Kelsey JuKam kjukam@pinnaclemedialtd.com Arriving home after a late night of carousing with his friends, a 15-year-old boy is given a stern talking to by his father. “You have to get serious about your future,” the fa- ther says. “What do you want to do with your life?” It’s a common story, but this particular tale involves some extraordinary Caymanians. The father was Ormond L. Panton, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire who was recognized as one of the Cayman Islands National Heroes in 2011. The son, Neely Panton, would grow up to be a top surgeon, clinical professor and a leader in the medical field. Destined for surgery That talk with his father may have been the first time Dr. Panton considered his desire to become a doctor, but there had been previous indications as to what his future ca- reer might be. He said his sisters al- ways knew that was his destiny be- cause when he was a child, they would find him sitting in the back- yard, dissecting small animals such as frogs. He was even named after another Dr. Neely, who, in the days ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – monday august 3, 2015 High of 91 Low of 79 Smooth to slight with wave heights less than 2 feet. Worst Week Rep. Chaka Fattah 3 Politics The power of Puerto Rico 4 Authors A primer on a rhymer 17 Wonkblog Cecil isn’t the only one 23 ABCDE NATIONAL WEEKLY After a crackdown on painkillers, heroin has crept into affluent suburbs, where it’s claiming victims at an alarming rate. PAGE 12 america’s quiet epidemic THE WEEK OF SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2015. IN COLLABORATION WITH THE wASHIngTon poST America’s quiet epidemic Editorial | pagE 4 a good day for Justice in cayman 5 SPICY CAJUN WINGS AND A REG DRINK $530$5$5$530 30303030 native son excels in surgery Camana Bay roadwork approved James WhittaKer jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Major changes to the road network around Camana Bay, including moving a section of the highway and building a new underpass, have been approved by the Central Planning Authority. Preliminary work on the US$40 million public works project – designed and funded by Dart Realty to facilitate a planned $300 million expansion of Camana Bay – will begin on Monday. The developer ultimately plans to con- nect the town center on North Sound to a planned five-star hotel on Seven Mile Beach, using broad landscaped bridges and elevated land. A second underpass on West Bay Road is also planned, though an application has yet to be made for that aspect of the project. The infrastructure work approved by the Central Planning Authority at its July 8 meeting includes a new road layout, with the current stretch of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway that passes in front Mob Museum in Las Vegas to open FIFA exhibit LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Mob Museum in Las Vegas is setting up an exhibit dedicated to the FIFA corruption scandal. The permanent display enti- tled “The ‘Beautiful Game’ Turns Ugly” will open at the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement in downtown Las Vegas on Sept. 1. It will feature photos, media clippings and narratives about accusations of bribes and other criminal activity in FIFA. A U.S. indictment citing the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal law known as RICO, was filed against senior FIFA officials in May. The museum’s executive di- rector said in a statement Tuesday that the new feature would be of interest to Vegas’s many foreign visitors. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » An architect’s rendering of the plan for the new section of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway through Camana Bay. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » Caledonian Creditors to reCeive payments Those with deposits of $20K or less to get 100 percent alan marKoff amarkoff@pinnaclemedialtd.com The creditors of Caledonian Bank Ltd., which went into liquidation in February, will receive dividend payments, in some cases rep- resenting the full amount of their deposit. The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority placed Caledonian Bank, as well as its sister company, Caledonian Securities, in control- lership on Feb. 10, just days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against the bank. The Grand Court subsequently ordered the winding up of the two companies on Feb. 23. The joint official liquidators, Keiran Hutchinson and Claire Lobell of Ernst & Young, issued a circular to creditors on July 29 giving an update on the forthcoming pay- ments, which will be segmented into two types. For those registered creditors whose total deposits did not exceed $20,000, they will re- ceive a “preferential dividend” equivalent to 100 percent of their admitted claim, pursuant to section 141 and Schedule 2 of Cayman’s Companies Law. Those with total deposits exceeding $20,000 will receive a first interim dividend equivalent to 75 percent of their admitted claim, considerably higher than the 45 percent to 50 percent figure the joint official liquida- tors first estimated. “[This is] due to a range of factors, in- cluding that no material unexpected claims Dr. Neely PantonOrmond L. Panton, OBE2 LOCAL&REGIONAL Monday august 3, 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. *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. - MONDAY - $8.00 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (PG13) 1:10 | 4:05 | 7:00 | 9:55 VACATION (R) 1:30 | 4:20 | 7:20 | 9:40 PIXELS 3D (PG13) 1:00 | 3:30 2D TRAINWRECK (R) 7:05 | 9:50 SOUTHPAW (R) 1:15 | 4:00 | 7:15 | 10:00 ANT-MAN 3D (PG13) 1:40 2D | 3:40 | 7:05 2D | 9:30 MINIONS 3D (PG) 1:20 | 4:40 2D | 7:10 | 9:45 2D Mexico news photographer found slain in capital MEXICO CITY (AP) – A pho- tographer for the Mexican in- vestigative magazine Proceso, who had fled his home state after being harassed, was among five people found slain early Saturday in an apartment in Mexico City, ac- cording to the magazine. The body of Ruben Espinosa, who collabo- rated with Proceso and other media, was identified by a family member at the morgue Saturday afternoon, Proceso reported, adding that he had two gunshot wounds. Espinosa had recently gone into self-exile from the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where he felt under threat, according to Proceso. His family had lost contact with him on Friday and by Saturday the free speech ad- vocacy group Article 19 had called on Mexican authorities to activate the protocols for locating a missing journalist. He was found dead with four women, three of whom lived in the apartment in the middle-class Narvarte neigh- borhood near the center of the city, according to the Mexico City prosecutor’s of- fice. The fourth woman was a domestic employee, the prosecutor’s statement said. It said identifications and cause of death were still being verified. Veracruz has been a dan- gerous state for reporters. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 11 journalists have been killed there since 2010, all under Gov. Javier Duarte, the most recent just a month ago. Two others, including Espinosa, were Veracruz jour- nalists found dead outside of the state. Article 19 on Saturday called the killing of Espinosa a new level of violence against journalists in Mexico, as he was first to be killed while in exile in Mexico City. Many reporters under threat in their home states have taken refuge in the capital, where the federal govern- ment has set up an agency to help such journalists. The advocacy group said in an article that the killing occurred “without authori- ties charged with protecting journalists lifting a finger to help Espinosa.” Article 19 said it pub- lished an alert about Espinosa June 15 after he re- ported unknown people fol- lowing him, taking his pho- tograph and harassing him outside his home in Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz. stuffing the bus with school supplies In a sign that school bells are almost ringing again, Caribbean Alliance Insurance Co. Ltd. started a drive on Saturday at Hurley’s Fresh Market to collect school supplies for Cayman Islands students. Donated school supplies where loaded into the back of a school bus parked in front of the supermarket. Pictured here manning the donation table are, from left, Aleisha Lalor, Jaylan Samuels and Chanelle Ramoon. The collection drive continues through Aug. 22, with additional drop-off locations at Foster’s Food Fair, Office Supply, Lee’s Office Supply and the Caribbean Alliance Insurance Office. - Photo: AlAn MArkoff Mother pleads not guilty to daughter’s murder Carol Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Tamara Olita Butler pleaded not guilty in Grand Court on Friday to the charge of mur- dering her daughter, 6-year-old Bethany Gabrielle Butler, on or about Oct. 27, 2014. Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Patrick Moran told Justice Malcolm Swift that the Crown had received the report of a medical expert retained by defense counsel Laurence Aiolfi. He said the Crown did not accept the re- port as it related to a defense to the charge. The Crown is therefore instructing another expert, he said. Justice Swift asked what the issue was. “Diminished responsi- bility,” Mr. Moran replied. The judge ordered that the Crown serve its expert report on Mr. Aiolfi by Oct. 9 so that there could be a plea and di- rections hearing on Oct. 16. Trial was set for Feb. 8, 2016. The defendant, 37, has been in custody since her arrest a few hours after Bethany’s body was found with multiple stab wounds in a car parked in the bush along the Queen’s Highway in East End. CLARIFICATIon A story in the Friday, July 31 edition of the Cayman Compass entitled “Two in- jured in West Bay dirt bike crash” did not intend to infer that police had assessed fault to the operator of either vehicle in the accident. The Cayman Compass strives for accuracy and is committed to correcting errors that appear in the newspaper. Those interested in contacting the paper for that purpose can email the editor at newsdesk@ pinnaclemedialtd.com. Man robbed of pants in George Town A 37-year-old Honduran national reported that he was robbed of his pants late Friday night outside of Meringue Town Bar on Boilers Road, police said. The man said he was out- side the bar around 11:30 p.m. when he was approached by a man who pressed a knife against his stomach and de- manded his pants. The man said he removed his pants and gave them to the suspect, who ran off to- ward Walkers Road. He said the pants contained two cell- phones, his Honduran na- tional identification card, a small amount of coins and his wallet, which contained a substantial amount of Cayman Islands dollars and Honduran Lempira. The suspect was de- scribed as having a light complexion and a slim build. He was wearing long light-blue jeans, a gray sleeveless T-shirt, brown sneakers, and a white mask over his face. The matter is under investigation. Anyone with information that could assist police is asked to contact Detective Constable Ava Parkinson at 949-4222 or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). ‘Gut-wrenching’ decision: Search for Florida teens suspended OPA-LOCKA, Florida (AP) – After hundreds of rescue workers fanned out across a massive swath of the Atlantic for a full week, the Coast Guard’s search for two teenage fishermen ended Friday, a heart-rending decision for families so con- vinced the boys could be alive they’re pressing on with their own hunt. The agency said it ended the search at sunset, as it had announced earlier in the day. The Coast Guard searched waters from South Florida up through South Carolina without success. Even as officials announced at noon that the formal search- and-rescue effort would end at sundown, private planes and boats were preparing to keep scouring the water hoping for clues on what happened to the 14-year-old neighbors, Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos. Capt. Mark Fedor called the decision to suspend the search “excruciating and gut-wrenching.” He sug- gested what long had been feared by observers – that the boys had surpassed any reasonable period of surviv- ability – with his offering of “heartfelt condolences.” “I know no statistics will ease the pain,” he said in re- counting the seven-day, nearly 50,000-square-nautical-mile search. “We were desperate to find Austin and Perry.” With volunteers ready to keep searching all along the coastline and about $340,000 in search-fund donations by Friday evening, the families promised to keep looking for their sons. Nick Korniloff, the step- father of Perry, addressed a horde of media outside his home on a quiet street in Tequesta, Florida, saying air searches led by private pilots would go on alongside new ef- forts led by former members of the military and others with special training. “We know there’s a window here and we think there’s an opportunity,” he said, “and we will do everything we can to bring these boys home.” Those who have met with the families believe the pri- vate search could go on at least for weeks. “How could you go back to normal?” said Tequesta Police Chief Christopher Elg, who has stayed in regular contact with the families. “They may very well devote a large por- tion of the next few weeks, months, maybe even years just toward hope and doing what they can to bring themselves a sense of peace.”3 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday august 3, 2015 The public is hereby given notice that RBC Royal Bank (Cayman) Ltd holds the following dormant accounts; The public is also given notice of the following; 1. Unless one or more of the following transactions are e ected on a dormant account listed above on or December 31, 2015, the monies being held in the account will be transferred to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands without further notice. b) Increase or decrease the amount held in the nical institution; c) Present the passbook or other record for the crediting of interest or dividends in respect of the items enumerated in section 4(6) (a) (b) of the Dormant Account Law, 2010 d) Correspond in writing with the nancial institution concerning the monies held e) Otherwise indicate an interest in monies as evidence by memorandum concerning the monies written by the nancial institution. 2. Subject the Dormant Law 2011 Revision, on the transfer of the monies held in the dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, the dormant account holder will no longer have any right against the nancial institution to repayment of the monies transferred but the dormant account holder will have, against the Government, such right to repayment of the monies transferred that the dormant account holder would have had against the nancial institution. 3. Any interested person should contact the nancial institution mentioned above to establish if that person is a dormant account holder. Regards AVP Michael Munnings Increase or decrease the amount held in the nical institution; Present the passbook or other record for the crediting of interest or dividends in respect of the items enumerated in section 4(6) (a) (b) of the Dormant Account Law, 2010 Correspond in writing with the nancial institution concerning the monies held Otherwise indicate an interest in monies as evidence by memorandum concerning the monies written by the nancial institution. Subject the Dormant Law 2011 Revision, on the transfer of the monies held in the dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, the dormant account holder will no longer have any right against the nancial institution to repayment of the monies transferred but the dormant account holder will have, against the Government, such right to repayment of the monies transferred that the dormant account holder would have had against the nancial institution. Any interested person should contact the nancial institution mentioned above to establish if that person is a dormant account holder. Otherwise indicate an interest in monies as evidence by memorandum concerning Subject the Dormant Law 2011 Revision, on the transfer of the monies held in the Subject the Dormant Law 2011 Revision, on the transfer of the monies held in the dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, the dormant account holder will no longer have any right against the nancial institution the dormant account holder will no longer have any right against the nancial institution to repayment of the monies transferred but the dormant account holder will have, against the dormant account holder will no longer have any right against the nancial institution to repayment of the monies transferred but the dormant account holder will have, against the Government, such right to repayment of the monies transferred that the dormant establish if that person is a dormant account holder. Subject the Dormant Law 2011 Revision, on the transfer of the monies held in the dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, the dormant account holder will no longer have any right against the nancial institution to repayment of the monies transferred but the dormant account holder will have, against the Government, such right to repayment of the monies transferred that the dormant account holder would have had against the nancial institution. Any interested person should contact the nancial institution mentioned above to Present the passbook or other record for the crediting of interest or dividends in respect of the items enumerated in section 4(6) (a) (b) of the Dormant Account Law, 2010 Correspond in writing with the nancial institution concerning the monies held Otherwise indicate an interest in monies as evidence by memorandum concerning Subject the Dormant Law 2011 Revision, on the transfer of the monies held in the Correspond in writing with the nancial institution concerning the monies held Otherwise indicate an interest in monies as evidence by memorandum concerning the monies written by the nancial institution. Subject the Dormant Law 2011 Revision, on the transfer of the monies held in the dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, the dormant account holder will no longer have any right against the nancial institution to repayment of the monies transferred but the dormant account holder will have, against the Government, such right to repayment of the monies transferred that the dormant Any interested person should contact the nancial institution mentioned above to establish if that person is a dormant account holder. Increase or decrease the amount held in the nical institution; Present the passbook or other record for the crediting of interest or dividends in respect of the items enumerated in section 4(6) (a) (b) of the Dormant Account Law, 2010 Correspond in writing with the nancial institution concerning the monies held Otherwise indicate an interest in monies as evidence by memorandum concerning the monies written by the nancial institution. Subject the Dormant Law 2011 Revision, on the transfer of the monies held in the dormant account to the general revenue of the Cayman Islands, and subject to this Law, the dormant account holder will no longer have any right against the nancial institution to repayment of the monies transferred but the dormant account holder will have, against the Government, such right to repayment of the monies transferred that the dormant account holder would have had against the nancial institution. Any interested person should contact the nancial institution mentioned above to establish if that person is a dormant account holder. Dormant Account Notice RBC Royal Bank (Cayman) Limited George Town Branch 24 Shedden Road, George Town P.O. Box 245 Grand Cayman KY1-1104 Cayman Islands Transit: 06975 Tel.: 345-949-4600 Fax: 345-949-7396 Account NumberDate Opened 709425321/08/2007 704911723/10/2007 730693905/11/2007 200391127/09/2007 200645017/04/2007 730235928/09/2007 732480925/05/2007 Suspended sentence for employee who stole $20,000 Judge cites exceptional circumstance Carol Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Samantha Natasha Brown received a suspended sen- tence for theft of $20,000 from her employer after the judge found that an abusive relationship was an excep- tional circumstance. Brown was sentenced on Thursday to 12 months’ im- prisonment for the theft, but the sentence was suspended two years. Justice Malcolm Swift noted that both Crown counsel Toyin Salako and de- fense attorney John Furniss had referred to the best- known sentencing authority for breaches of trust, the 1985 U.K. case of Barrick, which states that in gen- eral, an immediate custodial sentence “is inevitable save in very exceptional circum- stances or where the amount of money obtained is small.” The judge agreed with Ms. Salako that the amount of money was not small. After hearing about the du- ress Brown, 30, was under because of the abusive rela- tionship she was involved in, Justice Swift agreed with Mr. Furniss that there were ex- ceptional circumstances. Brown pleaded guilty to stealing four sums – $12,000, $2,000, $4,000 and another $2,000 – between Nov. 29, 2013 and April 25, 2014, plus four counts of forgery during that period. A charge of false accounting was left on file. Brown was employed with a property management com- pany in a supervisory/man- agerial capacity, Ms. Salako said. The employer noticed a discrepancy with accounts in July 2014, with $20,000 listed for construction. When she asked Brown abut it, Brown said she had asked several condominium owners if she could borrow money and they had agreed. However, it turned out that their signatures were forged. Brown then sent a letter to the employer admitting bor- rowing the money and saying she would repay it. The de- fendant did not repay the amount Ms. Salako empha- sized, although the bank sub- sequently covered the amount. Brown breached the trust of her employer and her cli- ents, Ms. Salako pointed out. The company owner was ex- tremely distressed and for a while worried that her busi- ness would not survive this level of dishonesty. She be- lieved her business reputa- tion had been tarnished and she had lost potential clients. Although she did not lose the $20,000, she had to obtain legal advice at some cost. Mr. Furniss said Brown was “under fire” from the in- dividual with whom she had formed a relationship, either through physical violence or the very controlling way in which he controlled her life. As an example, he noted that the relationship began in January 2011, and the man “moved into her apartment without asking in February 2011.” The man manipulated her finances and took over her car to the point that she had to hitch rides. She re- mained in the relationship because she had children by him. Mr. Furniss pointed out that Brown did not ben- efit from her thefts. The first money she stole was to buy a motorcycle for the man. Justice Swift said the evi- dence seemed to make it clear that she stole $12,000 one day and paid $11,000 the next day for the motorcycle. “Couldn’t police seize it?” he asked. The attorney replied that it was apparently in the man’s name. The bike had been imported, so there was also duty to pay and then other related items, he indicated. His final point related to the children. The Court of Appeal had specifically stated that being a parent of young children was not an exceptional circumstance, he noted, but he had mentioned it so that the court would have an overall picture. In passing sentence, Justice Swift noted Brown’s initial prevarications when her offenses were discovered. He said he was satisfied she had stolen the money and passed it on to her partner in cash or in kind. The first thefts went for the motor- cycle, while later thefts “went down the same sinkhole … . You were trying to keep an abusive relationship afloat.” Following U.K. guidelines that set a sentencing range of 12 months to three years, he considered mitigating factors and reached a sentence of 18 months. Allowing a one-third discount for Brown’s guilty plea, he imposed a sentence of 12 months on each offense, all to run concurrently. He then posed the ques- tion, “Should it be served im- mediately? Or are there ex- ceptional circumstances?” After reading all the re- ports about her life, he con- sidered that the relation- ship she had been in and the pressures she had been under were exceptional. “Sending you to prison would achieve nothing,” he told Brown. Instead, he di- rected that she be the sub- ject of a suspended sen- tence supervision order for two years. She must comply with all lawful instructions from her probation officer or Department of Community Rehabilitation officer; attend counseling and/or group ses- sions as directed; submit to any treatment or assessment required; engage in the par- enting program and any co- parenting mediation sessions as directed. The sentence will remain on her record and, should she commit any further offense over the next two years, she could be liable to serve this term of imprisonment in cus- tody in addition to any other fine or sentence imposed for the further offense. The first thefts went for the motorcycle, while later thefts “went down the same sinkhole … You were trying to keep an abusive relationship afloat,” Justice Swift told the defendant.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. Friday, July 24, was a good day for justice in this country. On that day, the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal handed down three decisions upholding the con- victions of three violent offenders, ensuring that they remain behind bars and away from the general community. In addition to the positive consequences in regard to public safety, the determinations by the appellate court – comprising highly experienced and respected adjudicators from the U.K. and the Commonwealth – also serve to demonstrate the validity of Cayman’s criminal justice system, and to confirm the profession- alism of its various codependent components, that is, the police, prosecutors, judges and juries. Consider the individuals from whom our authorities are keeping the rest of us safe: Chad Anglin, age 35, was tried in front of a jury and found guilty in May 2014 of the murder of Swiss banker Frederic Bise in February 2008. Mr. Bise’s body was found in the back of his burning car outside his home in Mount Pleasant, West Bay. In this instance, Anglin had been arrested and questioned days after the murder occurred, but was released because of lack of evidence. In 2013, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s “cold case unit” reopened the investi- gation and subsequently charged him. After the Court of Appeal’s upholding of his conviction, Anglin, a serial offender who had been arrested 43 times before his initial arrest for Mr. Bise’s murder, remains in prison. Raziel Jeffers, age 32, was tried by jury and found guilty in April 2014 of the murder of Damion Ming in West Bay in March 2010. Mr. Ming was shot dead in a yard off Birch Tree Hill Road, where he was working on a boat with several other men. Jeffers has also been found guilty of murdering Marcus Leon Ebanks in July 2009 in West Bay, and additionally was found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of Marcos Mauricio Duran in West Bay in March 2010 (a mere two weeks before Mr. Ming’s murder). In regard to the appeal of his conviction for Mr. Ming’s murder, the Court of Appeal described Grand Court Justice Malcolm Swift’s summing up of the evidence in the complex case as “skillful,” saying, “Clarity of exposition on the part of a judge in a criminal case is a hallmark of a proper summing up.” Jeffrey Barnes, age 34, was found guilty by a jury in April 2013 for raping a woman in her home at knife point on Oct. 20, 2011. He has also been convicted of another rape, as well as abduction and attempted rape, that occurred Oct. 29, 2011. In September 2013, Justice Charles Quin sentenced Barnes to life imprisonment for the Oct. 20 offenses. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of Barnes’s rape conviction, wherein his attorneys argued that pre- trial publicity was so prejudicial that Barnes could not have received a fair trial. However, Barnes’s lawyers have indicated they will argue a separate appeal, of the life sentence, claiming it is an “inhuman punishment” and contrary to Cayman’s Bill of Rights. Anglin, Jeffers and Barnes still have legal avenues for possible appeal remaining, if not in Cayman, then to the U.K. Privy Council. That is their right, just as it is their lawyers’ responsibility to represent their clients to the utmost of their ability. Let us be clear, Cayman’s defense attorneys are every bit as vital to the workings of justice in Cayman as police, prosecutors and judges. They, too, are among “the good guys.” A defense attorney not only works to get his client “off the hook,” but also – particularly through the appeals process – tests the soundness of Cayman’s justice system through pointed and probing legal arguments. In the above instances, Cayman’s appellate court found our system to have been sound, and that should help the people of Cayman rest a little easier at night. A good day for justice in Cayman Monday augusT 3, 2015 • Cayman COmpass Land and Sea Co-op supports cruise dock The Caymanian Land and Sea Cooperative Society sup- ports a new and improved cargo and cruise berthing fa- cility in George Town harbor and we have sent a letter to this effect to Minister of Tourism and Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell for his gov- ernment to take into serious consideration in the final de- cision-making process on this very important project for the Cayman Islands. As a reminder, our organiza- tion is a 100 percent Caymanian tour operation with a member- ship of 50-strong local inde- pendent operators who offer land- and sea-based excursions and other must-have services, such as transportation, all over and around the island to the many tourist-related busi- nesses who depend on us to bring the vast majority of cus- tomers to their establishments. Seventy percent of our busi- ness comes directly through the cruise lines, and without the cruise industry I regret to say that many persons in this organization would defi- nitely not be in business and probably would be on the un- employment list. Every single member has a family of two to three children who depend on their parents to clothe, feed and school them, while also maintaining a house mortgage or rent, CUC, water and other household bills, plus paying the high cost of doing business with regards to the upkeep of additional loans for buses and boats and all the licenses, in- surance fees and other associ- ated operating expenses. Without these operators and the significant role that they play both in the tourist sector and their contribution to the economy in general, the Cayman Islands would not have such a strong tourism in- dustry and certainly would not be such a great place to live or to visit, and so without any doubt our interests must be protected, as we are the major stakeholders in this business and our needs must be viewed just as importantly as pro- tecting our environment; the two must go hand in hand moving forward into the future. No one knows more than we do how badly the new up- graded air/sea port facili- ties are needed as we are the ground workers, the first and the last people to interact with our tourists and the ones who hear all their complaints about the lack of facilities such as proper cruise berthing piers, and we are the ones who work in a very difficult environ- ment while trying to offer the “CaymanKind” top-quality ser- vice that we are known for and that has put us on the top of the charts globally in the tourism industry. It is past due time that we have the fa- cilities to go with our bragging rights of being one of the best vacation destinations, as I be- lieve that the guest experience of going through our ports of entry is just as important as the experience they have during their stay on Island. Although we acknowl- edge the fact that we need this project and have given our sup- port for it, we have in our letter to government made it clear that we do share some of the concerns with regards to the potential environmental im- pact cited in the EIA report and have asked government to take all necessary preven- tative measures to ensure that the environment is protected as much as possible, if the project was to go ahead as is in the George Town harbor. In the letter we also encouraged government to look at other alternative locations such as Spotts and the Red Bay areas. We have also stated some of the economic benefits that the project will create, such as longer stays in port by the ships, hence increasing pas- senger spending as they will have more time to shop and more time to explore more of the island, creating opportu- nities for more Caymanians to start new tourist-related business ventures, especially in the eastern districts, pro- moting the “Go East” initiative that has not reached its ac- tual potential because cruise passengers simply don’t have enough time in port currently. The project will also create an increase in jobs and hopefully decrease the alarming rise in criminal activity. One of the major under- lying concerns we did mention in our letter is that we wanted to know where the small taxi/ tour operators and the local art/crafts vendors will be po- sitioned, so that they also have an opportunity to gain from the economic benefits deriving from this project, as the Land and Sea Cooperative also rep- resents these people, and gov- ernment has a responsibility to safeguard these business as well. We want guarantees that they would not be fenced out as is the case in other ports, where the cruise lines have built and have control over the piers. We also mentioned the need to have an updated tour price structure regulated by government. shaun Ebanks, chairman, Caymanian Land and sea Cooperative society [W]e are the ground workers, the first and the last people to interact with our tourists and the ones who hear all their complaints about the lack of facilities such as proper cruise berthing piers[.] Printed and Published by: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town send us yOur VieWs Or neWs: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com adVertise With us: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS daVid r. legge and Vicki l. legge EdITOR-In-CHIEf daVid r. legge A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way”5 LOCAL&REGIONAL Cayman Compass • Monday august 3, 2015 Your home. Your terms. Introducing a better way to own your home or access equity. Scotiabank’s Variable Flex Mortgage brings you: • Lower rates • Rate lock guarantee for 1 year • Flexibility to switch to fixed rate options Ask our knowledgeable Home Loan Advisors if a Variable Flex Mortgage† is right for you. †This product only applies to owner/non-owner occupied residential properties. Customers must comply with the Terms and Conditions applicable to Scotiabank Mortgages. Mortgage applicants must meet Scotiabank Mortgages lending criteria. VFM’s interest rates and product availability are subject to change without notice at any time. Interest rates and payments for customers with a VFM are subject to change annually at their VFM anniversary date. 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For information on how you can own your own home on your terms, contact us today. cayman.scotiabank.com/yourhomeyourterms PAYMENTS AS LOW AS: $100,000 | $449 $250,000 | $1,123 $500,000 | $2,245 Loan Amount | Monthly Payment RATES AS LOW AS: † 3.50% Discover what’s possible Find us at /ScotiabankKY Tourism arrivals improve on 2014 BrenT Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Midway through 2015, both stay-over and cruise tourist arrival numbers re- main higher overall for the Cayman Islands this year than they were during the first half of 2014. However, the record-set- ting performances in stay- over tourism for both July and August 2014 may be dif- ficult to repeat. “We’ve seen 7 [percent] and 11 percent [visitor] in- creases in the past two years,” Tourism Minister and Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell said during an interview Saturday. “We have to be re- alistic with our expectations.” Stay-over visitor num- bers dropped in June by a little more than 4 percent compared to June 2014, fol- lowing a similar decline in May when compared to the previous year. Despite the slight two- month decrease, stay-over visitor tallies remained higher overall in the first six months of this year due to better performance during Cayman’s tourism high season. Through June 2015, stay-over visitor num- bers were about 1.5 per- cent higher than during the same period in 2014. However, there were also record-setting tourism ar- rival numbers in 2014 during the typically slower tourism months of July and August. In July 2014, more than 39,000 stay-over visitors came to Cayman, and in August 2014, more than 30,000 arrived. Cayman Islands Department of Tourism figures recorded since the year 2000 show no previous July and August stay-over arrival numbers even close to those numbers. In addition, Mr. Kirkconnell said, Cayman is bracing for what is expected to be a “4,000 visitor hit” this month, with the cancellation of the CONCACAF under-15 boys football tournament. In the medium to long term, Mr. Kirkconnell has said, the Cayman Islands must in- crease its overall number of available hotel rooms if the territory wants to see more stay-over visitors in future years. He has noted that Cayman’s available hotel room space is maxed out during the high season, typi- cally from December to April. “We have a great product that has no new hotel rooms added to it,” Mr. Kirkconnell said. Cruise tourism arrivals, meanwhile, recorded a big jump in June. The arrival figures, released by the Department of Tourism on Friday, showed that nearly 95,000 cruise passengers vis- ited Cayman during June this year, a 9 percent increase over June of last year. Cruise arrival figures for the first half of 2015 have in- creased or remained virtually on par with last year’s num- bers, with the exception of February, when there was a 25,000 passenger drop-off. Overall, the number of cruise visitors increased about 5.5 percent during the first half of this year compared to the first half of 2014. Unfair comparison? Particularly in the area of stay-over tourism, com- paring arrival figures during 2014 to any other year might not seem to be a fair comparison. More than 382,000 people put their “heads in beds” last year in Cayman, the highest number ever since the Department of Tourism began publishing statistics from the year 2000 onward. The closest any year has come to that total was 2000, when more than 354,000 visitors stayed overnight on the islands. Since then, the Cayman Islands were affected by suc- cessive disasters of one kind or another: the September 2001 terrorist attacks on Lower Manhattan and Washington D.C. which cur- tailed air travel in particular; Hurricane Ivan in September 2004; and the global reces- sion of 2008-2009. Cruise ship visitor num- bers have never again reached the peak seen in 2006, when nearly two mil- lion people came to the is- lands on cruises. “We’ve seen 7 [percent] and 11 percent [visitor] increases in the past two years. We have to be realistic with our expectations.’ Moses KirKconnell, tourism minister Cruise tourism arrivals recorded a big jump in June. – Photo: StePhen Clarke Cuban tree frog: Invasive species takes over resident’s yard WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) – Over the past year, Barb Stall has noticed an increase in the frog population at her home on Lake Jessie. But they are not the frogs she usually sees, these guys are whitish in color and some- thing of a pest. “These frogs have really become an issue over the past year,” said Stall. “I have never noticed them before. The worst problem is when they stick to my windows and create a mess. They have also been killing all of our other frogs. We used to have toads and tree frogs and I haven’t seen any.” The frogs even get in- side her house. “I’ve brought flower pots inside my home and I’ve found them hiding inside. I’ve seen them in my barbecue grill as well and in- side my sliding glass door.” The creature Stall found all over her property is known as the Cuban tree frog and it is wreaking havoc on Florida’s ecosystem and the native frog species. As the name suggests, the amphibian is native to Cuba but is also found in the West Indies, according to Kristen Sommers, who leads the Florida Wildlife Commission’s impact management section. The Cuban tree frog is listed as an invasive spe- cies, which is a species of animal or plant that is in- troduced by people out- side its native range and has the ability to cause damage ecologically, eco- nomically and perhaps to human life, Steven Johnson, an associate professor at the University of Florida said. Johnson also is a re- searcher at the universi- ty’s Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. “Here in Florida, the Cuban tree frog is known to eat native tree frogs, which is the ecological damage,” said Johnson. “They can also cause short circuits in homes by getting into A/C units. These frogs also have a skin secretion that can send people to the hospital.” The Cuban tree frog is the largest tree frog species in North America. It was in- troduced to Florida via cargo shipping crates originating in the Caribbean, Johnson said. The species was first recorded in the Florida Keys during the 1920s and in Miami in 1952. Cuban tree frog6 LOCAL&REGIONAL Monday august 3, 2015 • Cayman Compass Challenger, Columbia wreckage on public display for first time CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA is offering up wreckage from the Challenger and Columbia for public view after hiding it from the world for decades. A new exhibit at Kennedy Space Center features two pieces of debris, one from each lost shuttle, as well as poignant, personal re- minders of the 14 astronauts killed in flight. It is an un- precedented collection of ar- tifacts – the first time, in fact, that any Challenger or Columbia remains have been openly displayed. NASA’s intent is to show how the astronauts lived, rather than how they died. As such, there are no pictures in the “Forever Remembered” exhibit of Challenger breaking apart in the Florida sky nearly 30 years ago or Columbia debris raining down on Texas 12 years ago. Since the tragic re-entry, Columbia’s scorched re- mains have been stashed in off-limits offices at the space center. But NASA had to pry open the underground tomb housing Challenger’s pieces – a pair of abandoned mis- sile silos at neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – to retrieve the section of fu- selage now on display. The exhumation was con- ducted in secrecy. Everything about the exhibit, in fact, was kept hush-hush during the four years it took to complete the project, out of respect to the dead astronauts’ families. June Scobee Rodgers had never seen an actual remnant of her husband’s destroyed shuttle, Challenger, until pre- viewing the exhibit just be- fore its low-key opening at the end of June. Displayed in a dimly lit room: a 12-foot section of the left side body panel of Challenger, standing verti- cally and bearing the gouged and scraped but still bril- liantly colorful U.S. flag, and the charred frames for Columbia’s cockpit win- dows, seemingly floating at eye level. “Sad, yes,” to see the wreckage but it is “a won- derful memorial” to the shut- tles, Scobee Rodgers said. The items representing the astro- nauts, on the other hand, are a “truly fitting” reminder of who they were as individuals. Challenger commander Francis “Dick” Scobee’s dis- play case, on the left side of the exhibit’s main corridor, contains the leather helmet from the Starduster biplane he and June used to fly, and his blue “TFNG” T-shirt from the Astronaut Class of 1978, nicknamed the Thirty-Five New Guys. Across the hall on the right are Columbia com- mander Rick Husband’s scuffed cowboy boots and well-worn Bible opened to Proverbs. There’s a dis- play case for each astronaut, filled with personal items, al- though not all families con- tributed, including school- teacher Christa McAuliffe’s. “Forever Remembered” is a permanent exhibit, part of a larger display cen- tered on the retired space shuttle Atlantis. NASA opted to keep Atlantis at Kennedy, the shuttle launch site, after Atlantis closed the pro- gram with the final mis- sion in 2011. The entrance to the new exhibit is directly be- neath the nose of Atlantis, which is suspended with its payload bay doors wide open as though perpetually orbiting Earth. One recent afternoon in July, tourists filled the pre- dominantly blue hallway, pausing in front of the as- tronaut display cases. One woman wondered aloud which shuttle burned up and which one blew up. A few young children scampered about, their parents shushing them given the solemnity of the place. A few weeks after visiting the exhibit, Scobee Rodgers noted in a phone interview that much of the world’s pop- ulation wasn’t even born yet when Challenger went down in 1986. “It’s mostly history for the general public. It’s very per- sonal for us,” she said. Amber DiSalvatore – an Apopka, Florida, resident touring the space center with her husband and two chil- dren – was 4 years old at the time of Challenger. Seeing the actual wreckage – along with Husband’s Bible – brought tears to her eyes. The astronauts sacri- ficed their lives for explo- ration, said DiSalvatore, “so it’s something that every- body – every human being – should know.” In the aftermath of the Feb. 1, 2003, Columbia ac- cident, NASA meticulously stored the 42 tons of debris in Kennedy’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building and made them available for research. The space agency displayed a remnant or two of Columbia in a restricted area of the space center and, for the fifth anniversary, organized a traveling in-house exhibit. The relics were intended as safety reminders for the workforce. The three sur- viving shuttles – Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, Challenger’s replacement – still were flying then. After Challenger’s acci- dent, NASA wanted it out of sight and out of mind. The Jan. 28, 1986, launch di- saster unfolded on live TV before countless schoolchil- dren eager to see an everyday teacher rocketing toward space. And so Challenger’s wreckage – all 118 tons of it, salvaged from the Atlantic – was buried in the pair of former missile silos, 90 feet deep. The chamber containing this particular fuselage sec- tion, in fact, had never been opened – until the “Forever Remembered” exhibit began to take shape. Determined to avoid any hint of commercialism or sensationalism, NASA took charge of the memorial ef- fort at the visitor complex, which is run by an out- side company. The job fell to Michael Ciannilli, a shuttle engineer and test director who had become respon- sible for the Challenger and Columbia debris. “Our biggest concern the whole time was doing the right thing,” Ciannilli said. “Is this the right time? Is this the right thing?” As the conversations un- folded over the months then years, Ciannilli entered the underground storage silos to find the proper display piece to represent Challenger. “I was hoping to find something that would show the beauty of Challenger, the dignity of Challenger, the strength of Challenger, and these are words I don’t use lightly,” Ciannilli said. The 12-foot section of fu- selage with the flag fit the bill. For Columbia, he chose the cockpit window frames. He said it’s like gazing into the eyes of Columbia and thus its soul. Ciannilli tapped the same preservation company that had worked on the Titanic, for the Challenger and Columbia relics. He sought out soothing, uplifting music for the exhibit. And, yes, he deliberately kept out real-time scenes of the shuttles disintegrating. “There’s more to this story” than those awful final moments, he said. “Great pains were taken not to have anything sensationalized or exploited.” Above all else, Ciannilli wanted the end result to be respectful. “I can’t stop thinking about it,” Evelyn Husband- Thompson, the widow of Columbia’s commander, con- fided in a NASA interview. “As you walk in, you know that you’re in a special place.” A side body panel of space shuttle Challenger, left, and the cockpit widows of Columbia, right, are displayed at the ‘Forever Remembered’ exhibit and memorial for the astronauts who perished on the two shuttles. The display is at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. – Photo: AP Caledonian House on Dr. Roy’s Drive, George Town. – Photo: tANEoS RAMSAY have been filed/submitted against [Caledonian Bank Ltd.]; the majority of [Caledonian Bank Ltd.] bond portfolio has been successfully realized and the proceeds of realization re- mitted to accounts controlled by the [joint official liquidators] in the Cayman Islands; some successful early recoveries of loans; the Court’s directions in relation to the preferential dividend; and the outcome of consultation with the liquida- tion committee,” the circular stated. Particulars on future interim dividends will be pro- vided to creditors in August, it added. Payments will be made by wire transfer. “[The joint official liquida- tors] have requested that cred- itors provide wire details and bank account information to where the dividend is to be re- mitted,” the circular stated. “If creditors have not provided this information to date, the [joint official liquidators] re- quest that you do so as soon as possible.” On Feb. 6, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Caledonian Bank and Caledonian Securities and three other broker-dealers in Belize and Panama in con- nection with sham stock offer- ings and penny stock pump- and-dump schemes that allegedly netted the orchestra- tors of the fraud US$75 million. The SEC put a “freeze” order on $76 million of Caledonian Bank’s U.S. assets when it filed the lawsuit, an act that was subsequently called an “incred- ible government overreach” by a U.S. District Court judge. The freezing order directly resulted in a run on the bank and its ul- timate bankruptcy, something the SEC’s lawyer admitted. Caledonian creditors to receive payments CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 before a government hos- pital in Cayman, had come from the U.S. military base hospital to the Pantons’ house to help deliver five of Ormond and Naomi Panton’s seven children. Dr. Panton had also long admired the good work of healthcare providers, whom he saw on frequent visits for the respiratory infections he often suffered as a child, and for assorted childhood ac- cidents requiring shots and other treatments. Later he was often invited into the operating room by a local surgeon, and he found he was enamored by hospitals. “I liked the old colonial hospitals. I liked the smell, it had the smell of iodine,” he describes with enthusiasm, the way others might talk about the smell of cookies baking at home or freshly cut grass. Dr. Panton spent his childhood in Grand Cayman before leaving to pursue his medical education at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica in 1971. He quickly decided to become a surgeon. He pre- ferred the action of surgery to internal medicine. Those doctors, he said, reminded him of lawyers, standing around for hours arguing over an EKG. Surgeons got results faster. “I was very impressed with the ability to very rap- idly affect positive change in a patient’s life,” he said. Eventually, Dr. Panton made his way to Canada, where he has lived and worked since the 1980s. Today he is the head of the Division of General Surgery at the University of British Columbia, where he is also a professor and an active member of the staff of the UBC Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital. Laparoscopic pioneer Dr. Panton is considered to be a pioneer in laparoscopic surgery, often referred to as “keyhole surgery.” Instead of making large incisions for operations, surgeons per- forming laparoscopic opera- tions make micro-incisions, using tiny instruments and insert tiny cameras that help them see inside the body. Patients who undergo lapa- roscopic surgery typically experience far less pain and have a much faster recovery time than had they under- gone traditional procedures. Additional benefits are less hemorrhaging and a reduced risk of infection. Dr. Panton has per- formed laparoscopic in- guinal hernia repair, colecto- mies, bile duct exploration, splenectomies, rectal cancer surgeries and adrenalecto- mies. He now focuses on ab- dominal surgeries. He said when the lapa- roscopic revolution began in the 1980s, many sur- geons were reluctant to make the jump to a type of oper- ating that involves looking at two-dimensional images on screens and using chop- stick-like tools that can be challenging even for a confi- dent surgeon’s dexterity. Dr. Panton said he “often wanted to stay on the leading edge of surgery,” and estimates he has spent more than a half- million dollars in continuing education since he finished his formal medical training. “A lot of surgeons are re- luctant to change. I don’t want to be the first to try new things, but I don’t want to be the last,” Dr. Panton said. In May, Dr. Panton was featured in The Vancouver Sun for “test-driving” an in- novative imaging system de- signed to reduce the risk of complications that can occur during laparoscopic gall- bladder surgery. Dr. Panton describes gallbladder sur- gery, which is frequently performed and relatively in- expensive, as a “nickel and dime” operation, but if a mistake is made, serious consequences may follow, thus making it a million- dollar mistake. The University of British Columbia Hospital is the first in Canada to use the new surgical imaging system to help reduce risks of sur- gical complications during small-incision (laparoscopic) gallbladder surgery,” ac- cording to The Sun. Dr. Panton told the news- paper that the $150,000 technology developed by a Canadian company called Novadaq showed it is a sig- nificant advance. He is quoted in The Sun as saying that the new tech- nology allows surgeons to “see the biliary tree and blood vessels, potentially preventing bile duct injuries” which are rare, but “continue to be a serious problem de- spite the fact that the sur- gery has been performed over three decades.” Last year, Dr. Panton re- ceived a “Recognition of Excellence” coin from the International Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons for his “tireless commitment to improving the quality of patient care in British Columbia through leadership and training of surgeons in minimally invasive surgery.” He is passionate about mentoring a new generation of surgeons in laparoscopy, which is his way of repaying the many teachers who have shaped his life. “You can’t pay back your mentors, you just have to pass it on,” he said. Intended to return Dr. Panton says that when he began his medical training, it was always his intention to return and work in Cayman, where his family ties date back to the 1650s. He pur- sued training that would pre- pare him for working in a small hospital with limited resources, and he chose rota- tions in obstetrics and pedi- atrics, which would be useful back home. “I never wanted to dis- appoint my mother and fa- ther,” he said. “But more im- portantly, I didn’t want to fail the Caymanian people. That was always a huge incen- tive to succeed.” But he says that when he did return home to interview for a job, he found that the offer he was made was simply inconsiderable. Yet he has continued to maintain strong ties to his home. Although he lives and works in Canada, Dr. Panton continues to give back to the community where he grew up and the community where he was trained. He has con- tributed equipment to the University of the West Indies to help develop their lapa- roscopic surgery services and has helped to estab- lish a surgical skills training center of the Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica. He also helped with Hurricane Ivan relief, and donated a sub- stantial amount of equipment and medical supplies to the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town. Although he is still working and busy trav- eling extensively to attend conferences and to mentor surgeons – he has been to Chicago, Barbados, Oman and Argentina in the past year alone – he tries to re- turn to Cayman at least twice a year to visit his two sis- ters who still live here and many of his friends from the class of 1969, and to spend some time fishing. He and his wife Rhona are also sure to attend services at the Elmslie Memorial United Church, where they first met in Sunday school, and where Dr. Panton can still find some of his nannies, now in their 80s, who always greet him with a hug. He is fiercely proud of the country’s heritage and hopes that someday the dream for Cayman that this father had will be achieved – that the territory will eventually be independent. Cayman Compass • Monday august 3, 2015 For information on how to apply for internship, please contact hr@pinnaclemedialtd.com or call 949-5111 Welcome to the team ASHANI FRANCIS-COLLINS (Editorial Intern) STUDENT AT UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, ST GEORGE Ashani grew up in West Bay and is in her nal year at Toronto University where she is studying for her Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Media Studies. “As an Intern at the Cayman Compass, I am able to get rsthand experience working in a newsroom and seeing what goes into creating a daily newspaper. It is an amazing opportunity!” Pinnacle Media wishes Ashani the brightest future! of the town center be- coming an internal road within Camana Bay. Dart will fund a new four-lane stretch of highway, shifted slightly to the west, be- tween the Camana Bay roundabout and the Galleria roundabout. Camana Way, which links West Bay Road to the Esterley Tibbetts Highway, will close on Monday, to facilitate utility infrastructure work and the relocation of the Dart Nursery with more than 350 trees. The developer said in a statement, “Dart Realty was pleased to re- ceive planning permis- sion from the Central Planning Authority for the widening and re- alignment of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway.” It added that it was continuing preparation work for the project and working through the nec- essary technical reviews prior to building permits being issued. The ultimate plan, which will involve fur- ther planning appli- cations and take sev- eral years to complete, involves expanding Camana Bay to the west. Pedestrians will be able to walk from the new hotel on Seven Mile Beach to the current Camana Bay town center along an avenue that bridges both highways, over a large ground-level parking lot. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Camana Bay roadwork approved CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Native son excels in surgery Caledonian creditors to receive payments “I was very impressed with the ability to very rapidly affect positive change in a patient’s life.” Dr. NeeLy PaNtoNThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 Monday august 3, 2015 • Cayman Compass Zimbabwe says companion lion not shot Wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe on Sunday dismissed a report of the shooting death of a male lion named Jericho, who was a companion of Cecil, a well-known lion killed by an American hunter in early July. Pacific trade ministers fail to reach accord in Hawaii talks Pact would cover nearly 40 percent of global economy LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) – Trade ministers from a dozen Pacific Rim nations failed to reach a deal on a new trade agreement that would cover nearly 40 percent of the global economy, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Friday. Froman, reading from a statement on behalf of all of the ministers, said the par- ties made significant prog- ress and agreed to continue their discussions. The countries haven’t yet set a date for future talks. Froman said some issues were bilateral in nature, and some will involve groups. “I feel very gratified about the progress that’s been made and I am confident that through our continued inten- sive engagement that we’ll be able to tackle the remaining issues successfully,” Froman said in response to a report- er’s question about whether he was disappointed about the lack of a deal. Japan’s economic and fiscal policy minister, Akira Amari, said he thought a deal would be reached with one more meeting. The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations are aimed at erasing most tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment among par- ticipants. It would also clarify and standardize trade rules, making it easier for compa- nies to sell goods and services in the Pacific Rim. The wide-ranging discus- sions have addressed tar- iffs on autos, rice and dairy products, as well as intel- lectual property protections for pharmaceuticals. The talks have also cov- ered establishing environ- mental protections for par- ticipant nations, which range from developing countries such as Vietnam to industrial powers such as Japan. President Barack Obama’s administration has said a pact would boost U.S. eco- nomic growth and help keep high-quality jobs in the country by increasing ex- ports. The proposed deal is a central element of Obama’s efforts to boost U.S. influ- ence in Asia and to serve as an economic counterweight to China. Critics have com- plained that the deal is being negotiated in secret and that it favors multinational corporations over workers and consumers. New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said to reach a complicated trade agreement, parties must slowly resolve issues one by one until only one or two of the most difficult ques- tions remain. He said dairy – of which New Zealand is a major exporter – is one of these difficult issues. Groser didn’t provide de- tails, in an effort to avoid causing problems for his ne- gotiating partners, but said the countries have agreed to what he called “commercially meaningful access.” The defi- nition of what that means is being negotiated, he said. “I’m extremely confident that we will find that sweet spot and advance the inter- ests of efficient dairy ex- porters around the world, not just mine, and yet find a way of dealing with the po- litical complexities for those of our friends around the table who are less competi- tive,” Groser said. Asked how the countries could address falling expec- tations for a deal, Amari said they should quickly reach an agreement. He argued a pact by the 12 nations would become the standard for the Asia- Pacific region. “There are countries al- ready waiting to join. Their numbers will grow. With the World Trade Organization stuck, TPP may be- come the standard for the world,”Amari said. The ministers held their latest round of negotia- tions at a hotel on Maui’s Kaanapali Beach for four days this week. The U.S. came to Maui strengthened by the Obama administration’s successful legislative fight winning fast- track negotiating authority. This allows Congress to ap- prove or reject trade agree- ments, but not change or delay them. The agreement was pro- posed by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore in 2002, but Washington has taken the lead in promoting it since joining the talks in 2008. Participants include the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. China, the world’s second largest economy after the U.S., is not part of the talks. But there’s potential it could join the pact later. Beijing has been nego- tiating a separate agree- ment with many of the same nations that’s called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. This pact would cover 16 coun- tries, including the 10 mem- bers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations are aimed at erasing most tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment among participants. U.S. trade representative Michael Froman responds during a television interview Friday in Lahaina, Hawaii, during Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks. The pact being discussed was proposed by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore in 2002, but Washington has taken the lead in promoting it since joining the talks in 2008. - Photo: AP Kerry to Push MAlAysiA on huMAn trAfficKing during visit WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State John Kerry will push Malaysia to redouble its efforts against human trafficking during an upcoming visit for re- gional security talks, a se- nior State Department offi- cial said Friday. Kerry’s visit, starting Wednesday, comes a week after the department faced a storm of protest for lifting Malaysia off its trafficking blacklist. U.S. lawmakers and human rights activ- ists say the decision was intended to smooth the way for a trade agreement among 12 Pacific rim na- tions, including Malaysia. The official said Malaysia needs to do much more, expanding prosecu- tions and meeting stan- dards laid out in U.S. anti- trafficking legislation. The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department. Like neighboring Thailand, Malaysia has faced international criti- cism over its treatment of millions of migrants from poorer countries, and over the plight of stateless Rohingya Muslims traf- ficked from Myanmar and Bangladesh aboard over- crowded boats. Dozens of graves as well as pens likely used as cages for Rohingya have been found in abandoned jungle camps on both sides of the Thai- Malaysian border. Kerry is visiting Malaysia for annual se- curity talks between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its international part- ners. Those talks are ex- pected to focus on China’s island-building in the dis- puted South China Sea, which has rattled China’s neighbors and strained re- lations between Washington and Beijing. Kerry, who starts his travels in the Mideast, will also visit Singapore and Vietnam. The U.S. official said Kerry, while in Malaysia, will steer clear of the do- mestic political scandal that has embroiled Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is facing allegations that some $700 million from a state investment fund went into his personal bank ac- counts. He says he has never used state money for per- sonal gain. Najib recently fired the attorney general who had been investigating him and a deputy who has been among his most prom- inent critics. Malaysia seeks help in finding more plane debris KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysian officials said Sunday that they would seek help from territories near the island where a suspected piece of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was discovered to try to find more plane debris. Government officials will ask territories near the French island of Reunion in the western Indian Ocean to alert them if they find any debris that could be from a plane, said a transport min- istry official who spoke on condition of anonymity be- cause he was not authorized to speak to the media. A wing flap suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was found Wednesday on Reunion. It arrived Saturday at a French military testing facility, where it will be an- alyzed by experts. Air safety investigators, including one from Boeing, have identified the compo- nent as a flaperon from the trailing edge of a Boeing 777 wing, a U.S. official has said. Flight 370 is the only missing 777 and many are convinced the flap comes from the ill- fated jet. Malaysia’s transport min- istry confirmed Sunday that the flaperon has been iden- tified as being from a 777, saying it had been verified by French authorities together with Boeing, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and a Malaysian team. Experts will try to estab- lish whether the part comes from Flight 370, which dis- appeared on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. The experts are expected to start their inquiry on Wednesday. On Monday, an investigating judge will meet with Malaysian authorities and representatives of the French aviation investigative agency, known as the BEA. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement Sunday that representatives from Malaysia, the U.S., China, France and Boeing would take part in the verification of the flaperon. About two- thirds of those aboard Flight 370 were Chinese. Liow said Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation was reaching out to au- thorities in territories near Reunion to allow experts “to conduct more substan- tive analysis should there be more debris coming on to land, providing us more clues to the missing aircraft.”9 WORLD&REGIONAL Cayman Compass • Monday august 3, 2015 Two soldiers dead, 24 wounded in suicide attack in Turkey ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Kurdish rebels on Sunday detonated an explosives- laden agricultural vehicle at a military police station in eastern Turkey, killing two soldiers and wounding 24 others, authorities said, amid a sharp escalation of violence between the government forces and the autonomy- seeking insurgents. Militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, used two tons of explosives to at- tack the station on a highway near the town of Dogubayazit in Agri province, close to Turkey’s border with Iran, causing extensive damage to the building, the regional governor’s office said in a statement. The wounded soldiers were hospital- ized but there was no word on their conditions. In a separate attack, one soldier was killed and four others were injured when their military vehicle hit a land mine believed to have been laid by the rebels in the southeastern Mardin prov- ince, the local governor’s of- fice said Sunday. Violence has flared in Turkey in the past 10 days, shattering a fragile peace process launched in 2012 with the Kurds. The govern- ment has conducted almost daily airstrikes at PKK bases in northern Iraq while the rebels have attacked Turkey’s security forces. The air- strikes began as the U.S. and Turkey announced the out- lines of a deal to help push the Islamic State group back from a strip of territory it controls along the Syrian- Turkish border, replacing it with more-moderate rebels backed by Washington and Ankara. At least 24 people have been killed in the re- newed violence in Turkey, most of them soldiers. Turkey’s allies have sup- ported Turkey’s fight against the PKK, which they consider a terror organization. But they have also urged Turkey to exercise restraint and to return to the peace process. Turkey’s campaign against the PKK is complicating the U.S. war on IS militants, which has relied heavily on Syrian Kurdish fighters affiliated with Turkey’s Kurdish rebels. Government critics and Kurdish activists accuse the government of reigniting the conflict in a bid to win na- tionalist votes and erode sup- port for the country’s pro- Kurdish party in possible new elections in the fall. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency has claimed that some 260 rebels were killed in the air raids against PKK targets in northern Iraq. The PKK has not reported on its casualties. Kurdish activ- ists said, however, that the Turkish airstrikes had de- stroyed at least six homes in the town of Zargel on Saturday, killing at least eight civilians and wounding 12. Iraq’s Kurdish regional government called on the PKK to withdraw from Iraq’s Kurdish territory to pre- vent civilian deaths amid the Turkish airstrikes, while con- demning Turkey for bombing civilians. The regional gov- ernment also called on both sides to resume peace talks. Turkey said Saturday it had launched an investiga- tion into the reported civilian deaths. It insisted that tar- gets were attacked only after the military was fully satis- fied that the areas were free of civilians. It also said the PKK at times uses civilians as human shields. After three years, Jordan refugee camp for Syrians now a city ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan (AP) – Only empty desert three years ago, the Mideast’s largest camp for Syrian civil war refugees has grown from a town of tents into a bus- tling city. The United Nations- administered camp plans water and sewage systems and a $20 million solar power plant, even ATM machines for refugee aid payments. But behind the plans is a cold reality for the 81,000 exiles living in the Zaatari Refugee Camp: The conflict back home, now its fifth year, won’t be over anytime soon. Some deal with that re- ality by making the best of life in exile, like the Zaatari high school senior who studied hard in cramped quarters to win a university scholarship, or the former farmer who planted a garden because he was tired of looking at the desert. But dozens of others leave every week to go back to Syria, saying it’s better to risk death than live in limbo in a camp where jobs are few, a third of children don’t at- tend school and thousands of young adults lack the chance to learn a trade. “As time passes, yes, we can deal with the infrastruc- ture,” said camp boss Hovig Etyemezian, a grandson of Armenian refugees and displaced as a boy in the Lebanese civil war. However, he’s “a long way from being confident” that enough is being done to save this ref- ugee generation. Zaatari, born out of ne- cessity in the desert on July 28, 2012, is now the ninth- biggest city in Jordan, a stalwart U.S. ally. Today, the tiny kingdom of Jordan hosts 629,000 Syrian refu- gees, out of a regional total of more than 4 million. More than 100,000 live in camps in Jordan, including 20,000 in the newer Azraq refugee camp, while the rest struggle to survive in cities with U.N. cash and food assistance. International agencies had to reduce aid amid se- vere funding shortages and further cuts were announced Friday. Urban refugees could soon face the hard choice of moving into a camp where life is cheaper – only Azraq is taking newcomers – or re- turning to Syria. On Zaatari’s anniversary this past week, the transfor- mation from tent camp to city symbolizes the failure of rival world powers to nego- tiate an end Syria’s war. But some say it’s also a reminder that the shift from emergency aid to long-term solutions, such as setting up a water network to replace expen- sive delivery by truck, should have come much sooner. “We simply wasted too much money because we didn’t think long-term,” said former Zaatari boss Kilian Kleinschmidt. In Zaatari, one money saver, the solar power plant, won’t be ready before the end of 2016. Until last year, the U.N. paid a $1 mil- lion a month for electricity in Zaatari, where residents run cables from pre-fabri- cated shelters and shops to a grid intended only for street lighting. Etyemezian, the current camp director, reduced costs by turning off power during daylight hours, causing much grumbling. The rolling blackouts are a staple of camp conversa- tion, along with the question of whether to stay or go back to Syria. Last week’s anniver- sary went unmarked. The number of returnees has dropped to about 30 a day, a fourth of what it was before the outbreak of major fighting several months ago in Syria’s southern Deraa province, where many Zaatari residents are from. On Wednesday, Emad Issawi, his wife Nihad and their three young children stood along the camp’s pe- rimeter road with a pile of bags, waiting to catch a bus to the Syrian border. Those who leave are rarely allowed back. Nihad, 23, her face cov- ered by a black veil, said she reluctantly deferred to her husband’s wishes to go back. “I’m scared,” she said. Across the street, Mohammed Hariri, 45, said he is returning to Deraa after one of his daughters as- sured him their village is rel- atively safe. “I cannot be here, my pa- tience is zero now,” he said. Others try to make the most of life in exile. Jumma al-Sheik planted corn, tomatoes, mint and pink althea flowers outside his compound. It’s become a popular gathering spot for relatives to drink sweet tea and chat. Al-Sheik and family mem- bers fled Eastern Ghouta, a Damascus suburb, after chemical attacks by the Syrian government there two years ago. Fighting destroyed their homes. Al-Sheik, who farmed five acres of vegetables back home, said the garden “makes everything a little better.” Some invested systemati- cally in their new lives. Abdel Mutalleb Hariri enrolled his six children in camp schools immedi- ately after arrival in January 2013. Unable to work as a veterinarian, he now sells clothes while his wife, Fatmeh, teaches English in grade school. Their oldest, 19-year- old Alaa, won a scholarship and finished her first year at nearby Al al-Bayt University. “Education is the way, es- pecially if you live in a camp,” said Alaa, one of just a few in her age group to finish high school. Most drop out, some because they can’t afford university. The Zaatari refugee camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, houses 81,000 refugees. - Photo: AP Turkish Air Force fighter planes land at Incirlik Air Base on the outskirts of Adana. Turkey has not only targeted the Islamic State group, but also Kurdistan Workers Party positions within Turkey. - Photo: APNext >