- viewing the report and would issue a response Wednesday. The report also ac- cuses the former min- ister of violating the Public Management and Finance Law and adding to the delays and cost overruns. The core problem in the school project, Mr. Swarbrick said, was that the Ministry of Education is supposed know how to teach children, not su- pervise major infrastructure projects. The ministry, he said, “did not have the people, sys- tems and practices in place to carry out this kind of work.” The Ministry of Education, in a written response to the audit released Tuesday, stated that the “Ministry of Education will be following the same approach being utilized by other ministries in carrying out major cap- ital works, including the for- mation of a project steering committee, development of substantiated business cases and in securing project man- agement services from gov- ernment’s centrally operated Project Management Office.” The Ministry of Education’s response to the report continues, “The Ministry supports all efforts to improve transparency and accountability.” The statement from the ministry pointed out that while it generally agrees with the auditor general’s recom- mendations, it “does not agree with all of the findings of the report. As a result, there are several areas for which we intend to provide explana- tion/context when the report is brought before the Public Accounts Committee.” The ministry did not cite which findings it disagrees with. Cabinet initially approved the projects in 2005 to build three high schools with an estimated cost of $95 mil- lion. By December 2013, the report states, the ministry reported it had spent more than $170 million, not in- cluding the price of the land, and had completed only one high school. Plans for the Beulah Smith High School were shelved in 2009, and the proposed new John Gray High School, the auditor gen- eral said, has effectively been “mothballed.” The plan for five new build- ings for primary schools re- ceived $10 million in govern- ment’s 2010-11 budget, with plans to complete construction by the middle of 2011. By early 2013, two new primary school buildings and two smaller projects had opened at a cost of $13.4 million. Auditors, led by Martin Ruben, said they were de- layed by ministry staff in 2014. The auditors note, “Ministry officials actively screened files and documents that we requested. “We believe the actions of the ministry demonstrate at best an inability to manage the information for which it is responsible. At worst, the ministry’s actions were de- signed to limit our ability to conclude clearly on the se- lected audit objective and cri- teria,” the auditors write in the new report. therefore failed to en- sure that the programs are helping those in need and achieving results.” Mr. Swarbrick said po- litical influence over who receives public assistance had decreased in recent years. “We found that there have been instances in the past several years where policy and criteria-based decisions of staff regarding eligibility for permanent or temporary poor relief have been preempted or over- turned ... from political levels,” he noted. The audit found that there were 37 instances of political influence in 2012. There were 14 in 2013, and the audit found two in- stances of political influ- ence in decisions in 2014. The Needs Assessment Unit did not respond to requests for comment by press time Tuesday, but in addressing the audi- tor’s recommendations in the report, the Ministry of Community Affairs, under which the ambit of the Needs Assessment Unit falls, agreed with the cen- tral recommendations that the various units respon- sible for public assistance need clear direction and criteria from government to operate effectively. “Government has not taken the necessary steps over the years to ensure it is providing assistance in the right amount to the right people at the right time, and thus [is] ulti- mately failing the people they are supposed to serve,” Mr. Swarbrick said Tuesday. He continued, “Individual assistance programs are not man- aged, and in current cir- cumstances most of them cannot be managed, with due regard to value for money.” The auditor general said that because the govern- ment does not have set cri- teria for who should get assistance, it’s impossible for his staff to figure out if government is spending too much on the programs or not enough. He noted in the report that there is no way to tell if all the people who need help from gov- ernment were getting it. It is, he noted, a “signifi- cant possibility that those in real need are not get- ting the help they should be getting.” Martin Ruben, who led the audit team, said the units responsible for doling out public assistance were isolated from one an- other with “no coordinated strategy” for making sure assistance got to the people who needed it in a timely way. He said budget fig- ures for social welfare pro- grams were based on his- torical budgets and not on defined needs from the var- ious units responsible for the programs. The auditors found that the department, in many cases, did not keep documentation on why it gives assistance to people through the various pro- grams. Mr. Ruben said many files had very little in- formation on why someone was receiving benefits, and some files did not exist. Britons mark 10th anniversary of London transit attacks LONDON (AP) — Britons paused in silence, laid flowers and lit candles Tuesday to mark the 10th anniver- sary of suicide bombings on London’s transit system in the worst terror attack on British soil and a day of pain seared into London’s collec- tive memory. Four British men inspired by al-Qaida blew themselves up on three London subway trains and a bus during the morning rush hour on July 7, 2005, killing 52 commuters and injuring more than 700. The memory of that morning remains raw in this country of 64 million. Solemn ceremonies were held throughout the capital, starting at the memorial in London’s Hyde Park devoted to the victims. Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson walked through the memorial’s 52 pillars – one for each victim – to lay wreaths. At 8:50 a.m., the moment the attacks began, the park fell silent. Families of victims clutched flowers. Some in the crowd bowed their heads. Survivor Sajda Mughal said the memories never re- ally go away. “[The ceremony] drew me back to the very same day, when I experienced the whole traumatic event being down there in the Piccadilly line, hearing those screams, people banging on the car- riage,” she said. “And then, as I was watching the wreath being laid, I came back to 2015 and I thought ‘Well, I am alive, thank God I’m alive.’ But unfortunately, we’ve lost 52 lives.” The families organized a service of their own later in the day, a chance for them to remember in a way of their choosing — with music, per- sonal comments and a cup of tea. Prince William asked the families if he could attend, and sat quietly in the front row in solidarity with their grief. The enduring pain of the day was evident in the tears of survivor Emma Craig, who was only 14 in 2005 when she was on her way to a work experience trip to a legal firm in east London. “All of us lost our inno- cence on that day, our na- ivety, the thought that ‘some- thing like that could never happen to me’ or even to London,” she said. Trembling, she offered contrast in a day of speeches etched with defiance, deliv- ering a harder truth. She said that while people will say “terrorism won’t break us,” Craig knew only too well that it isn’t so simple. “The fact is it may not have broken London, but it did break some of us,” she said. The attack occurred two years after Britain took part in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. But former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the na- tion’s leader at the time of the bombings, said Tuesday that terrorism was “a global problem” that affected coun- tries regardless of their in- volvement in the war in Iraq. Across the city, survivors, transport staff and emer- gency workers laid flowers at the sites of the four bomb- ings. Flower petals rained from the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral during a service featuring the first people to respond to the bombed sites. Londoners heeded a call to walk part of the way to work in memory of the day 10 years ago when the city’s transit network stopped. At King’s Cross and other Underground stations, the trundle of luggage wheels stopped as staff and passen- gers paused for a moment of silence at 11:30 a.m. Among them were para- medics David Tompkins and Drew McRae, some of the first crews to reach the bombed Piccadilly Line train where 26 people were killed. McRae remembered the eerie silence, while Tompkins re- called the “unbearable” heat. “In 15, 16 years, no call has ever come close to that,” Tompkins said. “And hopefully nothing ever will again,” added McRae. Cameron said the slay- ings last month of 30 British tourists in Tunisia was a re- minder that threats remain real and deadly. The gun rampage in the Tunisian re- sort of Sousse was the dead- liest attack on Britons since the 7/7 bombings. Despite the national flavor of the ceremonies, in many ways the day was so personal for so many. Relatives laid yellow ger- bera flowers, which are said to symbolize inno- cence. Several family mem- bers leaned over to touch the name of a loved one engraved on a plaque at the base of the memorial. One of them was Marie Fatayi-Williams, whose only son Anthony, died in the bus explosion at Tavistock Square. Fatayi-Williams, who is from Nigeria, gained clo- sure when she walked past the memorial. “Today has actually sealed it for me to say, ‘goodbye my love. You are never coming back but I know you are alive in my heart,’” she said. “So be, but fly angel. And leave be- fore we meet again.” Audit report Schools projects overrun by $25M CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Audit report Government assistance lacks oversight CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the John Gray High School construction site. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 7 Cayman Compass • Wednesday July 8, 2015 • Reduces electricity consumption • High–power operation quickly cools the room and provides better overall economy Sizes Available 12,000 BTU, 18,000 BTU & 24,000 BTU SPLIT INVERTER BASIC Most popular brand in the CARIBBEAN Just landed in the CAYMAN ISLANDS Cooling when it counts. Comfort when it matters. Tel 345.949.7701 E islandretailers@trc-cayman.com Distributed by: Island Retailers Ltd YEARS COMPRESSOR WARRANTY 5 SAVING ENERGY UP TO 50% Discover what’s possible †Conditions apply. Subject to credit approval. Offers subject to change without notice. Visit cayman.scotiabank.com/cashback for full Terms & Conditions. ®Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under licence. American Airlines® reserves the right to change AAdvantage® program rules, regulations, travel awards and special offers at any time without notice, and to end the AAdvantage® program with six months notice. Any such changes may affect your ability to use the awards or mileage credits that you have accumulated. Unless specified, AAdvantage® miles earned through this promotion/offer do not count toward elite- status qualification or Million MilerSM status. American Airlines® is not responsible for products or services offered by other participating companies. For complete details about the AAdvantage® program, visit www.aa.com/aadvantage. Scotiabank issues the Scotiabank/AAdvantage® card. American Airlines®, AAdvantage® and Million Miler are trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. ®MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated. Go to cayman.scotiabank.com/cashback to see how your rewards can add up. Apply today and get FREE† additional cards! Welcome Bonus offers end August 31, 2015. Cash Back and Travel Rewards Two great cards. Two great offers. Scotiabank Gold MasterCard® Get a Welcome Bonus of US$40† Scotiabank / AAdvantage® MasterCard® Get a Welcome Bonus of up to 7,000 AAdvantage® miles† /ScotiabankKY #MostCashBackEver † also referred to as JD International or JDI, and the Caribbean Football Union states that KirchMedia WM GmbH, the official licensee of all World Cup media rights at the time, assigned the rights for the Caribbean to Warner’s JDI on Aug. 28, 2001. According to the agree- ment, which the Compass has seen and reviewed, JDI sold those rights to the Caribbean Football Union for $4.25 mil- lion on Dec. 10, 2001. The contract was signed by Warner and Harold Taylor on behalf of the Caribbean Football Union and witnessed by Esther Dubarry, a corpo- rate secretary of several of Warner’s private companies. Warner was president of the CFU at the time and Trinidad football official Taylor was ef- fectively his employee. It is not clear how much Warner and J&D International benefited from the transac- tion, but FIFA general secre- tary Michel Zen-Ruffinen con- demned in a confidential FIFA report in 2002 that Warner had received TV rights for the 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cups for “one dollar” from then-FIFA president Joao Havelange. The 2002 World Cup rights had previously been handed to a Warner com- petitor, Caribbean Satellite Television Network. Due to circumstances unknown, KirchMedia canceled the con- tract amid legal wrangling and handed it to Warner’s J&D International instead. J&D International also sold the 2006 and 2010 TV rights for the largest sporting event in the world to Sportsmax for a rumored $8 million and $10 million each. Instead of handing the 2010 and 2014 World Cup TV to a sports marketing com- pany, FIFA assigned the rights to the Caribbean Football Union, which sublicensed them to J&D International. In 2011, following Warner’s resignation from all football activities amid bribery al- legations, FIFA stripped the 2014 World Cup TV rights from J&D International and voided a deal with the orig- inal media rights licensee CFU, stating it had not agreed to the Caribbean Football Union sublicensing the rights to the company. In 2011, an alleged $1.2 million bribe payment from the unsuccessful contender for FIFA presidency Mohamed bin Hammam to Warner was sent to J&D International’s bank account in Cayman, but returned by the bank, the Trinidad Express re- ported on June 9, 2015, quoting a U.S. Department of Justice document. Citing U.S. federal inves- tigators, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph in March 2014 reported the same in- cident, stating “at least one bank in the Cayman Islands initially refused to process the payment amid fears over the legality of the money transfer.” Because the payment by bin Hammam’s Qatar-based company Kemco was also re- fused by U.S. banks, $1.2 mil- lion was eventually paid di- rectly into Warner’s personal bank account in Trinidad “to offset professional ser- vices provided over the period 2005-2010,” according to the Trinidad Express report. The Trinidad Express re- ported in May 2013 that Warner and his son Daryll Warner were the two share- holders of “JD International.” The Daily Telegraph said last year that investigators are thought to be focusing on Warner’s American and Grand Cayman accounts and that one of his sons was a cooper- ating witness. This was con- firmed on May 27 when U.S. courts unsealed the indict- ment of Warner’s sons Daryan and Daryll, and one of the sons was revealed as a co- conspirator in the complaint against seven FIFA officials. Both Warner sons have struck a plea deal and ad- mitted wire fraud and money laundering violations. CFU ‘gifts’ The indictment against Webb and Warner alleges that an individual identified as “co- conspirator #7” was seeking support for his candidacy for FIFA president in the orga- nization’s general elections during 2011. Co-conspirator #7 has been identified as Mohamed bin Hammam. The court records give de- tails of a two-day meeting held on May 10 and 11, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Trinidad and Tobago, in- volving various member as- sociations of the Caribbean Football Union, where co- conspirator #7 asked for the groups’ support during the upcoming June 1, 2011 FIFA presidential election. The 2011 meeting in Trinidad was attended by both Webb, then president of the Cayman Islands Football Association, and former Cayman Islands Football Association Vice President David Frederick. U.S. federal prosecutors allege that on May 10, 2011, following the speech by co- conspirator #7, Warner told representatives from the var- ious football associations at- tending the conference that they could “pick up a gift” at a conference hotel room. “The officials were in- structed by [football union] staff members in the room to enter the room one at a time,” the criminal complaint al- leges. “Inside the room, [staff] handed each official an enve- lope bearing the name of the member association he repre- sented. Inside each envelope was US$40,000.” In July 2011, responding to media reports about the incident, the Cayman Islands Football Association said its members “had refused to ac- cept any bribes” at the May 2011 Trinidad meeting. “As has been widely reported in the international press, the initial report to the FIFA Ethics Committee highlighted the fact that the Bahamas Football Association, the Bermuda Football Association, the Cayman Islands Football Association, and Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association refused to accept the gift that was offered at the special meeting,” the Cayman Islands Football Association statement read. On Aug. 11, 2011, FIFA an- nounced in a press release that it had opened “ethics proceed- ings” against 16 Caribbean Football Union officials, in- cluding Mr. Frederick, related to the May 2011 meeting in Trinidad. On Aug. 18, 2011, the Cayman Compass reported that the Cayman Islands Football Association an- nounced in a statement that: “David Frederick declined to be nominated as the first vice president for the next two years leaving that slot to be filled at a later date due to the fact that his decision was impromptu.” On October 14, 2011, FIFA announced in a statement: “The cases of David Frederick (Cayman Islands) and Joseph Delves (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) were closed since they are no longer foot- ball officials. Should they re- turn to football official po- sitions, their cases would be examined again by the Ethics Committee.” Mr. Frederick was contacted for comment by the Compass following news of the U.S. fed- eral court indictments in May, but he has never responded. FIFA sanctioned four Caribbean football chiefs as a result of the ethics probe into the Trinidad meeting, in- cluding Jamaican Football Federation president Horace Burrell. The senior official was banned for six months, with three months of Mr. Burrell’s ban being deferred for a pro- bationary period of two years. Mr. Burrell has publicly main- tained that he did not ac- cept any cash at the May 2011 meeting in Trinidad. Mr. Burrell is a business partner of Mr. Webb’s at the Captain’s Bakery restaurant in the Cayman Islands. Webb was director of Jack Warner’s Cayman company CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18 WORLD&REGIONAL Wednesday July 8, 2015 • Cayman Compass We have been asked to announce the passing of Mrs. Nora Powell who passed away on Thursday, July 2, 2015. A Service of Thanksgiving will be held on Wednesday, July 8th, 2015 at Churchill’s Funeral Home, 328 Eastern Ave, George Town, Grand Cayman at 3:00 p.m. Interment: Boatswain Bay Cemetery Condolences can be registered at: www.churchillsfuneralhome.com Pope urges Latin Americans to unify, spread the faith QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Pope Francis urged a crowd of more than 1 million people Tuesday to channel the same urgency that brought Latin America its independence from Spain into spreading the faith on a continent where Catholicism is losing souls to evangelical movements. Francis used his final Mass in Ecuador to appeal for the missionary church that he long has champi- oned. He issued the call from Quito’s Bicentennial Park – an apt location given that Ecuador was where the first cries of independence against Spanish rule arose in Latin America in 1809. Francis told the gathering, estimated by the Interior Ministry to be more than 1 million, that in a world di- vided by wars, violence and individualism, Catholics should be “builders of unity,” bringing together hopes and ideals of their people. “There was no shortage of conviction or strength in that cry for freedom which arose a little more than 200 years ago,” he said. “But his- tory tells us that it only made headway once personal dif- ferences were set aside.” He urged Latin Americans to channel that same pur- pose into spreading the faith. Latin America counts 40 per- cent of the world’s Catholics, but the church is losing out to Protestant evangelical ministries that have focused on the continent’s poorest communities with real-life guidance on employment and education. While the drop-off in Spanish-speaking South America hasn’t been as sharp as it has been in Brazil, it is notable: Some 95 percent of Ecuador’s population was Catholic in 1970; today, the figure is down to 79 per- cent, according to the Pew Research Center. In a bid to counter the trend and return the Catholic Church to its evangelizing or- igins, Francis has called for the church to return to being a missionary church that looks out particularly for so- ciety’s poorest and most mar- ginalized. It’s a message he crafted for the entire Latin American church when he played a leading role in a 2007 conference of bishops in Aparecida, Brazil. “Evangelization doesn’t consist in proselytizing, but in attracting by our wit- ness to those who are far off, in humbly drawing near to those who feel distant from God and the church, those who are fearful or in- different,” Francis told the crowd. “Proselytism is a cari- cature of evangelization.” The Mass featured read- ings in Quichua, the native language mostly spoken in Ecuador, and Ecuadorean vestments for the pope. It kicked off a final full day in Ecuador that began with meetings with bishops and included a visit to Quito’s Catholic University for a session with students and professors that likely would show the unpredict- able pope at his best: Francis often goes off-script when he engages with young people, all the more so in his na- tive tongue. Francis then planned to go to a Quito church for an encounter with business leaders, people in- volved in the arts and in- digenous groups. Both encounters were ex- pected to highlight an issue close to the pope’s heart – care for the planet – which he has only touched on fleet- ingly since he began his weeklong, three-country South American tour that will take him to Bolivia on Wednesday, and Paraguay later in the week. Francis arrived at Quito’s Bicentennial Park to cheers from the hundreds of thou- sands of people who camped out overnight for a good spot. They were rewarded with a pre-dawn deluge that sent some 20 people to para- medics with hypothermia, said city operations director Cristian Rivera. But the sun broke out as Francis arrived in his popemobile to do a tour of the grounds, with fans tossing confetti on him as he zoomed by. “The joy at seeing the pope gives us the warmth we need,” said Abel Gualoto, a 59-year-old seafood vendor as he rubbed his cold hands together to try to stay warm. The 78-year-old pontiff, who has only one full lung following an infection he suf- fered as a young man, ap- pears to be holding up well at the start of his visit despite the nearly 9,200-foot altitude of Quito and a day spent in the scorching sun of coastal Guayaquil on Monday. He had so much energy he slipped out again for a second night to greet well-wishers who gathered outside the Vatican ambassador’s residence where he stayed. “It’s always surprising what the pope can do at his age,” said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. He noted that sev- eral people in the Vatican en- tourage awoke Monday with headaches due to altitude sickness, but not the pope. “He has said it’s God’s way of helping him do his ministry, his service,” Lombardi said. Tuesday was expected to end with a visit to the Church of the Society of Jesus, known locally as Iglesia de la Compania. The Jesuit church, a gem of Spanish Baroque, is one of the oldest and most well-known in Ecuador. It houses a painting of the Virgin Mary that was said to shed tears in 1906. Pope Francis and Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa greet a huge crowd Monday from the government palace balcony in Quito, Ecuador. - Photo: AP F-16, smAll PlAne collide over south cArolinA MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) — An F-16 fighter jet and a small plane col- lided Tuesday over South Carolina, raining down plane parts and debris. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the fighter jet collided with a Cessna around 11 a.m. about 11 miles north of Charleston. Lt. Jenny Hyden, a spokeswoman for Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, said the pilot ejected to safety and was taken to the base for observation. She did not disclose his condition. No one else was on board the single-seat jet. It was not immediately known how many people were on board the smaller plane or if any of them sur- vived. It also was not im- mediately known if anyone was hurt on the ground. A witness reported that the military plane broad- sided the smaller Cessna, said Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury. He said debris was scattered over a wide area. Officials said during a news confer- ence that most of the de- bris was in a marshy area, including a rice field. “We have airboats and boats that are designed to run in the mud,” Salisbury said. Lawyers: Cosby’s admission could aid women’s cases PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bill Cosby’s accusers see his admission of obtaining quaaludes to give young women before sex as vindi- cation of their claims that he drugged and sexually as- saulted them. But a former television co- star and a prominent Cosby defender say they’re re- serving judgment because the 2005 deposition testimony unsealed Monday doesn’t show he did anything wrong. Cosby admitted that he gave quaaludes, a now- banned sedative, to a 19-year- old woman before they had sex in Las Vegas in the 1970s. He also admitted giving the powerful drug to unnamed others. His lawyer interfered be- fore he could answer deposi- tion questions in 2005 about how many women were given drugs and whether they knew about it. “I never thought I would be validated or vindicated in this,” said Joan Tarshis, of Woodstock, New York, who accused Cosby of drugging and attacking her when she was breaking into comedy writing in 1969. “I mean, it’s turned my life around 180 be- cause now all the people that haven’t believed me or us have come out, most of them, and said, ‘We were wrong.’” The Associated Press had gone to court to compel the release of a deposition in a 2005 sexual abuse law- suit filed by former Temple University basketball team employee Andrea Constand – the first of a cascade of lawsuits against Cosby that have severely dam- aged his image as doting TV dad Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show.” His lawyers objected to the release of the material, arguing it would embar- rass him. Ultimately, a judge seized on Cosby’s public mor- alizing on issues like family life, education and crime as he unsealed portions of the deposition. On ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday, Whoopi Goldberg said she was still reserving judgment on Cosby, reiter- ating the stance she’s held since the allegations against him resurfaced last winter. Cosby’s official Twitter ac- count thanked her back then for her support. “You are still inno- cent until proven guilty,” Goldberg said Tuesday. Cosby, she said, “has not been proven a rapist.” “The View” co-host Raven- Symone, who starred on Cosby’s 1980s sitcom as a child, said she doesn’t like talking about the allegations because he helped launch her career. “You need the proof and then I’ll be able to give my judgment here or there,” she said. The Bounce TV network, which is geared toward black viewers, didn’t wait. It said Tuesday that it was pulling its reruns of the 1990s-era CBS sitcom “Cosby” from the air immediately. In this Nov. 6, 2013 file photo, comedian Bill Cosby performs at the Stand Up for Heroes event at Madison Square Garden, in New York. - Photo: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Business Cayman Compass • Wednesday July 8, 2015 ‘Inside Out’ tops ‘Jurassic World’ Three weeks after opening, Pixar’s “Inside Out” has finally slayed the dinosaurs of “Jurassic World.” Final box office figures reveal that “Inside Out” came out slightly ahead of “Jurassic World” after all. Greece restarts talks with creditors as country on edge BRUSSELS (AP) — With their country struggling to stave off financial collapse, Greek officials restarted talks with skeptical creditors on a new rescue deal, but showed up Tuesday without the concrete proposals their European counterparts had demanded. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s situation is ur- gent: Without a deal, Greece’s banks could go bust within days, the first step in the country’s potential exit from the euro currency union. Its banks won’t re- open until Thursday at the earliest after the European Central Bank refused to in- crease assistance. Eurozone finance ministers, including Greece’s newcomer Euclid Tsakalotos, met in Brussels ahead of a full summit of leaders later Tuesday. The meetings were un- likely to be decisive, though, after officials said Tsakalotos had not brought written pro- posals with him. Rather, they said, he made a presentation and discussed key issues. The three officials spoke only on condition of ano- nymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. One big sticking point in the talks is Greece’s demand that the terms of its bailout loans be made easier. European officials are split on the issue, with lead eurozone lender Germany still reluctant. The International Monetary Fund last week called for European states to accept longer re- payment rates and lower in- terest rates on their loans to Greece. Many economists say that Greece’s debt burden, at almost 180 percent of annual GDP, is unsustainable for a country its size. Getting a new rescue deal for Greece is urgent and be- coming more so by the day. Greek banks are running out of cash even after the gov- ernment shut them last week and placed limits on how much depositors can with- draw or transfer. Normal commerce is now impossible in Greece. Small businesses, lacking use of credit cards or money from bank accounts, were left to rely on cash coming from di- minishing purchases from customers. But Greeks are holding on tight to what they have. And suppliers are de- manding that businesses pay cash up front. Giorgos Kafkaris, a 77-year-old pensioner, was among Greeks standing in line to withdraw cash at an Athens ATM on Tuesday. “I came to get the 120 euros, I can’t take more. The good thing is we had sorted things out earlier and we had 200-300 euros set aside,” he said. “I’m waiting for some- thing better for all of us. I believe something better will happen.” Tsipras made a big win in Sunday’s bailout referendum, when 61 percent of Greek voters rejected measures creditors had proposed last week in exchange for loans. In a sign he may be willing to compromise, Tsipras appointed a new fi- nance minister to lead talks with creditors. Tsakalotos, a 55-year-old economist, has replaced Yanis Varoufakis, who constantly clashed with his peers. “I won’t hide from you that I am very nervous and very anxious,” Tsakalotos said after being sworn in Monday. “I am not taking over at the easiest moment in Greek history.” Investors were cautious on Tuesday, with stock mar- kets down and the euro 0.7 percent lower. Greece’s stock market remains closed since last week amid the bank closures. Greece has been granted two bailout programs worth a total of 240 billion euros (US$266 billion) in loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund. But the spending cuts and tax increases demanded as a condition for the loans have hit growth, causing an economic depression and pushing unemployment to 25 percent. The government, meanwhile, has been slower than hoped in making the economy more competitive and selling state assets to raise money. James Nixon, chief European economist at Oxford Economics, said there’s “a narrow trajectory from here that sees an emboldened Greek parliament accepting the need for reform in return for a debt write-down.” “The next 48 hours will be crucial.” One big sticking point in the talks is Greece’s demand that the terms of its bailout loans be made easier. Dutch Finance Minister and chair of the eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, left, speaks with Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos during a meeting of eurozone finance ministers Tuesday in Brussels. - Photo: AP Cayman will implement OECD automatic exchange this year MIchael KleIn mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com The ministry of fi- nancial services has an- nounced that Cayman will implement the OECD common reporting stan- dard later this year. The CRS standardizes the global automatic ex- change of information for tax purposes. Automatic exchange of information will ulti- mately lead to the trans- mission of large amounts of data, such as the invest- ment income of individual taxpayers, from one tax au- thority where an account is located to the tax au- thority where the taxpayer is resident. It enables resident tax authorities to vali- date whether taxpayers have correctly reported their income. Although the main focus is on exchanging in- formation about financial accounts, other types of income such as pensions or real estate transactions could become relevant. Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton said implementation of the common reporting standard will further strengthen Cayman’s al- ready-recognized par- ticipation in interna- tional efforts to improve tax compliance. “The CRS is an impor- tant progression in en- suring international tax compliance, across country borders,” he said. “By im- plementing it via the en- actment of local regula- tions, Cayman continues to show our full participation and strength, as a member of the growing network of countries worldwide that engage in international tax cooperation.” More than 90 jurisdic- tions around the world have committed to the implementation of the common reporting stan- dard to agreed timetables. Cayman is one of more than 50 jurisdictions com- mitted to undertaking the first automatic exchanges of tax information under the CRS by 2017. In March of this year, Cayman launched a portal for the automatic ex- change of information, which will be an important operational component of the CRS. The online system cur- rently allows notification and reporting by financial institutions in relation to U.S. FATCA. FATCA is also a au- tomatic information ex- change method, but the common reporting stan- dard is much broader in scope and international. The existing system will be modified and adapted to facilitate the automatic tax info exchange with all participating jurisdictions under the CRS. The Department of International Tax Cooperation will imple- ment the CRS in Cayman, in accordance with Cayman’s international treaty network, and a 2014 amendment to the Tax Information Authority Law that enabled all forms of exchange of information for tax purposes, including automatic exchanges. Mr. Panton horizon PhArmA mAkes $2.1B Bid for dePomed Horizon Pharma has gone hostile with an all-stock offer for Depomed valued at about $2.1 billion after its target re- jected friendly overtures to talk about a deal. The Dublin-based com- pany said Tuesday that it will take an offer of $29.25 of its stock for each Depomed share directly to that com- pany’s shareholders. The tax-free bid represents about a 42 percent pre- mium to Depomed’s closing price Monday. Shares of Depomed jumped $7.51, or 36.4 per- cent, to $28.15 in Tuesday morning trading. Horizon said that it has been trying to discuss a deal with Depomed Inc. since March, but that company’s board has rejected its pro- posal and declined to start discussions. Depomed said in a written statement that it has received Horizon’s offer, which it be- lieves substantially under- values the company. Horizon CEO Timothy P. Walbert said in a letter to his Depomed counterpart, James A. Schoeneck, that the com- bined company would be sig- nificantly larger and more di- versified. It would have 13 marketed drugs, which would nearly double Horizon’s cur- rent lineup. Horizon Pharma Plc has completed four deals in the past two years. They in- clude the acquisitions of Hyperion Therapeutics and the U.S. rights to the rheu- matoid arthritis treatment Vimovo. Walbert said in his letter that these deals show Horizon can blend new medi- cines and businesses into its operations while delivering strong results. Depomed, which is based in Newark, California, has a portfolio that includes the migraine drug Cambia and the painkiller Nucynta ER. The deal value adds up to about $3 billion counting debt. Depomed shareholders would end up with a stake of about 25 percent in the com- bined company.Next >