ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – Monday noveMber 16, 2015 SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA SEVE N M I LE B EAC H WATE R FRONT WALKE RS ROAD TOWN C E NTR E PLAZA SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA Pirates land in Grand Cayman! The pirates came ashore Saturday amidst the sounds of cannon and musket fire, quickly outnum- bering the red-coated British soldiers assembled on the dock. Thousands of revelers awaited the landing along the waterfront, which turned out to be a relatively peaceful affair. Peaceful, that is, once the swash- bucklers successfully kidnapped the governor – or at least the man playing the part of governor for the annual rite kicking off the Pirates Week parade. Thousands of people lined up along the water- front in central George Town, eyes shaded by tri- corn pirate hats and making frequent use of the word “arrhh.” Many went all the way, from toddlers to grandmothers, embracing the full pirate persona. As the pirates paraded through town, sword fights and the accompanying sound of clashing steel became a not-unusual sight, along with the best-dressed pirates stopping to pose for photos with tourists and children. It may be Pirates Week, but the theme of the en- tertainment before the landing was more about ex- treme sports. A duo donning Flyboards, essentially water jet boots, showed off what the boots could do, swimming like dolphins before emerging out of the water and hovering 20 feet in the air. Another performer on a powerful Jet Ski did flips and barrel Paris – and the world – reels from terrorist attacks Charles dunCan cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com Three coordinated attacks shattered a bustling Friday night in Paris, killing at least 129 people and turning the French capital into a war zone. The Islamic State claimed responsi- bility for the attacks, and French President Francois Hollande vowed a “merciless” re- sponse to what he called an “act of war.” More than 350 people were injured, about 100 of them critically, according to the Associated Press, in a series of attacks that lasted little more than half an hour. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Saturday that three teams, wearing ex- plosive vests and armed with Kalashnikov rifles, first set off bombs near the na- tional stadium, then gunmen killed 37, tar- geting crowded cafes and spraying the trendy neighborhood with bullets, ac- cording to the AP. The bloodiest scene of the night was at the Bataclan music hall, where California rock band Eagles of Death Metal was playing a concert. The attackers, the AP writes, “opened fire on the panicked audi- ence and took members hostage. As police closed in, three detonated explosive belts, killing themselves, according to Paris police chief Michel Cadot.” The dead include citizens of the United States, Chile, Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom and others, according to various media reports. Landmarks around the world Saturday lit up in the Tricolor French Flag, including the Sydney Opera House, Brazil’s Christ the PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 10 » Governor Helen Kilpatrick enjoys a cup of tea before the pirates land in George Town. – PHOTO: STEPHEN CLARKE The pirate invasion of George Town begins. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY2 LOCAL&REGIONAL Monday noveMber 16, 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. © y x *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. - MONDAY - $8.00 THE 33 (PG13) 1:00 I 4:20 I 7:20 I 10:10 SPECTRE (PG13) 1:30 I 4:45 I 8:00 I 9:20 I 9:45 GOOSEBUMPS 3D (PG) 1:30 I 2:40 2D I 6:50 I 7:20 2D OUR BRAND IS CRISIS (R) 1:10 I 3:40 I 7:00 I 9:30 PEANUTS 3D (G) 12:20 I 2:35 2D I 4:50 2D I 7:05 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 3D (PG) 12:25 2D I 4:10 I 5:05 2D I 9:30 www.tonymosleylifeinsurance.com Seized food auctioned off outside courthouse Tad SToner tstoner@pinnaclemedialtd.com Saturday morning’s Judicial Administration auction in the courthouse parking lot, disposing of a shipping container full of dry and frozen foods, started a little late, but the attending bailiffs antici- pated a resounding success. Lest anyone imagine the Honorable Chief Justice or the venerable Judges of the Grand Court mounting the dais to retail cases of frozen chicken to bargain-hunters, Josen Ebanks and his fellow bailiffs were on hand to conduct the sales, seeking to recover “a couple of thou- sand dollars.” “Me and the other bailiffs will be the auctioneers,” Mr. Ebanks said, as the event opened at 9 a.m., a little be- hind schedule as the court- house crew “had some dif- ficulties this morning with the generators.” The generators, of course, were crucial to the opera- tion, which was to put out to public auction a con- tainer of food seized by the courts “sometime in the first quarter, maybe as late as May,” Mr. Ebanks said, re- calling the short history of the affair. A small Thursday- morning classified news- paper advertisement listed the items for sale, insisting that “everything must go!”: “Frozen items sold ‘as is’; young chicken thighs (bone- less and skinless) 40lb box, pizza crust, chicken wings (party size) 40lb box, tou- fayan wraps, mixed vegeta- bles, frozen tilapia, Carolina pork ribs.” “Well, sometimes we have to seize goods and then hold an auction,” said Court Administrator Kevin McCormac. He acknowl- edged that foodstuffs were a little unusual, the more com- monplace being “furniture, clothing, electrical items,” a roster of household and in- dustrial miscellany. But Saturday’s efforts to dispose of frozen and dry food were not unprec- edented: “You don’t expect, really, to have more than one or two auctions per year; it depends on court proceed- ings and schedules, but this is the second [food] auction,” he said. The first was earlier this year, nearer the time of the original seizure of the container. “We sold part, but not all” of the merchandise, he said. The seizure came in the wake of dispute in which a U.S. food importer shipped a container to a Cayman Islands wholesaler. Neither Mr. McCormac nor Mr. Ebanks would name the companies, but both agreed it was the local business “who had not paid a sup- plier,” the court adminis- trator said. “These things are usu- ally over non-payment,” Mr. Ebanks agreed. He declined to be any more precise about the sum. While it was difficult to predict who might be in- terested in the sale, Mr. McCormac said, he expected “a very variable group, a typically full mix of people using it for domestic con- sumption and those selling commercially. “Restaurants are a little cautious, understandably, if selling it on to other people.” While he was reluctant to say what the Judicial Administration might do with the revenues, indica- tions are they will help pay off the U.S. supplier. “Our obligation is to conduct the auction for the highest bidder,” Mr. McCormac said. “There is no reserve on any of the items so we are sure they’ll sell.” The government, how- ever, will recoup its ex- penses: “The bailiff’s of- fice gets a portion of the funds, for handling, adver- tising and our efforts,” Mr. Ebanks said. Pricing, he said, was based on average wholesale costs for each category of merchandise. “We have, let’s say, a case of frozen white- meat chicken. It sells for, let’s say, $20 at Progressive Distributors. We will sell it, then, for $20. We can’t re- ally go much lower or higher than that.” Both agreed that auc- tioning this particular mer- chandise presented unique problems – from ensuring safety to guaranteeing fresh- ness and even determining fair pricing. “The frozen food has been in a refrigerated con- tainer, and there has to be refrigeration on-site. The food is taken straight out of the freezer,” Mr. McCormac said. He quickly countered any notions that the court- house might have an enor- mous freezer on its premises awaiting the auction. “We are using a container at the port,” he said, pointing out that the quantities in- volved were “quite signifi- cant, more than you would want to keep in your home.” Any foodstuffs left unsold, Mr. Ebanks said, would be addressed in the coming days, if quickly: “We’ll have to make that decision after- wards. We haven’t answered the question yet, but we’ll sit down and decide.” Dump strategy on view The Ministry of Health and Culture is holding open house ses- sions to familiarize the public with its proposed national solid waste management strategy. The first open house will be held at the Government Administration Building on Tuesday, Nov. 17, from 5.30- 7:30 p.m. The following day, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, sim- ilar sessions will take place on Little Cayman, at the National Trust House, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Cayman Brac, at the Aston Rutty Civic Centre, from 5.30-7:30 p.m. “Interested persons can stop by to review the draft national solid waste man- agement strategy and hear from international consul- tants and local technical staff how it will impact the community,” the ministry said in a statement. airport wilDlife meeting scheDuleD The Cayman Islands Airports Authority is in- viting the public to at- tend the annual meeting of the Hazardous Wildlife Working Group on Tuesday afternoon. According to a state- ment from the airports au- thority, “At this meeting current and new measures used to alleviate hazardous wildlife at the airport will be discussed. “Attendees will also have the opportunity to speak to airport personnel and ask any questions they may have about wildlife control measures and de- terrent practices.” The meeting will be held from 2-4 p.m. at the Owen Roberts International Airport, at the second floor CIAA Conference Room. “There is no reserve on any of the items so we are sure they’ll sell.” Kevin MccorMac, court administrator Costa Rica giving detained Cuban migrants transit visas SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) – Authorities in Costa Rica say they will issue special seven-day transit visas to 1,600 Cuban migrants who have been detained in recent days after crossing over from Panama. Following the thaw in relations between Washington and Havana, some Cubans have been making their way to Central America in hopes of then heading north across Mexico and over the border into the United States. Costa Rica’s government ini- tially was just deporting Cubans who arrived without proper visas, but criminal gangs began using the deportation process to facilitate the illegal transportation of migrants to the U.S. So the government halted the process, and Cuban migrants began to fill up detention centers. On Friday, immigration chief Kattia Rodriguez said Cubans are being given the temporary visas and are being accepted into neigh- boring Nicaragua. Cuban migrants who were detained by immigration police wait to board a bus that will take them to the Nicaraguan border, in San Jose, Costa Rica on Friday. - photo: ap3 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday noveMber 16, 2015 Strategic Leader for the Port Authority Selected The Board of Directors of the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands (PACI) is pleased to announce the selection of Mr. Clement Reid as the new Port Director of the PACI. After careful consideration using a highly competitive recruitment process, Mr. Reid was selected as the most suitable candidate, having the vision and experience to progress the PACI forward. Mr. Reid currently serves as the Deputy Director of Operations at the PACI, where he has oversight of fleet, port operations and the cargo distribution centre. Mr. Reid holds a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL and serves on the Facilities Engineering Committee of the American Association of Port Authorities. He joined the PACI in 1999 and has held various executive management positions within the organisation since joining. “I am personally excited that Mr. Reid has been chosen as the new Port Director. His career at the Port commenced in 1999 during my tenure as Port Director, and at that time I saw great potential in this young man. Since assuming the position of Chairman of the PACI in 2013, I have been impressed and personally gratified to see that my first impression of Mr. Reid has come to fruition. The entire Board of PACI congratulates Mr. Reid on his appointment and look forward with excitement and anticipation as we all work together to carry the PACI forward in becoming the envy of ports in the region. It will be remiss of me if I fail to recognize the other members of the Board’s Selection Committee who joined with me in the selection process, namely Mr. Woodward DaCosta and Mr. Michael Nixon.”, as noted by the PACI Board Chairman, Mr. Errol Bush. The selection of Mr. Reid concludes a recruitment process facilitated by Deloitte. An initial prospect pool was narrowed down to a group who interviewed with a panel consisting of PACI Board members, a Deloitte Human Capital Consulting representative and an independent professional of the community. “I am honored to be given the opportunity to serve as Port Director. I eagerly anticipate working with the Board of Directors; we share a common vision, which is to bring to fruition plans and strategic vision of the PACI. I look forward to working closely with a dedicated team of employees during this transformation.” stated Mr. Reid. Mr. Reid’s executive post began on 1st November 2015, taking strategic responsibility for the PACI and its staff, its current operations and future development. The PACI is currently undergoing an Organisational Performance Evaluation which the Port Director will support in conjunction with the PACI Board of Directors. 6-month permit for tourists, not workers Brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cabinet orders approved late last year that allow “snowbirds” a six-month visitor pass to stay at their vacation home do not apply to non-Caymanian workers who own property and who are coming to the end of their permitted work term, immigration officials con- firmed this week. The order, approved in December 2014, elimi- nates the requirement for propertied visitors to go back to the Immigration Department every 30 days to re-stamp their passports if they are here for an ex- tended stay. Visitors who own property and have the financial means to support themselves can now get up to a six-month visitor permit before they are re- quired to leave the islands. “[The permit] is intended for frequent visitors, not somebody who’s ending their work permit,” said Ministry of Home Affairs Chief Officer Eric Bush. Under the revised Immigration Law, work permit holders can be given 90 days to get their affairs in order if their application to remain in Cayman per- manently is unsuccessful. Local law requires all non-Caymanians who have been here for nine consecu- tive years to leave the islands for at least a year prior to returning for work. Visitors here on extended stays are not allowed to work. Mr. Bush confirmed that the Immigration Department does not allow propertied visitors who do not have any other perma- nent resident status to stay in the territory for more than six months in any cal- endar year. Some local attorneys had expressed concern that the six-month visitors rules had been written in such a way as to allow someone to stay here for six months, leave for a weekend and then come back for another six months. “Immigration doesn’t do that,” Mr. Bush said. In determining whether someone has the financial means to remain in the ter- ritory while not working, immigration officers are given some discretion, Mr. Bush said. “[The visitor] needs to show some evidence they can support them- selves and any dependents [during the visit] without working,” he said. The financial means test typically does not apply to short-term visitors who come to Cayman for a week or two and stay in a rental accommodation. Those vis- itors are usually only re- quired to give the address where they are staying during their visit. 3-year sentence in BT burglary Charles DunCan cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com Facing five years or more in prison for a burglary com- mitted in Bodden Town ear- lier this year, a judge sen- tenced Brian Rankine to serve three years and three months, dropping a third of the sentence because the de- fendant pleaded guilty. The court heard that a po- lice officer stopped Rankine while he was walking along Anton Bodden Drive in June. The officer searched Rankine, finding more than $5,000 worth of electronics, jewelry, tools and two pairs of shoes taken during a daytime bur- glary in the Lookout Gardens area of Bodden Town. Rankine is no stranger to the Cayman Islands court system, having passed through the drug court system twice and faced other charges. Sentencing Rankine to prison, Magistrate Valdis Foldats said, “We’ve given you so many chances … We’ve tried everything we have to try.” Defense attorney John Furniss said his client has had a drug problem “for many, many years,” calling substance abuse “the demon that drives him.” But the at- torney conceded that drug addiction is not a defense. The judge, addressing Rankine, said, “We know you very well.” He explained, while giving the sentence, “We can’t help you any- more. We’ve got to protect the public.” After Rankine’s arrest on the burglary charge he was sent to the Caribbean Haven residential pro- gram, but was expelled for disrespecting staff and sent back to Northward to await sentencing. Rankine wrote in a letter, read to the court by his at- torney Mr. Furniss at an ear- lier hearing: “I have a serious disease of drug addiction.” In the letter, he stated he has had addiction prob- lems for 25 years, and, “I have spent nearly half my life in prison for crimes to support my addiction.” Visitors who own property no longer need to visit the Immigration Department every 30 days to re-stamp their passports if they are in Cayman for an extended stay.The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. Monday noveMber 16, 2015 • Cayman COmpass Marc chaMpion What will Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron do if he fails to get all or some of the reforms he is demanding from the European Union? On Tuesday he threatened to lead the U.K. out of the union, but let’s hope he’s bluffing. Cameron has finally put his demands for European re- form into writing and the four points he laid out contain no surprises. The speech he gave to present them, however, was revealing. He set himself a diffi- cult task: to convince British voters that his four points would represent fundamental change in the union, while at the same time persuading the rest of Europe that he’s asking only for “reasonable,” achievable modifications. It’s a tribute to Cameron’s skill as a communicator that he managed to paper over the contradiction. And yet it is there. For the first time, Cameron began in his speech to lay out the case for staying in the EU, which will please his European part- ners. He also, however, in- sisted that he won’t make up his mind as to whether staying is the right thing to do until Europe has re- sponded to his demands. That will appease the home team. Trouble is, his case for staying is too convincing. He starts with “economic security.” Those who think the U.K. should leave need to explain why Britain would be better off like Norway, he said: Bound to apply EU rules to gain access to the single market, but unable to influ- ence the shaping of those rules: “So the irony is that if we followed the model of Norway, Europe’s political interference in our country could actually grow, rather than shrink.” Or take trade. How would the U.K. be able to renego- tiate better trade deals with other major economic powers, without having the heft of a 500 million-person market as leverage? Then he moved onto na- tional security. The world, Cameron noted, has only be- come more dangerous since he laid out his reform-followed- by-a-referendum strategy at Bloomberg’s London office three years ago, what with the rise of Islamic State and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. So it would be an odd time to abandon the EU, an important “tool” for achieving Britain’s security goals: “Our member- ship in the EU does matter for our national security and for the security of our allies. Which is one reason why our friends in the world strongly urge us to remain in the EU.” These are big consid- erations, the kind that led him to say that the deci- sion Britons make at the ref- erendum, which could come as early as next June, will be perhaps “the biggest we will be making in our lifetimes.” It would also be irreversible, he said, and would affect the lives and fortunes of their children and grandchildren. So what’s in these make- or-break reforms that could outweigh his case? The most substantive is Cameron’s demand to restruc- ture the EU so that the U.K. and other countries not in the euro zone won’t be disad- vantaged by those inside, or forced into deeper integration that they neither need nor want. This matters but it’s de- batable whether it can be best achieved by Britain threat- ening to leave the bloc. Or to put it another way: it’s too im- portant to be achievable on the timetable Cameron has set for his referendum, so at best he’s likely to get an unen- forceable promise to change treaties later. His second request is to make the EU more eco- nomically competitive. As Cameron’s speech indicates, this is something for which the U.K. has always pressed and won’t be achieved in a big bang reform. His third category con- cerns national sovereignty. He wants greater powers for the EU’s national parliaments and an opt-out from the EU’s sym- bolically important principle of ever-closer union. And finally, there’s immi- gration. Cameron’s most prob- lematic request is for a four year delay before migrants from the EU can claim wel- fare benefits in the U.K. By saying he’s open to other sug- gestions, Cameron acknowl- edged as much. Critics who say Cameron’s demands are meaning- less are simply wrong. If he could succeed in getting Europe to quickly implement meaningful reforms on all four points, he would have achieved a great deal. EU populists might try to follow in his footsteps – one reason Cameron’s tactics are so re- sented on the continent. (The headline on the front cover of Wednesday’s edition of French newspaper Liberation is: “Le Chantage de Cameron,” or, Cameron’s Blackmail.) But what if he doesn’t suc- ceed? What if he gets patently unenforceable pledges of fu- ture treaty changes that fool no one, coupled with a re- fusal to let Britain discrimi- nate in giving welfare pay- ments to immigrants? None of this would make Britain worse off than it is today, but it could force him to make good on his threats. Would Cameron really be willing to urge Britain out of the EU because he failed to reform welfare rules that would in any case have little impact on immigrant num- bers? Economic migrants don’t come to the U.K. in the hopes of being unemployed. Cameron’s speech was a re- minder that his decision three years ago to make Britain’s referendum contingent on first reforming the EU was not driven by a strategic analysis of the U.K.’s best long-term interests; it was a tactic to keep anti-European rebels in his own party under control ahead of this year’s elections. He succeeded in that, but now he and Europe are stuck with the consequences of his tactic. Everyone, on both sides of the English Channel, should now wish Cameron success in his attempt at blackmailing other EU leaders into taking actions they should take anyhow. Then the real argu- ments for and against mem- bership can begin. Marc Champion writes editorials on international affairs for Bloomberg View. © 2015, Bloomberg View “It’s ridiculous.” Kirkland Nixon, chairman, Cayman Islands Airports Authority Board Mr. Nixon, we couldn’t agree more. We, of course, are referring to the revelation, as reported on the front page of Friday’s Compass, that an unknown number of airport employees, over an unknown number of years, received “severance packages” upon retirement, totaling an unknown amount of dollars. Mr. Nixon, a veteran civil servant whose tenure as board chairman began in mid-2013, after the practice of giving out severance payments ended, succinctly stated the obvious problem with the previous situ- ation: “People don’t get severance payments when they retire.” Well, apparently people used to at the Airports Authority. We are awaiting more precise figures, and officials are now investigating previous years, but as of now we are aware of “fewer than 10 cases” where retirees received such payments, some totaling tens of thousands of dollars, during the 2012/13 budget year. The fact that we know of “fewer than 10” retirees who received these payments is not exculpatory. If all retirees received them equally, at least there would have been a policy of equity. Why were these 10 (or fewer) singled out for special largesse. And, by the way, who were they? Our point here is not to dwell upon the tens, or perhaps hundreds, of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money that was inappropriately distributed to a select few public servants. It is, in the grander scheme of government’s finances, relatively small change. Although, over time those misspent nickels, quarters and $100 bills eventually accumulate – and sooner than later we’re measuring those funds in terms of missing jetways. Rather, our purpose of highlighting this story is it is merely the latest in a never-ending series of gov- ernment officials’ cavalier, blasé attitude toward tax- payers’ funds. The underlying problem is they seem to regard our money as “free money” to be dispersed, or dispensed, with abandon and without accountability. Now, the legend of Robin Hood makes for a riveting tale, and there is a certain allure to the romantic notion of “robbing from the rich to give to the poor,” but in practice, Robin Hood was little more than a common criminal. Generosity, paid for unwillingly with someone else’s money, is more closely related to a felony than it is to philanthropy. It is highly doubtful that the “severance payments” – which by law and convention are given to employees who have been downsized or wrongfully terminated, not when they retire – in the instance of the Airports Authority could be considered as “performance payments” for jobs well done. Recall the long-running controversy between past board members and authority leaders (primarily ex-CEO Jeremy Jackson) where serious accusations of mismanagement and corruption were aired. Or witness the sub-standard, sardine-like conditions in the depar- ture lounge of Owen Roberts International Airport. Or just try – we double-dare you – to use the automated kiosks to pay for parking at the airport. From the parking lot, to the terminal, to the end of the runway, Owen Roberts is an obvious mess. (As always, we exempt from our criticism of the airport the ever-trusty porters and courteous curbside baggage valets.) Come to think of it, perhaps the Airports Authority Board was on to something with their idea of “sever- ance payments.” What the airport needs, however, is a little more “severance” and a lot fewer “payments.” – EDITORIAL – When officials are ‘generous’ with your money 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” Good luck to cameron with his EU blackmail5 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday noveMber 16, 2015 Discover what’s possible †Conditions apply. Subject to credit approval. Offers subject to change without notice. Visit cayman.scotiabank.com/bonusrewards for full Terms & Conditions. ®Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under license. American Airlines® reserves the right to change AAdvantage® program rules, regulations, travel awards and special offers at any time without notice, and to end the AAdvantage® program with six months notice. 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Cash Back Scotiabank / AAdvantage® MasterCard® Get a Welcome Bonus of up to 7,000 AAdvantage® miles† Scotiabank Gold® MasterCard® Get a Welcome Bonus of US$40† Cash Back †† Travel Rewards Prep club goes to Princeton Students to debate global affairs at annual conference ELPHINA JONES ejones@pinnaclemedialtd.com A group of 20 Cayman Prep and High School students were on their way to New Jersey Monday to take part in this year’s Princeton Model United Nations Conference. As members of the school’s Senior Model United Nations club, the 15-to-18 year olds have been selected to pit their debating and negotiation skills against other Model United Nations club students from across the world. This year’s conference, scheduled to run from Nov. 19 to 22, has at- tracted 1,100 delegates. Most of Prep’s students are by now MUN veterans, having taken part in pre- vious conferences in New York and last year’s Yale Model Government Europe conference in Budapest, Hungary. Already well-versed in re- searching and drafting propo- sition papers, negotiating with other delegates to persuade them to back their resolutions (and brokering compromise resolutions when needed), stu- dents will also have to be up- to-speed on the procedural aspects of how to conduct themselves during debates. Held in the same format and style as U.N. meetings, the issues discussed and the pa- pers drafted will be similar to what U.N. delegates and world leaders see. Mark Freeman, one of the school’s MUN advisers said, “We have chosen Princeton be- cause of the institution’s world- class reputation [and] primarily because the conference has been organized around small committees and crisis commit- tees that we feel challenge our students and encourage their full participation.” As Princeton Model United Nations Conference delegates, the Year 11 to 13 students have already been assigned a com- mittee and will be members of U.N. delegations from member states from as far afield as Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Delegates will work to- gether to find practical and positive solutions to some of the planet’s most pressing crises. Grouped under the head- ings of “General Assembly, Specialized and Crisis,” each of the committees will be chaired by Princeton students with experience in running MUN meetings. On the run-up to the confer- ence, each committee was as- signed two topics on which del- egates submitted proposition papers based on their coun- try’s stance and likely policy on certain subjects. Topics up for debate include: press freedom and journalistic integ- rity, racial discrimination, xeno- phobia and related intolerance; post-conflict economic and so- cial recovery; and commodity price dependency. In tackling complex topics, delegations will try to win support for their position pa- pers from others by thinking on their feet and paying close attention to the mood of each debate if they stand a chance of having their resolutions ad- opted. In many cases, backroom deals will be struck and re- vised papers drafted to allow a chance of success. Throughout the debates, delegates will also be assessed by conference facilitators on criteria including their per- formance, the quality of their position papers, their knowl- edge of the subject material and adherence to policy of country or character. The hope is to foster an in- terest in global affairs, politics and conflict resolution in young adults that help make them natural leaders who are critical thinkers and global citizens. Speaking of the trip, the school’s principal, Sheila Purdom said, “Our MUN dele- gates … are outstanding young people who have been thor- oughly prepared by a team of committed and knowledgeable teachers. I am sure this will be another very memorable experi- ence for all of them.” Committee sessions are scheduled to take place up to three times a day. On most days, committee meetings will finish at 11:30 p.m. Before the hectic schedule of early starts and late nights of formal meetings, caucuses, research and redrafting; Prep students can look forward to some downtime, including a duck tour, trips to an ice hockey game and the theater, as well as a tour of the Ivy League campus. The trip has attracted spon- sorship from Mourant Ozannes, Genesis Trust, Cayman National Bank and Sackville Bank. Police tackle outstanding warrants Police say they are cracking down on out- standing warrants, of which there are currently 761. Over the past month, since mid-October, officers from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service cleared 82 of the warrants, most of which were made up of default of payments and fines on traffic offenses and other matters. In a statement released Friday, police said, “A large number of failures to comply with Court orders results in delays in the progression of the judicial system and has a negative impact on its ability to fulfill important functions.” Police appealed to people with outstanding payments to the court to pay their fines “before we are compelled to execute a warrant at their home or place of work.” Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton said compliance with court orders “is not optional. If an individual ignores a summons to court, then we have an arrest warrant to ex- ecute, without exception.” Police are advising people who are uncertain whether they have outstanding court matters to visit the Criminal Registry Office at the Judicial Administration Building, between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mondays through Fridays or call on 949-4296. Students from Cayman Prep High School attending the Yale Model Government Europe conference in Budapest, Hungary last year.Monday noveMber 16, 2015 • Cayman Compass 6 DISTRICT Days District Days George Town George Town heritage day celebrates community life Basia McGuire bmcguire@pinnaclemedialtd.com Monday’s George Town heritage day will take place on Cardinall Avenue, right downtown and central to all the Pirates Week action. Things kickoff at 10:30 a.m. with local food for sale and a DJ. At 11 a.m., there will be sto- rytelling by Vernetta Ryan, and the event offi- cially opens at 12:30 a.m. “On behalf of the George Town Heritage Day committee, we hope that our guests will experience and enjoy the warmth in our local delicious dishes and entertainment,” said committee member Cheryl Myles. “It is with great pride that we partici- pate in this annual festivity by sharing with the different cultures in our local community and bringing awareness of what our heritage is all about.” Certainly George Town’s history is rich and visitors will have a chance to learn more about the district’s past and present. A hula hoop contest, storytelling by Ms. Vernice Myles, a jelly bean counting contest, and a steel pan performance are planned for the afternoon. The watermelon and banana eating con- tests are sure to make for great entertainment, rounding out the afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Quadrille dancers kickoff the evening fol- lowed by DJ entertainment and possibly a fashion show to follow. Ms. Myles notes that while the site has been home to the event for a few years, plans are afoot for a whole new setup at the next Pirates Week. “George Town is looking forward to uti- lizing a new proposed site for [the] 2016 fes- tival event, and we are excited about that and hope our future visitors will be also.” 50 years ago Tidbits from 1965 In the Nov. 10, 1965 edition of The Caymanian Weekly newspaper, a predecessor of the Cayman Compass, George Town correspondent Francis Bodden wrote several tidbits of news. Here are some of the items: “Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Grandone arrived recently and are guests of Glen Cottages. Mr. Grandone, who is an agricultural chemicals specialist resident in Massachusetts, said on arrival, ‘After extensive travel through the Caribbean, never, never have I seen a beach like this.’” ******* “We are happy to have in our midst Mr. Bertie Cooper, businessman of Kingston. He is on a business and pleasure trip and is a guest of Mrs. Ethel Cook-Bodden. His wife Mrs. Gleeda Cooper was here a few weeks ago. They are putting down a dwelling house on Smith Road. It will be good to have them living here where I am sure they will be happy and welcome.” ******* “The Young Wives’ Club is holding a Thanksgiving Dinner for members and their husbands to- night at 8 p.m. at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Bodden on Smith Road.” ******* ”Mr. and Mrs. Robert Parker arrived from Jamaica on Sat., on a fortnight’s visit, and are guests of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard St. Aubyn. Mrs. Parker is a sister of Mrs. St. Aubyn and Mr. Parker is an Englishman who is attached to the Ja. Telephone Co. He passed through Cayman on his way to Belize some years ago on the S.S. ‘Caymania’ and has seen some great improvements here since that time.” George Town’s history is rich and visitors will have a chance to learn more about the district’s past and present. Kids don traditional costumes at george Town heritage day. – PHOTOS: JEWEL LEVY Checking out old-time kitchen items.There’s always a fine food selection at heritage days.Cayman Compass • Monday noveMber 16, 2015 7 DISTRICT Days District Days George Town Former students give back to school Secondary Modern School alumni help provide reading material for George Town Primary’s library. Jewel levy jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com Dressed in their 1960s-era school uniforms, a group of Secondary Modern School alumni returned to school last week to present a $1,000 check to George Town Primary School. The money will be used to acquire more reading materials for the library. The group of former students, now adults in their sixties, have formed a committee with the aim of giving back to the education system, which they say provided them with strong academic fundamentals. “We wanted to show appreciation for the school and what it did for us,” said former student Edwardo Miller. “This is one of many more projects the committee has in store to assist the schools.” Principal Marie Martin said it was not often that people take time to express how others have impacted their lives, but in the case of the former students of Secondary Modern School, they have stepped outside that mold, and, in celebrating their many achievements, made the donation to aid the school’s library. “Teachers are like gardeners, in that you plant seeds and nurture the soil, but you never really know which flowers will bloom in which way. What it takes is faith that what we do in the classrooms today will have an im- pact on students’ lives in years to come,” Ms. Martin said. Former student Carol “Petals” Stephens said Secondary Modern School was a school of discipline and she was glad to be a past student. “Some of us came out very successful [and] no matter what is our profession, we all got a well-grounded education and we give God thanks for the teachers before and after,” she said. A church service was held to honor those teachers for their dedication, Ms. Stephens said. Former student Lucy Ebanks said that while some schools today are “so segregated,” the students at Secondary Modern School “were together as friends, even though we came from different districts.” Ms. Ebanks also said that she and her classmates maintained their friendships over the years. “We are also very thankful, we had such good role models and they tried their best for us to succeed,” she added. Ms. Ebanks explained that the school was perceived poorly by some when it first opened. “At the beginning, Secondary Modern School was like an outcast school, meaning [it was] set up for failure,” Ms. Ebanks said. “They had the prestige schools and other schools but they did not think that children at Secondary Modern would have succeeded. Thank God, we turned out really good.” She said the former students have lived good lives and their examples are here for the whole world to see because they brought up their children with the knowl- edge they received. Former student Virginia Ebanks Rankine said this donation is just the start of plans the alumni have to give back to the school. She said alumni have been planning to form a committee for this purpose for many years, and they finally got it started early this year. “We staged a function at the Grand Old House and the money raised at the event was donated to George Town Primary – the loca- tion of where we attended Secondary Modern School as students and got an education,” Ms. Rankine said. Other former students, Lana Mae Crowe- Smith, Alex O’Neil and Stephanie McLean, spoke of all the friends they made attending Secondary Modern School. They also talked about traveling on the school bus from the various districts and getting the opportunity to take out-of-town students home for lunch to meet their parents. Reminiscing on school days, the group explained that most students attending Secondary Modern School were between the ages of 11 and 13. They stayed at the school for three years, did leaving school exams and were given leaving certificates. That was the highest level of education available at the time. Eventually, the secondary school was merged with the Cayman Islands High School. The committee’s next project is to have a plaque erected at George Town Primary in memory of Secondary Modern School. Fun day a hit with the kids Each year, accounting firm PwC welcomes numerous new hires with activities that help to intro- duce them to life in Cayman. This year saw the launch of a new team- building challenge called “Making a Difference,” which took place in collaboration with George Town Primary School. “The idea behind it is that our new starts learn the PwC experi- ence of sharing and collaborating, putting themselves in each other’s shoes, investing in relationships and adding value,” said PwC’s Samara Christie. Ms. Christie explained that be- fore the visit, teams competed to de- vise a winning plan for an afternoon of fun at the school. The end result was a fun-filled afternoon of basket- ball games, sidewalk chalk drawing, football, musical chairs, a giant con- nect four game and a brand new game involving shooting balls into a tunnel with sticks. “With kids I’m not sure anything ever goes exactly as planned, but it worked out well and everyone en- joyed it,” said Ms. Christie. “It was great to have the new PwC hires come out to the school and meet the students as a way of learning more about the Cayman Islands com- munity,” added George Town Primary Principal Marie Martin. “The kids had a great time and we look forward to many more ac- tivities with the PwC staff in years to come.” Accounting firm PwC’s new hires organized a fun day at George Town Primary School. Former students of Secondary Modern School with George Town Primary School students. The group of adults donated money to the school’s library. – Photo: Jewel levy8 LOCAL NEWS Monday noveMber 16, 2015 • Cayman Compass Dr. Wayne R. Porter MD F.A.A.D. Dermatologist call : 946-9020 between 9am to 5pm Dees Plaza #282 on Crewe Road, GT He will be in office from Nov. 16th - 20th, 2015 Inaugural flight for Brac plane New plane due to come into service this month Charles DunCan cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com The newest addition to the Cayman Airways fleet, a 34-seat Saab prop plane, made its inaugural flight to the Brac Friday with two Caymanians at the controls in the pilot and co-pilot seats. It’s not quite ready for prime time as the pilots and the airline still have to finish training on the plane, but the crew members now have their first official flight to the Brac under their belts. Airline officials say the new Saab will be phased into active service through the end of November. The Saab 340B+ will re- place the aging Embraer E120 as the dedicated plane serving the Brac from Grand Cayman. The late-1990s plane has been on the ground at Owen Roberts International Airport since it arrived in August as the airline has worked to get its pilots and crew licensed as certified to start flying the new plane. Government ministers and CAL officials joined Brackers on Friday morning to greet the long-awaited Saab. Offering the prayer before a ceremony alongside the tarmac at the Brac airport, the Speaker of the House and Sister Islands MLA Juliana O’Connor-Connolly said of the plane, “For us that live on the Brac, it is a lifeline.” The plane made a flyby at the airport before looping around and coming in for a landing, the Cayman Islands flag freshly painted on the tail an easy sight to spot for the schoolchildren and others gathered to welcome the up- graded aircraft. It pulled onto the tarmac under a water cannon salute from the airport fire depart- ment, christening the plane on its first arrival to what will be its official home base. Cayman Airways CEO Fabian Whorms, speaking on the podium in front of the plane, acknowledged the de- lays, “I know it seems like it’s taken a while to get the air- craft into service.” He said the work to ready the plane and its crew is six weeks behind, “not the three months like the newspapers would have it.” “These two aircraft are night and day,” Mr. Whorms said, comparing the new Saab to the current 30-seat Embraer. The seats are wider, there is more room in the overhead bins and for cargo, and it has a noise and vibra- tion control system, he said. Mr. Whorms said the air- line plans to buy a second Saab to boost service and have a backup for when the new plane needs mainte- nance. Once the CAL em- ployees are certified for the Saab, he said, they will not have to go through the lengthy regulatory process again, so bringing a second plane of the same model will be a much faster process. “It makes sense to have a backup,” he said. In the in- terim he noted the airline will work out a deal to have a small Twin Otter avail- able when needed through Turks and Caicos-based InterCaribbean Airways. The ceremony, Mr. Whorms said, almost did not happen Friday and the final checks went down to the wire, confirming only hours before that the pilots had the green light to fly the Saab over to its perma- nent home base. The Saab was not the only CAL flight delayed that day. Government and airline offi- cials, along with members of the press and other passen- gers going to the Brac, were left waiting in the airport after Cayman Airlines had to cancel the flight because the Embraer was grounded at the last minute. Once the dignitaries ar- rived, the mood was jovial as Premier Alden McLaughlin, Tourism Minister and Brac MLA Moses Kirkconnell and Mr. Whorms took turns at the podium joking about the down-to-the-wire green light for the day’s celebra- tion to go ahead. Mr. Kirkconnell said ar- rivals at the airport had in- creased by 20 percent with the added capacity and up- graded airport. The new plane, more flights and up- graded airport, the minister said, “is the starting point” for economic growth in the Sister Islands, bringing more tourists and filling beds in the islands’ resorts. The new plane was built in the 1990s, Mr. Whorms said, and was in service with Delta and Northwest in the United States, along with a couple of years with Vincent Aviation in Australia, before Cayman Airways leased the plane. According to U.S. flight data, the plane made its first flight June 17, 1997. Mr. Whorms said the plane is designed for 90,000 flights, and so far it has re- corded about a third of that. He said the plane should have another 25 years of ser- vice ahead of it. The fire service’s water cannons christen the new Cayman Airways plane as it arrives for the first time on the Brac. - PHOTOS: CHARLES DUNCAN Ministers and airline officials meet the captain and crew of Cayman Airway’s newest plane as they walk off the ramp from the first flight to the Brac. Airline officials say the new Saab will be phased into active service through the end of November. Samuel Walton and his daughter Shanell, both airport authority employees, try out the seats in the new Cayman Airways plane.The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Cayman Compass • Monday noveMber 16, 2015 Redeemer statue and One World Trade Center in New York City, the AP reports. Media reports indicate that seven suicide bombers were involved in the attacks and that authorities found a Syrian passport next to the body one of the attackers at the national stadium. The Paris prosecutor said another attacker, a 29-year- old French national, had been identified by his fingerprints and, the AP notes, “had been flagged in 2010 for ties to Islamic radicalism.” Police de- tained that man’s family, and authorities in Belgium also ar- rested three people for pos- sible connection to the attacks. The French president quickly declared a state of emergency and put up check- points along the country’s borders. In a nationally tele- vised address, Mr. Hollande said, “This is a terrible ordeal that again assails us.” He told the French people, according to the AP trans- lation, “We know where it comes from, who these criminals are, who these terrorists are.” By Sunday, thousands of troops were deployed across Paris and tourist sites and other popular spots remained closed. Cayman mourns The attacks across the Atlantic came mid-after- noon Friday as people in the Cayman Islands readied for Pirates Week. Almost all the high ranking government ministers were on Cayman Brac to christen a new air- plane when the bombs and shooting began in Paris. Alastair Swarbrick, former auditor general for the Cayman Islands and now living in Paris, said he and his family are safe and sound, but the city is different this weekend. He lives about three miles from the attacks. In an email Sunday, Mr. Swarbrick wrote, “On Saturday it is fair to say Paris seemed subdued. We stayed close to home, but people were out and about going about their daily business. “However, the streets were definitely a lot quieter and a lot of shops seemed to be closed or at least closed ear- lier, and the restaurants in the evening were a lot quieter. In our area, many people had put candles on their apartment window ledges and balconies.” He continued, “Today, the local Sunday market didn’t take place, so again our local area is quieter than normal, but people do seem to be out trying to get back to normal, whatever that is after such tragic and horrific events.” Cayman is home to more than 100 French nationals, ac- cording to Sebastien Guilbard, the honorary French consul for the Cayman Islands. Many of Cayman’s French popula- tion and others have connec- tions to Paris and have drunk wine along the boulevards of the 10th arrondissement or seen a football match at the national stadium. Mr. Guilbard said he was not able to comment officially, except to say that he has raised the French flag at his home in Prospect. Jerome Begot, a Frenchmen who owns the Cayman Islands Helicopters tour company, said his family and friends in Paris are safe. He said he’s heard from people in Paris that “the climate is very tense, people are scared.” Familiar with the area, Mr. Begot said the 10th dis- trict is “a very popular area to go out on Friday or Saturday night.” But, he said, “We knew this was coming again one day,” referring to the attack 10 months ago on the satir- ical Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher grocery in Paris. Twenty died in that attack, in- cluding the three gunmen. “We’re lucky to be in Cayman,” Mr. Begot said, in an interview Saturday afternoon. Paris – and the world – reels from terrorist attacks Police launch manhunt for fleeing Paris terror suspect PARIS (AP) – French po- lice put out a photo of a fu- gitive in the Paris attacks on Sunday, saying the suspect is on the run and too dangerous for anyone outside law en- forcement to engage directly. Police identified the man suspected of renting the car that delivered attackers to the Bataclan concert hall as Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year- old born in Brussels. “Do not intervene yourself,” warns the message issued Sunday evening. Abdeslam is thought to be directly involved in Friday’s attacks, which killed 129 people and wounded hun- dreds in the worst violence in France in decades, French se- curity officials said. He is one of three brothers believed to be involved in the killings; one was arrested in Belgium and another died in the attack, the first official said. Abdeslam rented the black Volkswagen Polo used by the group of hostage-takers that left at least 89 people dead inside the Bataclan, another official said. Both spoke on condition of ano- nymity because the investiga- tion is ongoing. Seven people were de- tained Sunday in Belgium in connection with deadly at- tacks in Paris as the city en- tered three days of mourning for the 129 people killed in the worst violence in France in decades. French troops deployed by the thousands and tourist sites were shuttered in one of the most visited cities on Earth as more details of the investigation emerged. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Friday’s gun and bomb at- tacks on a stadium, a concert hall and Paris cafes that also wounded 350 people, 99 of them seriously. As many as three of the seven suicide bombers who died in the attacks were French citizens, as was at least one of the men arrested in neighboring Belgium. A French police official said a suicide attacker identi- fied by a skin sample was be- lieved to be living in the Paris suburbs before the attacks. A Belgian official said two of the seven people wired with suicide vests were French men living in Brussels, and among those arrested was another French citizen living in the Belgian capital. The new information stoked fears of homegrown terrorism in a country that has exported more jihadis than any other in Europe. All three gunmen in the January attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher su- permarket in Paris were French. This time, three teams of attackers were in- volved and seven suicide bombers blew themselves up – three near the sta- dium, three at the concert hall and one not far from it, authorities said. A Brussels parking ticket found inside the Volkswagen Polo parked outside the Bataclan concert hall led to one of the men ar- rested in Belgium, according to a French police official. Three Kalashnikovs were found inside the other car known to have been used in the attacks, a Seat found in Montreuil, a suburb 4 miles east of the French cap- ital, according to the po- lice official, who could not be named because the investiga- tion is ongoing. French soldiers patrol Sunday at the Eiffel Tower, which remained closed on the first of three days of national mourning in Paris. – PHOTO: AP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Next >