ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – Monday october 19, 2015 High of 87 Low of 80 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. ABCDE NATIONAL WEEKLY Worst Week Lincoln Chafee 3 Politics Ryan’s balancing act 4 unintended effects California’s Proposition 47 has reduced prison crowding, but courts have become clogged with repeat offenders PAGE 12 Nation Putting preschool online 8 Pets Where do cat & dog lovers live? 17 THE WEEK OF SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2015 . IN COLLABORATION WITH THE WASHINGTON POST Unintended effects SportS | page 16 suckoo topples policeMan peart Politician out-boxes officer FOUR LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU BETTER: SEVEN MILE BEACH, WATERFRONT, WALKERS ROAD, TOWN CENTRE PLAZA Dock protest draws 250-300 alan Markoff amarkoff@pinnaclemedialtd.com About 250 to 300 people, many of them holding placards expressing their objections, braved blistering-hot late-after- noon sun to protest the planned cruise ship berthing facility at the waterfront across from Cardinall Avenue. Several opponents, including Vassel “Bud” Johnson Jr., spoke out against the planned project, which the government recently said would go forward. Since 1986, Mr. Johnson has worked at Atlantis Submarines on the waterfront, first as a submarine pilot and then as the general manager for the past 22 years. He said his customers are both stay-over and cruise tourists, but that he is against the pro- posed project. “My objection is not to cruise tourism or to a cruise pier,” he said. “To be clear, we should support cruise tourism in a managed way to ensure that all visitors have a good experience.” Mr. Johnson said his main concern is that Cayman has a finite “carrying capacity” and that pursuing cruise tourism on a large scale could create overcrowding of the destina- tion, something which could have negative impacts on stay-over tourism. “This project, as it is currently proposed, will involve signifi- cant negative impacts on Grand Cayman, with questionable kellie McGee wins ycla 2015 alan Markoff amarkoff@pinnaclemedialtd.com A 27-year-old pharmaceutical industry pro- fessional with a passion for community ser- vice was honored for her leadership skills on Saturday night. Kellie McGee, from Savannah-Newlands, was named the recipient of the 2015 Young Caymanian Leadership Award at the annual gala in the ball- room at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. Ms. McGee, who is engaged to be married on Jan. 2, 2016, works for Ironshore Pharmaceuticals and Development Inc. and serves as a consultant to the World Health Organization in Geneva. She also is the current international service director for 52 Rotaract clubs around the Caribbean. Ms. McGee was clearly moved to have been chosen as the recipient of the award over four other fi- nalists, Taylor Burrowes-Nixon, Robbie Cribb Jr., Rebekah Jefferson and Stephen Watler. “Wow,” she said, noting that she was glad she had written an acceptance speech in the like- lihood that she won, even though it was very difficult to write. “It’s not easy to write a speech that you have no idea if you’ll give,” she said. Ms. McGee told the audience about her ex- periences while earning an International Baccalaureate diploma at the United World College in Swaziland in Africa, which helped her see the world from a different viewpoint. She said people should strive to realize their potential and their passion because there is potential in ev- eryone, regardless of their circumstances. Master of Ceremonies Chris Duggan, who was the YCLA runner-up in 2009, said a record 39 nominations had been received this year, which Between 250 and 300 people, many of them holding placards, protested the proposed cruise ship berthing facility at the George Town waterfront on Saturday. – Photo: AlAn MArkoff PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » YCLA founding director Jackie Hansen, left, with Cayman Islands Governor Helen Kilpatrick.YCLA keynote speaker Debra Searle. – Photos: MAggie JAckson 2015 YCLA recipient Kellie McGee gives her acceptance speech. – Photo: DAviD r. legge2 LOCAL&REGIONAL Monday october 19, 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 * UPCOMING RUGBY MATCHES AT THE CINEMA * VISIT WWW.BIGSCREEN.KY FOR MORE INFORMATION. 18 YEARS & OVER BRIDGE OF SPIES (PG13) 12:25 I 3:30 I 6:35 I 9:40 THE MARTIAN 3D (PG13) 12.20 I 3:25 2D I 6:30 I 9:35 2D THE WALK (PG) 4:00 THE INTERN (PG13) 1:05 I 4:00 I 6:55 I 9:50 PAN 3D (PG) 1:20 I 4:20 2D I 7:00 I 9:40 2D WAR ROOM (PG) 1:10 I 7:10 I 10:00 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 3D (PG) 1:00 2D I 3:34 I 6:50 2D I 9:10 www.tonymosleylifeinsurance.com Police say 1 killed, 4 injured in shooting at ZombiCon FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Police say a shooting at the an- nual ZombiCon gathering in Florida has left one person dead and five more injured, causing a chaotic scene that sent throngs of zombie- dressed revelers running through the streets. The shooting happened around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, just 15 minutes before the event officially ended. However, large crowds stayed in the streets and authorities quickly cleared out nearby bars and set up crime scene tape, while others patrolled the area with rifles searching for a suspect. Fort Myers Police Lt. Victor Medico said Expavious Tyrell Taylor, a 20-year-old who played football at a local ju- nior college, died at the scene, but no other details about his death were released. Four others were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and one additional victim refused medical attention, authori- ties said. Authorities said the sus- pect is still at large and did not release any information about a possible motive. “There were a lot of wit- nesses down here, there were a lot of people taking pictures, videos with their cellphone,” Medico told the News-Press. “Anything that could help with this investigation would be greatly appreciated.” Police did not immediately return email and phone call messages on Sunday seeking additional details. The annual festival had been expected to draw more than 20,000 fans dressed as zombies, the newspaper said. Medico said the scene was described as “shoulder to shoulder.” A statement on the ZombiCon Facebook page said organizers were sad- dened by the news and the group takes the safety of its patrons very seriously. ZombiCon has been a popular event for nearly a decade, but some local resi- dents and business owners have not welcomed the crowd of costumed revelers in the street dressed as limping, bloated, degrading corpses. One restaurant posted signs warning visitors that ZombiCon participants were not welcome. “Quarantined. No Zombies allowed,” the signs read. Several members from a religious group also picketed the event this weekend. Emergency medical workers and police work next to a person at the scene of shooting at ZombiCon in Fort Myers, Florida. - Photo: AP Schools across US find alternatives to suspending students The recent arrest of a 14-year-old Muslim boy whose teacher mistook his homemade clock for a bomb led to widespread ridicule of school officials and accusa- tions that Islamophobia may have played a part. It earned Ahmed Mohamed an invitation to the White House, where the Irving teen will attend as- tronomy night Monday. But it also got him a three-day suspension, which he says the district insisted he serve even after it was clear it was just a clock. Ahmed’s suspension – his parents have since with- drawn him from the school – reflects the rigid disciplinary policies that many U.S. schools adopted in the 1990s. But many districts, including some of the nation’s largest, have been softening their ap- proach, foregoing automatic suspensions, expulsions and calls to the police for one-on- one counseling and less se- vere forms of punishment. “When we can’t tell the difference between a serious problem and a non-serious problem with a kid in school, the problem is not the kid: It is us,” said Michael Gilbert, who heads the San Antonio- based National Association of Community and Restorative Justice, which advocates a focus on dialogue instead of punishments. The school districts in New York, Los Angeles and Denver are just some of those that have moved away from discipline policies that re- lied heavily on suspensions. State governments have also been taking action: This year, Connecticut limited out-of- school suspensions and ex- pulsions for students up through the second grade, Texas decriminalized truancy and Oregon limited when suspensions and expulsions can be applied to students up through the fifth grade. Last year, the Obama ad- ministration asked schools to abandon policies that send kids to court, issuing guide- lines encouraging training school personnel in conflict resolution. “We’re seeing a lot of change at the federal, state and local level that I think is moving us in a new direc- tion,” said Russell Skiba, di- rector of The Equity Project at Indiana University. But, he added, “There are still a lot of schools that don’t have the resources or are afraid to move to something else.” Denver Public Schools started implementing a so- called restorative discipline program in 2008. District leaders were concerned about the high number of suspensions and expulsions, which the grassroots group Padres & Jovenes Unidos pointed out were being dis- proportionately used to punish minority students. Eldridge Greer, who runs the Denver district’s Whole Child support pro- gram, said the school year before the policy changes began taking effect, there were about 11,500 out-of- school suspensions and 167 expulsions. He said last school year, those figures were down significantly, to about 5,400 suspensions and 55 expulsions. © 2015, Associated Press Equipment failure causes power outage Equipment failure on a pole on Maclendon Drive near Foster’s Food Fair was the cause of a power outage for some George Town cus- tomers on Friday afternoon, according to Caribbean Utilities Company. Electricity service was interrupted between 1:22 p.m. and 3:48 p.m. in the areas of North Sound Road, Dorcy Drive, Maclendon Drive, Hospital Road, Walkers Road, Memorial Avenue and parts of Shedden Road and South Church Street, CUC said in a press release. Service was restored to all customers by 3:48 p.m., CUC said. ColombiA, rebels to join seArCh for missing BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – Colombia’s government and its biggest rebel move- ment say they will work together to locate thou- sands of people who van- ished during more than 50 years of conflict, hoping to advance toward a perma- nent peace. Chief government nego- tiator Humberto de la Calle said Sunday the agreement aims to ease “the profound pain of relatives of the dis- appeared” who have lived in permanent uncertainty for years. Representatives of the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia an- nounced the plan Saturday in Cuba, where they are holding talks on a peace treaty. They have com- mitted to reach a final deal by March. Both sides agreed to give information on people who died, whether in combat or as victims of kidnappings, forced disap- pearances or massacres. De la Calle said at a news conference in Bogota that an independent com- mission would be created to oversee the search for the missing. Some 25,000 people have been registered as missing since 1985. An estimated 220,000 have died and 5 million have been displaced from their homes during the conflict as a whole.3 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday october 19, 2015 ANNA KOURNIKOVA JIM COURIER ANDY RODDICK MANSOUR BAHRAMI MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS ASHLEY HARKLEROAD For sponsorship opportunities and corporate packages please contact us at: info@legendscayman.com • www.legendscayman.com 5-6 FEBRUARY 2016 TICKETS ON SALE 2 NOVEMBER 2015 AT DISCOVERY CENTRE, CAMANA BAY Legends Tennis is back for two nights of exhibition tennis. This event, hosted on the Courts at Camana Bay, presents a star-studded lineup of international tennis players and provides VIP corporate entertainment to suit any organisation’s budget and needs. ANNA KOURNIKOVA JIM COURIER ANDY RODDICK MANSOUR BAHRAMI MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS ASHLEY HARKLEROAD For sponsorship opportunities and corporate packages please contact us at: info@legendscayman.com • www.legendscayman.com 5-6 FEBRUARY 2016 TICKETS ON SALE 2 NOVEMBER 2015 AT DISCOVERY CENTRE, CAMANA BAY Legends Tennis is back for two nights of exhibition tennis. This event, hosted on the Courts at Camana Bay, presents a star-studded lineup of international tennis players and provides VIP corporate entertainment to suit any organisation’s budget and needs. ANNA KOURNIKOVA JIM COURIER ANDY RODDICK MANSOUR BAHRAMI MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS ASHLEY HARKLEROAD For sponsorship opportunities and corporate packages please contact us at: info@legendscayman.com • www.legendscayman.com 5-6 FEBRUARY 2016 TICKETS ON SALE 2 NOVEMBER 2015 AT DISCOVERY CENTRE, CAMANA BAY Legends Tennis is back for two nights of exhibition tennis. This event, hosted on the Courts at Camana Bay, presents a star-studded lineup of international tennis players and provides VIP corporate entertainment to suit any organisation’s budget and needs. ANNA KOURNIKOVA JIM COURIER ANDY RODDICK MANSOUR BAHRAMI MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS ASHLEY HARKLEROAD For sponsorship opportunities and corporate packages please contact us at: info@legendscayman.com • www.legendscayman.com 5-6 FEBRUARY 2016 TICKETS ON SALE 2 NOVEMBER 2015 AT DISCOVERY CENTRE, CAMANA BAY Legends Tennis is back for two nights of exhibition tennis. This event, hosted on the Courts at Camana Bay, presents a star-studded lineup of international tennis players and provides VIP corporate entertainment to suit any organisation’s budget and needs. Premier: Gov’t ‘out of patience’ with fuel companies Premier McLaughlinMr. BoddenMr. Tibbetts Brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Legislation that will re- quire Cayman’s two major fuel distributors to reveal specific pricing information on gasoline and diesel ship- ments was approved in a key vote last week, but cer- tain details of the bill re- main to be hammered out in a Legislative Assembly com- mittee Monday prior to its final passage. The Dangerous Substances Handling and Storage (Amendment) Bill, 2015, requires the Cayman Islands chief petroleum in- spector to collect and analyze information on fuel prices and pricing methods from importers – Sol Petroleum and Rubis – and provide that information to the govern- ment minister responsible for the petroleum inspectorate. Upon request, the im- porters are required to pro- vide fuel pricing informa- tion including: initial costs, cost of freight, insurance and brokerage fee, customs du- ties, estimates of fuel in stock and the amount and type of fuel to be imported in the next shipment. Refusal to disclose that information upon request, or to provide false informa- tion, can lead to a maximum $20,000 fine upon conviction, according to the bill. Lawmakers debating the bill Thursday did not dis- agree with its general intent, but there were several areas they wished to amend. Those included potentially raising the maximum fines into the six-figure range and making public the pricing data companies are to present to the minister. Planning Minister Kurt Tibbetts, who oversees petro- leum regulation matters, said government would fully re- view and consider all changes suggested by lawmakers, but was wary of legal challenges to some of the proposals made by legislators. “The government has run out of patience with trying to negotiate some sense of reasonableness with the fuel distributors,” Premier Alden McLaughlin said. “We be- lieve that … they collabo- rate about fixing prices. We are not going to let the cur- rent free-for-all with fuel prices remain.” Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Tibbetts have acknowl- edged that what the legisla- tion seeks to accomplish will be difficult, and that there have allegedly been veiled threats from the oil compa- nies over the years that they would abandon Cayman if the government sought to implement a regulated price market for fuel. Mr. Tibbetts said govern- ment was merely asking for information at this stage, but that the dangerous sub- stances bill and the up- coming Public Utilities Bill, which would give the petro- leum inspectorate far greater regulatory power over the fuel industry, will create a stricter operating environ- ment than in the past. Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush, while not speaking against the general legislation, sounded a note of caution regarding two areas of the proposal: the addi- tional layer of government it will create and the extent to which it would actually help to reduce prices. “Whatever the good inten- tions with this bill, this is a bureaucracy and I wonder … how long before the public will get relief?” Mr. Bush asked. “If, for instance, we knew we had paid too much, there is a price gouging law in existence, which we could be amending if necessary … and get relief to people quickly,” he suggested. “The minister [referring to Mr. Tibbetts] well knows what he’s dealing with. These are powerful people. These are part of the oil bloc. This little small island, we won’t have the power to fight them.” Mr. Tibbetts said nego- tiating with “big oil” over the past decade or so had not worked, and that gov- ernment was essentially at a loss for what else to do: “What we have in this in- dustry, by and large, is a du- opoly. While I make no accu- sations … it is very possible that collusion has done on … and if we do nothing, will forever go on.” Losing money Local gas station owner, Bodden Town MLA Osbourne Bodden, said it is not only local drivers expressing concerns over high fuel prices, but gas station man- agers as well. Mr. Bodden’s family has owned Lorna’s Rubis [for- merly Texaco] for decades in central Bodden Town, and he claimed most gas station owners in Cayman are now only making their money on sales of convenience store items such as food and cigarettes. “You don’t make money on fuel,” he said. “[Local re- tailers] are basically dictated to. You’re told you must have your markups within this [range], you must compete with the other fuel suppliers and therefore everyone ends up making nothing.” Mr. Bodden said new fu- eling stations are due to come online in Prospect and in East End shortly, and that “slicing the pie into smaller pieces” would merely lead to losses for local station managers. “I’m fed up,” he said. “We don’t make any money on our gas station anymore. All I’m doing is paying bills and get- ting robbed.”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. An event held at the end of September raised $27,000 toward a new ambulance for the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority. So far, the non- profit Cayman Heart Fund has brought in more than $43,000 in donations for the new emergency services vehicle, which has a price tag of around $150,000. We offer our congratulations and best wishes to Cayman Heart Fund, its volunteers and the donors who are contributing to this cause. As many of our readers are aware, the government’s current “fleet” of five ambulances – two of which are aging ungrace- fully – is insufficient for the tasks demanded of our medical responders. That’s why Cayman Heart Fund most definitely should not be raising money for the government to buy a new ambulance. Don’t get us wrong: Cayman desperately needs (at least) one new ambulance, and it should be bought – but by the public, not the private, sector. We empathize with the altruistic intentions of those kind souls who want to do something positive for the well-being of the Cayman community. However, the furtherance of public health is a function of govern- ment, and a key one. We understand that in many places the private sector is increasingly stepping up to supplement the delivery of important services, especially in health- care, particularly when revenue-starved governments simply cannot afford the required expenditures on their shoestring budgets. But “cash-strapped” and “lean-budgeted” are two adjectives that do not apply to Cayman’s sprawling bureaucracy, which, like an irresponsible octopus, has extended its tentacles into many areas where it has no business (including direct competition with private business) while neglecting its core duties. Every dollar in private donations that goes to the government for a necessary service frees up a dollar (or, using governmental arithmetic, two or three) that the government can allocate to something optional, unwise or unnecessary. The proceeds of such goodwill result in the masking of government’s deficiencies, and so fundamental imbalances are never addressed. Imagine a person, on public assistance, who exchanges their “food stamps” at the grocery store for a bag of Doritos. Then, still nutritionally lacking, that person goes out to the parking lot to beg other customers for fruits and vegetables. The problem here isn’t that the person doesn’t have fruits and vegeta- bles; it’s that the person wasted their food stamps on Doritos. Giving them what they “need,” after they’ve already gotten what they “want,” only encourages the repetition of the deleterious behavior. It’s a similar scenario with Cayman’s government. After binging on extravagancies such as the monu- mental high school in Frank Sound, the long-running turtle circus in West Bay, and various other money- burning exercises, including its attempt at running a national airline, the government is going around, cap in hand, collecting spare change to pay for some- thing that should have taken precedence over all of the above. This isn’t just about the new ambulance. Take, for example, the medical robot donated by the Seafarers Association, the school lunch assistance programs from the National Council of Voluntary Organisations, or the Humane Society’s futile efforts to control the stray pet population. We could go on. We consider it admirable, indeed applause-worthy, when individuals and groups make it their mission to care for the sick, the poor, the old, the young and the otherwise vulnerable. For those community champions, we have nothing but respect. However, in a wealthy (and heartily taxed) society such as Cayman, in many instances those charities are fulfilling needs that have not arisen out of a scarcity of public resources, but have been created by govern- ment’s misallocations of revenue. Cayman’s mendicant government Monday oCTober 19, 2015 • Cayman COmpass ‘Economic equality’: A moral imperative? WASHINGTON – America is more distant from the 1933 beginning of the New Deal (82 years) than that beginning was from the 1865 end of the Civil War (68 years). Both epi- sodes involved the nation’s un- derstanding of equality: The war affirmed equality of nat- ural rights, the New Deal ad- dressed unequal social condi- tions. Today’s Democratic Party is frozen, like a fly in amber, in the New Deal preoccupation – but with less excuse than Democrats had during the Great Depression. The party believes that economic in- equality is an urgent problem, and that its urgency should be understood in terms of huge disparities of wealth. Neither proposition is (to use the term Jefferson used when he wrote equality into America’s cate- chism) a self-evident truth. The fundamental pro- ducer of income inequality is freedom. Individuals have dif- ferent aptitudes and attitudes. Not even universal free public education, even were it well done, could equalize the ability of individuals to add value to the economy. Besides, some people want to teach, others want to run hedge funds. In an open society, rewards are set not by political power but by impersonal market forces, the rewards of which will differ dramatically but usu- ally predictably. Beyond free- dom’s valuable fecundity in producing unequal social out- comes, four other facets of to- day’s America fuel inequality. First, the entitlement state exists primarily to transfer wealth regressively, from the working-age population to the retired elderly who, after a life- time of accumulation, are the wealthiest age cohort. Second, big, regulatory government inherently exacerbates in- equality because it inevitably serves the strong – those suf- ficiently educated, affluent, ar- ticulate and confident to influ- ence the administrative state’s myriad redistributive actions. Third, seven years of ZIRP – zero interest-rate policy – have not restored the eco- nomic dynamism essential for social mobility but have had the intended effect of driving liquidity into equi- ties in search of high yields, thereby enriching the 10 per- cent of Americans who own approximately 80 percent of the directly owned stocks. Also, by making big govern- ment inexpensive, low interest rates exacerbate the polit- ical class’s perennial disposi- tion toward deficit spending. And little of the 2016 federal budget’s US$283 billion for debt service will flow to indi- viduals earning less than the median income. Fourth, family disinte- gration cripples the primary transmitter of social capital – the habits, mores, customs and dispositions necessary for seizing opportunities. When 72 percent of African-American children and 53 percent of Hispanic children are born to unmarried women, and 40 per- cent of all births are to unmar- ried women, and a majority of all mothers under 30 are not living with the fathers of their children, the consequences for the life chances, and lifetime earnings, of millions of chil- dren are enormous. Bernie Sanders is doing well, if not good, by reducing the debate about equality to resentment of large for- tunes. He should read Harry G. Frankfurt’s new book “On Inequality” (Princeton University Press). It is so short (89 pages) that even a peripa- tetic candidate can read it, and so lucid that he cannot miss its inconvenient point: “It is misguided to endorse eco- nomic egalitarianism as an au- thentic moral ideal.” Frankfurt, a Princeton pro- fessor of philosophy emer- itus, argues that economic inequality is not inherently morally objectionable. “To the extent that it is truly unde- sirable, it is on account of its almost irresistible tendency to generate unacceptable in- equalities of other kinds.” These can include access to elite education, political in- fluence and other nontrivial matters. But Frankfurt’s alter- native to economic egalitari- anism is the “doctrine of suf- ficiency,” which is that the moral imperative should be that everyone have enough. The pursuit of increased economic equality might, but need not, serve the ethic of sufficiency. And this pursuit might distract people from un- derstanding, and finding satis- faction with, “what is needed for the kind of life a person would most sensibly and ap- propriately seek.” This has nothing to do with “the quan- tity of money that other people happen to have.” Frankfurt ar- gues that “doing worse than others does not entail doing badly.” And an obsession with others’ resources “contributes to the moral disorientation and shallowness of our time.” Sanders focuses less on empathy for the poor than on stoking the discontent of those who are comfortable but en- vious. They will ultimately be discomfited by the fact that envy is the only one of the seven deadly sins that does not give the sinner even mo- mentary pleasure. Fortunately, for most Americans, believing in equality simply means be- lieving that everyone is at least as good as everyone else. George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2015, Washington Post Writers Group GEORGE F. WILL Printed and Published by: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town send us yOur VieWs Or neWs: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com adVertise With us: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS daVid r. legge and Vicki l. legge EdITOR-In-CHIEf daVid r. legge A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday october 19, 2015 179969_PRINT2-Ad-4x12-Comp-TravePage 1 10/8/15 3:01:18 PM Cayman Airways counts on Cuba connection James Whittaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Flights between Cayman Brac and the coastal city of Holguin in eastern Cuba begin next month, with Cayman Airways officials confident the Cuba con- nection will continue to pay dividends. Several international car- riers are reportedly getting ready to run scheduled flights between the U.S. mainland and Cuba in anticipation of a further thaw in relations be- tween the two countries. But CAL boss Fabian Whorms says demand through Cayman is likely to remain strong for the foreseeable future. He said the Holguin flight, originating in Miami and transiting through Cayman Brac, has been added to meet growing demand for travel between Cuba and the U.S., through the territory. Officials hope it will also bring “dual destination” travel to Cayman Brac and Cuba. The first flight will take off from the Brac’s Charles Kirkconnell International Airport on Nov. 28, a Saturday. Mr. Whorms acknowl- edged the anticipated opening up of Cuba, after a 54-year trade embargo with the U.S., would potentially bring extra supply, in the form of sched- uled flights from the U.S. to Cuba. But he said it would be some time before U.S. air- lines are able to ramp up their operations to meet in- creased demand. For the time being, he believes there is still plenty of opportunity for Cayman in the Cuba market. “While there are many passengers currently able to legally travel between the Cuba and the U.S., the tre- mendous increase in pas- senger volumes through unrestricted travel could represent extra business for Cayman Airways and extra business for our air- ports in Cayman, even with them never setting foot in Cayman,” he said. “In a nutshell, the opening up of Cuba could potentially bring extra demand which will not be met by a corre- sponding increase in supply in the form of scheduled flights from the U.S. to Cuba.” The payoff for the Cayman Islands in transiting Cubans through the territory is the ability to schedule flights that would otherwise be eco- nomically unsustainable. “The ability to carry a few more passengers can mean the ultimate success or failure of a route. More de- mand to or from Cuba means more frequent flights for the Miami route, ultimately ben- efiting overall connectivity to the Cayman Islands,” said Mr. Whorms. The Holguin flight will be the first international return flight in and out of Cayman Brac’s newly refurbished in- ternational airport. The route also involves a return flight to Miami from the Brac. Mr. Whorms added, “Holguin is Cuba’s fourth most populous city and was selected due to its close proximity to Santiago de Cuba and Camaguey, Cuba’s second and third most popu- lous cities, respectively. “It is also anticipated that many of the airline’s ex- isting Havana passengers, many of whom are from Cuba’s eastern towns, will be able to utilize this direct service and avoid lengthy travel between the capital city and their hometowns.” While Cuba-bound travelers may provide the economic rationale for the route, it is hoped that the route will also attract new tourists to the Brac. Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell said Holguin is a popular resort area for Europeans and Canadians. “CAL’s new flights to Holguin will provide connec- tivity as well as dual des- tination opportunities for Canadian and European trav- elers, which is excellent for Cayman,” he added. When the new Saturday service begins, flight KX842 will depart Cayman Brac at 1:30 p.m., arriving in Holguin at 2:30 p.m. From Holguin to the Brac, flight KX843 will depart at 3:30 p.m. and arrive at 4:30 p.m. Unemployment rate Up nearly 1 percent in spring Charles DunCan cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com The overall unemployment rate in the Cayman Islands rose in spring to 5.6 per- cent, up almost a full point since late 2014, according to data from the Economics and Statistics Office. This is the first time since 2002 that government has produced a spring labor re- port along with its annual fall report. Caymanian unemploy- ment rose at a lower rate, in- creasing less than half of 1 percent to 8.3 percent. The underemployment rate – people working part-time or looking for more work – fell from 2.9 percent in fall 2014 to 2.5 percent this spring. Finance Minister Marco Archer said it could be mis- leading to compare the new unemployment numbers to six months earlier. “This is the first time that we are doing a spring labor force survey in 10 years,” he said, “and the spring unem- ployment rate has always been higher than the fall. “In the fall you’re building up to the tourism season … so there are greater oppor- tunities for employment. In April, there is some down- sizing because the high season is over. We don’t have 10 years of data com- parison for the spring,” he added, noting that he asked the Economics and Statistics Office to retrieve earlier data for comparison, if possible. Most of the unemploy- ment increase is from perma- nent residents with the right to work and non-Cayma- nians, Mr. Archer said. “Notwithstanding an in- crease in unemployment, total employment expanded by 0.5 percent to 37,900, an indication that the local economy remains on the growth path,” he said. Cayman Airways flights between Cayman Brac and the coastal city of Holguin in eastern Cuba begin next month.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Monday october 19, 2015 • Cayman Compass marked the 15th anniversary of the award. Guests were shown brief video highlights of the 14 pre- vious award galas. The event was not held in 2005 because Grand Cayman was still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Presenting Ms. McGee with her award was last year’s recipient, Kadi Merren-Pentney, who before- hand spoke about her willingness to give back to the community, an attribute that led to her selection as YCLA recipient. “I can honestly say, the more I give, the more I feel ful- filled and happy, and as many of you know, I’m a pretty happy person,” she said. Keynote speaker for the event was British-born adventurer, au- thor and motivational speaker Debra Searle, who is best known for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Barbados in a 23-foot boat made of plywood. Although she started off on the journey with her husband, he developed a crippling phobia of the open sea and was taken off the craft, and Ms. Searle continued by herself, spending three-and-a-half months alone at sea. She said that she faced danger on a daily basis – from storms, ocean freighters and even sea tur- tles that were hitting the bottom of the boat – and that she lived in a constant state of heightened alert. Once, after she had a near- miss with an ocean freighter and she was disheartened by the pros- pects of spending Christmas alone at sea, she thought of giving up and having a boat come to get her. However, with the support of her family – who could talk to her with a satellite phone – she continued. Her family arranged for a sea de- livery of a Christmas care package, complete with a small Christmas pudding, and for a way for thou- sands of text messages from sup- porters to reach her. Ms. Searle said she learned on the journey that leadership starts with leading yourself. “I had more opportunity to lead myself than most people have in a lifetime,” she said, adding that the most important thing she learned was “choose your attitude,” some- thing she advised others to do. She said that during her journey she often faced challenges beyond her control, but that she could still choose the way she thought about those challenges. “As you work on leading your- self so that you can lead others, know that no matter what … you can always change your attitude. That’s the one thing that’s always in your control.” Kellie McGee wins YCLA 2015 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 2014 YCLA recipient Kadi Merren-Pentney with George Town MLA and YCLA Chairman Roy McTaggart. Master of Ceremonies Chris Duggan, a YCLA finalist in 2009, asks finalist Robbie Cribb Jr. a question during the event. 2015 YCLA Recipient Kellie McGee, center, with the other finalists, from left, Stephen Watler, Taylor Burrowes-Nixon, Rebekah Jefferson and Robbie Cribb Jr. – Photos: Maggie Jackson 2006 YCLA recipient Jonathan Tibbetts, who co-emceed this year’s event, with his wife, April Tibbetts. 2015 YCLA recipient Kellie McGee, second from left, with her family, from left, Albert Hislop, Owen McGee, Ruth McGee, Ryan McGee, Sallie Hislop and Jamie McGee. Dr. Tasha Ebanks Garcia was one of the speakers during the 2015 YCLA gala. Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, left, and Minister of Youth Osbourne Bodden.7 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday october 19, 2015 Personal Insurance *applies to new policies only. Certificate can be used with motor insurance. BRITISH CAYMANIAN INSURANCE CO. LTD. BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, George Town, P.O. 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CALL 949-8699 or visit www.britcay.ky cgigrp Bush: PAC removal motion ‘hypocrisy’ Brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Replacing the opposition leader on Cayman’s Public Accounts Committee and leaving what he termed a “ju- nior minister” on the com- mittee amounted to govern- ment hypocrisy, West Bay MLA McKeeva Bush said last week. A majority of government and independent Legislative Assembly members voted late Thursday in favor of a gov- ernment motion to remove Opposition Leader Bush from his position as a member of the committee. Mr. Bush ar- gued against the motion Thursday evening, stating it was hypocritical of the ruling Progressives-led government to leave George Town MLA Roy McTaggart – a councilor in two government ministries – on the accounts committee as deputy chairman while forcing out Mr. Bush, an opposition member, due to perceived conflicts. The move has been precip- itated since June 2014 when Mr. McTaggart, the former chairman of the committee, asked Mr. Bush to resign. Mr. McTaggart said he has felt since that time that Mr. Bush’s criticism of the auditor general’s office amounted to “slander” and made his position on the committee “untenable.” North Side MLA Ezzard Miller – an independent – is the new chairman of the PAC, which reviews and makes rec- ommendations to government based on reports from the au- ditor’s office. Mr. McTaggart will become deputy chairman of the committee. The re- maining members will be in- dependent backbench member Winston Connolly, Progressives backbench member Joey Hew and opposition member Capt. Eugene Ebanks. Nine Legislative Assembly members, including eight gov- ernment members and Mr. Miller, voted to remove Mr. Bush from the PAC. Two op- position members and govern- ment backbench MLA Anthony Eden voted against the mo- tion. Mr. Bush abstained. Four members of the assembly were absent. Mr. Bush, speaking during the debate on the motion, in- ferred that the government’s statements regarding “objec- tivity and fairness” toward the auditor general were largely political posturing. “Bad blood? McKeeva Bush don’t hate nobody,” Mr. Bush said. “Not even the premier … who has attacked me more than anybody else I’ve come across politically. He’s desper- ately trying to get me out of the way. But I don’t need the PAC committee to deal with him.” “[Mr. McLaughlin] is a hypo- crite. The bad blood is because I recognized what was going on in this country, and what is going on.” Mr. Bush referred during the debate to his long-held belief that his former United Democratic Party government was toppled in late 2012 by a conspiracy between some British and Caymanian officials who wished to remove him from power. Premier McLaughlin de- nied all such accusations. “This motion has become neces- sary because the Leader of the Opposition [Mr. Bush] has, over the past year or so, consistently made derogatory statements regarding the integrity and professionalism of the former auditor general and his office,” Premier McLaughlin said. “Our concern is that those statements demonstrate the inability of the Leader of the Opposition to consider the re- ports and oversight of the Office of the Auditor General with any sense of objectivity. “We are even more con- cerned now that the committee is about to consider the Auditor General’s report on the Nation Building Fund. The Leader of the Opposition has a history of bad blood with the Office of the Auditor General and the contention is not limited to the one who has just recently left Cayman.” Mr. Bush has feuded publicly in the past with former Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick, whom he has re- ferred to as a “hit man,” current Acting Auditor General Garnet Harrison, whom he has ac- cused of seeking media celeb- rity, as well as former Auditor General Dan Duguay. The opposition leader said Thursday that he believed the audit office had “singled out” his former United Democratic Party government, and him- self personally, as part of a campaign waged by former Cayman Islands Governor Duncan Taylor. Premier McLaughlin has sued Mr. Bush in Grand Court over the oppo- sition leader’s allegations that the premier was part of the “conspiracy” to topple the UDP in 2011-2012. Mr. Bush referred during the debate to his long-held belief that his former United Democratic Party government was toppled in late 2012 by a conspiracy between some British and Caymanian officials who wished to remove him from power. March against domestic violence set for Monday night Jewel levy jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com To protest the growing number of women in Cayman being abused by their partners or acquaintances, the Business and Professional Women’s Club has scheduled a Silent Witness March at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Participants are encour- aged to gather on the lawn of the old government administra- tion building, the Glass House at 5:15 p.m. The march will go from Elgin Avenue to Edwards Street, finishing at Heroes Park behind the courthouse where a brief ceremony will take place. Among the speakers at the ceremony will be Governor Helen Kilpatrick, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and members of the Business and Professional Women’s Club. Representatives of the Family Resource Centre will address bullying. Len Layman, former di- rector of the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, said he will be attending to show that he stands up as a man against do- mestic violence. “Being, seeing and marching each year to show that do- mestic abuse is not just a wom- an’s problem but is a problem for everybody is going to be a solution that I will stand up for and get involved [in],” he said. The theme of this year’s campaign is “Love Shouldn’t Hurt.” Participants are urged to wear something with purple – the color chosen for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, or pink for bullying prevention. The Business and Professional Women’s orga- nization has collaborated with the Estella Scott-Roberts Foundation and the Family Resource Centre on the Silent Witness March. The club encourages other service clubs and organiza- tions, such as the Cadets, girls and boys associations, churches, first responders, and companies, as well as in- dividuals, to come out and show their support in an ef- fort to “stomp out violence” of all kinds in Cayman, especially gender violence. The first march against do- mestic violence on island was in 1999, when participants si- lently carried life-sized sil- houettes down the road to remember the women who had fallen or had no voice of their own. In 2008, more than 2,000 people marched silently through George Town to pay tribute to Mrs. Scott-Roberts, who was not a victim of do- mestic abuse but was mur- dered. Despite the large number of people, the streets of George Town were entirely silent from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. as the crowd made its way from the Glass House to the Legislative Assembly Building. Some car- ried banners and signs calling for peace and an end to vio- lence, while others carried pic- tures of Mrs. Scott-Roberts or held aloft red silhouettes of women to mark the victims of domestic violence.8 LOCAL NEWS Monday october 19, 2015 • Cayman Compass 1st year in Heaven Yvonne O. Roper-Ebanks December 12, 1955 – October 17, 2014 One year since the lord called you home, We know you are in a better place, But we miss you so much. Your presence we miss, your memories we treasure. You are loved and will always be in our hearts. With love from your family and friends. Bush threatens legal challenge over new voting maps Brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman Islands Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush said Friday that he is weighing a potential legal challenge to the new voting maps that will split the electorate into 19 single- member constituent dis- tricts ahead of the May 2017 general election. Mr. Bush, a longtime op- ponent of the voting change which looks set to gain final approval in the Legislative Assembly as early as Monday, said he has until Nov. 20 to see “whether I have a judicial review to do.” “I don’t have the money or I would have tested it al- ready,” Mr. Bush said Friday. The opposition leader wrote to Governor Helen Kilpatrick on Aug. 24, stating that his voting dis- trict of West Bay had been “disadvantaged” by the ac- tions of the 2015 Electoral Boundary Commission. Specifically, Mr. Bush’s claim is that after the boundary commission re- leased its draft maps of the 19 districts, it held only two public meetings – one in George Town on July 7 and one in Savannah on July 8. Mr. Bush said no public meeting was held in West Bay district after the draft maps had been released. West Bay district’s four constituencies in the 2015 maps were entirely shifted and redrawn from a 2010 draft map that was not ap- proved by the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Bush said voters in his district op- posed the way the single- member districts had been changed and were not able to make their views known to the commission in the follow-up meetings. “The commission’s ac- tions in West Bay [were] nothing less than gerryman- dering and the beginning of Cayman’s political wars,” Mr. Bush said in the Legislative Assembly on Friday. Governor Kilpatrick wrote back to Mr. Bush on Sept. 1, stating that the Electoral Boundary Commission had fulfilled all of its consti- tutional requirements by holding public meetings in the spring prior to the re- lease of the draft voting maps. These meetings were held in each district and were aimed to gather the views of as many Caymanian voters as possible prior to the com- mencement of the redis- tricting effort. There was no requirement whatsoever to hold further public meetings after the draft voting maps had been released, she said. The governor indicated that her constitutional re- sponsibility for the redis- tricting proposal was fulfilled. Mr. Bush, in a reply letter sent on Sept. 2, stated that he considered the governor’s response “very poor and de- spicable” in relation to what he called the “high-handed- ness taken by the Electoral Boundary Commission.” The opposition leader noted that section 88 of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order, 2009, requires the commission to seek the views and invite the views of mem- bers of the public. “They went to the members in George Town, they went to the mem- bers in Bodden Town, but not in West Bay,” Mr. Bush said. “They didn’t want to come back to West Bay because they knew that down there West Bay was against it.” During Friday’s debate on the Electoral Boundary Commission’s 2015 report, Premier Alden McLaughlin and Bodden Town MLA Alva Suckoo praised the work of the commission for its even- handedness in dividing up voting districts in Bodden Town, George Town and West Bay into almost exactly even voting populations. The smaller districts of Cayman Brac-Little Cayman, North Side and East End were left with much smaller voting populations in order to pre- serve what the boundary com- mission believed was their culturally distinct heritage. ”[The commission’s] ef- fort and the result has done away with any residual con- cerns that I may have had with this issue,” Premier McLaughlin said. Mr. McLaughlin ac- knowledged during Friday’s meeting that the motion laid before the Legislative Assembly on Oct. 14 re- garding the boundary com- mission’s report had wrongly named two of the four con- stituencies in West Bay. The incorrectly named constitu- encies of West Bay East and West Bay Northwest were amended by a vote of the as- sembly to West Bay West and West Bay North. Opposition members McKeeva Bush, Bernie Bush and Capt. Eugene Ebanks voted against the amendment. Once lawmakers vote on the boundary commission report, the correct names of the voting districts will be contained in that report, Mr. McLaughlin said. Mr. Bush One man, one vote: Two sides of the issue Brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Two Cayman Islands pol- iticians, one of whom is a strong supporter of one man, one vote, single-member con- stituencies and another who is perhaps its greatest de- tractor, gave their views on the subject during a Legislative Assembly debate Friday afternoon. We have sought to set out the respective pro and con “cases” of Alva Suckoo and McKeeva Bush in the law- makers’ own words, drawing from extracts of their debate. Alva Suckoo Regarding concerns that single-member voting districts will cause further division in the Cayman Islands: “I fail to see how that will happen. We’re not erecting fences. We’re not going to give people special color T-shirts to wear. “There are divisions now … we have pockets of Caymanians that for years now have not received the representation they have de- served. As a representative in Bodden Town, I can choose to ignore those areas … simply because I know I can pick up votes elsewhere.” Mr. Suckoo said single- member districts, with a much smaller number of voters, will eliminate that possibility. Regarding concerns that the change will encourage for- eigners who want to gain po- litical power in the Cayman Islands: “There are a number of us [referring to members of the Legislative Assembly] who have similar backgrounds. Can any one of us be accused of not being loyal representatives of the Cayman Islands? “We’ve recklessly in- vited individuals here and granted them status en masse, without ensuring those per- sons were properly integrated into our culture. Every single Caymanian is the descendant, at some point in time, of a foreigner.” Regarding concerns about how the voting change will af- fect the economic and social future of the country: “I’m not too concerned about the up- coming election. “We haven’t gone through major periods of violence and unrest. We have poverty, but we have not experienced it in ways that neighboring coun- tries [have]. “Poor people are not crim- inals. If we want to avoid the garrisons, let us continue on educating, uplifting and em- powering our people. “[Problems with crime and poverty] have nothing to do with single-member constitu- encies. It has to do with poor representation.” McKeeva Bush “This is a time for reflec- tion, consideration and pause,” Mr. Bush said. The opposition leader said redistricting of the electoral boundaries does not neces- sarily result in strong polit- ical representatives because, among other reasons, the boundaries need to be con- stantly withdrawn to maintain a population balance. “It mightn’t show its face immediately, but you watch it down the years. [Do] any of those countries that moved to … single-member districts, ‘one man, one vote’ … look at them and ask yourself … are they better off than the Cayman Islands?” Referring to the represen- tatives of East End and North Side districts, which currently each return only one elected member to the assembly: “They have murders and rob- beries in their district[s], more than there should be, and they can’t even get a police station out there. “We are going down the same path that others have tried and failed. It will lead to the erosion of our way of life. Do not divide our islands up into little pieces.” Regarding the quality of representatives: “It’s difficult to get elected in the open [multi- member] voting, but very easy to get elected in the smaller districts. Maybe if [the can- didates] are smart enough … to cut votes [run multiple op- position candidates to disad- vantage larger political par- ties] … then the garrisons are being planted in the smaller districts.” Regarding social and cul- tural divisions: “One man, one vote single-member constit- uencies will fully divide our islands. It will lead to less accountability, not more ac- countability. It will increase government bureaucracy and government expenses. Regarding political con- cerns: “The referendum [in July 2012] which asked whether we the people supported one man, one vote failed. The voting population size of the Cayman Islands is not large enough. “I’m not saying it’s going to happen now, but it will lead to the weakening of checks and balances that are there to protect our political system. Gerrymandering will become the order of the day.” Mr. Suckoo Five MeN iN court deNy ruM PoiNt robbery James Whittaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A group of five men have denied taking bracelets worth $1,000, an iPhone, jewelry, cash and cigarettes from a man at Rum Point in North Side. Shyheim Burke, Donald Minzett, Anthony Scott Jr., Shayne Ewart and Paul Miller appeared in Grand Court on Friday to face var- ious charges in connection with the incident on Aug. 2. All five deny involve- ment in the alleged robbery, which prosecutors have said took place on a vacant, private property, away from the main tourist area. Burke admitted to carrying an offensive weapon – a hatchet – and causing harassment, alarm and distress. Both he and Ewart denied an additional charge of stealing a bottle of Hennessy from the same victim. Ewart denied charges of causing harassment, alarm and distress and carrying an offensive weapon – a machete. Scott denied car- rying an offensive weapon – a knife. A trial date has not yet been set. “I fail to see how that [further divisions] will happen. We’re not erecting fences …” MLA ALvA SucKooThe islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Cayman Compass • Monday october 19, 2015 Cut $250* from your motor premium with BritCay home insurance! Call 949-8699 www.britcay.ky BRITISH CAYMANIAN INSURANCE CO. LTD. BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, George Town, P.O. Box 74, Grand Cayman KY1-1102 Tel. 949-8699 www.britcay.ky 12 Kirkconnell St. Stake Bay, P.O. Box 254 SPO, Cayman Brac KY2-2101 Tel.948-1760 A member of Colonial Group International: insurance, health, pensions, life $250* CERTIFICATE WITH BUILDINGS INSURANCE *Each new buildings insurance policy with BritCay comes with a $250 gift certificate which you can use with BritCay Motor Insurance. *conditions apply benefits, primarily due to the absence of a committed, com- prehensive tourism vision, policy and strategy.” He noted that all cruise ship passengers are not the same with regard to the amount of money they would inject into the Cayman economy, the main factor government has cited as the reason for their decision to proceed with the project. “We should be strate- gically targeting higher- spending cruise visitors, not just chasing more num- bers,” he said. “Don’t get dis- tracted and build two piers because we need the cruise lines’ financing.” Minister of Environment Wayne Panton, who was at the protest to observe, con- firmed that there is no guar- antee from cruise lines yet for large Oasis class cruise ships or similar-sized vessels to come to Cayman, although it is expected that “some sort of commitment” will become part of a final agreement to proceed with the cruise berthing facility project. Speaking minutes after a protest was held against the planned dock project, Mr. Panton said that it “goes without saying” that there would be a commitment from the cruise lines that the largest-sized ships would call on Grand Cayman if it built a cruise berthing facility that could accommodate them. “If we were to build a cruise berthing facility and the large class ships didn’t come [to Cayman], then clearly we’ve failed in one of the objectives of this facility,” Mr. Panton said. “[If that doesn’t happen] the equation is substantially altered and then we might have done it in vain.” Courtney Platt, one of organizers of the protest, said he was pleased with the turnout, considering the short notice and lack of ad- vance advertising. Like Mr. Johnson, Mr. Platt said he did not oppose some kind of cruise berthing facility, he was just against the one cur- rently proposed. “It’s not a black and white issue,” he said, noting that many people think the choice is to either lose cruise ship tourism or proceed with the currently proposed project and destroy the George Town harbor marine environment. “We say, find a better way of saving cruise tourism, but don’t kill the reef.” Adrien Briggs, who is in- volved with a number of tourism-related businesses and who operates Cayman Marine Services, the com- pany that supplies the ten- dering service to the cruise ships, explained his reasons for objecting to the planned cruise-berthing project. “We have an island based on tourism to a large ex- tent,” he said. “Our tourism is based on our marine en- vironment. Yet we’re pre- pared to sacrifice that … so that cruise lines that have nothing vested in Cayman have a bigger bottom line. How dumb can we get?” Another opponent of the proposed project, Johann Moxam, noted that the pro- test brought out a wide demo- graphic of Cayman’s society. “The diversity of those at- tending says a lot,” he said. “There’s a good collection of demographics – young- sters and senior citizens, and all ages in between. We have white collar pro- fessionals, merchants, civil servants and blue collar workers – all of whom are concerned citizens.” With so much at stake in relation to the cruise dock project, Mr. Moxam said it is imperative that Cayman gets the solution right. “We need to look beyond the politics and self-interests and ensure we find the right solution for the future of the Cayman Islands that respects both sides of the equation,” he said. Minister Panton said he would have spoken to the crowd, but he was not asked. Still, he said the protest rep- resented “a good expression of democracy.” “I’m not sure that everyone [attending] is opposed to the project, but … I think everyone here has a genuine concern and love of the country.” Because of the size of the crowd, those in the back – in- cluding Mr. Panton – could not hear what was being said. However, Mr. Panton in- timated that he is still open to hearing arguments. “My concern is to ensure the benefits far outweigh the costs,” he said. “I haven’t worked that out in my mind yet.” “If we were to build a cruise berthing facility and the large class ships didn’t come [to Cayman] then clearly we’ve failed in one of the objectives of this facility.” Wayne Panton, minister of environment CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Protesters on Saturday gathered to listen to those speaking out against the proposed dock project. – Photo: AlAn MArkoff Dock protest draws 250-300 Arab attackers open fire on Israeli bus station, killing one JERUSALEM (AP) – Two Arab attackers opened fire in a bus station in southern Israel on Sunday, killing one Israeli and wounding six others in one of the boldest attacks yet of a monthlong wave of violence. The attack came as Israel further tightened security around the country, high- lighted by the construc- tion of a barrier separating Jewish and Arab neighbor- hoods in east Jerusalem. In a bid to halt the fighting, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Paris he would meet the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the coming days. Israel has deployed thou- sands of police, backed up by troops, to maintain order following a spate of at- tacks, mostly stabbings, by Palestinian assailants. Those measures have so far failed to stop the violence. In Sunday night’s at- tack, police said the two as- sailants entered the central bus station in the southern city of Beersheba and began shooting and stabbing people. They said an Israeli man was killed and six other people, including four police officers, were wounded to varying degrees. Doron Ben-Hamo, a po- lice spokesman, told Channel 2 TV that one of the at- tackers appeared to have stabbed a civilian and then stolen his weapon. One of the attackers was shot and killed, while the second was shot and wounded. Details on his condition were not im- mediately known. Israeli media showed footage of a blood-streaked floor and rows of ambu- lances outside the bus sta- tion. Security camera footage from the bus station aired on Israeli TV showed what appeared to be a civilian shooting one of the attackers as soldiers and civilians crouched for cover nearby. The attack was one of the most serious incidents amid near-daily bouts of violence that has hit Israel and the Palestinian territories over the past month. After the at- tack, a crowd of Israelis gath- ered outside the bus station and chanted “death to Arabs.” The unrest erupted in Jerusalem a month ago over tensions surrounding a Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims. It soon spread to Arab neighbor- hoods of east Jerusalem and then to the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Israel has struggled to contain near-daily attacks by Palestinian assailants. Authorities have blocked roads and placed check- points at the entrances of Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. Other se- curity measures include ID checks and requiring some Palestinian residents to lift their shirts and roll up pant legs as they exit their neigh- borhoods to prove they are not carrying knives. Soldiers have been deployed in Jerusalem and cities across Israel. On Sunday, Israeli police erected a barrier to separate the Jewish neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv from the adjacent Palestinian neigh- borhood of Jabal Mukaber as part of the heightened security. A number of at- tackers have come from Jabal Mukaber. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the barrier, a row of six concrete slabs about five meters (16 feet) high, was meant to protect Armon Hanatziv from rocks and firebombs lobbed from Jabal Mukaber. But erecting a barrier di- viding areas of Jerusalem is a sensitive step, testing Israel’s repeated statements over the years that the city is its undivided, eternal capital. Palestinians watch a wall being built between Palestinian and Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem on Sunday in the wake of recent violent attacks on Israelis. – Photo: APNext >