ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – Monday october 12, 2015 High of 90 Low of 80 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. Worst Week Kevin McCarthy 3 Politics Red states warm up to Sanders 45 Myths Online dating 23 ABCDE NATIONAL WEEKLY Thought process Income The high cost of city living 17 A billionaire’s quest to build an artificial brain PAGE 12 THE WEEK OF SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2015 . IN COLLABORATION WITH THE WASHINGTON POST Thought process Editorial | pagE 4 teachers Make schools great – buildings do not SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA busy week of bills for lawmakers brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly is set to be inundated this week with bills seeking massive change to the country’s busi- ness culture and its political election system. Even if earlier proposed changes to local labor law and pensions reforms are not taken up in the meeting that starts Wednesday, gas prices, liquor laws and legal aid are among the amendments up for consideration. ‘One man, one vote’ The tabling and approval of the Electoral Boundary Commission’s 2015 report, expected this week, will be the final legislative step re- quired to change Cayman’s next general elec- tion from multimember to single-member voting districts, effectively ending a debate that has carried on in the territory since 1971. Approval by a majority of lawmakers is required before the territory’s voting system changes. Cayman’s next general election is ex- pected to be held in May 2017. A draft of the voting map proposed for the Cayman Islands 2017 general election, released by the boundary commission ear- lier this year, would add one more represen- tative seat to the Legislative Assembly, for a total of 19 legislators. The single-member constituencies pro- posal creates seven voting areas in George Town district, four constituencies each in Bodden Town and West Bay districts, two on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, and one apiece in East End and North Side. All single- member constituencies, except for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, East End and North Side, will maintain approximately the same number of voters. The change proposed for the voting system ahead of the 2017 election will implement the Law professor condemns UK siLence on gay ‘hate speech’ Leonardo Raznovich speaks to International Bar Association JaMes Whittaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The professor at the center of a gay rights case in the Cayman Islands told a conference for international lawyers that he believes the United Kingdom is failing to meet its respon- sibilities with respect to human rights for ho- mosexuals in the Overseas Territories. Mr. Raznovich, speaking at the International Bar Association’s annual confer- ence in Vienna on Thursday, said U.K. officials had failed to publicly condemn a speech from Bodden Town legislator Anthony Eden in the Legislative Assembly. The speech, in which Mr. Eden described homosexuality as a “social and moral evil” and drew comparisons with pedophilia and bestiality, was criticized by Cayman’s Human Rights Commission, as a “poi- sonous hate speech.” Mr. Raznovich said he was disappointed that both the Cayman Islands govern- ment and the U.K. had, up to now, remained silent on the issue. Asked for comment on Friday, the Cayman Islands Governor’s Office did not address Mr. Eden’s remarks directly. Joanne Vaughan, policy adviser in the Governor’s Office, said “The U.K. supports equal treatment for LGBT people and works to promote non-discrimination of LGBT people across the world. The U.K. condemns any dis- criminatory and offensive remarks.” The former Truman Bodden Law School CISPA honors pioneers and new accountants Michael klein mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants celebrated both newcomers to the profession and pioneers of the industry at the organization’s annual gala event on Saturday at The Ritz-Carlton. Michael Austin, Paul Harris, Chris Johnson and Paul Sleep, four of the orig- inal six members who signed CISPA’s memorandum and articles of associ- ation 45 years ago, received the first CISPA Pioneers Awards. The honorees were joined by four newly qualified accountants, Matthew Hale, Jerrica Merren, Claire O’Dea and Taylor Wright, who recently received their pro- fessional designations, and six graduates with Bachelor’s Degrees in Accounting from the International College of the Cayman Islands or the University College of the Cayman Islands: Katherine McLaughlin, Kaye Bodden, Amaris Coe, Marilee Freeman, Angella Genao and Shushan O’Connor. CISPA president Baron Jacob said the organization will maintain its strategic ob- jectives in terms of supporting growth and development of financial services in gen- eral, increasing awareness of CISPA, pro- viding the membership with development and support, and promoting high-quality PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » The Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants welcomed several newcomers to the profession at its annual gala on Saturday night. – photo: maggie JacKson2 LOCAL&REGIONAL Monday october 12, 2015 • Cayman Compass Jewel levy jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com After years of discus- sion, work has begun on a new parking lot behind the Bodden Town Mission House. When completed, the parking lot, built on govern- ment crown land off Ena Close on Anton Bodden Drive, will create 97 new parking spaces for visitors attending functions at Harry McCoy Sr. Community Park, off Gun Square. A 12-foot-wide, 430-foot- long footpath will connect the parking lot to the park and other historical sites in the area. Work will be completed in time for the Pirates Week Bodden Town Heritage Day activities in November, ac- cording to Edison Jackson, senior engineer at the National Roads Authority. “There is very limited space on … Cumber Avenue and Gun Square Road, and, when they do anything on Heritage Day or any other times, there is al- ways a problem with parking,” said Mr. Jackson. Bodden Town Heritage Committee member Betty Wood said the idea of a walkway from Anton Bodden Drive to the Harry McCoy Park had been discussed for years. “Traffic congestion and finding a place to park on Cumber Avenue and Gun Square during events keeps a lot of people from attending,” she said. Mrs. Wood said they specifically asked for a walkway and not a vehic- ular road so as to minimize the impact on nesting birds, animals and flora and fauna in the area. Since starting the work last week, National Roads Authority workers encoun- tered a swarm of bees, which put a temporary halt to the work. “We got rid of the bees and the project is back on track,” Mr. Jackson said. He said once land clearing and excavation work is complete, the prop- erty will be filled and sealed with spray and chip, and 24-inch culverts will be in- stalled in the parking lot. www. 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Antonio Elvis Kelly ap- peared before Magistrate Adam Roberts in Summary Court charged with causing the death of Jordan Anthony Ebanks, 23, on Nov. 17, 2013, by dangerous driving. The alternative charge is causing death by careless driving. Magistrate Roberts heard that Mr. Ebanks, the son of former Deputy Police Commissioner Rudolph Dixon, was a passenger in the car driven by Kelly. The car crashed on Old Robin Road in North Side. Defense attorney Laurence Aiolfi said his client had been charged Thursday night and kept in custody until the matter could be brought to court for a bail hearing. The mag- istrate said he was taking a less strict view of the bail application than he might otherwise, because of the “antiquity of the matter.” He granted bail with a condition of residence and a recognizance in the sum of $950. Mr. Wainwright asked that Kelly not be allowed to leave the jurisdiction without permission of the court and this condition was added. Causing death by dan- gerous driving is a charge that can be heard only in the Grand Court, so the matter was transmitted to the higher court, where it is scheduled to be mentioned again on Friday, Oct. 23. New parking lot for BT park Pedro Watler and Rose Arnold watch as a National Roads Authority excavator clears the bush behind the Bodden Town Mission House to make way for a new parking lot and footpath. – Photo: Jewel levy Small Plane craSheS in Florida SEVILLE, Fla. (AP) – One person has died and two others were injured when a small plane crashed in cen- tral Florida. Volusia County Sheriff’s officials say passenger Jeffrey Luong, 27 of Port Orange, was pronounced dead at the scene in the city of Seville on Saturday. But the pilot of the small Cessna and another pas- senger were airlifted to the hospital. Their conditions were not known. Miami doctor charged in $20 million Medicare fraud MIAMI (AP) – A Miami doctor is facing two federal fraud conspiracy charges for his alleged role in a $20 mil- lion Medicare fraud scheme run by a healthcare company. Dr. Henry Lora is sched- uled to enter a plea Oct. 21 to the charges, which carry a combined 25-year max- imum prison sentence. Lora is free on $600,000 bail. His attorney did not immedi- ately respond to an email seeking comment. Federal prosecutors say Lora wrote home healthcare prescriptions for Medicare beneficiaries that were un- necessary or never provided in exchange for kickbacks and bribes. Lora co-owned Miami- area clinic Merfi Corp. with Isabel Medina, who is serving a nine-year sen- tence after pleading guilty to healthcare fraud conspiracy last year. Prosecutors say the two also falsified records to make it appear beneficiaries qualified for Medicare. cuba SubmitS lateSt draFt un reSolution againSt uS UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The latest draft United Nations resolution urging the United States to end its economic embargo on Cuba has appeared – and it points out President Barack Obama’s commit- ment to end the policy. The draft has been posted online, and a vote in the General Assembly is expected Oct. 27. The draft also wel- comes the re-establish- ment of U.S.-Cuba diplo- matic ties this year. Cuba has introduced draft resolutions against the embargo for the past 23 years, and they’ve been adopted with increasingly overwhelming and em- barrassing margins. Last year’s vote was 188-2, with only Israel siding with the U.S. This year, Obama ad- ministration officials have indicated that the U.S. might take the unprece- dented step of abstaining instead. But spokesmen have declined to comment until the text was final. There was no immediate comment Friday. Obama has said the 54-year-old restrictions have failed to spur demo- cratic change and have left the U.S. isolated among its Latin American neighbors. The Republican-led House of Representatives and Senate have refused to repeal the embargo. General Assembly res- olutions are unenforce- able, but the annual vote has underscored the sense internationally that the U.S. restrictions are illegitimate. The vote comes amid increasing contact be- tween top U.S. and Cuban officials. Late last month, Obama held talks with Cuban President Raul Castro, the second time the leaders of the once-es- tranged nations have met this year. Woman fights off two in attempted rape A woman fought off two attackers Thursday night who grabbed her from a road in Bodden Town and pulled her into the bush in an attempted rape, ac- cording to police. Police said the two men attacked the woman around 9:45 p.m. in the vicinity of Monument Road. “The female victim was walking home from work when she was attacked by two males who dragged her from the road into some nearby bushes and at- tempted to sexually assault her,” police said in a state- ment. “Putting up strong re- sistance, she was able to es- cape from her assailants and run to a nearby house where she raised the alarm and got help.” Detective Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay said, “This in- cident is extremely violent in its nature and as such very alarming. I wish to ap- peal to anyone who was in the area and may have seen anything unusual around that time. I would also like to remind people to remain vigilant when out at night and take extra care when walking home.” The descriptions of the attackers were “limited at present,” police said, but the woman told officers one was taller than the other and that both spoke with Caymanian accents. Police crime statistics show 12 reported rapes in 2014 and an additional two attempted rapes. In the first six months of 2015, po- lice report three rapes and one attempt. Anyone with information is asked to call any police station or Crime Stoppers on 800 TIPS (8477).The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 Cayman Compass • Monday october 12, 2015 discoverflow.ky LIME is now Flow. This follows our merger with Columbus Communications. Expect the best customer experience. More innovation. More of what you want. And, coming soon, a whole new revolution in TV. This is how we Flow value meets choiceThe 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. 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 findtheirownway” Monday oCTober 12, 2015 • Cayman COmpass “Over the past three school years, I unintentionally participated in a tragic education case study on the west side of Harlem.” — So begins an opinion column penned by a New York City educator and published in last week’s Wall Street Journal. The writer, Nicholas Simmons, goes on to spin a tale of two student bodies — one attending a public school and one attending a charter school, where Mr. Simmons taught math. The demographics of the two schools are similar (residing in the same neighborhood, most living below the poverty line, nearly all black or Hispanic), and, further, the schools are located in the same building, with students sharing a cafeteria, gymnasium and courtyard for recess. What differentiates the students at the public school from those at the charter school is that the latter “won an admissions lottery.” Chance. Despite the overt similarities, the differences in student performance couldn’t be more striking. At the public school, not one single student in grades six through eight passed standardized exams in math or English. At the charter school, the pass rate in math was 96 percent, and in English, 75 percent. What separates utter academic failure from unmiti- gated success, Mr. Simmons writes, is this: “[W]e set high expectations … This blueprint works. Rigorous, well-designed and joyful schools can overcome the challenges of poverty.” Mr. Simmons’s experience illustrates the truism that the quality of facilities does not equate, or even corre- late, to academic destiny. … Bringing us to Clifton Hunter High School, and the news story that appeared on the front page of Friday’s Cayman Compass, outlining the findings of inspectors, who concluded that the experimental “open-plan class layout” of the new facility “limits the range of teaching styles that can be used, and adversely affects students’ concentration.” Yes, the much-ballyhooed, cutting-edge design of Grand Cayman’s $110 million school campus actually, according to inspectors, inhibits the learning process. The curse of modern education is, to put it one way, “modern” education. It is dangerous when policymakers become fixated on prevailing fads du jour, rather than ensuring that schools possess the proper foundations for success. When confronted with failing schools, many officials begin searching for a quick (usually expensive) fix. The trouble is, there is no such thing. Christen Suckoo, the new chief officer in the Ministry of Education, says he and other officials have learned from the mistakes of Clifton Hunter and will apply those lessons to the completion of the new John Gray High School. We would like to make the following contribu- tion to his syllabus: Fundamentally, little has changed since the time of Plato in terms of how teaching and learning actually work. Much, if not most, of that depends on an unquantifiable factor — the personality of the teacher. In order to be truly excellent, a teacher must be a salesperson — Can you imagine how difficult it is to get young people to buy a product as mundane as multi- plication tables? A teacher must be an academic — The ignorance of a teacher on a topic at hand is multiplied by the number of students in the classroom. A teacher must be, at times, an entertainer, even theatrical — A few meaningful demonstrations can do much to engage students and illuminate particularly knotty concepts. A teacher who is persuasive, knowledgeable and passionate is an invaluable resource. Far above and beyond physical facilities, our government’s atten- tion should be focused on recruiting the best teachers available and giving them the support — and the freedom — they require, and our students deserve. Teachers make schools great — Buildings don’t Writer: No to cruise dock I have not been involved in any debate about the proposed dock but in my opinion we do not need this facility as I mentioned in one of my previous letters. All these years cruise ships have been coming here with our present facilities. We do not need to be like the rest of the world. Grand Cayman is a small island, and I believe that the ma- jority of tourists appreciate visiting our islands as they are. They do not want to visit some place that looks just like where they are coming from. We have to continue with our unique- ness. Believe it or not but our uniqueness will put or keep us at the top of the “Best Places to Visit.” I also keep hearing or reading about how much in debt the Cayman Islands are. We do not wish our small is- lands to look like other places, and it seems like it is going to cost a fortune, too. Our Caymanians will not ben- efit from this in terms of em- ployment either, as is always claimed. Caymanians need to get the jobs that are available now but they could not have. Now I am hearing and reading about relocating our coral reef which will be af- fected by the construction of this “dock.” God forbid! We do not want to do that; we must not trouble our coral reefs that God gave us to help protect our is- lands from damage during hurricanes. Whose idea was this anyway? The cruise ships will con- tinue to come here because of our uniqueness; however, there are improvements that can be done to the port that would make it more easier for passengers and enjoyable, too. I have written about these things in the past. And as for the mega cruise ships, we do not wish to have them come here; not only can we not accommo- date them but, as a lady said on the news a few weeks back, we do not need them. Whose idea was this? I believe from what has been happening in our is- lands for quite some time now, the majority of MLAs have disappointed the voters, to a great extent. Dora a. E. Ebanks German judge switches sides on FIFA Leonid Bershidsky It’s unwise to hang on to power when the tide has turned against you, as Sepp Blatter, head of FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, found out on Thursday. He was handed a 90-day suspension from his post and from soccer affairs in general, signal- ling that a search is on for a successor untainted by scandal. The man who handed down the suspen- sion was once described by his hometown newspaper as “The planet’s biggest Sep Blatter-understander.” Like pretty much everyone in the FIFA hierarchy these days, Munich judge Hans- Joachim Eckert is a con- troversial figure. Brought in to head up the organisa- tion’s recently formed Ethics Committee by Swiss legal scholar Mark Pieth, who had been tasked with reforming FIFA governance a few years ago, Eckert came with a for- midable reputation. He pre- sided, for example, over the Siemens corruption trials, which shook the German in- dustrial giant last decade and forced it to bring in new management for which staying graft-free became a top priority. After joining FIFA in 2011, Eckert refused Blatter’s offer of a six-figure compensation package. Last year, however, his reputa- tion was soiled when he refused to release a re- port drafted by his Ethics Committee colleague, former U.S. prosecutor Michael Garcia, following an inves- tigation into Russia’s and Qatar’s winning World Cup bids. Eckert only published a 42-page summary which, Garcia claimed, was incom- plete and misrepresented the facts. Two whistle- blowers named in the sum- mary complained that their names weren’t sup- posed to be published. From an impartial adjudicator, Eckert suddenly looked like Blatter’s cover-up engineer. He and Garcia were both in familiar roles: The ambi- tious prosecutor was pushing for the results of his work to be published and acted upon, and the dispassionate, vet- eran judge (Eckert is 67 now) reserved judgment until mis- deeds are proven beyond a reasonable doubt. On Thursday, however, Eckert acted more like a prosecutor than a judge. Blatter’s lawyers com- plained he had violated the FIFA Code of Ethics in not hearing out the suspended officials – Blatter, European football chief Michel Platini and outgoing FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke – be- fore making his decision. Eckert cannot be faulted on the legal side, though; there is a provision in the code that allows him to decide without hearing the parties. The suspension is based on claims being investi- gated by the Swiss author- ities that in 2005 Blatter authorized a big discount when selling TV rights to a qualification tournament to the North American soccer confederation, which under President Jack Warner then resold the rights at a profit. The claim further states that in 2011 Blatter paid 2 million Swiss francs (US$2.1 million) to Platini, appar- ently to stop him opposing Blatter in a leadership elec- tion. Platini says the pay- ment was for work done be- tween 1998 and 2002, but there’s no clear explanation for the delay. Both episodes appear run-of-the-mill in the con- text of the U.S. indict- ment of FIFA officials made public earlier this year. By now, Eckert has seen and heard enough to understand that there is more where that came from. What we know – or half-know, since investigations are ongoing and courts haven’t delivered verdicts yet – about FIFA today suggests that the or- ganization’s atmosphere was itself corrosive. Eckert, considered an expert on po- litically sensitive cases, has made a political statement with his ruling, sending home both Blatter and his nemesis Platini, who hoped to become FIFA president in February. The suspen- sion tells them they should both go because their cause is lost. Blatter, who said in June he would step down be- fore his term is out, was in no hurry to leave. He sched- uled the next leadership elec- tion for February 26, 2016. In the meantime, he’s worked to hang on to his post or en- sure a smooth succession, which meant keeping Platini out and positioning a loy- alist to win. Eckert has ef- fectively told him his efforts, and Platini’s, are futile: They would never pull clear of all the accusations weighing down on them. Whether the suspensions stand or Blatter and Platini manage to muscle back into the game, it’s clear that FIFA is in for an overhaul. The current interim president, Cameroonian Issa Hayatou, has run African soccer for almost three decades, and of course he too has faced cor- ruption accusations which, like every other FIFA offi- cial, he has denied. It says a lot about the FIFA hier- archy that the only leader- ship candidate who has not been touched by the scan- dals is an Arab prince, Ali bin Hussein, brother to the King of Jordan. Because of the profound rottenness of FIFA, the sport itself is on the hook. Charges against the world’s greatest player, Argentinian Lionel Messi, of tax evasion and even helping drug cartels to launder money are not helping. Eckart, by now an insider, clearly understands that the clean-up will have to be drastic and that the echo of scandal won’t subside for years. That’s what happened at Siemens, too. Leonid Bershidsky, a Bloomberg View contributor, is a Berlin-based writer. © 2015, Bloomberg View We do not wish our small islands to look like other places, and it seems like it is going to cost a fortune, too.5 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday october 12, 2015 Honda Pilot starting at $39,900 Call 949-0440 for more information. Car City, Durham Dr. Industrial Park, PO Box 10440 APO, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands Including 3 years licensing, 3 years warranty and 3 years free oil changes. Forget them not REMEMBRANCE PARADE AND SERVICE 10:30 am Sunday 8th November 2015 at the Elmslie Memorial Church We ask that you remember our Veterans by sending a donation, however small, to the Cayman Islands Veterans Association at P.O. Box 11686, Grand Cayman KYI-1009 Poppies will be available at various sites and for collection at the Headquarters - Cayman Islands Veterans Association, Suite 102, Crighton Building, Crewe Road on Tuesday 13th, Wednesday 14th, Thursday 15th, Tuesday 20th, Wednesday 21st Thursday 22nd October. between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. or call Capt. Dale M. Banks, CMH on 925 4959. Cayman Islands Veterans Association They sacrificed not for themselves but for their country Housing Trust wants more gov’t housing Charles DunCan cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com Reporting recent strides with its affordable housing programs and the relaunch of government-backed mort- gage assistance, the National Housing Development Trust’s board of directors is calling on government to develop a new facility to help low-income people with housing. The Housing Trust re- ported last week that 21 of the 107 homes it built in 2004 re- main occupied. All the homes have been condemned and most have been torn down. The insurance provider for the homes, according to the report, stopped covering the buildings because the houses continue to deteriorate. The Trust’s statement notes, “NHDT has no plans to evict existing tenants, although none have made any payments for a long time; at the same time, they may leave volun- tarily if they are able to locate improved accommodations. “Their safety remains a major concern and NHDT is poised to have them trans- ported to safe shelter, should severe weather or a hurricane threaten Grand Cayman.” “There still remains a need for housing in the community,” the board members write, but they say the Housing Trust cannot address those needs under the current law. They say government should step in to develop a new facility to give housing to low income, elderly and handicapped res- idents, and those who “pres- ently reside in a condemned old AHI home, and are unable to service any mortgage with a minimum payment, but will possibly be able to pay their utility bills.” One potential solution, the board statement argues, is for government to take the money it gives to the Department of Children and Family Services to help low-income residents pay rent on the private market, and instead use that money to service loans to develop a new housing facility. “In the long term, Government will increase its equity in the project, with complete ownership,” the Trust board writes. “This de- velopment can be labelled Government Assisted Living (GAL). This will be an asset on the Government’s books or al- ternatively give a grant to a service club or similar entity to develop such a facility, with annual subsidies to assist with its continued maintenance.” The Housing Trust in re- cent years has moved from a system of renting homes or doing rent-to-own con- tracts on the houses it builds to selling the homes out- right. Clients work with the Trust to get traditional mort- gages on the government- subsidized homes. A number of the Trust’s new homes sat vacant for more than a year as applica- tions piled up. That applica- tion backlog has been cleared up, according to Housing Trust Managing Director Julio Ramos, and only 14 of those homes remain va- cant and available for pur- chase. Of the homes, four are in East End, five in West Bay and five in Bodden Town. The statement from board members says that the Trust will only build new homes after a local bank and the Trust pre-approve a client for a mortgage, instead of the way the Trust has been oper- ating by constructing housing developments and then selling the homes. The board members write, “NHDT plans to construct ad- ditional affordable homes in the various districts, where there is a demand for housing, under our existing program. We will issue public notices to invite applicants and will conduct an affordable housing survey, which will further as- sist in determining the needs for each district.” Clients work with the Trust to get traditional mortgages on the government-subsidized homes. Public meeting Oct. 20 for George Town revitalization Consultants and govern- ment officials will host a public meeting next week to present plans for revital- izing central George Town, answer questions and collect public input. The meeting is set for 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the town hall in George Town. Roadwork has already begun to set the stage for the plan, with the completed Godfrey Nixon Way project and the ongoing work on Smith Road. The biggest feature in government’s revitalization plan is the cruise port, which the premier recently said government will support. Numerous questions remain about the potential environ- mental impact and how gov- ernment will be able to pay for the project. “This is an exciting time for our capital, with the plans calling for the beauti- fication and modernisation of George Town. We are al- ready a world-class centre for tourism and finance, and we hope that with input and partnerships from the public and private sectors, the result will be a revitalised capital that reflects our international standing,” said Planning Minister Kurt Tibbetts in a press release. Design with Nature International, a company owned by two former Cayman islands planning directors Kenneth Ebanks and Carson Ebanks, are developing and managing the project. Planning minister deputy chief officer Tristan Hydes said in the release, “Local business leaders were very receptive of our launch during a Chamber of Commerce luncheon event in May. Since that time, we have begun fact- finding meetings with stake- holders, and interest has con- tinued to grow amongst the business community.” The Planning Ministry also plans to collect feedback on the plan with an online survey and by email at GTRP@gov.ky.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Monday october 12, 2015 • Cayman Compass practice by the accoun- tancy profession locally. To that effect, CISPA will build on partnerships with international bodies, the Cayman Islands government and Cayman Finance, and provide certified on-demand training courses for its membership. Mr. Jacob also announced the launch of the first accountancy-focused conference for next year. In addition, CISPA will work with UCCI, ICCI, the Ministry of Education and international bodies “to investigate how we can work towards an accoun- tancy qualification available right here in the Cayman Islands,” he said. Mr. Jacob reaffirmed the accountancy soci- ety’s commitment to sup- porting the Ministry of Education’s Maths Recovery and Mathematics in Context programs by presenting a check for $25,000 to Minister Tara Rivers. The donation continues the organization’s financial contribution to the minis- try’s mathematics programs over the past two years. “During that time, 60 primary school teachers and five secondary school teachers completed an inten- sive training program, pro- viding the tools to identify and support students strug- gling with mathematics,” he said. CISPA members al- ready contribute much of their time to provide nu- meracy support to public schools in Cayman. “We currently have more than 30 volunteers donating over 1,000 hours working with schoolchildren across public schools in Cayman,” Mr. Jacob said. CISPA honors pioneers and new accountants CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Former Cayman Chief Magistrate Margaret Ramsay-Hale, with her son Matthew Hale, one of the CISPA professional designation honorees.Emma and Danny Santiago Donovan Richards and Katherine McLaughlinAntoine Powell and Davina Daley CISPA members already contribute much of their time to provide numeracy support to public schools in Cayman. Leslie Ann Ruben, Martin Ruben and Penny CassellJason Wong, Michael Sanford and Michael Vernon Chris Johnson, Paul Harris, Michael Austin and Paul Sleep, four of the original six Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants members, receive the first CISPA Pioneers Awards. – PHOTOS: MAGGIE JACKSON7 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday october 12, 2015 October 12th November 26th December 6th Offer valid at participating Subway stores on the following dates: Thanksgiving with us! Buy a footlong, Get a 21oz drink RCIPS gets grant for cybercrime training KELSEY JUKAM kjukam@pinnaclemedialtd.com Technological advance- ments and increasingly easy access to the Internet have created new possibilities for the criminal exploitation of children. To address this issue in the Cayman Islands, Hedge Funds Care has provided a grant to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service to sup- port a training program re- lating to child exploitation and cybercrime. Hedge Funds Care, an orga- nization whose sole mission is to support programs that pre- vent child abuse, has worked with the RCIPS for many years, providing grants for in- vestigators and equipment. This year, the police ser- vice received a grant of $8,750 to bring in a U.K.- based expert trainer in child exploitation who will train police and other agencies to deal with issues such as online child pornography and Internet or smartphone “grooming” practices, wherein children are contacted by po- tential abusers online. RCIPS Detective Superintendent Mike Cranswick said the extent to which these problems exist in Cayman is difficult to gauge, as these activities are largely hidden on the Internet, but it “would be foolish and dan- gerous to think that this doesn’t exist here.” “We’ve seen some cases here in Cayman quite re- cently where people have been convicted of possession of child pornography,” Mr. Cranswick said. “How big the problem is, we don’t know, but it would be dangerous to ignore it.” According to a recent United Nations study on the effects of new information technologies on the abuse and exploitation of children, forms of Internet-facilitated child sexual abuse fall under a number of categories. Children can be harmed by content they are exposed to online as passive recip- ients of pornographic or harmful sexual contact. They can also be solicited online, targeted by Internet users to be exploited in sexual abuse activities that are recorded and then distributed, or “groomed” by an Internet user who establishes a friendship with the child with the aim of future sexual contact. Children who may not comprehend the repercus- sions of such behavior can also sometimes be active par- ticipants in their own exploi- tation, sharing self-generated content, such as sexually ex- plicit photos or videos. “Engaging in a chat- room with someone you don’t know can be dangerous,” Mr. Cranswick said. “People can post or send photographs, you have no idea of knowing whether the person who sent you that pho- tograph is the person you’re ac- tually talking to.” Parents have a responsi- bility to monitor what their children are doing online, Mr. Cranswick said, but they may not always be able to protect children from online exploitation. According to Mr. Cranswick, police will be trained in spe- cialist techniques to be able to find and determine where ex- ploitative online materials are coming from. The training will also deal with ways of pre- venting children from being exploited online. “We’re starting to see more and more of this,” Mr. Cranswick said. “Is it more widespread than what we’re seeing? We don’t know … so we want to do some preven- tative work with education and we also want to be able to then investigate and have officers who are trained to get into what is quite techni- cally challenging,” A date has not yet been set for the training, but Mr. Cranswick said it will happen by the end of this year or in early 2016. “The training will be really welcome,” he said. Detective Superintendent Mike Cranswick Hand, foot and mouth disease hits Savannah Primary Following an out- break of the highly con- tagious hand, foot and mouth disease at West End Primary School in Cayman Brac, students at Savannah Primary School have now contracted the virus, according to an email school administra- tors sent to parents. Public health officials last week said in an advi- sory that they continue to monitor cases of the virus that have now been found in at least two schools in the Cayman Islands. Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common ill- ness for infants and chil- dren under 5 years old, according to the public health advisory, and is characterized by a blister-like rash in and around the mouth, on the palms and fingers of the hands, and the soles of the feet. The email from Savannah Primary School, dated Oct. 2, states, “Understandably, the concerns are real about the Foot, Hand and Mouth disease in the Year 2 classroom.” School of- ficials told parents they sanitized the school and continue to monitor the situation. The Public Health Department advisory states, “The Public Health team is working closely with schools to as- sist with containing the spread of the virus, and active weekly surveil- lance is being pursued.” The virus has no vac- cine, but symptoms such as fever or pain should be treated with over- the-counter medica- tions and mouthwash can help numb blisters in the mouth, according to Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Samuel Williams-Rodriguez. He said people should wash their hands fre- quently and clean and sanitize surfaces and items like toys that may have come in contact with someone who has hand, foot and mouth disease.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 Monday october 12, 2015 • Cayman Compass professor, who is fighting to have his same-sex marriage recognized by Cayman’s immi- gration authorities, also high- lighted numerous discrepan- cies between Cayman’s laws and the European Convention of Human Rights in reference to homosexuals, in his speech at the conference. He said the message had been well received by the as- sociation, which was inter- ested in setting up a task force to examine London’s role in the territories and across the Commonwealth in relation to human rights for lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender individuals. He said members of the association were particularly concerned about the lack of response from the U.K. govern- ment to Mr. Eden’s speech, de- livered on Aug. 13 in support of his private members’ mo- tion which sought to confirm the definition of marriage in the Cayman Islands as between one man and one woman. “They were very surprised by the lack of reaction from London to what was a medieval speech,” said Mr. Raznovich. “London has done nothing in relation to a member of the Legislative Assembly in one of its territories making that kind of speech and doing so behind parliamentary immunity. “They should have, I think, made some statement sim- ilar to the Human Rights Commission and, at the very least, say that the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) condemns those words.” Mr. Raznovich said the bar association has a powerful voice, not just to lobby govern- ments but potentially to en- list law firms to help fight test cases challenging discrimina- tory legislation. A number of laws in the Cayman Islands, and other territories, have been highlighted as breaches of rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, which extends to the British territories. The Cayman Islands Human Rights Commission has recommended legal rec- ognition of same-sex unions, though not necessarily gay marriage. This would serve to protect a number of rights and obligations that married couples have, including laws regarding financial support, child maintenance payments, inheritance and immigration. Mr. Raznovich, who was married in Argentina in 2012, is involved in one such case. His partner has lodged an ap- peal against the Immigration Department’s Business Staffing Plan Board’s decision that it could not accommodate a request for Mr. Raznovich to be listed as a dependent on his work permit, an application routinely approved for couples of opposite sex. Mr. Raznovich said he was confident that his own appeal would be successful. But he said it would not help gay Caymanians achieve legal recognition for their same-sex partnerships and believes more direct action is needed. He said if the Cayman Islands government or the U.K. government did not step in to make changes, it would be down to individuals to fight discriminatory legisla- tion in the courts on a case- by-case basis. Ms. Vaughan added, “Whilst the legal framework for LGBT people in the Cayman Islands is primarily a matter for the Cayman Islands Government, under international law, the U.K. government is responsible for ensuring the compliance of the Cayman Islands with its international human rights ob- ligations, including the ECHR. “The U.K. government seeks to ensure that all OTs act in accordance with their inter- national human rights obliga- tions and strongly encourages all British Overseas Territories to pursue policies and enact legislation, guaranteeing LGBT rights and freedom from discrimination.” Law professor condemns UK silence on gay ‘hate speech’ principle of “one man, one vote,” taking away the ability of voters in the larger multi- member districts of West Bay, George Town, Bodden Town and the Sister Islands to elect more than one representative to the assembly. Fuel rules The Dangerous Substances Handling and Storage (Amendment) Bill, 2015, as proposed states: “The chief petroleum inspector shall … collect from importers, and compile, analyze and ab- stract, information on fuel prices and pricing methods and provide such information to the minister.” The legislation, often dis- cussed as local petrol prices rose, dropped and then rose again over the past year, is seen as the potential first step toward a government- controlled fuel market in the Cayman Islands. The revised law would allow the petroleum in- spector to request informa- tion on the price of all fuel imported and sold and the “pricing methods” used by importers in the sale of fuel to retail operators and con- sumers. Those costs can in- clude: initial costs, cost of freight, insurance and bro- kerage fees, customs duties, estimates of fuel in stock, and the amount and type of fuel to be imported in the next shipment. The legislation proposes a $20,000 fine or imprison- ment for one year, or both, for anyone who fails to provide information or who provides false information to the gov- ernment inspector. In addi- tion, the bill would allow gov- ernment to sue the importers to force them to provide the information required. Liquor law Sweeping changes pro- posed for Cayman’s Liquor Licensing Law seek to end what government and busi- ness leaders have described as the “black market” for li- quor licenses. Among the major changes proposed in the Liquor Licensing (Amendment) Bill are requirements that every business owner who applies for a liquor license must first be the holder of a Trade and Business License. Currently that is not re- quired, however if someone sells liquor without having a valid trade and business li- cense, they can be fined up to $10,000 upon conviction. The new requirement aims to stop the practice of individuals holding on to li- quor licenses they are not using and then selling them at unregulated prices to the highest bidder. Rather than continuing a moratorium for liquor li- censes that is lifted at various times, the new bill would re- move the requirement to lift the moratorium in order to grant new licenses. Anyone who does not cur- rently have a licensed busi- ness, but who holds a liquor license, will have the license terminated unless they apply for and receive a Trade and Business License and open a liquor-licensed premises. The amendments also seek to change the cur- rent makeup of the Liquor Licensing Board of Grand Cayman, and to a lesser ex- tent, the board of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Legal aid The government will again attempt to change how crim- inal defendants, and others before the courts, can receive government assistance in paying for legal counsel. The Legal Aid Bill, 2015, seeks to set an initial limit of $20,000 per court case where the government is footing the bill. The bill also seeks to give an unspecified govern- ment minister a significant degree of influence over the legal aid budget. The proposal, one of sev- eral that has sought to reform the current legal aid system in the past decade, would, if ap- proved by lawmakers, broaden the types of court cases that might qualify for legal aid. The bill proposes legal aid be made available not only in criminal matters, but for certain civil cases and family court pro- ceedings that directly relate to the care of a minor. The bill also seeks to iden- tify certain court cases that would not qualify for legal aid from government, in- cluding defamation cases, legal actions against real es- tate agents and legal actions related to a political election, among other civil matters. A director of legal aid – a civil servant to be appointed by a ministry chief officer – would supervise expendi- tures and “shall not, without the prior written approval of the court administrator and the clerk of the court, autho- rize any expenditure in any one legal aid matter in excess of $20,000.” That cap could be exceeded depending on such issues as the length and com- plexity of the case, among other determinations. The current hourly rate for legal aid lawyers, $135 per hour, would be increased to $160 per hour in the legislation. Budget bill The current government budget will be Cayman’s last one-year public sector budget cycle, if amendments to the Public Management and Finance Law are approved. As of Jan. 1, 2018, the bill seeks to move Cayman’s an- nual budgeting period to a two-year process. In order to get to that point, when the current budget year ends on June 30, 2016, the next government budget cycle would run from July 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2017, a period of 18 months. After that, the two-year budgeting process would begin. The proposed changes will also change Cayman’s current July-June budget to a calendar year January- December process. Each government financial year would end on Dec. 31, but the “budget period” considered by the elected government would span two years. Hundreds turn out for pilates for pink cancer fundraiser More than 250 people put down their yoga mats Saturday morning at the Arts and Recreation Centre at Camana Bay for the annual Pilates for Pink fundraiser. The workout, hosted by ENERGY Essential Fitness, lasted an hour and raised thousands of dollars for the Cayman Islands Cancer Society. ENERGY owner Colleen Brummer said, ‘I began the event in October 2006 about eight months after I finished my own treatments for breast cancer.’ She said the first class had 15 people in 2006. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Busy week of bills for lawmakers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Mr. RaznovichThe islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Cayman Compass • Monday october 12, 2015 Smoking kills 1/3 of young Chinese men Research published in The Lancet medical journal says one in three young men in China are likely to die from tobacco, but that the number can fall if the men quit smoking. STAX Restaurant located at Kirk Freeport Bayshore Mall is NOW OPEN FOR DINNER from 5:00pm – 9:30pm Mon-Sat serving all your favorite Indian Curries made by Chef Fernandes & Roy Contact us @ 322-8585 Take-out available through Fine Dine-In Swiss approve extradition of Costas Takkas JameS Whittaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Swiss authorities have approved the extradition of Costas Takkas, Jeffrey Webb’s assistant at FIFA and former general secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association, to face trial in the U.S. on bribery charges. British-born businessman Takkas, who was arrested alongside Webb in Zurich in May, has 30 days to ap- peal the decision of the Swiss Federal Office of Justice. Takkas served as an attaché to Webb in his role as president of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and vice president of world gov- erning body FIFA. Webb was extradited ear- lier this year and has en- tered not guilty pleas to mul- tiple charges in connection with an alleged bribery and kickback scheme dubbed the “World Cup of fraud.” Webb is personally ac- cused of accepting bribes for steering lucrative con- tracts to certain sports marketing companies. Takkas’s alleged role in the scam, outlined in a 161- page indictment, is said to in- clude acting as a middleman for Webb, negotiating bribes on his behalf and using his accounts in the Cayman Islands to funnel illegal pay- ments to his boss. “By accepting bribes for the award of sports mar- keting contracts, Takkas mas- sively influenced the compet- itive situation and distorted the market for media rights in connection with the World Cup qualifying matches. Other sports marketing com- panies were placed at a dis- advantage, and the affected football federations were pre- vented from negotiating more favourable marketing agree- ments,” the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said in a statement issued on Friday. Takkas lived in Cayman for nearly 20 years from the mid-1980s after coming to the island to work as an au- ditor and was involved in the local football scene, rising to the role of general sec- retary under Webb. When Webb was elected presi- dent of CONCACAF and vice president of FIFA, he took Takkas with him as his assis- tant or “attaché.” Takkas has been in cus- tody in Switzerland since his May 27 arrest. He and six other FIFA officials, including Webb, were arrested at a hotel in Zurich. Swiss authorities said in the statement that the require- ments for extradition, specifi- cally that the alleged offenses are also punishable under Swiss law, had been met. Along with Webb, Rafael Esquivel,the former president of the Venezuela Football Association and co-defen- dant Uruguayan Eugenio Figueredo have also been or- dered extradited to the U.S. from Switzerland. A status conference in the case originally scheduled for Friday in the U.S. fed- eral court in Brooklyn, New York, has been postponed to Nov. 18. The fallout from the sep- arate investigations by the FBI and Swiss authorities continues to impact world soccer’s governing body. FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini were each suspended for 90 days by FIFA’s ethics committee in the wake of a Swiss criminal case investi- gating financial misconduct. Blatter has lodged an ap- peal, Associated Press re- ported on Friday. Platini has also said he will fight the decision. Blasts kill scores at peace rally in Turkey in sign of worsening instability BEIRUT – Two bomb blasts ripped through crowds at a rally of peace activists in the Turkish capital Saturday, killing scores, in a reminder of the growing conflicts Turkey faces both at home and across the border in war-torn Syria. The explosions in Ankara, which occurred just minutes and yards apart, killed 97 people and injured 246 more as they gathered to call for an end to the violence that has flared between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists in recent months. Turkey, a NATO member and key U.S. ally, shares bor- ders with Syria, Iraq and Iran – all of which are embroiled in the conflict with the Islamic State. Turkish offi- cials have confronted Russia over the latter’s violation of Turkey’s airspace in recent days, as Russian warplanes launch strikes against Syrian rebels, heightening tensions. The renewal of Turkey’s decades-old struggle with the Kurds could destabilize the region further. Ethnic Kurds have also accused Turkish authorities of failing to pro- tect them from what they say is violent spillover from Syria’s civil war. In July, a suicide bombing targeting another rally of Kurdish peace activists, in the town of Suruc, killed 33 people and was blamed on the Islamic State. Turkey then joined the U.S.-led coalition carrying out strikes on the ji- hadists inside Syria and was braced for potential blowback from the extremists. Turkey hosts more than 2 million ref- ugees from Syria, which the government says is a major source of political instability. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday that there were “strong indications” the at- tack was carried out by sui- cide bombers, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility. He said the target was Turkish unity, de- mocracy and stability. “Early indicators would point to ISIS as the culprit,” said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish research pro- gram at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ISIS is a common acronym for the Islamic State. Either way, “this could well be Turkey’s 9/11,” Cagaptay said. “This is simply the worst terror attack in Turkish history.” © 2015, The Washington Post Turkey imposes news blackouT on ‘gruesome’ blasT images ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey’s government says it has imposed a temporary news blackout following two blasts that killed 86 people who were gathering for a peace rally in the capital Ankara. The attack was Turkey’s deadliest in recent years. A government spokesman said the blackout Saturday covered images showing the moment of the blast, gruesome or bloody im- ages or “images that create a feeling of panic.” He warned media orga- nizations they could face a “full blackout” if they did not comply. On Saturday, many people in Ankara reported being unable to access Twitter and other social media websites after the blasts. It was not clear if authorities had blocked ac- cess to the websites. Turkey frequently im- poses media blackouts following attacks. BEIRUT (AP) – Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes advanced against insurgents in the center of the country as President Vladimir Putin defended Moscow’s intervention in the conflict, saying it would aid efforts to reach a polit- ical settlement. Putin said Moscow’s ob- jective was to stabilize the Syrian government and create conditions for a po- litical compromise. “When a division of international terror- ists stands near the cap- ital, then there is prob- ably little desire for the Syrian government to ne- gotiate, most likely feeling itself under siege in its own capital,” he said in an interview with Russian state television broadcast on Sunday. The fighting Sunday was on multiple fronts in the northern part of the cen- tral Hama province and the nearby rebel-held Idlib province. A Syrian military official said troops seized the northern Hama village of Tak Sukayk. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. It was the second vil- lage in the area captured by the government since it launched a wide-ranging ground offensive made pos- sible by Russian airstrikes that began Sept. 30. Human Rights Watch said Sunday that an ad- vanced type of Russian cluster munition was used in an airstrike south- west of Aleppo on Oct. 4, as part of what photo- graphs and videos suggest is renewed use of the air- dropped and ground-fired cluster munitions. The New York-based rights group said it could not determine whether Russian or Syrian forces were responsible for the apparent use of the mu- nitions, which descend by parachute and are designed to destroy armored vehicles. Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, is a major arms supplier to Syria. Neither country has banned cluster munitions. There was no immediate comment from Russia’s Defense Ministry. Russia says its strikes are mainly aimed at the Islamic State group and other “terrorists,” but the ground-and-air offen- sive is being waged in areas controlled by main- stream rebels as well as al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front. Turkish police block the way to the site of Saturday’s explosions in Ankara, Turkey. Scuffles broke out as police prevented pro-Kurdish politicians and other mourners from laying carnations at the site of two suspected suicide bombings. - pHoTo: ap syrian Troops gain as puTin defends sTrikesNext >