ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – MONDAY JULY 27, 2015 High of 90 Low of 79 Slight to moderate with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. Politics Sanders’s history with NRA 4 BALANCING SECURITY AGAINST FREE SPEECH Facebook, Twitter and YouTube look to mute Islamic State without stifling other voices globally PAGE 12 ABCDE NATIONAL WEEKLY Housing The rent is too darn high 17 5 Myths About sharks 23 Nation Let’s talk about sex, maybe? 9 THE WEEK OF SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2015. IN COLLABORATIO N WITH THE WASHINGTON POST Balancing security against free speech EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 SURVEYING THE AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT ON LAND MANAGEMENT SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA ‘We’ve lost everything’ Community rushes to support 17 left homeless JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A fi re ripped through a family compound in George Town shortly after 8 p.m. Friday, leaving 17 people homeless. “We’ve lost everything,” said Johnny Buttrum as he sifted through the wreckage of his home on Saturday. Passports, cash and trea- sured family photos all went up in smoke as the compound – a group of adjoining fl ats, shared by Mr. Buttrum, three of his siblings and their children between ages 1 and 15 – burned to the ground in six min- utes Friday evening. No one was injured in the blaze. The family, and fi ve tenants, were temporarily relocated to the Westin resort. Meanwhile, an immediate, spon- taneous community fundraising ef- fort, organized by Matthew Leslie, of Cayman Islands Brewery, had raised thousands of dollars in donations, clothing, food, and food vouchers for the family by Sunday morning. Eddie Buttrum, one of the owners of the family compound in Windsor Park, said he was overwhelmed by the community response. “This proves we are united as a people. I’m so grateful, words can’t explain it. It really is hard times ahead, but we know there is hope with this amount of community sup- port behind us.” The remnants of the homes were being demolished on Sunday morning by a volunteer demolition crew from Island Waste Carriers. The Buttrums, who built the wooden structures themselves around 20 years ago, say they plan to rebuild and move back in. Johnny Buttrum and his daughters Hanielle, 12, and Janielle, 14, survey the wreckage of their George Town home on Saturday. - PHOTO: JAMES WHITTAKER MORE CASH TRANSFER COMPANIES IN JEOPARDY OF CLOSING CHARLES DUNCAN cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com Following the sudden closure of Western Union by Fidelity Bank earlier this month, the re- maining money transfer busi- nesses in the Cayman Islands face the possibility of closing unless they can make new banking arrangements by the end of August, according to the companies and government. Cayman National, which han- dles payments for the three re- maining remittance companies on island, sent a letter to the AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT: PLANNING DECISIONS ‘NOT TRANSPARENT’ BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The appointed boards that advise government on land development deci- sions do not have open meetings, often do not provide reasons for their rulings and are comprised of members who have potential confl icts of interest with certain development projects. Those are among the fi ndings by Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick in a comprehensive review released last week focusing on government’s land management policies. The review was highly critical of the operations of the Central Planning Authority and the Development Control Board in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Mr. Swarbrick PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » The group of homes at Windsor Park were destroyed by the fi re on Friday evening. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY2 LOCAL&REGIONAL Monday July 27, 2015 • Cayman Compass 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. 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He is resisting ex- tradition on U.S. charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering in the FIFA corruption case. He is currently out on bail. Trinidad legal ex- perts believe Warner’s extradition could take five years to resolve. U.S. prosecutors allege South Africa funneled $10 million in 2008 to Warner and two other FIFA ex- ecutives as payment for them supporting its suc- cessful bid to host the 2010 World Cup. Intruder assaults woman in West Bay A man entered an apartment on Thursday night and sexually as- saulted a woman who lived there, punching her and threatening her with a knife, the Royal Cayman Islands Police reported in a press release. Unknown assailant The man, who was un- known to the woman, entered the apartment in the vicinity of North West Point in West Bay about 10 p.m. The man is described as having slim build, me- dium-dark complexion, and about 6 feet tall. He was wearing a gray hoodie sweatshirt with a T-shirt underneath, partly orange in color, as well as dark shorts and running shoes. Police said a full in- vestigation is under way, and the woman is under police protection. Police are urging anyone with informa- tion regarding this inci- dent to contact Detective Constable Emma Twydell at West Bay Police Station at 949-3999, the RCIPS Confidential Hotline at 949-7777, or Cayman Crime Stoppers at 800-8477(TIPS). JURORS DATE CHANGE Grand Court jurors who are in the July 1 to Oct. 6 ses- sion are now to report on Wednesday, July 29, at 9:45 a.m. Please call the jury information line at 945-5072 for the most up-to-date information. FREE HEpATiTiS SCREENiNGS The Cayman Islands Hospital is offering free hepatitis B and C testing this week, Monday through Friday, by ap- pointment only. On Tuesday, as part of World Hepatitis Day, the hospital will offer free testing from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the hospital. Call the STI and HIV program coordinator, Nurse Laura Elniski, at 244-2507 for an appointment or for more information. Church donates Bibles to prison Safe Harbour Lutheran Church has donated several boxes of Bibles and other devotional materials to Her Majesty’s Prison Northward, its most recent donation of spiritual materials over the past several years. Pictured here, the Rev. Leif Hasskarl, church pastor, delivers the materials to prison chaplain Cathy Gomez. Escaped Mexican drug lord seen as a lesser evil at home BADIRAGUATO, Mexico (AP) – People living in the home- town of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman have heard stories of his benevolence: gifts of medicine for the poor, deliveries of drinking water to storm-stricken towns. But finding anyone who’s actually received or even seen such a gift is another matter. In Badiraguato, the small mountain town that is part of Guzman’s rags-to-crime riches mythology, none of the two dozen people interviewed by The Associated Press could point out evidence of his legendary largesse. “I don’t see a single building producing jobs, a single piece of public works, a soccer field, a sewer, a school, water systems, a clinic or hospital, not a single one that you can say was built by drug traffickers or their money,” Mayor Mario Valenzuela said. If Guzman or his cartel had invested in their home- towns, he said, “they’d look dif- ferent: They would have paved roads or drainage systems, but they don’t.” Guzman’s escape on July 11 from a prison near Mexico City has focused at- tention again on Badiraguato, the county seat of a town- ship that includes the hamlet of La Tuna, where El Chapo’s mother still lives. The roads to La Tuna are still washed-out dirt tracks, and Badiraguato itself has none of the flashy accoutre- ments of money – luxury car dealerships, palatial mauso- leums, acres of fancy, gated communities of new homes, or dozens of street money- changers offering cheap dol- lars – that are abundant in Culiacan, the state capital, 1 1/2 hours away. The town’s big projects include a new balcony for the town hall that looks out over the sleepy square dominated by a 19th-century church, where residents seek shade from the punishing Sinaloa sun. Tucked into the foothills where the coastal stretches of flat corn and tomato fields meet the imposing moun- tains of the Sierra Madre, Badiraguato remains mired in poverty, Valenzuela ac- knowledges that many of the township’s residents make a living growing marijuana or opium poppies. Guzman grew up here, the son of a poor famer. His rise as a crime boss has been surrounded by mythology, a Hollywood version of an old- school Mafioso – ruthless, yet honorable. Songs have been written in his honor and some locals extol him as a Robin Hood-type figure who is careful to leave innocents out of his deadly score-settlings. “Chapo Guzman isn’t vio- lent,” Valenzuela said about a man accused of hundreds of murders. “He doesn’t shoot it out with the government.” That’s unlike the reputation of the New Generation Jalisco cartel to the south, which is alleged to have brought down a military helicopter May 1 with a rocket-propelled mis- sile. Or the Zetas, who’ve fu- eled their notoriety in central Mexico with grisly behead- ings and the hanging of bodies across public highways. Or Guerreros Unidos, the cartel alleged to have killed 43 col- lege students last fall. For many who live in the state that gives name to Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel, he is seen as a lesser evil. Gabriel, a civil engineer, returned home recently to Culiacan after a year and a half working on road proj- ects in the central state of Zacatecas, which is con- trolled by Mexico’s blood- iest cartel, the Zetas. There, he said, gunmen pulled him over and demanded he either pay protection money or get out of town. “They are worse. They are indiscriminate. They’ll kill seven people just to get the one they want,” he said. The Sinaloa cartel, he said, leaves ordinary people alone, “there is a certain respect.” Songs have been written in his honor and some locals extol him as a Robin Hood-type figure who is careful to leave innocents out of his deadly score-settlings.The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 Cayman Compass • Monday July 27, 2015 Kim Lund (345) 949.9772 kim.lund@remax.ky www.caymanlundteam.com Dillon Claassens (345) 943.4556 dillon.claassens@remax.ky www.caymanlundteam.com Seven Mile Shops, West Bay Rd, Grand Cayman CIREBA MEMEBER Cayman Islands ONE OF THE HOTEL POOLS AND GUESTROOMS SITE MAP OF RESORT AND SURROUNDING AREA TREASURE ISLAND IS A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY IN A PRIME LOCATION, FOR AN ASTUTE INVESTOR TO CHANGE THE BUSINESS MODEL FOR THE CURRENT BUILDINGS AND FURTHER DEVELOP VACANT LAND INTO A MIXED USE PROPERTY THAT COULD PROVIDE A VAST RETURN. • 290 guestroom resort • 9 commercial/retail units, including lobby bar • 5.43 acres of both developed and undeveloped land • Site is zoned Hotel/Tourism • 750 feet of exposure on West Bay Rd. • High tra c location with good curb appeal • 2 pools and Jacuzzi on site • Access to 3rd pool with swim up bar • Seven Mile Beach access with protected beach cove • 96 condominiums (not part of sale) providing more critical mass to hotel F&B and commercial/retail • Improve common area and renovate guestrooms into residential suites and sell them to gross approximately US$60 million • Develop 2 new ten storey towers with rooms and/ or condominiums to gain additional room revenue, income from condo sales, and critical mass • Further develop the vacant West Bay Rd. frontage with mixed use of ground oor retail and upper level rooms/ condominiums to rent and/or sell for income OFFERED FOR SALE AT US$15,475,000The 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. Monday JuLy 27, 2015 • Cayman COmpass The latest report from the Cayman Islands auditor general on government’s land management practices covers so much topical ground that we believe it may be instructive to provide some focused analysis. The report, titled “National Land Development and Government Real Property,” is split into three distinct sections, addressing 1) government’s regulation of private development generally; 2) government’s management of its own property assets; and, 3) government’s perfor- mance in relation to major private developments that involve the public sector. On the first subject, the auditor general found that the government has been operating under a development plan from 1997 that has never been updated, although the law requires that the Central Planning Authority review the plan at least once every five years, for the purpose of proposing amendments. The auditor general also notes that the CPA (an appointed board that is chock-full of members who are involved in the develop- ment sector, and, accordingly, is beset with the continual appearance of conflicts of interests) routinely disre- gards recommendations from departments with tech- nical expertise, such as the National Roads Authority and Water Authority, and often does not provide any rationale for the decisions it makes. In this section, the auditor general dwells at some length on the effects that development has had in recent years on Cayman’s natural landscape, particularly in regard to wetlands and specific parcels identified as “sen- sitive areas” in the Vision 2008 project, which was not an official development plan. This part of the report, we feel, could be interpreted to constitute “pro-environmental advocacy” (or even “anti- development bias”) on the part of the auditor general, which would be highly inappropriate. The auditor general must be vigilant that he does not appear to be tres- passing beyond his remit into environmental or develop- mental issues based on personal predilections. In the second section, regarding the government’s management of its own property assets, the auditor general found that the government does not maintain an adequate inventory and valuation of its properties, and owns hundreds of parcels, worth some $60 million, that it does not need. This section flags the government’s purchase, at the direction of then-Minister of District Administra- tion Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, of a piece of property in Cayman Brac for $125,000 – purportedly for affordable housing, though the appropriate agency was never con- sulted nor has the land since been used for that purpose. The auditor general notes “a possible breach of trust” by Ms. O’Connor-Connolly, who is now Speaker of the House. Mr. Swarbrick said he would present the findings of his report to Cayman’s Anti-Corruption Commission – though, if Mr. Swarbrick believes, as his report states, that a cor- ruption-related offense may have occurred, we cannot comprehend why law enforcement was not notified at the very moment of discovery. Finally, in the third section, the auditor general examines the government’s handling of negotiations with the Dart Group on the so-called NRA Agreement and with Dr. Devi Shetty’s group on Health City Cayman Islands. The auditor general found that in both instances (dating back to then-Premier McKeeva Bush’s United Democratic Party administration), a handful of elected members played far too intimate of a role in negotiating with developers, when the proper actors should have been the civil service or even the Legislative Assembly as a whole. It is important to note that neither Dart nor Health City are being accused of behaving improperly, and any suggestion of wrongdoing is resting squarely on the shoulders of elected members. Indeed, our position is that the only downside to the Dart deal was that the entire arrangement wasn’t executed, including remediating the George Town landfill. Regarding Health City, no project in our memory involved more consultation – and support – from all elected members – regardless of their political persuasion or affil- iation. Health City has the potential to transform Grand Cayman into an international mecca for healthcare and medical technology, and it is widely welcomed, accepted and applauded by the Cayman community. Surveying the auditor general’s report on land management ‘Test and improve’ helps students GreG richmond Special to The Washington Post The national conversa- tion around how and why to test kids in public schools has gone astray. Loud and persistent voices have been decrying a culture of “test and punish,” which they say hurts teachers, stresses kids and compromises creativity in the classroom. I’d join them in their chorus if what they were saying was true. But it isn’t. We don’t have a “test and punish” culture in our schools, we have a “test and improve” model that has pro- duced dramatic results for poor and minority students in recent years. As a nation, we need to continue to test and improve. Charter schools are one part of our public school system where “test and im- prove” has delivered good re- sults for students. Charter schools and the bodies that oversee them use test data to continuously monitor stu- dent learning and take ac- tions to improve. Charter operators that consistently deliver better outcomes for children often open ad- ditional schools. Those that consistently fail chil- dren risk closure by their school boards and others who authorize them. This culture of “test and improve” is working. Students attending charter schools in urban areas re- ceive the equivalent of 40 days of additional learning per year in math and 28 ad- ditional days per year in reading. In the past two years, our researchers have determined, charter school authorizers used school per- formance data to approve 944 new, quality charter schools and to close 416 schools that have persis- tently failed. As a result of those actions, 452,000 stu- dents are attending better schools. That’s not punish- ment, that’s improvement. “Test and improve” is not limited to charter schools, of course; it has been hap- pening throughout our public schools since the passage of the No Child Left Behind act in 2001. NCLB is reviled by those who decry standard- ized tests, yet the act has been working. The reading scores of 13-year-olds in- creased more in the first eight years of testing after NCLB than they did in the 28 years before it. In math, the scores of 13-year-olds in- creased roughly twice as fast after NCLB as before. Tests don’t punish, they inform. With data from tests, educators and communities can take actions they deem necessary to improve the quality of our schools. Yet right now, Congress is considering policies that threaten these successful “test and improve” policies. On the right, advocates for vouchers and the free market are pushing for testing loop- holes such as opt-out provi- sions and doling out federal money in block grants with no performance requirements whatsoever. On the left, teachers unions are attacking the provisions of NCLB that require failing schools to take actions to improve. Ironically, if Congress moves away from successful “test and improve” poli- cies, it would in fact be cre- ating a system that pun- ishes students. After all, if students aren’t tested and schools don’t improve, it is students who will be pun- ished. Students will be pun- ished when a school fails to teach them to read and write. Students will be punished when a school fails to pre- pare them for success in col- lege, jobs and life. Kids shouldn’t have to go to schools that fail them year after year. As House and Senate negotiators work in conference committee to rec- oncile competing overhauls of our federal education law, let’s not forget that our na- tion needs quality testing data to make well-informed decisions about how well all public schools are working for our children. Richmond is president and chief executive of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. © 2015, The Washington Post 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” Standardized testing is producing results in American schools, particularly charter schools.5 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday July 27, 2015 Pride Award Go online to vote for your favorite School. The top voted school wins grant towards educational means. Be sure to vote by Friday, August 28th. CI $2,000 1. Log on to any of their websites to cast your vote: www.x107.ky; www.kiss.ky; www.hot1041.ky; or www.cayrock.ky. 2. Click on the Caribbean Alliance School Pride link 3. Cast Your Vote Voting is open Aug 3rd - 28th at 12noon. Winning school will be announced Monday August 31st. Instructions: Caribbean Alliance Insurance Company Ltd recognizes the importance of our teachers, schools and the development tools for the advancement of our children. We are proud to announce our School Pride Award, the winning school (Elementary - High) will receive CI$2000 to be used for purchasing supplies to enhance school programs. DMS Broadcasting has partnered with us on this initiative. Brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Seventeen properties were foreclosed on in the Cayman Islands during the first three months of 2015, leading to concern among lawmakers that the Cayman Islands is headed for another bad year for home foreclosures. In 2013, there were a re- cord number of 65 homes, businesses or property for which foreclosure had been completed, Commerce Minister Wayne Panton an- nounced Friday during a press conference about responsible household finance management. The completed foreclosure figure decreased significantly in 2014, with 23 reported for the entire year. However, the number reported from January to March this year came close to the 2014 figure. While overall completed foreclosures for Cayman are the lowest in the Caribbean region, Mr. Panton said that will be small comfort to fami- lies who are losing everything. “It is clear to us that they do need some help,” Minister Panton said. “The impact of [foreclosure] is obviously con- siderable at a personal level. It also has an impact on the economy, it has an impact on driving down real estate property values.” Finance Minister Marco Archer said the number one reason given by families who have lost their homes in foreclosure is the breakup of the family unit, particu- larly in cases involving di- vorce where alimony or child support is not received. The second most common cause is loss of employment. “Given the relatively small number of foreclosures, the social impacts are greater than the economic ones,” Mr. Archer said. According to figures presented Friday, Cayman has recorded 192 completed foreclosures since 2008. Completed foreclosures include only the cases where banks have managed to sell the property. Mr. Panton said another 180 “historical” foreclosure cases, where the properties had not been sold, were identified. The increased number of completed foreclosures early this year is a major com- munity concern and has sparked the formation of a group known as Caymanians Against Economic Injustice, which held public meetings last week on the subject of home foreclosures. The group alleges, among other things, that banks are “rushing through” the foreclosure pro- cess – giving homeowners just three months prior to declaring them to be delin- quent on their mortgages and seizing the properties. Minister Panton said gov- ernment representatives would be happy to meet with group members and discuss their concerns, but indicated he did not believe most local banks had been operating in such a “cold-hearted” fashion. Moreover, Mr. Panton said he was unconvinced by the group’s argument that banks were actually making money on the sale of foreclosed homes or businesses. “First of all, if a bank fore- closes on a property and sells it … if they sell it at a price that is above the cost of the outstanding mortgage, they have a duty to pay the dif- ference to the borrower,” he said. “It cannot be the case that the bank profits over and above. Banks are not in the business of having to go through the process [of fore- closure]. They don’t make any money that way.” While he said he empa- thized with individuals who were losing their homes through the foreclosure pro- cess, Finance Minister Archer said government has never spent public funds to bail out failing home mortgages. Mr. Archer said an effort to bail out mortgages was attempted during the 2011- 2012 “save the mortgage” pro- gram. However, in that effort, the Cayman Islands govern- ment merely administered about $2.5 million given from the Dart group of companies. In 2013, the year that pro- gram ended, the government recorded the highest number of completed home foreclo- sures ever in Cayman. “I think 80-odd percent of those [who participated in save the mortgage] lost their homes, so the save the mortgage plan really just put off the inevitable,” Mr. Archer said. “Who was as- sisted? Was it the banks or the homeowners?” Mr. Archer also said the global recession in 2008/09 put a dent in the local prop- erty market, as it did in many other countries, a recession from which Cayman has never fully recovered. Financing advice Separate from any gov- ernment-sponsored efforts, Ministers Panton and Archer have enlisted the help of a number of retired Caymanian banking professionals to pro- vide personal financial ad- vice to homeowners who are struggling with day-to-day living costs. “[We want to] as- sist people before they get into trouble,” Mr. Archer said. A series of meetings are being scheduled to begin in mid-August, starting in Bodden Town, at which residents can seek advice from local banking professionals about balancing their checkbooks. The locations and times of the public seminars will be an- nounced later. Pocket dials blamed for surge in 911 calls James Whittaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com An increase in calls “caused by persons sitting on their phone or letting it bang around in their purse, inad- vertently calling 911,” has been blamed for a dramatic rise in calls to the emergency number over the past year, the Department of Public Safety Communications says. Calls to emergency ser- vices increased by 20.5 per- cent, the department said. But officials at the emer- gency response center say the bulk of this increase comes from accidental calls. In its annual report for the 2014/15 financial year, the Department of Public Safety Communications records that it answered 95,092 emer- gency calls – compared with less than 80,000 for the pre- vious year. “The upward trend ap- pears to come from an in- crease in the number of abandoned or hang up calls, also known as butt calls,” the report states. The report notes a rise of around 6 percent in calls that resulted in emergency services actually being dispatched to deal with an incident. Domestic disturbances, vehicle accidents and thefts accounted for the highest number of 911 calls in the past year. Despite a surge in calls, staff improved their response times for answering and re- ferring calls to the relevant emergency services, the re- port states. “For the first time, the av- erage call processing time was within international standards,” Director of Public Safety Communications Brent Finster wrote in his executive summary to the report. Just over 97 percent of 911 calls were answered within 10 seconds, and emergency and critical calls were dis- patched to police, fire or am- bulance, on average, within 90 seconds – within interna- tionally approved timelines. The bulk of police calls – more than 65 percent – were within George Town. West Bay accounted for 17 percent of calls for police assistance. The department is also re- sponsible for managing the electronic monitoring of of- fenders and the national CCTV program. During 2014/15, the re- port states, 94 new offenders were monitored after being tagged with GPS tracking de- vices on the instructions of the courts or police. The de- partment has a budget for 36 tags to be in use at any one time. Nearly all were in use during the past year, ac- cording to statistics which indicate an average of 34.6 actively monitored offenders per month. The center, which tracks the movements of tagged of- fenders, provided 50 state- ments to police and the department of community re- habilitation on offenders who had violated the conditions of court orders. Staff also processed 370 requests for copies of video images from the National CCTV Programme which have been or will be used as evidence in crimes and other police matters, the report states. Mr. Finster said the re- sults showed staff had han- dled thousands of transac- tions rapidly and with a high degree of professionalism. Government sees spike in foreclosures again Mr. PantonMr. Archer “Given the relatively small number of foreclosures, the social impacts are greater than the economic ones.” Marco archer, minister of finance6 LOCAL NEWS Monday July 27, 2015 • Cayman Compass Longtime manager of botanic park passes away Andrew Guthrie was general manager of Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park for 15 years CaroL Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Andrew Guthrie, who served for 15 years as gen- eral manager of the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, died in the U.K. on July 24, friends have confirmed. Cause of death was cancer. “We are saddened to learn of Andrew’s passing,” said Carla Reid, chairman of the Tourism Attractions Board which oversees park management. “As the first general man- ager of the QEII Botanic Park, Andrew was respon- sible for developing the gardens that we visit and love today. During his 15 years at the park, he had many accomplishments, the most notable being bringing the park back to life after Hurricane Ivan [in September 2004] and the successful exhibits at the Chelsea Flower Show in the U.K. “In addition to being a vital part of the … team, his knowledge and love of plants led him to be- come actively involved in the Garden Club of Grand Cayman as well as the Cayman Islands Orchid Society,” Ms. Reid noted. “Andrew eagerly shared his expertise and I’m sure there are many people who will recall him fondly as they walk around their garden and see a plant he recom- mended or a design feature that he suggested.” Mr. Guthrie was born in West Virginia, USA, in 1960. He studied agriculture and horticulture at West Virginia University and earned a di- ploma in botanic garden management from London’s Royal Botanic Gardens. After serving as curator for the Joseph Reynold O’Neal Botanic Gardens in the British Virgin Islands, he came to Cayman in March 1995. During his tenure, the park’s visitors center was completed; the color and heritage gardens reached fruition; the cap- tive breeding facility of the Blue Iguana Recovery Program expanded; the Orchid Society built a 600- foot boardwalk so that vis- itors could view orchids in their natural habitat; and staff developed a nursery to propagate plants for park displays and sales to the public. In 2002, Mr. Guthrie col- laborated with Dave Martins to produce the book, “Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park: One with Nature.” His vision of a palm garden was just being re- alized when he resigned in May 2010 to take up the post of garden manager for the Royal Horticultural Society’s 240-acre Garden at Wisley in Surrey, England. Before his departure, a Cayman Compass sister publication editorialized on Mr. Guthrie’s contribu- tions to Cayman’s botanic park, and also noted, “He still credits a dedicated staff, volunteers and mem- bers for helping to keep the park sustainable.” The editorial commented on “his charm, charisma and moxie,” pointing out that the park is ever-dependent on volunteers and members to keep it running, both through works and money. “Guthrie is blessed with knowing how to keep volunteers and donors motivated and interested,” the editorial said. John Lawrus, cur- rent general manager of Cayman’s botanic park, ex- pressed great sadness after being notified of his prede- cessor’s passing. “Andrew was a friend and a mentor to me and was instrumental in getting me accustomed to my first position as the garden su- pervisor here at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park in 2001. Andrew Guthrie was crucial in the develop- ment of the park to where it stands today as a func- tioning botanic garden.” “Andrew Guthrie was crucial in the development of the park to where it stands today as a functioning botanic garden.” JOHN LAWRUS, general manager Conviction upheld in Bise murder case CaroL Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of Chad Anglin, 35, for the murder of Swiss banker Frederic Bise in February 2008. Anglin had been ques- tioned about the murder days after it occurred. He was re- leased for lack of evidence, but the “cold case unit” of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service reopened the matter in 2013 and subsequently charged him. A jury found him guilty after trial in May 2014. Lead defense counsel Jonathan Rees, instructed by attorney Fiona Robertson, ar- gued the appeal earlier this month. Simon Russell Flint, who was the prosecution’s lead counsel for the trial, responded with the assistance of Crown counsel Alexander Upton. The appeal court’s deci- sion, along with full reasons, was handed down on Friday. It referred to Mr. Bise as an active homosexual, whose body was found in the back of his burning car outside the home he rented in Mount Pleasant, West Bay, on the morning of Feb. 8, 2005. CCTV footage and live ev- idence demonstrated that he and Anglin had left a jerk stand together around 1 a.m. In 2008, Anglin denied this, but in 2013 he admitted it, saying he went with Mr. Bise in order to sell him ganja. Anglin made other com- ments to police in 2008, but he had not been cautioned at the time. This formed the first ground of appeal – that Justice Alexander Henderson was wrong to admit this statement as evidence for the jury to hear. The court said Justice Henderson’s approach to the question was not to be faulted. In a pre-trial hearing, he took evidence from police officers involved and found that nothing had been said or done that might amount to a threat or promise or induce- ment; there was no sugges- tion of an atmosphere of op- pression. He found that the failure to administer a cau- tion was not accidental but deliberate, and to that extent “can be stigmatized as the product of bad faith.” Justice Henderson went on to consider whether ad- mitting the statement would result in an unfair trial. He concluded it would not. He found that Anglin’s statement was voluntary. Anglin had made no admissions and, on the face of it, his statement exonerated him. It appeared to have been Anglin’s idea to give police clothing he said he was wearing the night of the murder; only after po- lice viewed the CCTV footage could they know Anglin was in fact wearing something else. He had been arrested at least 43 times previously and was not in the position of a young or vulnerable sus- pect. When police came to his home, he had refused to go with them to the station and he had refused to sign their notes: “He was in full con- trol,’ the judge commented. He concluded, “The defen- dant wanted his statement to be taken into account and it would not be unfair now to do so.” Another ground of ap- peal related to the evidence of an under-aged female who told the jury she had spent the night with Anglin sev- eral weeks after Mr. Bise’s murder. Questioned by Mr. Russell Flint, she said Anglin had told her he would burn her in a car as he had done to a gay man. Under cross- examination by Mr. Rees, she agreed she had told the first officer who interviewed her that Anglin had said he was accused of Bise’s murder. Justice Henderson had told jurors they should con- sider which version was cor- rect: Did Anglin say he was involved, or did he say no more than that he was ac- cused? The judge described the difference as crucial. The Court of Appeal agreed that this witness’s evidence was of great im- portance. The central issue for the jury was whether they were sure that Anglin had told her that he was in- volved in the murder of a gay man and had burned him in a car. The court was of the firm opinion that the jury would not have been concerned about Anglin’s failure to tell police that he had only told the girl he had been accused of the murder; they would have been con- cerned to decide whether the girl’s evidence was truthful and reliable. A third ground of appeal was Justice Henderson’s al- leged failure to remind the jury of aspects of the evi- dence the defense considered important, so that his sum- ming up was skewed against Anglin. The court pointed out that jurors would have been well aware of various details because they were included in a written list of agreed facts which had been read to them and which they had copies of during their delib- erations. Further, the judge had been asked to explain “adverse inference” to jurors, but he had not been asked to remind them of any of the matters complained of in the appeal as being left out of the summing up. The court also pointed out that Justice Henderson had given the usual direction – if he did not mention some- thing jurors thought impor- tant, they should give it such weight as they saw fit. This appeal was heard and ruled on by Justices Elliott Mottley, Dennis Morrison and Sir Richard Field. “The defendant wanted his statement to be taken into account and it would not be unfair now to do so.” ALEXANDER HENDERSON, trial judge Mr. Guthrie Flowers swim raises $54,000 The annual One Mile Flowers Sea Swim brought in US$54,000 for the Special Olympics Cayman Islands World Games team. Sea swim orga- nizers Frank Flowers and Dara Flowers-Burke presented the check to SOCI chairman Nick Freeland who expressed his gratitude for the community support. “It has been absolutely amazing to see the com- munity rally behind these athletes in such a major way,” he said. A total of 934 partici- pants registered for the swim, and 189 people took part in the Walk and Watch in June, with 100 percent of the pro- ceeds from both going to SOCI’s World Games team that is competing this week in Los Angeles. Mr. Flowers said, “The Flowers Sea Swim team is honored to contribute to so many of our local ath- letes participating in the Special Olympics World Summer Games. We are delighted to help them achieve their dreams. Go team Cayman.” SOCI’s organizing committee selected the largest delegation ever with 28 athletes, nine uni- fied partners, five head coaches, 10 assistant coaches, two heads of del- egation and one medic. The large delega- tion prompted a mas- sive fundraising goal of US$170,000. Cayman’s athletes will be competing until Aug. 2 in bocce, swimming, track and field, basketball and football. Nick Freeland, left, receives the check from Dara Flowers-Burke and Frank Flowers.7 LOCAL&REGIONAL Cayman Compass • Monday July 27, 2015 NOTICE TO MEMBERS OF OUR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Are you a member of the CI Cancer Society? Join today or renew your dues and join us for the Annual General Meeting of the Members of the Cayman Islands Cancer Society (the Society) to be held at the Chamber of Commerce Office, Governor’s Square on 27th August, 2015 at 5:30pm. Agenda 1. Confirmation of quorum 2. Approval of the Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting 3. Chairman’s Report 4. Treasurer’s Report 5. Approval of Financial Statements 6. Election of Directors 7. Any other business Draft copies of the 2013 and 2014 financial statements will be available at the meeting. This doc- ument is also available in advance, to members only, if requested by email or from the Cayman Islands Cancer Society office on Maple Road. RSVP to Jennifer@cics.ky or call 949 7618. Jeffers’s second murder appeal dismissed Conviction upheld for 2010 murder of Damion Ming Carol Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed Raziel Jeffers’s ap- peal of his conviction for the murder of Damion Ming in West Bay on March 25, 2010. Jeffers, now 32, was found guilty at trial by jury in April 2014. This was his second ap- peal against a murder con- viction. He was previously found guilty of murdering Marcus Leon Ebanks in July 2009, also in West Bay. The shooting also left a teenage boy paralyzed. Following trial by judge alone, Justice Charles Quin found him guilty in February 2012. Jeffers’s appeal of that con- viction was dismissed later the same year. He faced a third murder charge in August 2014. A jury found him not guilty of murdering Marcos Mauricio Duran in West Bay on March 11, 2010, but guilty of man- slaughter. Chief Justice Anthony Smellie imposed a term of 20 years. He said the jury must have accepted that Jeffers was the mas- termind of a robbery and would know it involved at least one firearm, which would have placed Mr. Duran at risk of harm. The appeal of the convic- tion for Mr. Ming’s murder was argued in April this year. Lead counsel Brian O’Neill, instructed by at- torney Fiona Robertson, had argued primarily against the summing up to the jury by Justice Malcolm Swift. They submitted that he failed to give a balanced summing up, that he misdirected the jury on a number of matters and that he erred in speculating on some important mat- ters, thereby inviting the jury to reach conclusions based on speculation. Responding to their ar- guments were lead counsel Andrew Radcliffe and Crown counsel Tricia Hutchinson, the same team that con- ducted the case for the pros- ecution during Jeffers’s trial. Mr. Ming was shot in a yard off Birch Tree Hill Road, where he was with sev- eral men working on a boat. The principal witness was Jeffers’s former girlfriend. She told the court that Jeffers had confessed to her that he killed Mr. Ming. She gave de- tails of the incident that she could not have known un- less they had been provided to her by the shooter, Mr. Radcliffe pointed out in the trial and the appeal. This witness also could not have known that the pa- thologist’s report would sup- port her evidence as to what she said Jeffers told her about the sequence of shots fired and the wounds Mr. Ming sustained. Another important as- pect of evidence was a schedule of 1,058 pieces of telephone data attrib- uted to phones belonging to Jeffers, the principal witness and another witness. If ju- rors accepted this evidence as reliable, they could plot Jeffers’s movements the night of the shooting. The court hearing the appeal was comprised of Justices Elliott Mottley, Sir Bernard Rix and Sir George Newman. They found that Justice Swift’s summing up to the jury was not unbalanced, pointing out that Jeffers’s defense was one of alibi – that he was not at the scene of the murder at the time. A summing up cannot be criti- cized simply on the basis of the number of minutes de- voted to the prosecution case and defense case, the judges commented. “In our view, the judge placed the competing contentions of the prose- cution and defense before the jury.” The appeal also criticized the way the judge had dealt with the evidence of a de- fense witness who said he had seen two men in the vi- cinity of the shooting at or about or shortly before shots were heard. Justice Swift had described him as “a some- what dogmatic witness.” The appeal judges said, “One can be confident that a Cayman Islands jury were well able to consider the de- meanor of a Caymanian and knew well that their view of him was a matter for them. It must have been obvious to the jury that this was a judge expressing a perception of the witness’s demeanor whose reliability was for them to decide.” Further, in summing up the evidence, Justice Swift re- minded the jury that the de- fense had suggested the two men were the killers. This part of the case was noteworthy for the lack of clear evidence, and it was for the jury to make what they chose of it, the appeal judges said. They said Justice Swift was entitled to make clear the different ways in which the evidence about the two men could be interpreted. “A consequence of an alibi defense will be that the de- tails, such as they may be, as to the circumstances in which the offense took place are outside the knowledge of a defendant. It is clear that the judge in this instance skillfully marshalled all the areas of the prosecution’s case which had been sub- jected to attack. He skillfully articulated the attacks which had been made and, by his summing up, gave the case a structure and comprehen- sive format which the respec- tive cases for the prosecution and the defense may not have achieved,” the court said. “Clarity of exposition on the part of a judge in a crim- inal case is a hallmark of a proper summing up,” the judges pointed out. “According to the strengths and weaknesses of the respective case, clarity will inevitably en- lighten the jury in respect of those respective cases. However, if the clarity re- flects fairly the quality of the evidence and the mate- rial for the jury’s consider- ation but, taken together it points to a verdict of guilty, in our judgment, it cannot be said that the clarity has brought about injustice and unfairness,” the court concluded in dismissing the appeal. Carol Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Jeffrey Barnes’s appeal of his rape conviction was dismissed on Friday in the Court of Appeal. Justice Dennis Morrison indicated that reasons for affirming the convic- tion would be handed down later. The appeal, argued by lead counsel Michael Wood, was based largely on the claim that pre-trial pub- licity was so prejudicial that Barnes could not have had a fair trial. A jury verdict in April 2013 was unanimous. Barnes, 34, also appealed against the life sentence im- posed by Justice Charles Quin for this conviction. The court decided to hear that appeal separately, in part because it involves a con- stitutional issue, on which Attorney General Samuel Bulgin might wish to make submissions as govern- ment’s principal legal ad- viser. Attorney Nicholas Dixey, who appeared with Mr. Wood, explained that his argument was based on Cayman’s Bill of Rights, which came into effect on Nov. 6, 2012. Article 3 states, “No person shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Mr. Dixey will argue that a life sentence for rape is “inhuman punishment.” Legislators last year de- bated a Conditional Release Bill, which stated, “It is now considered inhuman and degrading punishment for any person to be incarcer- ated for the rest of his life without the possibility of ever being released. All pris- oners serving what used to be whole life terms must have a specified term of imprisonment.” The bill, which was passed into law last October but which is not yet in ef- fect, introduces a system that sets general guidelines for the release of all pris- oners on license conditions. However, the only specified term of imprisonment set in place of life imprisonment was 30 years for murder. No specified term was set for any other offense for which the maximum penalty is life imprison- ment (such as rape, robbery, arson or treason). Further, the Penal Code provides that, where a person is found guilty of committing a Category A of- fense for a second time, “the court may in its discretion sentence that person to im- prisonment for life for that second offense.” A check of Cayman Compass files shows that Barnes was con- victed of rape in 2001 and re- ceived a sentence of 10 years. The 2013 jury verdict re- lated to an incident on Oct. 20, 2011. Justice Charles Quin imposed the life sen- tence in September 2013. Four months ear- lier, Justice Alexander Henderson had sentenced Barnes to 15 years for a rape that occurred on Oct. 29, 2011. He indicated at the time that the appropriate sentence was 20 years, but gave a discount for Barnes’s guilty plea. For the ap- peal against conviction, the Crown’s response was presented by Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryll Richards, assisted by Crown counsel Candia James. The third judge for the court was Sir Richard Field. Compass journalist Brent Fuller contributed to this report. Rape conviction appeal dismissed “Clarity of exposition on the part of a judge in a criminal case is a hallmark of a proper summing up.” COURT OF APPEAL Trinidad charges 11 in killing of prominent prosecutor PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) – Authorities in Trinidad an- nounced Saturday that they have charged 11 people in last year’s killing of promi- nent prosecutor and former senator Dana Seetahal. Deputy Police Chief Glen Hackett made the an- nouncement during a tele- vised address in which he apologized to her family for withholding information, saying it was necessary. Seetahal was fatally shot in May 2014 after sus- pects in two cars opened fire after cutting off her vehicle in Trinidad’s cap- ital. Police said it appeared to be a professional hit. At least 15 shells were found at the scene in the residential Woodbrook neighborhood. “It stands out as the most challenging case I’ve ever worked on,” Hackett said, adding that inter- national law enforcement agencies helped local au- thorities. He declined to name the agencies. Hackett declined to com- ment on a potential motive, saying the evidence would be presented in court. The suspects are scheduled to appear in court on Monday. Among those charged is Rajaee Ali, son of one of the leaders of Jamaat al Muslimeen, an Islamic group that organized a vi- olent coup attempt nearly 25 years ago. Rajaee pre- viously told reporters that he was not involved in Seetahal’s killing.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 Monday July 27, 2015 • Cayman Compass Mr. Leslie said he was called to the scene of the fire by a friend in the area. He posted pictures of the burned-out shell of the building on his Facebook page and organized CayBrew staff and volun- teers in a public appeal for help. “The reaction has been amazing,” he said Saturday afternoon, amid piles of clothes, toys and boxes of food that had steadily accu- mulated throughout the day. Two children stopped by with their piggy bank and donated $50 to the cause; another child and her par- ents stopped in with a box of toys. Kirk Market and Cost U Less were among the local businesses to con- tribute some $3,000 worth of food and food vouchers during the day. “The main thing was to get them food, supplies, clothing and cash. Now we have to work with authori- ties to find them somewhere to live and to help them get the home rebuilt,” said Mr. Leslie, who has prom- ised CayBrew will match the cash donations from the community. Johnny Buttrum, 43, who works with the Department of Environmental Health, said all of the family’s pos- sessions were lost. When the fire broke out, he was sitting in his room watching karate. He said he ran to get his nephews out of the front room, close to where the blaze started, then came back for his daughters. He tried to battle the fire him- self until emergency crews arrived, but the flames were overwhelming and the structure burned in a matter of minutes. A crowd of neighbors and family members were gathered outside the home Saturday afternoon. The roof of the building had col- lapsed, doors had fallen in and melted appliances lay amid the wreckage. Charred gym equipment was scattered about the yard and a charred truck sat in the front driveway. Johnny Buttrum’s daughters Hanielle, 12, and Janielle, 14, had ar- rived on the island just this week, visiting from the U.K., where they live with their mother. “We were playing in the back room and then my dad came through shouting ‘fire, fire’ and we ran outside. It’s a big shock,” said Hanielle. Sandra Miller, area rep- resentative for Windsor Park, said she was coordi- nating with authorities on behalf of the family to find them temporary housing. She said, “This is a com- munity where we help each other out. We don’t have much, but we are there for each other.” The cause of the fire re- mains unknown. Neither police nor fire officials re- sponded to requests for in- formation over the weekend. CayBrew owner Matthew Leslie handed over thousands of dollars’ worth of community donations of clothing, food and other essentials to the victims of the fire on Saturday. - PHOTOS: JAMES WHITTAKER A demolition crew on Sunday clears the wreckage of the burned-out building. – PHOTO: MATTHEW LESLIE Seventeen people were left homeless after the fire. ‘We’ve lost everything’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 I wish to take this opportunity to thank the staff of Cayman Airways for their kindness to my sister, Ms. Esther Ebanks, on Friday, 17th July 2015. The staff at the ticket counter in Miami, the boarding area and the stewardesses, in particular, Caridad, deserve a Big Thank You! To the pilots who made such a smooth landing and to the strong men who carried her from the aircraft to the Arrival Lounge, please know how thankful I am. My experience with Cayman Airways has always been great, but this time everyone went beyond the call of duty and for this I am most grateful. Dr. Steve TomlinsonThe islands’ most-trusted news source 9 In addition, the report found that contrary to the Cayman Islands governance framework, guidance from the elected members of the Legislative Assembly is no longer steering major de- velopment decisions. This finding stemmed partly from the fact that the development plan now used by govern- ment was created nearly 20 years ago. “The failure of govern- ments to maintain the cur- rency of development plans may have led to the impres- sion that this important gov- ernment responsibility has been allowed to pass to the private sector,” the audit re- port states. “The two largest developments undertaken in the past five years – the NRA agreement [with the Dart group] and Health City – were pursued outside the context of an up-to-date na- tional land use plan.” Neither project was as- sessed against what audi- tors referred to as a “cur- rent” development plan, and while the Central Planning Authority used the 1997 ver- sion of government’s develop- ment plan for the Health City Cayman Islands proposal, its use was “cursory at best,” au- ditors found. This general deficiency of the legislative oversight func- tion, and additionally the decision to close planning board meetings to the public, has led to diminished trans- parency regarding a number of development decisions, Mr. Swarbrick’s report found. In recent years, there have been some improvements to the process. Since the ad- vent of the Cayman Islands Freedom of Information Law, applications to the Central Planning Authority and its equivalent body for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, the Development Control Board, have been posted on a gov- ernment website. The deci- sions on those applications regarding land use are gen- erally public information as well. However, the rationale the board uses for those rul- ings is often not disclosed, auditors found. “We found several cases where departments with technical expertise … asked for amendments to appli- cations or made objections, but these reservations did not form part of [the board’s] decision,” the audit report states. “Often, the decision would state only that the au- thority or board had ‘consid- ered’ information from other agencies.” In response to the audit’s findings, the Central Planning Authority members noted that certain agency submis- sions were “not well substan- tiated.” However, the board members never clarified what was expected of the agencies that submitted those reports or technical advice. Particular cases where this occurred were flagged by auditors: ■■ The Health City Cayman Islands project sub- mitted a planned area development application to the Central Planning Authority for the site around the East End hos- pital. Three government agencies – the National Roads Authority, the Water Authority, Cayman and the Department of Environment – all “raised significant concerns re- garding the nature and impact of the project on the natural environ- ment.” All environmental concerns, the potential cost of building a by- pass highway north of the hospital project and the infrastructure stresses the project would place on public facilities and roads were left unad- dressed, auditors reported. ■■ In the case of another de- velopment, the Adagio in South Sound, both the Water Authority and the Department of Environment recom- mended dredging restric- tions of no more than 20 feet “to preserve water quality.” The government planning department en- dorsed the 20-foot re- striction. However, the planning board approved the 30-foot excavation request by the devel- oper “without explana- tion,” auditors revealed. ■■ The Department of Environment raised con- cerns about the planned Kimpton hotel along Seven Mile Beach, ap- proved as part of the NRA agreement with the Dart group, including the de- velopment’s setback from the water and require- ments for “turtle-friendly” lighting (typically, hatch- ling turtles use the light of the moon to guide them from the beach, where they are born, back into the sea. Bright lights close to shore can confuse them and cause them to go the wrong way). Also, the National Roads Authority concluded in its review of the road connections to the Esterley Tibbetts Highway, also approved as part of the agreement, that those connections would create “an unjusti- fied hazard to motorists.” The planning board ap- proved the development without commenting on any of these concerns. ■■ In Cayman Brac, the Development Control Board approved an ex- tension to a quarry de- spite the Department of Environment and the Water Authority informing the board that the appli- cant for the extension was in breach of license terms. The departments asked that the quarry operator remediate the breach “as a condition of the applica- tion approval.” The board approved the applica- tion without requiring those conditions, noting that it had taken the con- cerns “into account.” Conflicts The auditor general’s office also looked into whether de- cision-makers on the two de- velopment boards were free from the appearance of, or ac- tual, conflicts of interest. The Central Planning Authority has guidelines for members of the board to de- clare any conflicts and re- cuse themselves from meet- ings until matters related to their business, or the business of a close relative, are com- pleted. However, those guide- lines do not impose sanc- tions if board members don’t follow the rules, nor do they require members to disclose financial interests in busi- nesses at any time. The adoption of the Standards in Public Life Law in 2014 was due to intro- duce disclosure requirements for appointed board mem- bers, but the law was never put into effect. Premier Alden McLaughlin said last year that concerns from various appointed board members forced government to rewrite sections of the law. Updated legislation has not been brought before the House. “The great majority of members of the Central Planning Authority appointed since August 2013 were from the development and con- struction industries,” Mr. Swarbrick’s report found. “While providing exper- tise to the Central Planning Authority, this creates a high risk of conflicts and also ad- versely affects the appearance of freedom from conflict.” Recommendations The auditor’s office made three recommendations to improve the functioning of the two planning boards, including that the meet- ings of both the Central Planning Authority and the Brac Development Control Board be open to the public and that they provide rea- sons for their decisions. Auditors also recom- mended that board mem- bers be required to fill out a register of business inter- ests immediately. In its response to both recommendations, the gov- ernment indicated that “this is a matter for the [planning boards]” and that the civil service manage- ment could not make any promises. The audit report also recommended that both boards should be better balanced to include “mem- bers representing sectors other than the building and development industry.” Government managers responded to the report stating that this was a matter for the elected mem- bers of the Cabinet. Mr. Swarbrick said Thursday that Legislative Assembly members had provided no response to his audit, despite having received it three to four weeks ago. Cayman Compass • Monday July 27, 2015 parent companies of the local branches for Jamaican National, MoneyGram and Fast-Funds, giving them notice to find a new bank, according to two of the companies. Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton said Friday that he did not think the cash transfer companies would have to shut down. Mr. Panton said Cayman National had originally given the companies until the end of this month, but the dead- line has been pushed back to the end of August as the com- panies figure out an arrange- ment to keep the remittance services operating. “While any commercial de- cisions regarding money-ser- vices businesses are a matter for the businesses and the banks to make themselves, Government and [the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority] are arranging these discus- sions in order to address concerns on both sides, with the aim of ensuring that op- tions remain open to con- sumers,” Mr. Panton said in a statement Friday. Many expatriate workers rely on services like MoneyGram to transfer cash. The transfers are inexpen- sive, usually costing under $5 or $10, and do not require either the sender or the re- ceiver to have a bank ac- count. Wire transfers from banks typically cost more than $20, and even then the person on the receiving end has to have a bank account to get the money. Last year, workers in Cayman sent about $180 mil- lion back to their home coun- tries as remittances through money transfers. Most of that money, about $110 million, went to Jamaica, according to data published by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. About $23 million went to the Philippines, and more than $12 million each went to the United States and Honduras. Cayman National Bank declined to comment on the possibility of ending the deal with the money transfer companies. According to Mr. Panton, the correspondent bank that took the bulk of the cash de- posits from Cayman National said it was no longer going to be handling the bulk cash business. Brett Hill, CEO of Fidelity Bank’s Cayman Islands op- erations, said the money transfer business has be- come riskier in recent years with concerns over terrorism financing and money laun- dering through cash trans- fers. With the higher risk and the regulations to move money through the U.S., the cost has gone up, but the price has gone down. The board of directors for the Bahamas-based Fidelity Group voted July 17 to close the Western Union counters that the bank op- erated in the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands. The Western Union branches closed the next day. “It’s getting harder and harder to bank this busi- ness,” Mr. Hill said. “Banks are trying to de-risk,” he said, and the Western Union busi- ness was becoming a smaller and smaller portion of Fidelity’s business. Western Union had eight branches in the Cayman Islands, mainly in grocery stores. MoneyGram has seven branches in Cayman, and Jamaican National has two counters. Leesa Kow, general man- ager for JN Money Services, which runs the Jamaican National cash transfers, said Cayman National sent a letter to her company and the others saying the bank would no longer handle their trans- actions. Money transfer com- panies need a registered local bank as part of the transfer. There’s a stigma for banks, Ms. Kow said, because of the due diligence the transfer companies and banks have to go through to ensure they are not sending money to ter- rorist organizations or unwit- tingly helping with a money laundering scheme. “I understand the con- cerns,” she said, “but the industry cannot sur- vive without a banking relationship.” Ms. Kow and a repre- sentative from Financial Integrated Services, which operates MoneyGram, said that Cayman National Bank had been the only local bank willing to work with the transfer companies. “There are serious impli- cations for this country if im- migrant workers can’t send money home,” Ms. Kow said. Customers at MoneyGram last week, none of whom wanted to speak on the re- cord, expressed surprise and concern over the Western Union closing and the po- tential that the other money transfer services could close as well. Arturo Ursua, the hon- orary Philippines consul in Cayman, said companies like Western Union “are a very im- portant part of how Filipinos here send funds to families back home.” He said most Philippines expats in Cayman live payday to payday without a bank account, sending cash home regularly to support their families. “Many depend on these remittance services,” he said. More cash transfer companies in jeopardy of closing CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Planning decisions ‘not transparent’ Dr. Wayne Porter Dermatologist CALL : 946-9020 BETWEEN 9AM TO 5PM Now located at Dees Plaza #282 on Crewe Road, GT He will be in of ce from July 27th - 31st, 2015 “The failure of governments to maintain the currency of development plans may have led to the impression that this important government responsibility has been allowed to pass to the private sector.” AlAstAir swArbrick, auditor generalNext >