ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – Thursday November 26, 2015 sports | page 15 bailey geTs To The poiNT safely Charity athlete has only one event left High of 85 Low of 75 Seas: Rough with wave heights 4 to 6 feet. Small craft warning is in effect. editorial | page 4 premier mclaughliN sTaNds up agaiNsT populisT paNderiNg Personal Insurance Pay less for more cover with BritCay! insurance, health, pensions, life Low deductibles and generous benefits are standard cover with BritCay. Ask for a quote and start paying less for more cover now! BRITISH CAYMANIAN INSURANCE CO. LTD. BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, George Town, P.O. Box 74, KY1-1102 Tel. 949-8699 www.britcay.ky A member of Colonial Group International: insurance, health, pensions, life Call 949-8699 www.britcay.ky cgigrp Internet issues impacting economy New rules coming in January James WhiTTaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands is losing mil- lions of dollars in investment because of in- adequate telecoms infrastructure, regu- lators have warned. The Information Communications and Technology Authority is recommending that Internet service providers face fines if they fail to provide the quality and speed of service they are advertising to customers. The ICTA has been inundated with com- plaints from customers who say they are not getting the Internet speeds they have paid for. Alee Fa’Amoe, managing director of the au- thority, said there were also more general con- cerns about quality and reliability of Internet services, as well as the failure of licensees to roll-out new telecoms infrastructure across the island. He believes lack of confidence in the island’s telecoms infrastructure is pre- venting certain types of business from setting up shop in Cayman. He said ICTA was particularly concerned about complaints from business customers, including a Class A bank and a health service facility, about Internet services. He said the range of complaints, from cus- tomers on a number of networks, indicated there were multiple problems at play. He said the country’s ability to compete as a global financial center and tourism destina- tion risked being impacted by poor service, high prices or lack of choice. “The fact that Cayman has to turn away in- vestors who would like to move their compa- nies here but who can’t because the quality of our Internet services is simply not good enough is very disturbing. “We have lost millions of dollars of inward CaRePay tRial Crown: Football Cash Funneled into ‘sham’ aCCount breNT fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Prosecutors said Wednesday that US$250,000 from the Cayman Islands Football Association found its way into a Fidelity Bank account initially set up to take in payments from the public healthcare system for the CarePay patient swipe-card contract. Some of that money from the football association and other cash due from the CarePay contract payments was used by Caymanian businessman Jeffrey Webb to put a US$300,000 down payment on an Atlanta, Georgia area home in 2011, the Crown alleged. Webb was the president of the football asso- ciation at the time the transactions occurred. Cayman Islands businessman Canover Watson – the former treasurer of the football association – and Webb received at least an additional US$200,000 from the first tranche of payments for the CarePay patient swipe- card contract for the local public hospital system in December 2010, it was further al- leged. None of that money appeared to go to- ward the development or implementation of the CarePay system, Crown prosecutors said Wednesday. In fact, prosecutors said, it appeared Watson may have attempted to mislead his business partners in Jamaica about how much was actually being paid for the devel- opment and implementation of the swipe-card system so that he and Webb could keep some of the money. Prosecutors’ allegations came thick and fast on day three of Watson’s and his former Gov’t funds for vehicle, asset replacement diverted breNT fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands govern- ment has not planned appro- priately for the need to replace old, outdated equipment in a number of areas – including service vehicles – and has actu- ally spent money intended for that purpose on other things. Those findings were in- cluded in a special government committee report on the man- agement of public finances re- leased last week. The committee, headed by George Town MLA Roy McTaggart, who is an accoun- tant, noted that by the time an asset reaches the end of its useful life, there should be enough accumulated cash or cash equivalents to replace it. However, that has not al- ways been the case in gov- ernment, it seems. “In some cases the funds are used to fund other purposes, rather than replace the asset,” the committee report found. “This results in the lack of ad- equate cash balances when the asset has reached the end of its useful life and needs a mechanic works on the engine of a Health Services authority ambulance at the government’s Department of Vehicle and equipment Services. - Photo: taneos ramsaY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 12 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 13 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) – A meeting between Central American officials and their counterparts from Ecuador, Colombia and Cuba broke down in squabbling Tuesday over how to deal with the problem of thousands of Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica. The migrants have started using on over- land route to reach the United States by traveling to Ecuador, then through Central America and Mexico. That has sparked ten- sions in Central America, with Nicaragua on Tuesday accusing its southern neighbor Costa Rica of “un- leashing an invasion of il- legal Cuban migrants” on it. “Our governments do not have the resources to deal with this new threat to our national security,” the Nicaraguan government said in a statement, suggesting that the wave could facilitate terrorism or migrants from other countries. The statement also crit- icized the Cold-War era U.S. policies that allow the Cubans special status as mi- grants. Nicaragua’s leftist government has warm ties with Cuba. Costa Rica, meanwhile, accused Nicaragua of scut- tling a chance for a “regional and humanitarian solution” to the problem. It has pro- posed creating a humani- tarian corridor through the region for the migrants. “Nicaragua repeatedly blocked any proposal to solve the problem, without pre- senting any solution other than blockade and intransi- gence,” Costa Rica’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel Gonzalez said “I regret the lack of re- sults from this long day of work,” adding that it was “a little discouraging for the thousands of people who have been waiting for an answer.” On Nov. 13, Costa Rica allowed Cubans to transit the country to Nicaragua. Nicaragua dispatched sol- diers to the border to block the Cubans’ passage, set- ting off minor clashes at the Penas Blancas crossing on Nov. 15. The dispute has left some 3,000 Cubans stranded in shelters in Guanacaste province on the Nicaraguan border. Once Cubans reach the U.S. border, they can just show up at an established U.S. port of entry and declare their na- tionality, avoiding the dan- gerous desert crossings that confront many migrants who try to avoid U.S. Border Patrol. According to El Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez, the majority of those attending said each country should be able to de- cide how and whether to re- ceive the stream of migrants. “The self-determination of each of the countries in the region should be re- spected … each country has the right to allow these people in, or not allow them in,” Martinez said. The Cubans have gener- ated little sympathy in some parts of Central America, in part because citizens of countries like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador enjoy none of the incentives given to Cuban migrants. Martinez suggested “these measures are to some ex- tent discriminatory against other migrants.” Thursday November 26, 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. - THURSDAY - $8.00 HUNGER GAMES: MOCKING JAY PART 2 (PG13) 12:20 I 12:45 I 3:25 I 3:50 I 6:30 7:00 I 9:40 BY THE SEA (R) 12:30 I 6:45 THE 33 (PG13) 3:30 I 9:50 SECRET IN THEIR EYES (PG13) 1:30 I 4:10 I 6:50 I 10:05 SPECTRE (PG13) 12:45 I 4:15 I 7:30 I 9:30 PEANUTS 3D (G) 1:00 I 4:00 2D I 7:15 I 10:00 2D www.tonymosleylifeinsurance.com Meeting in El Salvador on Cuban migrants ends in squabbling Cuban migrants rest at a shelter in La Cruz, Costa Rica, near the border with Nicaragua. Central America governments called an emergency meeting on the Cuban migrant crisis in El Salvador on Tuesday. - PHOTO: AP Giving back with food and toys CIs celebrates International Day Subway’s second annual ‘Give Back’ holiday food and toy drive continues with the focus on food turning to a focus on toys on Dec. 7. The food drive, in which customers are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items at any of Subway’s six Grand Cayman locations, started on Canadian Thanksgiving on Oct. 12, incorporates this Thursday’s American Thanksgiving, and ends on Caymanian Thanksgiving, Dec. 6. Pictured here are representatives of two of the recipients of the collected food, Beulah McField of Meals on Wheels, left, and Stacey VanDevelde of Feed our Future. Students at Cayman International School celebrated the various countries of the world with its annual ‘International Day’ on Nov. 17. Hundreds of students, parents, teachers and community members gathered in the Arts and Recreation Centre where the countries of the world were divided into 13 regions, with each region assigned to a booth that displayed the countries and cultures it represented. This year the theme of the event was ‘World Traveler’ and the Arts and Recreation Centre was turned into the ‘CIS International Airport,’ and was decorated with signs and arrows directing people where to check in and collect a passport to be stamped at the various destinations/booths. The students, along with their teachers, coordinated and decorated the booths to display the artifacts, costumes, national symbols, and foods from each region.The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 Cayman Compass • Thursday November 26, 2015 BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND SALE UP TO 50 % OFF UP TO 50 % OFF WATCHES* 30 - 50% OFF JEWELRY* 30% - 50% OFF CHINA & CRYSTAL* 30 - 50% OFF ASSORTED FRAGRANCES* 35% OFF SWATCH BOUTIQUE FOSSIL LEATHER* 30% OFF Baume and Mercier, Ebel, Gucci, Glashutte, Raymond Weil, Mont Blanc, Christian Dior, Romain Jerome, Techno Marine, Hublot, Clerc, Bedat, Swiss Army. Friday 27 NovemberSaturday 28 November David Yurman, Marco Bicego, Roberto Coin, Ippolita, Swarovski**. 10% EXTRA off existing sale items. Villeroy & Boch, Henkels, Galway, D’Argenta, Rosenthal, Orefors, Christofle, Bacarrat. 1st 30 customers, additional 15%. Free shopping bag valued at $30 while supplies last. Raffle for all purchases! $5 off any Irony Watch! Swatch Free Gift With Purchase over $50! BayShore Mall : Cardinall Avenue : The Strand (345) 949.7477 : kirkfreeport.net *On select products | ** Swarovski sale on Friday onlyThe 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. Thursday November 26, 2015 • Cayman COmpass “I could not sit quietly and let people believe that I subscribe to that anti-expat, anti-business sentiment espoused by some members of this House, because I do not. I will not allow the government, which I have the honor and privilege to lead, to be branded with that. … The last thing we want is to send the signal that foreign business and foreigners and anyone who was not born here to Cayman parents are unwelcome.” So said Premier Alden McLaughlin on the floor of the House, and we applaud him for his words. He was speaking in response to intemperate, irresponsible and divisive remarks made by his elected colleagues. Mr. McLaughlin concluded: “We understand that unless business is successful, there are no opportuni- ties for anybody. Those who come from somewhere else can easily move somewhere else. For the rest of us, the options are severely limited.” Well put, Mr. Premier. Much of the ill-conceived bombast to which the premier reacted emanated from the “usual suspects” — namely, MLAs Ezzard Miller and Arden McLean, the two independent members from Grand Cayman’s eastern half, who exert little, if any, influence in shaping policy. However, prior to this week we would not have expected the same sorry song from the author of the member’s motion which inspired the incendiary debate, George Town MLA Winston Connolly. The substance of the motion, in its revised neutered language, would offend virtually no one. It simply suggested that government consider measures to aid the hiring, training and promotion of Caymanian workers. It was passed unanimously. However, Mr. Connolly’s words, in the introduc- tion of his motion, were meant to divide and offend (if not incite) — and they did. He began by differentiating between “real” Caymanians and legitimate Caymanian status holders. Astonishingly, Mr. Connolly’s words were uttered, not by some downtrodden jobless or homeless Caymanian but by a man of great professional standing and success. He is, after all, a prominent attorney with directorships and multiple business interests — and we applaud him for that. But make no mistake. Mr. Connolly is a beneficiary — not a victim — of Cayman’s largess. After drawing distinctions based on origin, Mr. Connolly moved on to social status, saying the remit- tances that blue-collar work permit holders send home are nothing compared to what people “in the upper echelon” of Cayman society spend overseas. “Those people aren’t buying vineyards and racehorses and chateaus and Ferraris and Lamborghinis and this, that and the other. That’s where what we should really be concentrating on … Imagine if some of that money that’s going to prop up other countries’ economies got spent and circulated in this economy. We wouldn’t have to be up at night trying to figure out how to put people to work on the roads so they could get a little bit of Christmas money,” he said. Really Mr. Connolly, you’re better than this. Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton, also an attorney, thankfully was present to provide a “grown- up” perspective. “The last thing we should be wanting is to have people who are promoted because they are Cayma- nian — and not because they can stand beside anyone else on the world stage and put their hand up and be recognized as being equally capable,” he said. “We have to have a balanced perspective, in which businesses are also enabled to operate success- fully and to have the staff that they need because … if businesses cannot succeed in this country, in this economy, then the country fails.” Premier McLaughlin stands up against populist pandering 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” Higher ed’s lower depths WASHINGTON – Give thanks this day for some indirect blessings of liberty, including the behavior-beyond-satire of what are generously called in- stitutions of higher education. People who are imprecisely called educators have taught, by their negative examples, what intelligence is not. Melissa Click is the University of Missouri aca- demic who shouted “I need some muscle over here” to prevent a photojournalist from informing the public about a public demonstra- tion intended to influence the public. Click’s academic cre- dentials include a University of Massachusetts doctoral dissertation titled “It’s a ‘Good Thing’: The Commodification of Femininity, Affluence and Whiteness in the Martha Stewart Phenomenon.” Her CV says she studied “ad- vanced feminist studies.” Advanced. The best kind. University of Missouri law students, who evidently cut class the day the First Amendment was taught, wrote a social media policy that included this: “Do not comment despairingly [dis- paragingly?] on others.” A grammatically challenged Ithaca College professor pro- duced this cri de coeur re- garding the school’s pres- ident: “There have been a litany of episodes and inci- dents during [his] tenure here which have led to frustration because, when brought to his attention, the view of the pro- testers is that he has been unresponsive.” Symptomatic of Ithaca’s intellectual flavor is another professor, who says agriculture is “capitalist, racialized patriarchy.” The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, an irony-free campus, declared the phrase “politically correct” a microaggression. The master of Yale’s Pierson College said his regrettable title reminds distressed students of slavery. Wesleyan University’s student government threatened to cut the school newspaper’s funding because it published a column critical of campus leftists. Wesleyan created a “safe space,” aka a house, for LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM students (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Flexual, Asexual, Genderf––, Polyamorous, Bo nd ag e/D i sci pl in e, Dominance/Submission, Sadism/Masochism). A Washington State University professor said she would lower the grade of any student who used the term “illegal immigrants” when referring to immi- grants here illegally. Another Washington State professor warned in his syllabus that white students who want “to do well” in his “Introduction to Multicultural Literature” should show their “grasp of history and social relations” by “deferring to the expe- riences of people of color.” Another Washington State teacher, in her syllabus for “Women & Popular Culture,” warned that students risk “failure for the semester” if they use “derogatory/oppres- sive language” such as “re- ferring to women/men as fe- males or males.” The University of Tennessee’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, worried that students might be uncom- fortable with gender spe- cific pronouns (he, she, him, her), suggests gender-neutral noises (ze, hir, xe, xem, xyr). The University of California system’s sensitivity auditors stipulated that “hostile” and “derogatory” thoughts include “I believe the most qualified person should get the job” and “America is the land of op- portunity.” The University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point’s list of racial microaggressions in- cludes “America is a melting pot” and “There is only one race, the human race.” Some Johns Hopkins University students pro- claimed themselves micro- aggressed by the possibility of a Chick-fil-A restaurant on campus. (Chick-fil-A’s CEO defines marriage as Barack Obama did until 2012.) Mount Holyoke College can- celed its annual production of “The Vagina Monologues” because it is insufficiently inclusive regarding women without vaginas and men who, as the saying goes, “self-identify” as women. “Gender,” said a student, “is a wide and varied experi- ence, one that cannot simply be reduced to biological or anatomical distinctions,” and the show “is inherently reductionist and exclusive.” Writing in the University of California, Berkeley paper, two geographically chal- lenged students objected to a class featuring Plato and Aristotle and other “econom- ically privileged white males from five imperial countries (England, France, Germany, Italy and the United States).” A branch of the University of California, Irvine’s student government passed a reso- lution against the display of flags. Written by a student in the School of Social Ecology (“transformative research to alleviate social inequality and human suffering”), the resolution said flags are “weapons for nationalism” and “construct” dangerous “cultural mythologies and narratives” and “paradigms of conformity” and “homog- enized standards” and inter- fere with “designing a cultur- ally inclusive space.” Students on Columbia University’s Multicultural Affairs Advisory Board sug- gested trigger warnings for persons who might be trau- matized by reading, say, Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” wherein some myths por- tray bad sexual behavior. But a feminist blog warned that the phrase “trigger warning” itself needs a warning at- tached to it because it might remind people of guns. But, then, the word “warning” might (substitute word for “trigger”) fright. So, today give thanks that 2015 has raised an important question about American higher education: What, ex- actly, is it higher than? George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2015, Washington Post Writers Group In this Nov. 9, 2015 frame from a video, University of Missouri Assistant Professor Melissa Click confronts a student photographer and later calls for ‘muscle’ to help remove him from a protest area in Columbia, Mo. - Photo: Mark Schierbecker via aP GEORGE F. WILLThe islands’ most-trusted news source 5 Cayman Compass • Thursday November 26, 2015 @ caribbeanshopper CYBER MONDAY & NO NEED TO TRAVEL AND GET CAUGHT IN LONG LINES FOR @ caribshopperThursday November 26, 2015 • Cayman Compass DISTRICT DAYS 6 District Days Bodden Town In the Nov. 24, 1965 edition of the Caymanian Weekly, a predecessor of the Cayman Compass, Bodden Town correspondent Arthur Hunter wrote that it was a pity that restoration of historical sites was confined to those in George Town, particularly Fort George. “In Bodden Town there exists a monument in memory of Queen Victoria. This was erected during the administration of Commissioner Hirst from public subscription raised by the inhabitants of this town. “Up to a few years ago, a suit- able inscription adorned it. Today the monument is in a sorry state and the inscription is gone, leaving an ‘eyesore’ in the middle of the town. “The mention of ‘eyesore’ leads one to think immediately of the cemetery in Bodden Town, which likewise origi- nated as a result of the efforts of the citizens of this town, and unlike that in George Town, is not Government owned. “Today the cemetery is virtually filled to capacity and therefore an ur- gent needs exists for it to be extended or an alternative site found. “Could not the Government imme- diately acquire the adjoining lands to the west of the existing cemetery and have the entire area properly cleaned and fenced?” 50 years ago eyesores and need for cemetery Letter with an impact Age proves no barrier for young BT community activist BAsiA McGuire bmcguire@pinnaclemedialtd.com A young girl’s concern for her community is turning heads and causing a stir. Living in Savannah’s North Sound Estates with her parents Marcia and Vechariah Leon, 9-year-old, Year 5 Bodden Town Primary stu- dent Micah Leon has developed a strong com- munity spirit. Her mother says Micah is an active young lady involved in lots of activities and sports. “She is in the Girls’ Brigade and Brownies, and sings in the Chapel Church Children’s choir,” said Ms. Leon. “She also plays football, cricket and netball and school.” Ms. Leon says her daughter has a strong character. “She is a Christian, a child who is con- cerned about the rules, and she really wants to uphold standards and rules and discipline,” said her mother. The family lives near a local park, and her mother said Micah wanted to get the message out that the park should be safe for the kids in the community. As part of a school project, Micah wrote a letter to her MLA, Winston Connolly, ex- pressing a number of her concerns. Micah’s letter titled, “Things I’d like to see happening in my community,” reads: “Dear Mr. Winston Connolly. “Hello, my name is Micah Leon, and I live in the beautiful community of North Sound Estate Gardens. “What exactly is a community? According to the Usborne Illustrated Dictionary, a com- munity is a group of people who live in the same area or who have something in common with each other. Which tells me that a com- munity should be a safe, clean and calm area used to grow generations after generations. There are a few problems I would like to point out. “Firstly, some people are breaking in stealing and vandalizing other people’s prop- erty. In order for these people to stop these crimes I know we have a neighborhood watch but we need to reinforce it. “Secondly, people are littering the neigh- borhood. I do not like to see the place so messy. So I think we can arrange a clean-up day so people can volunteer to clean up and save our environment. “Finally, I am seeing that the young people are disobeying and using the park in the wrong way, e.g., creating gangs and defacing the playground equipment. One of the park rules are to not create gangs. “I try to tell them to look at the park rules but it seems like they do not care. I believe the playground is to be socially physically and creatively engaging for the children. If they continue to be disobedient we might have to get the law enforcement officers involved. “In conclusion, as a child of the Cayman Islands and this community, even though young, I know right from wrong, therefore I would like to see the rules be carried out and if everyone does their part and be cohesive, this community will be in good shape, clean and a secure environment for the future generation.” The letter’s contents impressed Mr. Connolly so much that he passed it on to fellow MLAs. Soon after, in recognition of her community spirit and concern, Minister Osbourne Bodden paid Micah a visit at school on Sept. 30. “It was our pleasure to receive Micah’s letter and we commend her, and are most proud of her for being so perceptive in regards to her com- munity,” said Mr. Bodden. “We give Micah the assurance that we will do all in our power to address her concerns, and encourage her to continue developing her community spirit, which will serve her well into the future. We also wish Micah well in her future studies at primary level and unto her eventual college years.” Ms. Leon says that nothing has yet come to pass as a result of Micah’s appeal, but Mr. Bodden has assured her that plans were under way for a Christmastime cleanup, with an official announcement expected soon. cabinet minister osbourne Bodden was very impressed by micah Leon’s letter.community activist micah Leon.Cayman Compass • Thursday November 26, 2015 DISTRICT DAYS 7 District Days Bodden Town From left, Lulu Jones, Naomi Archer, MLA Anthony Eden, Natalie Bodden and Scarlett Akiwumi. – Photo: Submitted Ladies chat while working on thatch baskets. Joan Barnes serves conch stew at Maggie’s Stall. Choosing a flavor at the gumball machine was a challenge for this youngster. Annikki Brown and young Millie Bush, dressed in yesteryear clothes, take a stroll through the park grounds. – PhotoS: Jewel levy Virginia Christian’s aprons with rooster designs were a hit with visitors.Mary Lawrence models a Gold Mills flour sack apron. Bodden Town Heritage Day Bodden Town’s Heritage Day last Friday highlighted the district’s history and culture for hundreds of residents and visitors. People of all ages explored interesting exhibits and demonstrations. Millie Bush checks out the stocks.8 LOCAL NEWS Thursday November 26, 2015 • Cayman Compass The Biggest Black Friday Sale The Island has ever seen! Doors open at 5am Do not miss out on Awesome Savings Throughout The Store! Blackbeard’s robbers get 12 and 9 years CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd Three men who robbed Blackbeard’s Liquor Store in Grand Harbour last December were sentenced to 12 years in prison and a fourth robber was given a nine-year sen- tence on Wednesday. Justice Francis Belle sen- tenced Andrew Lopez, 22; Randy Connor, 25; and Bron Webb, 22, to 12 years each. An 11-member jury returned unanimous verdicts against the defendants after trial in August. The men were found guilty of robbing the store on the night of Dec. 17, 2014, of CI$4,604.42 and US$582; a second charge of rob- bing a customer in the store; and possession of an unli- censed firearm, a gold-col- ored shotgun with three live rounds of ammunition. For the same offenses, Devon Wright Jr., 24, re- ceived nine years. Wright had pleaded guilty at an early stage and the judge said he was entitled to a discount. The robbery was caught on CCTV. Justice Belle appeared via video link from St. Lucia. With time and technology constraints, he did not give his full judgment, but said he would send it in its entirety within a few days. He did explain that he took into account sentencing guidelines and previous cases, along with victim im- pact statements. In Wright’s case, the two robbery sentences were eight years each. The judge noted that the mandatory minimum sentence after a guilty plea for the unlicensed firearm is seven years. Because the firearm was used in the rob- bery, he increased the seven years to nine years and made all sentences run concurrently. For the other three men, the robbery sentences were 10 years. The mandatory min- imum sentence for an unli- censed firearm is 10 years on a not guilty plea; given that the shotgun was used in the robbery, the judge increased this sentence to 12 years. All sentences run concurrently. At a sentencing hearing in October, defense attorneys had submitted that the sen- tences should be no more than 10 and seven years be- cause of what they described as the “amateurish and inept” way in which the robberies were carried out. Lopez, for example, used his mother’s distinctive black Ford Escape SUV as the getaway ve- hicle following the robbery. At the time of the hold-up, he was wearing an electronic monitor, which enabled police to track his movements. All four men were found at Lopez’s house or yard in nearby Prospect within an hour of the robbery. The gold shotgun was found in the attic of the house the next day. A handgun also used in the robbery was not recovered. A purse stolen from a cus- tomer at the store was also found in a storeroom on the premises. At the October hearing, Justice Bell ordered that the money recovered be returned to its owner. An 11-member jury returned unanimous verdicts against the defendants after trial in August. Security camera footage from Blackbeard’s Liquor Store shows the robbery in progress. Faces of bystanders have been pixelated. Four men convicted of the robbery were sentenced on Wednesday.The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Cayman Compass • Thursday November 26, 2015 DEATH LEAVES A HEARTACHE NO-ONE CAN HEAL LOVE LEAVES A MEMORY NO-ONE CAN STEAL Words can never express how much your family misses you. Constantly on my mind and forever in my heart Your loving sister Julie Pritchard In memory of my wonderful and much loved brother PHIL PRITCHARD who sadly passed away one year ago today 26th November, 2014 investment because of our lack of high-quality telecom infrastructure.” Kurt Tibbetts, minister for infrastructure, confirmed in a speech to the Legislative Assembly last week that leg- islative amendments would come before the House in January. Several legislators spoke last week about concerns from constituents who were not getting the Internet speeds they had paid for. Mr. Tibbetts said the amended legislation would empower ICTA to impose fines when Internet speeds fall below a certain percentage of the speed paid for. Many pro- viders sell packages that offer speeds of “up to” a cer- tain number of megabits per second, meaning they are not necessarily offering that top speed at all times. Mr. Tibbetts suggested they should at least be obliged to provide speeds within a rea- sonable range of the con- tracted rate. Mr. Fa’Amoe said, “I don’t think it is unreasonable for a customer to expect to receive what they’re paying for from a service provider. “So, when a customer has contracted from a local Internet service provider for, say, 5Mb Internet speeds, and they get 1Mb, they can be- come understandably upset, especially if this is a trend and happens often.” Cable & Wireless, trading as Flow, Digicel, WestStar, WestTel, trading as Logic, Infinity Broadband, trading as C3, and the Cayman Islands government are listed as holding current licenses as Internet service providers in the Cayman Islands. The local providers have previously highlighted in- frastructure issues be- yond their control as part of the problem. A Netflix server might be somewhere in Mexico or Florida, but not in Cayman. Home connections have to go through what’s known as “the pipe,” a network of undersea cables connecting the islands to the mainland. At peak times, when hun- dreds of thousands of cus- tomers may be logging on, speeds can be impacted by a bottleneck in the pipe. Julie Hutton, with FLOW, told the Cayman Compass in an earlier interview, “Actual connect speeds depend on the … server and link ca- pacity at any given time of the day. Evening in the U.S. and Caribbean could prove to be busy and congested times for these companies, but we would expect them to dimen- sion capacity accordingly.” Mr. Fa’Amoe says ICTA is less concerned about micro- managing the providers and their business but more in- terested in making sure cus- tomers get what they are paying for. Despite the number of companies now operating, he believes the liberalization of the market has not led to better services, with local- ized monopolies operating in some areas. ICTA will also move, in the new year, to enforce stricter regulations around portability – the ease with which consumers can move from one provider to another. Too often, he said, cus- tomers were tied into con- tracts that punished them economically for taking their business elsewhere if they were not satisfied with the service. “If you’re not happy, you often can’t go to another ser- vice provider because you are locked into a contract or there simply isn’t another provider in your area. We need to change that.” Alongside the proposed changes to the law and regu- lations, ICTA is working be- hind the scenes to resolve commercial disputes over ac- cess to power lines and un- derground infrastructure that are currently delaying efforts to roll out fiber optic cables, which enable higher Internet speeds, island wide. Mr. Fa’Amoe said the reg- ulator typically took a “light touch” approach, believing that the competitive market was the best avenue to better services. But in this case, he said, the market had failed and ICTA was compelled to act in the public interest. “We are not seeing ser- vices get better, we are not seeing customers able to move from provider to provider and we are not seeing the underlying in- frastructure built out to make choice available all over the island.” Deal reboots KYD remittances, leaves out Jamaica National Charles DuNCaN cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com A deal between Western Union, Scotiabank and Jamaica-based GraceKennedy Money Services means people can now use Cayman Island dol- lars to send remittances overseas, but it’s not without its critics. A representative with Jamaica National Money Services, the biggest cash- transfer company in Cayman, accused government of giving Western Union a competitive advantage while JN can still only take U.S. currency. Western Union, oper- ated at the time by Fidelity Bank, closed abruptly over the summer, with cus- tomers finding out about the closure when they went to send money and found a notice on the window. The service picked back up Tuesday, with a new deal announced Wednesday by representatives of the companies involved and government ministers. “This was a commer- cial problem and required a commercial solution,” said Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton at the press conference Wednesday. He said GraceKennedy, along with the bank and Western Union, brought the partner- ship to government as a so- lution to the cash transfer crisis that had plagued the country for three months. “We are at an end of a very difficult period,” Mr. Panton said of the past few months, that saw a shortage of U.S. cash in the islands as people converted millions of Cayman dollars to U.S. cur- rency to send overseas. Fidelity Bank pulled out of the remittance business in July, closing its Western Union branches. A month later, Cayman National Bank, which gave banking ser- vices to JN Money Services, MoneyGram and others, closed their accounts, citing the risks of money laun- dering in the cash-transfer business and the rising costs of complying with interna- tional rules to ensure drug dealers and terrorists aren’t using money transfers to fund their activities. Robert Hamaty, a board member for Jamaica National Building Society and JN Money Services, wel- comed the move to allow people to use Cayman dol- lars for remittances, but said JN had been left out. “Nobody knew the fix was just going to be for Western Union,” he said. “The biggest player has been left out,” he said, re- ferring to JN’s cash transfer business. He added, “Government has given a competitive advantage to Western Union.” Mr. Panton said, “We have not forgotten the other par- ties involved.” But, he noted, “We have someone with the right connections, relation- ships and leverage to make this work.” The local bank account with Scotiabank is the key piece that allows Western Union to take local currency instead of U.S. cash, which the other companies still have to take. Scotiabank CEO Sloane Muldoon said her company has had a long relation- ship with GraceKennedy, and GraceKennedy has more than 20 years experience operating Western Union branches in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and seven other countries in the region. “We have a strong risk and compliance culture,” Ms. Muldoon said, and she noted she was confident in GraceKennedy’s ability to minimize risk in the cash transfers. Mr. Panton thanked JN Money Services for keeping its remittances windows open through the crisis. “Were it not for their ability to adapt and change their business model,” he said, the country could have been left without a way to send remittances. Workers in Cayman sent almost $180 million in re- mittances last year, with about $110 million of that going to Jamaica, according to data from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. “We had to be able to deliver this service to re- store normalcy,” Mr. Panton said, especially with the holiday season coming up, the ability to send Cayman Islands dollars will make it easier to send money to family overseas. “It is essential that these services are provided,” the minister said. Internet issues impacting economy Burned-out vehicle discovered in Frank Sound Police and fire ser- vices officers are investi- gating a burned-out vehicle found in the Frank Sound area of North Side late on Tuesday night. The 911 service received a call about the vehicle around 11:30 p.m. No injuries associated with the vehicle fire were reported to the police, said Jacqueline Carpenter, spokes- woman for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. The burned-out car was removed by police from a dirt track off Frank Sound Road. – Photo: Jewel levy The Information Communications and Technology Authority is recommending that Internet service providers face fines if they fail to provide the quality and speed of service they are advertising to customers. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Next >