ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – Tuesday March 1, 2016 sports | page 14 rhsW cayMan naTional XV shuT ouT club selecT High of 84 Low of 75 Slight to moderate with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. editorial | page 4 road Works: hold The honking To a MiniMuM 180913_PRINT-Ad-Strip-BOTY-6colxPage 1 11/30/15 12:30:30 PM Inquests begIn for couple In ‘volatIle relatIonshIp’ carol Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A coroner’s jury heard Monday that po- lice were called five times to the home of Nichelle Anna-Kay Thomas, 21, and her boy- friend Devon Roy Campbell, 39, whose bodies were discovered at a home in Bodden Town in February 2014. The body of Ms. Thomas was found with several lacerations and her hand had been severed. Mr. Campbell’s body was found hanging from a tree outside the house on Lookout Road. Queen’s Coroner Eileen Nervik read a state- ment of senior investigation officer Dennis Walkington, which said the couple had been in a volatile relationship. Ms. Thomas had suf- fered physical and mental abuse at the hands of Mr. Campbell, but no reports of domestic vi- olence were filed with a Central Referral Unit. According to Mr. Walkington, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2014, Ms. Thomas’s body was found in the home of George Wood, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease. Ms. Thomas was hired to give the full-time helper some relief on Sundays. The finding of her body was reported by Mr. Wood’s business partner. Ms. Thomas was found in a seated position in a small closet in a back bedroom. She had cuts to her neck and large lacerations to her arm; her left hand was severed and lay on the floor nearby. “It was evident she had been the victim of a homicide,” Mr. Walkington stated. Elsewhere on the property, he saw Mr. Campbell’s body hanging by a rope from a Public agency job applicants asked nationality, birthplace brenT Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com A number of Cayman Islands government agencies have used employment application forms in 2015 and 2016 that ask job- seekers to distinguish between their nationality “at birth” and their current nationality, or to provide their “place of birth” on the form. The question, required for applicants for a recently posted Cayman Islands Health Services Authority position, seeks to de- termine the person’s “nationality at birth” and “nationality now” on the line below. The query could potentially serve to differentiate between an individual who was born in Cayman who has always held Caymanian status and another who was born outside the is- lands but obtained that status later in life. Legally speaking, “Caymanian” is an immigra- tion status conferred on an in- dividual by the government, not a nationality. However, the Cayman Islands Constitution Order (2009) makes no distinc- tion between a person who received status following a number of years of residence in Cayman and someone who was born Caymanian. While both the Cayman Islands Immigration Law and the constitution’s section 16 of the Bill of Rights allow discriminatory practices in the hiring of Caymanians over Law allowing organ transplants keeps recipients waiting Key parts of the law yet to be implemented kelsey JukaM kjukam@pinnaclemedialtd.com Three years after the government passed a law legalizing the donation and trans- plantation of human tissue and organs, there is still no organ donor registry or tissue bank in the Cayman Islands. The 2013 legislation satisfied a stipu- lation in the government’s agreement with Dr. Devi Shetty to establish Health City, but was also aimed at helping patients in the Cayman Islands who need transplants. Today, key parts of the legislation have yet to be implemented, including the es- tablishment of a Human Tissue Transplant Council, an organ donor registry, and a tissue bank. Meanwhile, Caymanian pa- tients in need of organ transplants are still at the bottom of waiting lists in the United States. A transplant story One man who knows the importance of having access to transplants is Robert Hamaty. Twenty years ago, after spending Heart transplant recipient Robert Hamaty poses in his office with a framed poem and photograph of the pilot whose heart he received 20 years ago. – photo: KelseY JuKaM PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » Some statutory authority and government company forms ask job applicants for their nationality at birth and at present. – photo: taneos raMsaY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL TUESDAY MARCH 1, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. © y x *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. - TUESDAY - Daily Matinees Every Day $8.00 Seniors, Mon-Fri Before 6pm Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 640-FILM (640-3456) TRIPLE 9 (R) 1:10 I 4:10 I 7:15 I 10:00 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES (PG13) 1:20 I 4:20 I 7:20 I 9:50 ZOOLANDER 2 (PG13) 12:50 I 3:15 I 7:30 I 10:00 GODS OF EGYPT 3D (PG13) 12:40 I 3:30 2D I 7:00 I 9:50 2D KUNG FU PANDA 3 3D (PG) 12:20 I 2:40 2D I 5:00 I 7:20 2D I 9:40 DEADPOOL (R) 1:00 I 4:00 I 7:10 I 9:40 Smallest-ever lionfish caught in tournament JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Lionfish cullers braved windy conditions over the weekend to pull in a near-record haul, in- cluding the smallest li- onfish ever caught in Cayman’s waters. In the first tournament of the year for the Cayman United Lionfish League, sponsored by Foster’s Food Fair, 13 teams took to the waters in an effort to rid Cayman’s reefs of the inva- sive species. A team from Divetech pulled in the most fish, 368, while freediving team Green Water took the most fish per culler, with the three-man team catching 276 fish in total. Aaron Hunt, with the Lobster Pot team, set a new record for the smallest fish, catching a 19mm (0.7 inches) lionfish. Tournament organizers encourage cullers to catch smaller fish because of the extent of damage they could do if left on the reef. “If you wait until they get big, then they could have eaten somewhere be- tween 20,000 and 50,000 fish to get to that size,” said Mark Orr, one of the tournament organizers. Mr. Orr said his team, Green Water, specifically targeted smaller fish for that reason. The team pulled in 152 fish on day one of the tour- nament with a net weight of less than 2kg. By con- trast, other teams, pulled in 20 fish with a net weight of more than 8 kg. Mr. Orr believes Mr. Hunt’s 19mm catch, which shaved 3mm off the pre- vious record, will be hard to beat. He said the overall haul of 1,339 lionfish culled over the weekend was the second highest since the tournament series began. “We had rough seas and cold weather which was a challenge for the teams, so it was an amazing result. The flip-side of the high numbers of fish culled is that it demon- strates that after years of culling, lionfish are still seen on Cayman’s reefs in large numbers. Mr. Orr believes pres- sure from cullers is helping to contain the population of the invasive species. He said tournaments are im- portant because they en- courage cullers to look out- side the usual dive sites. US voters to face stricter ID requirements on Super Tuesday As voters go to the polls on March 1, dubbed Super Tuesday, many will be casting ballots in states that have passed strict election laws that did not exist during the last presidential race. Out of the 13 states holding primaries or cau- cuses, there are five where voters will face new rules: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The laws range from asking voters to present photo IDs at the polls to requiring proof of citizen- ship when registering to vote. Voting experts say that primary voters tend to be of demographics relatively un- affected by such require- ments, as they are typically older and wealthier. The pri- maries also tend to attract more white voters. Still, Super Tuesday could serve as an early test of how the new laws will play out in the gen- eral election in November. This presidential race will be the first since the Supreme Court invalidated a key part of the Voting Rights Act and triggered a number of states to pass stiffer requirements for voting. “We will undoubtedly see some negative effects in the primaries and perhaps an early glimpse into what the bigger problems could look like come November,” said Wendy R. Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. On Tuesday, the new laws could have a bigger effect in the Democratic contests where “voters of color will be disproportionately affected by the new restrictions,” said Ari Berman, author of “Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America.” Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is counting on minority voters, partic- ularly in the South, to sup- port her as she tries to secure the Democratic nom- ination. On Tuesday, six of 11 Democratic contests will take place in Southern states with large popula- tions of black voters. Clinton has been raising the issue of voting rights for months, and her campaign’s top lawyer has filed lawsuits against new voting restric- tions in several states. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is waging legal battles across the country to stem the tide of the new laws. “This is the first presiden- tial election in the more than 50 years of the Voting Rights Act that the department’s ability to enforce the act has been so severely cut back,” said Vanita Gupta, who heads the Justice Department’s civil rights division. “Until Congress acts to restore the full protection of the act, we are fully committed to doing all that we can to make sure every eligible citizen has eq- uitable access to a mean- ingful vote.” Those who support the tougher voting laws have said they are cracking down on fraud and shoring up the legitimacy of this country’s elections. Berman argues, though, that the new rules have nothing to do with voter fraud and everything to do with politics. © 2016, The Washington Post Zero Discrimination Day observed March 1 marks Zero Discrimination Day in Cayman and worldwide. According to or- ganizers, Zero Discrimination Day is an opportunity “to cele- brate everyone’s right to live a full life with dig- nity regardless of age, gender, sexuality, na- tionality, ethnicity, skin color, height, weight, profession, education, and beliefs.” The Cayman AIDS Foundation noted in a statement: “On March 1, Zero Discrimination Day, let’s resolve to tear down the walls of fear and prej- udice that prevent people from accessing services that keep them alive and well. In 2016, everyone, everywhere should have the right to health.” Zero Discrimination Day was launched by UNAIDS, a United Nations program on HIV and AIDS, in December 2013. It was adopted by the U.N. the following March and is now ob- served annually. The symbol for Zero Discrimination Day is the butterfly. TOURNAMENT RESULTS Smallest Lionfish 1st Lobster Pot (new tournament record) 19 mm 2ndDivetech31 mm 3rdGreen Water33 mm Largest Lionfish 1stNeptune Divers302 mm 2nd(TIED) Neptune Divers298 mm 2nd(TIED) Ocean Frontiers298 mm Most Weight 1stDivetech22.5 kg/culler 2ndLobster Pot15.8 kg/culler 3rdAmbassador Divers14 kg/culler Most Lionfish 1stGreen Water92/culler 2ndDivetech73.6/culler 3rdLobster Pot55/culler Total Lionfish Culled off reef: 1,339 Total Weight: 321.25 kg or 708.24 lbs Jason Washington takes a close-up photo of a lionfish held by Zach Larrabee. – PHOTO: KATIE O’NEILL CORRECTION A story titled “Canadian schools recruiting Cayman students” on page 2 of Friday’s Compass con- tained an incorrect date. Recruiters from four Canadian boarding schools will hold a one-day recruit- ment fair from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort. The Cayman Compass strives for accuracy and is committed to correcting errors that appear in the newspaper. Those interested in contacting the paper for that purpose can email the editor at newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com. The symbol for Zero Discrimination Day is the butterfly.The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 Cayman Compass • Tuesday March 1, 2016 The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. Tuesday MarCh 1, 2016 • Cayman COmpass Road works: Hold the honking to a minimum Starting this morning, motorists may find them- selves hitting the brakes in the Seven Mile Beach corridor, as the National Roads Authority carries out repairs along the Esterley Tibbetts Highway. In case you encounter congestion, please, be easy on the car horn — at most, issue a friendly “Cayman honk” to the road workers, who are attempting to make our streets safer and more efficient for everyone. While we are no fans of gridlock, and often use our editorials to counsel the Cayman Islands govern- ment on “the need for speed,” we also recognize that delays and detours are often necessary prerequisites for future enhancements. Sometimes you have to slow down for a bit, so that you can speed up later. That being said, in regard to the NRA project we’ve referenced, we can’t help but observe that it is not an expansion to the Esterley Tibbetts, but a repair job. Specifically, for three to four weeks, workers will be repairing dips in the inner lanes of the road, roughly in the area between The Ritz-Carlton and The Strand. (In other words, they’ll be flattening out the Esterley Tibbetts “roller coaster ride.”) Considering it was opened to traffic in fall 2006, that section of the highway isn’t particularly old, according to “road standards.” If readers recall, one of the challenges in constructing the road was the presence of deep pockets of peat. The road initially had a speed limit of 25 miles per hour (with no night- time driving permitted) because of inadequate lighting, and to allow the road to settle properly. It wasn’t until early 2008 that the speed limit was raised to 40 miles per hour. Now, we aren’t civil engineers, but we do wonder whether the extensive repair work now being done on that section of the Esterley Tibbetts is an indication that the road wasn’t constructed properly in the first place, and if this will prove to be a one-time solution … or a temporary fix to a recurring problem. Setting that question aside, our advice to Grand Cayman motorists is to get used to orange traffic cones, workers in brightly colored vests and the motions of heavy machinery. Generally speaking, those sights and sounds are welcome hallmarks of progress and development, and are harbingers of better things to come. Practically speaking, it looks like we will have to coexist with road construction for the next several years, so we might as well focus patiently on the positive potential, rather than any short-term inconve- nience. For example, on the south end of the Esterley Tibbetts, the Dart Group is doubling the capacity of the highway between Camana Bay and the Quincen- tennial (Butterfield) Roundabout, and is undertaking the construction of a vehicular underpass that will “bury” a rerouted section of the highway as it passes along Camana Bay. On the other side of George Town, following up on welcome improvements to Smith Road, the NRA is planning to enhance Bobby Thompson Way (the road between the Cricket Oval and Linford Pierson Highway), with a view toward expanding Linford Pierson and uncorking the twice-daily bottlenecks that frustrate residents of the eastern half of the island. (And don’t forget about the much-anticipated exten- sion of the East-West Arterial.) If planned and executed properly, all of the indi- vidual projects should, in concert, add up to a vastly improved transportation network for Grand Cayman that will accommodate and facilitate future growth in the island’s population, economy and tourism activity. After years of construction, thousands of man- hours of labor and millions upon millions of dollars in capital investment — who knows? — perhaps, eventu- ally, Grand Cayman can one day aspire to have a road system as immaculate as that of Cayman Brac! Negative interest rates, upside-down economics What the world’s major central banks have been doing is not working. Rather than go back to the tried and true, they are now digging in deeper on policies that are bound to fail, such as the move to negative interest rates, which many will find personally harmful. The first bank-like institu- tions started more than 2,000 years ago by serving as a place for safekeeping of one’s gold and silver coins, with the understanding that the “bank” would lend out some of these coins in exchange for a pay- ment – known as interest. Early on, people under- stood that there was a “time value to money,” meaning that money at the present time is worth more than the same amount at a future time due to its potential earning capacity. Over time, the safest invest- ments, such as the bonds of solvent governments, tended to provide average annual in- terest rates of 2 percent to 4 percent above the rate of in- flation. Most every student who ever took a course in eco- nomics, accounting or finance learned about the time value of money and about normal risk and inflation-adjusted in- terest rates. Savers and investors for hundreds of years relied on these basic relationships in making decisions. But now the financial world has been upended with the efforts of the major central banks to de- press interest rates far below normal for many years and now to move to negative in- terest rates, causing all sorts of unintended consequences. The central banks of Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and the European Central Bank are now all uti- lizing negative interest rates. The goal of the policy is to limit capital inflows and try to create some inflation. The negative interest rates on deposits have not yet been levied on depositors in their normal savings accounts – with some exceptions – but have primarily been imposed on commercial banks depos- iting money with their re- spective central banks. The central banks that im- posed negative interest rates have done so to discourage bankers from holding excess reserves with the central bank, thus encouraging them to lend more to households and busi- nesses, as a way of boosting economic growth. But in a world of falling prices (defla- tion), there is an incentive for households and businesses to hoard cash rather than spend. The incentive to hoard cash grows with economic uncer- tainty which, in part, is caused by the erratic policies of the central banks. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen in recent days said that she was open to negative interest rates – a comment that again added to market uncertainty. Economist David Malpass has been warning for some time that the Fed and other central banks have been on the wrong course. As he wrote last week: “The Fed absorbs money from one hand (in this case banks and, indirectly, their customers) and channels it to another hand (bond issuers). This biases the system to- wards bonds at the expense of savers, lenders and the smaller businesses that rely on bank loans. Credit is guided or ra- tioned towards big borrowers, a misallocation that hurts growth because credit is overly loose for bond borrowers that don’t need it and overly tight for some that do.” There are many perverse and negative effects from an extended period of arti- ficially low or negative in- terest rates. For instance, for a couple of hundred years, life insurance companies have been able to offer low rates for their policyholders by taking the insurance pre- miums and investing them in long-term, high-grade gov- ernment or corporate bonds that would typically pay in- terest of around 4 percent per year after adjusting for inflation. If both mortality rates are highly predictable for large numbers of people (which they are) and if the real rate of interest is also highly predictable, it became possible to build a relatively low-risk life insurance busi- ness, which benefited both the policyholders and the in- surance company owners. But when real interest rates are artificially reduced by central banks, the earnings of life insurance companies are greatly impaired, which will over time cause some of them to go out of business and for all of them to increase their insurance rates to the disad- vantage of their customers. One of the odder destruc- tive effects of very low or negative interest rates is the increased incentive to hold cash. Government officials do not like for citizens to hold large amounts of cash be- cause hoarding cash reduces consumer spending, thus slowing economic growth. The use of cash is largely untrace- able, unlike checks and elec- tronic transfers, thus making life more difficult for some in law enforcement. To make holding cash more difficult and inconvenient, there have been calls to eliminate the is- suance of high-value bank notes (currency) in Europe and elsewhere. Last week, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers called for eliminating the US$100 bill to make it more difficult to keep or use large amounts of cash, with the intention of forcing people into using electronic payments, which big brother government can monitor. The policies of the cen- tral bankers and government financial regulatory officials, intentional or not, are de- stroying both economic op- portunity and liberty. Do we really need these folks? Richard W. Rahn, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth, is on the Editorial Board of Cayman Financial Review. © 2016, The Washington Times One of the odder destructive effects of very low or negative interest rates is the increased incentive to hold cash. RichaRd W. Rahn RichaRd W. Rahn Printed and Published by: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town send us yOur VieWs Or neWs: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com adVertise With us: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS daVid r. legge and Vicki l. legge EdITOR-In-CHIEf daVid r. legge A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Tuesday March 1, 2016 Police identify bodies found off Little Cayman in August Boater deaths showed ‘no signs of violence’ Brent FuLLer bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The bodies of two fish- ermen found on a boat floating off the coast of Little Cayman last August showed “no signs of violence,” ac- cording to post-mortems performed on the remains of both men. The men, who were from the Dominican Republic, were identified Monday as Eduard Eugenio Taveras- Toribio, 37, and Manuel Henriquez, 57. Both had been living and working in Jamaica at the time of their deaths, the Royal Cayman Islands Police said. The two had gone out on a fishing trip, police said. “It is likely that they had engine failure and their boat drifted until the po- lice vessel came across it [on Aug. 25, 2015],” an RCIPS statement noted. Identification of the two men involved “extensive ef- forts” that included travel to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic after officers lo- cated family members, po- lice said. RCIPS officials said in December that tentative identifications for both men had been made, but they could not state a cause of death or absolutely con- firm their identities. At that point, both men’s bodies had been in the George Town morgue for more than three months. The small fishing boat, found with two decom- posing bodies inside, was registered in Jamaica. The bodies had decomposed to the extent that a cor- oner who was brought to Cayman to perform the autopsies could not ini- tially determine the cause of death. Hours after the 28-foot boat was found drifting off Little Cayman, it was towed by the Marine Unit craft Guardian to neighboring Cayman Brac. The bodies were initially examined there by local doctors. Police said arrangements are being made for the repa- triation of the two boaters’ remains to the Dominican Republic in the near future. Stabbing, assault reported in George Town A stabbing early Monday left a man hospitalized in crit- ical condition, Royal Cayman Islands Police reported. The attack on Seymour Road happened less than 24 hours after an assault across town on Boilers Road, police said. In the latest attack, po- lice were called to Seymour Road and North Sound Road where a 44-year-old male was found to have been stabbed in the chest. He was listed in critical condi- tion at the Cayman Islands Hospital on Monday. Police said the victim may have attended some bars in the area prior to being attacked. There was no word on any arrests by press time Monday. A separate, unrelated assault was reported on Boilers Road around 3 a.m. Sunday. Police said the 38-year- old victim was sitting in his car when he was approached by another man, who police said was a passenger in a black BMW. Police said the BMW pas- senger, who appeared to have a gun, smashed the vic- tim’s driver-side window and assaulted him. Two other men and a woman in the BMW did not participate in the assault, police said. The victim was taken to hospital, treated and dis- charged on Sunday. Anyone with information regarding either of these attacks is asked to call George Town Criminal Investigation Department at 949-4222 or to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-8477(TIPS). Tips to police can also be submitted online at www.tipsubmit.com/ WebTips.aspx?AgencyID=681. Police brought the Jamaican boat to Cayman Brac on Aug. 25, 2015 after finding two bodies inside.Tuesday March 1, 2016 • Cayman Compass 6 DISTRICT DAYS District Days West Bay In the March 2, 1966 edition of the Caymanian Weekly, a precursor of the Cayman Compass, West Bay cor- respondent Leila Yates reported: “On Feb. 22, a dance sponsored by the members of the P.T.A. was held in the Hub theatre, which Mr. Graham Ebanks gave for the occasion. The purpose was to raise funds for Cayman Preparatory School. Music was by the Mashyiannes who reduced their price as a donation to the fund. Refreshments were on sale, a favor- able sum was received and an enjoy- able evening spent. “Messrs. George Orett and Matson Ebanks arrived home on the Feb. 26 from the U.S. where they worked for N.B.C. on S.S. Ore Venus. “We are happy to have Miss Ione Yates back with us for a few weeks. She left in 1945 to work in the U.S. and makes short visits back here. She is visiting friends and relatives. “Sgt. Dale Banks and his brother Bobby arrived on Feb. 24 from the U.S. where they both reside with their families. They are on vacation, are en- joying their stay and will be here for 10 days. Bobby left 12 years ago and this is his first visit back. “A truck driven by Mr. Donald Smith ran off the road in the early morning of the 24th and struck the home of Mr. A.G. Hydes. The oc- cupants and close neighbors were greatly shocked. The driver was un- hurt but Mr. Lovene Bush is hospital- ized with a badly fractured leg. “Mr. and Mrs. Hurley Hydes are spending an enjoyable visit with rela- tives and friends. They expect to leave on the 3rd for their home in Miami and regret that their visit is so short. “Mrs. McLure Bothwell left on the 26th to meet her husband in Ft. Lauderdale where she will stay for an indefinite time.” 50 years ago: Truck hits house, one man hospitalized Community group looking for volunteers A group of West Bay residents aiming to make some positive changes in the community is looking for volunteers. Lennon Christian, Margely Reve and Fadey Powery are trying to revive the West Bay Community Development Action Committee, known as West Bay CODAC. The non-political group made up of community vol- unteers was established in 1993 with the aim of ad- dressing issues affecting the community, like illegal drugs, educating youth to make more positive choices, pro- moting closer relationships between parents and chil- dren, and fostering the return of community spirit with drug-free social activities, a press release states. Since its inception, nearly 40 people from the dis- trict have served as board members, and the group has carried out many proj- ects, assisting the elderly and youth, doing district beautification, supporting Neighborhood Watch, and hosting police and educa- tion-related meetings. “We focused on and ad- dressed what we thought were the most urgent is- sues for our communities at the time,” said deputy chair Ms. Reve. “Our motto is ‘Positive action for a better West Bay,’ and among the many proj- ects the group carried out in the past included a district Christmas tree lighting at- tended by the governor, so- cials and functions for the elderly, district cleanups when they were discon- tinued by government, cem- etery maintenance and cleaning up derelict proper- ties,” she said. “We also did a lot pro- grams for parents and chil- dren, supporting activities at churches, schools, and even putting on a Valentine’s dinner for couples, among other things.” Ms. Reve said that for a number of years, with some of the group’s members de- ceased and the launch of dis- trict councils, it was felt that there would not be a need for an active district CODAC. “However, we think it is fair to say that seeing the district council never really taking off, our district has suffered throughout the years by not having a community group like CODAC, nor a full- time community develop- ment officer as West Bay and George Town presently share one, due to the government’s budgetary constraints.” As a result, Ms. Reve said the remaining members of West Bay CODAC are now looking to revitalize the group. “We would like to have the community’s support to allow the group to continue making improvements and facilitating growth, activities and togetherness within our district,” said Ms. Reve. “We are therefore ap- pealing to our West Bay com- munity to come forward and support us.” She said the group wishes to hold new elections and elect a new, vibrant body that can assist in taking the group into the future. “We know that some- times it is difficult for working persons to give a lot of time to a group such as this so we are also ap- pealing to persons who may be retired or resident here and looking for some- thing to get involved in,” Ms. Reve said. “We would like to get some of our elderly residents involved – some of our best support in the past has been from the elderly.” She said the group also wishes to establish a youth arm. “It is therefore neces- sary to get some of our vi- brant young persons to come on board,” she said. “We also make a special appeal to the men of our dis- trict and to the businesses – we need you, we need your support. Those persons who are interested in seeing our district beautified are en- couraged to come and sup- port our community group as well.” Ms. Reve, along with the group’s retiring chair Mr. Christian and member Mr. Powery say they are keen to pursue the initiative as they see it as an ideal way to start accomplishing a lot of objectives. “We want to bring our community back together, we want to strengthen the family unit, our elderly and youth and other support pro- grams; and we want to make West Bay the best place for us to live and raise our chil- dren and future generations,” said Ms. Reve. “There is a lot of work to be done and while there is a job for everyone, no matter your abilities, we want some people who are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Pulling our commu- nity back together might not be easy but we believe it can be done.” Interested parties can email Margelyreve65@gmail.com with their contact information. Details of the elections will be disseminated once a date and venue are confirmed. In conjunction with the opening of the West Bay Public Library and Learning Centre in 2009, the West Bay CoDaC donated $3,000 toward youth literacy and the purchase of children’s books. The West Bay CoDaC’s 2009 donation to the West Bay Public Library tied in with its aims to support youth in the community.Cayman Compass • Tuesday March 1, 2016 7 DISTRICT DAYS District Days West Bay Center strives to meet growing demand Basia McGuire bmcguire@pinnaclemedialtd.com West Bay’s hidden corners play host to numerous hotels, residences and restaurants, and along with them, a facility serving a special seg- ment of Cayman’s population. The Sunrise Adult Training Centre serves adults with special needs who have cognitive, physical or developmental disabilities. The facility’s new acting di- rector, Kimberly Voaden, is a na- tive of West Bay. “I am so thrilled and proud to have been given this chance to do my part for my community,” Ms. Voaden said. A mother of two and an active member of the John Gray Memorial Church, Ms. Voaden’s parents are Kenneth Wright, a retired building inspector, and Grace Wright, a re- tired special educator, who along with accomplishing many other firsts for children with special needs in the Cayman Islands, as- sisted with the establishment of the original Lighthouse School in the 1970s. A Butterfield Scholarship winner, Ms. Voaden studied as an under- graduate at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and then pursued a graduate degree in occupational therapy at the University of Toronto. She then spent two years in Canada working at Erinoak Children’s Treatment Centre in Ontario to broaden her knowledge and expe- rience prior to returning home to Cayman in 2004. First working as a paedi- atric Occupational Therapist for nine years in the Department of Education Services, Ms. Voaden pro- vided therapeutic services to chil- dren in the Lighthouse School, the mainstream school system, and the Early Intervention Programme. After joining the Sunrise Centre in 2013 as program manager, Ms. Voaden was named the centre’s acting di- rector in January. She was honored as an Emerging Pioneer at the 2015 Heroes Day Awards for contribu- tions to the island’s health services. Ms. Voaden is keen to build mo- mentum for some constructive change at the Sunrise Centre, and in Cayman as well, and was she said good things are already happening at Sunrise this year. For one, prepara- tions are under way for the school’s spring concert scheduled for May. This year’s production is a Cayman version of “Mamma Mia!” In addition, in the lead-up to the arrival of Prince Edward in March, Sunrise is launching a modified Duke of Edinburgh program for par- ticipants with special needs. “It’s based on the existing pro- gram, but will have modified re- quirements, and we have eight cli- ents signed up already,” she said. New staff are also arriving soon. “We are about to get a second teacher who will be teaching func- tional academics, which covers lit- eracy and numeracy,” she said. Ms. Voaden said Sunrise cur- rently offers three types of pro- grams which cater to the differing ability levels of clients. The 22 clients in the vocational stream take part in training that prepares them for and places them in the workforce. Ms. Voaden said that along with providing those clients with life skills and employment, it also frees up space in the program for other clients. “We are full at present; we ac- tually don’t have any more spaces,” she said. The facility also offers sup- ported workshops on the prem- ises for other clients not in the vocational stream. For example, the vegetables and other items produced by Sunrise’s Grow Group are sold at the Camana Bay farmers market. “We just had sailors from the [HMS] Mersey come by to lend a hand to the Grow Group, which was just great,” said Ms. Voaden. In an- other supported workshop, Sunrise clients make soap, coasters and other items for sale. Another workshop has clients preparing meals twice a week, a skill that can be applied to employ- ment or independent living, and cli- ents also take part in daily light cleaning at the center, allowing them to build those skills. The third stream of activities offered by Sunrise is a recreational day program that offers a daily ro- tation of therapeutic activities and classes, which include taking the clients out into the community. “Just the other day we had the clients out at Pedro Castle, which was great,” said Ms. Voaden. “It is important for our clients to get out in the community, as much as it is important for the community to see and interact with our clients.” Ms. Voaden noted that these ex- cursions are particularly important since the island is currently expe- riencing a shortage of accommoda- tion for disabled clients, so many are staying at home where they have less access to the kinds of activities and programs they would receive in a specialized facility. She said Sunrise is at capacity, with a pressing need for more space and more staff, and is in the process of pursuing fundraising for a new facility to accommodate more clients. Along with fulfilling the daily requirements of her job, Ms. Voaden has also been partici- pating in the Cayman Islands Disability Policy, and the is- lands’ forthcoming Disability Legislation, and is a member of the Cayman Islands Mental Health Commission. “I’m a lifelong believer in the power of positive thinking, and I try to see the best in every situa- tion,” said Ms. Voaden. “I’m con- fident that the future is bright for all children and adults with spe- cial needs in the Cayman Islands.” From left, Anita Ebanks, Rachel Ebanks and Vanessa Willams Sunrise clients attend lunch at Government House. From left, Paula Bush, Kimberly Voaden and Oral Powery Sunrise clients on an excursion to Stingray City.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 Community Calendar ■ Community Calendar is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is available to charitable or nonprofit organizations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be faxed to 949-2662, brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Rd. or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. Tuesday March 1, 2016 • Cayman Compass TUESDAY, MARCH 1 LOBSTER SEASON CLOSED: The Department of Environment reminds the public that the closed season for lobster is March 1 until Nov. 30. It is illegal to take, purchase, receive or possess lobsters originating from Cayman waters. The closed season encompasses the months in which lobsters are most likely to spawn. People who suspect that lobsters are being fished during closed season can call 911, or DoE enforcement officers directly. Grand Cayman: 916- 4271 or 949-8469; Cayman Brac, 926-0136; Little Cayman, 916-7021. FREE HIV TESTING: The Public Health Department advises the public of extended hours for free HIV screenings offered at the Cayman Islands Red Cross on Huldah Avenue, George Town. The free testing is available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday. FRIDAY, MARCH 4 SPRING FLING: St. Ignatius School Fair. 3 to 6:30 p.m. on the school grounds. $5 ticket for prize draw. Games tickets are $1 each. Lots of food, games, fun and prizes. All are invited. SATURDAY, MARCH 5 FUR BALL: 1950s-themed gala at the Marriott to raise money for the Humane Society. Special guest is Robert James Clarke, pet portrait artist. Tickets are $150, free welcome drink, wine and 3-course meal. Casual dress code with prizes for best-dressed male and best-dressed female. 7 p.m. Silent and live auction, raffle, live music. For tickets, contact cihsfundraising@ gmail.com or 949-1461. PAWS IN THE SAND: Dinner at Rum Point restaurant to raise money for Protection of Animal Welfare Society. Tickets are $125 per person, with free ferry service leaving SafeHaven Dock at 5 p.m. for cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Includes Broadway show, silent and live auctions. Tickets from Lighthouse restaurant or contact 916-1731 or 916-3957. SUNDAY, MARCH 6 FITNESS FEST: ARC at Camana Bay, 8 a.m. Fundraiser for the Lions Club of Tropical Gardens community projects. Variety of physical activities to ‘80s music. Spot prizes and refreshments. Adults, $20; youths 14-18, $10. Contact nereenthomas@yahoo.com or 936-1739. TAI CHI: Free Tai Chi lesson on The Crescent, Camana Bay, with Sensei Greg Reid from C.A.S.K. Karate. 8:30 a.m. For more information, contact C.A.S.K. at 925-3367. CERAMIC OPEN STUDIO: Offered by Visual Arts Society for adults who want to work independently. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Watler House Studio at Pedro Castle. $15 members, $25 non- members. Clay, materials and firing facilities available. Contact visualartcayman@ yahoo.com. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 BOOkENDS CLUB: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., Books & Books. All are invited to join members as they review their latest pick, “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage” by Alice Munro. SUNDAY, MARCH 13 CARE k9 5k: Fun Run and Dog Jog. Registration 6:30 a.m. Start 7 a.m. Nexus Way, Camana Bay. Dog lovers are invited to show off their pets’ sporting talent or take a Humane Society shelter dog for a jog. The 5K route follows a scenic double loop through Camana Bay’s Town Centre. Registration is $25 and includes an event T-shirt, finish-line snacks and doggie biscuits, as well as entry into a random prize draw. The event raises funds for CARE’s community spay and neuter programs. SATURDAY, MARCH 19 LITTLE CAYMAN AGRICULTURE SHOW: Blossom Village Park, Contact Debbi Truchan 925-6442 or debit@candw.ky. GENERAL INTEREST VISUAL ARTS SCHOLARSHIPS: Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Ltd. and the National Gallery will award a four-year scholarship for a student who wishes to pursue an undergraduate degree in the Visual Arts field. Scholarship is worth US$20,000 per year. Application forms, information sheets and additional opportunities for students can also be found on the NGCI website www.nationalgallery. org.ky. Applications can be submitted directly to the NGCI Education Department at education@ nationalgallery.org.ky. PRESCHOOL FUNDING: The Ministry of Education is now accepting applications from parents of children who qualify for the Early Childhood Assistance Program, which provides early childhood centre funding for Caymanian children between 3 years old and Reception age as of Sept. 1 and who meet certain financial criteria. Application forms and information can be downloaded from www. education.gov.ky/portal/ page/portal/mehhome/ education/earlyeducation. Application forms may also be collected from the Government Administration Building, Department of Education Services or early childhood centers. Deadline is April 29. FISH FRY: St. Ignatius School canteen, Fridays during Lent. Serving from 5-8 p.m. Dine in or carry out. Menu includes mahi- mahi for $10 or snapper, $12, with all the trimmings. Proceeds are for religious education and youth ministry. ADULT ART COURSES: New art courses at the National Gallery include drawing and painting, followed by batik and hatting. See www. nationalgallery.org.ky/news/ ngci2016adultcourses. HUMANE SOCIETY BOOk LOFT: North Sound Road. Open Monday 12:30-4 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday 5:30-7:30 p.m. Volunteers needed for front desk a few hours per week. Contact humanesocietybookloft@ candw.ky or 946-8053. Donations of books, games, CDs, stationery, DVDs, cards, etc., in good condition always needed. CONSUMER PROTECTION: The Law Reform Commission invites comment on the discussion paper, “Consumer Protection – Entrenching Consumer Supremacy in Cayman Islands Legislation.” The paper can be viewed on www.lrc.gov. ky. Submissions should be emailed to cilrc@gov.ky or sent by post or hand to the Director of the Law Reform Commission, 4th Floor, Government Administration Building, Portfolio of Legal Affairs, 133 Elgin Ave., George Town, Grand Cayman, P.O. Box 136, Grand Cayman, KY1-9000. Deadline is April 29. PAINTING OPEN STUDIO: For adults who want to work independently. 12:30-4 p.m. Mondays until March 21. Watler House Studio at Pedro Castle. $10 for members of Visual Arts Society, $15 for non- members. Materials, instructions not included. Contact visualartcayman@ yahoo.com. VISUAL ARTS SOCIETY: Ceramic Open Studio for adults on Wednesdays in March, 9 a.m. till noon. Figure painting classes Tuesdays till March 22, 7 p.m. Watler Studio at Pedro Castle. For more information, contact visualartcayman@yahoo. com. ARTISANS MARkET: Camana Bay Artisans Market every Wednesday. Visual Arts Society artists display arts, crafts, paintings, prints, hand-crafted jewelry and ceramics for sale between noon and 8 p.m. near KARoo restaurant. For more information on displaying your work, email info@visualartcayman.com. REEF RESTORATION: Certified divers are invited to work on the Cayman Magic Reef restoration in George Town. A schedule of work dates and times is posted on Facebook under Cayman Magic Reef Recovery. Dates and times are listed under Events, for volunteers to check and sign up. SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Volunteers are needed. Tuesdays at the Truman Bodden Complex at 5:30 p.m. for track/field, football and bocce. No experience necessary, just a smile and patience. Wednesdays at Lions Pool 10:15–11 a.m. You do not have to swim, just be able to walk in water chest-deep. Thursdays at First Baptist Church for basketball, 5:30–7 p.m. Saturdays, volunteers needed for Adult Special Olympic swim conditioning at CIS pool 9:30–10:30 a.m. Deck support and in-water swimming assistance needed. For more information, contact Penny McDowall at 516-2578 or pjmcdowall@gmail.com. LOST DOGS: The Department of Agriculture and veterinary students of St. Matthew’s University provide an online list of dogs housed at the Department of Agriculture Animal Rescue Shelter in Lower Valley. Anyone missing a dog can check www.smustudents.webs.com. RED CROSS THRIFT SHOP: Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5–7 p.m. Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Red Cross headquarters. Book bargain every Thursday and Friday, a bagful for $5. MUSEUM TOURS: The National Museum provides guided tours for students and school groups free of cost. Students will gain an understanding of Cayman’s geological formation, flora and fauna, seafaring and rope-making heritage, political history and more. Contact the museum to book a tour in advance at 949-8368 or email info@museum.ky. NCVO VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Volunteers needed for the National Council of Voluntary Organisations’ children’s services programs. Contact Alta Solomon at 949-2124 or ncvocoordinator@ncvo. org.ky. BETHESDA COUNSELLING CENTRE: Caters to all who seek help. Open Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 68 Mary St. Appointments available Saturdays and late evenings. Center is owned and operated by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Call 946-6575. PINk LADIES: Coffee Shop at Cayman Islands Hospital is open Monday- Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for breakfast, lunch, drinks, snacks. Takeout orders welcome, call 244-2661. Funds are donated back to the community. Contact pinkladiescayman@ gmail.com. DEMENTIA/ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP: This group meets on the last Wednesday of each month at the Catboat Club clubhouse, North Church Street. All are invited to attend. For more information, call 924-4170 or email info@adacayman.com. CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Meets daily to help with drinking problems. For more information, call 926-9044 or visit www.caymanaa.org. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: Is available for substance abuse help. Call the info line at 929–NANA (6262). AL-ANON GROUP MEETING: Are you troubled by someone’s drinking? Al-Anon Family Groups can help. Call 928-8843 or email caymanalanon@gmail. com for meeting times. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.caymancompass.com/events. Lobster season is closed from March 1 to Nov. 30.The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Cayman Compass • Tuesday March 1, 2016 weeks in a Miami hos- pital in critical condition, he was given a second chance at life when he received a heart transplant. Long before Mr. Hamaty founded the Tortuga Rum Company, he had a ca- reer as a commercial air- line pilot. In the early 1990s, he was working as a pilot for Cayman Airways when he picked up a flu virus that had a devastating effect on his health, enlarging the left ventricle of his heart and causing him to develop car- diomyopathy, a chronic dis- ease of the heart muscle. Unable to pass the re- quired medical exams, he lost his pilot’s license. He learned that although medi- cation could keep him alive for a while, he would most likely need a heart transplant within five years. “You kind of put that out of your mind because it sounds so drastic and you never thought that that day would come,” Mr. Hamaty said, sitting in a confer- ence room at Tortuga Rum Company in front of a dis- play of model airplanes and a banner-sized photograph of Cayman Airways planes. “Almost to the date, five years later, I was in heart failure,” he said. He compares the time spent in the hospital to “life on death row.” “There’s no doubt about it, you don’t know whether you’re going to survive or not,” Mr. Hamaty said. On Feb. 26, 1996, Mr. Hamaty received his pardon, the life-saving gift of a heart. The nurses told him the heart was coming from Daytona Beach, Florida. “I said, you know, that’s strange, that’s where I learned to fly in 1965, that’s where I did my flight training,” Mr. Hamaty said. The heart had come from another pilot, a 27-year-old man who was involved in a skydiving accident during an air show. Mr. Hamaty said he ex- perienced a difficult period of survivor’s guilt after re- ceiving the transplant, a guilt which did not ease until a priest, a fellow organ recip- ient, explained to him that “out of something bad came something good, as Jesus died on the cross to save us.” He also got closure from meeting the young pilot’s fi- ancee, who even came to Mr. Hamaty’s 50th birthday party two years after the transplant. She gave him a frame which enclosed photographs of the young man and a poem: “Once a stranger, now a friend/Brought together by chance/A sudden sorrow/ Laying in a peaceful trance/ His love he shared, with the precious and the few/And from his loss, comes our gift to you.” Mr. Hamaty said, the young pilot, in his last hour, gave a lifetime. That’s true of all organ donors, he says. Mr. Hamaty was lucky. Not only did he receive an organ, but it was a good match for him, and his body accepted it. Still, however, Mr. Hamaty had to wait six-and-a-half weeks for a heart, while his condition deteriorated. Changing the law While he was in the hos- pital, Mr. Hamaty learned that certain places, such as the Bahamas, were signa- tories to an organ procure- ment program, an agreement of nations to exchange or- gans. Individuals from juris- dictions that have such an agreement are given higher priority on wait lists and have a better chance of get- ting an organ. Upon his return to Cayman, Mr. Hamaty wrote a letter to the governments of the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, encouraging them to pass legislation to allow organ donations and to set up an organ donation registry. Almost a decade passed before there was any move- ment in Cayman to adopt legislation relating to organ transplants and donations. In 2005, the government began investigating whether organ donations could be carried out in the jurisdic- tion, and in 2010, the govern- ment signed an agreement with Dr. Devi Shetty to es- tablish Health City Cayman Islands, which required the Cayman Islands to allow the importation of human or- gans, tissues and body parts into the country. Shortly thereafter, George Town MLA Ellio Solomon made a private members’ mo- tion calling for legislation al- lowing human organ and tissue transplants to be per- formed in Cayman. Mr. Solomon challenged comments which insinuated that the motion was only proposed to satisfy Health City’s requirements. He stated during a meeting of the Legislative Assembly that “even before the Dr. Shetty project” he had learned there was a serious problem re- garding organ donation in the Cayman Islands and he wanted to do something about it. The motion was passed, and a committee was estab- lished to develop the law. In March 2013, the gov- ernment passed the Human Tissue Transplant Law. When he moved for a second reading on the bill before its passage, Mark Scotland, who was minister of health at the time, de- scribed its intent. The pur- pose of the law, he said, was to establish a Human Tissue Transplant Council which would monitor the “donation of tissue by living persons and the removal of tissue from deceased persons” and regulate the collection and use of such tissue. The legislation, he said, would “potentially allow any resident of the Cayman Islands who may be in need of an organ or tissue trans- plant to live or survive, or to have a better quality of life to be given a second chance.” Mr. Scotland said the leg- islation would also create an opportunity to establish an Organ Donor Registry in the Cayman Islands. “Not having legislation to deal with transplants here in the Cayman Islands certainly precludes us from being on the International Organ Donor List, and so puts us in a position where persons from here who need trans- plants go very low down on the list when it comes to waiting for organs,” Mr. Scotland said at the time. Legalizing human tissue transplants in the Cayman Islands also alleviates the huge financial burden on organ recipients, who must travel to other jurisdictions for the procedure. In the case of kidney transplants, where a kidney can be given by a living donor, such expenses can be even higher. According to Health Services Authority nephrol- ogist Nelson Iheonunekwu, there are currently 55 pa- tients on dialysis in Cayman. Ten of those are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, and they have been on the list for more than three years. The law that was passed in 2013, Dr. Iheonunekwu said, “hasn’t made a differ- ence” to those in need of a transplant, yet. According to Health City spokesperson Sebrina Rankine, no transplant pro- cedures have been performed at the hospital. “Despite the fact that the laws have been changed to accommodate, Cayman is still missing a few vital com- ponents,” Ms. Rankine said. “One being a donor registry and two being donors. In order for transplants to be performed, this portion of the law has to be implemented and a donor registry set up and donor registration forms sent to everyone with each passport subscription.” In many jurisdictions, in- dividuals who consent to do- nating their organs have a special designation on their identification cards, such as their driver’s license. Mr. Solomon, who first pushed the legislation for- ward half a decade ago, said there was a “lot of work that went into it.” “I don’t really know what it is that’s holding the government up,” Mr. Solomon said. “It’s upsetting, and I think it’s unfortunate that they haven’t got it to a position right now where the country can say that it has the neces- sary legislation,” he added. The Cayman Compass contacted the Ministry of Health for comment on the status of the Human Tissue Transplant Law, but had not received a response as of press time. Meanwhile, Mr. Hamaty says he is happy the law was drafted and passed, and he hopes the government will expedite its implementation. He said his transplant taught him this: “Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today.” Law allowing organ transplants keeps recipients waiting non-Caymanians, neither makes a distinction between the hiring of a “status” Caymanian or otherwise. Outdated form Health Services Authority Chief Executive Officer Lizzette Yearwood said Friday that it ap- peared the job application form used for the position was used by mistake. “This is an old form on the website and we will have it corrected right away,” Ms. Yearwood said. The Health Services Authority is not the only statutory authority or gov- ernment-owned company to ask such a question of appli- cants recently, the Cayman Compass has learned. An application form for job advertised in 2015 by the Tourism Attraction Board, which manages five tourism areas across the Cayman Islands, asked sim- ilar questions of applicants. Also, the Water Authority-Cayman and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, on employ- ment application forms re- viewed by the Compass, ask for the applicant’s place of birth. Both enti- ties also ask questions re- garding the applicant’s marital status. The health authority application required ap- plicants to submit a pho- tograph with their employ- ment letter and resume. In contrast, employ- ment forms used by the central government ser- vice – all government min- istries and portfolios – re- quire that job seekers provide only information related to their current na- tionality. When the appli- cant is not Caymanian, the central government asks for current immigration status in the islands. No information re- garding nationality at birth, place of birth or marital status is requested, and there is no require- ment for a photograph. “Our application meets the requirements of the Public Service Management Law, which distinguishes only be- tween Caymanian and non-Caymanians,” said Gloria McField-Nixon, the chief officer of the Portfolio of the Civil Service, which is central government’s human resources authority. However, outside au- thorities – such as the HSA, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority or the Tourism Attraction Board – are not subject to that law in most cases, Ms. McField- Nixon said. This can create some differences regarding employment practices which “do not fall under our remit of oversight,” Ms. McField-Nixon said. One of the aims of the long-discussed Public Authorities Bill, which is expected to go to the Progressives-led govern- ment caucus in April, is to bring hiring practices for all government entities in line. “The proposed Public Authorities Bill, while not subjecting statutory au- thorities or government companies to the Public Service Management Law, would seek to standardize hiring practices amongst the [agencies] and to en- sure that these are con- sistent with the public service values which are applicable across the wider public service,” Ms. McField-Nixon said. It was not known when the public authori- ties reform would go to the Legislative Assembly for a vote. tree. A fire tender was called after an off-duty fire officer at the scene advised that an ex- tension ladder would be the best way to lower the body to the ground. No pathologist was avail- able for post-mortem exam- inations until Feb. 22, Mr. Walkington said. The cause of death for Mr. Campbell was hanging. Ms. Thomas died of multiple chop wounds, some of which re- sulted in fractures of spinal vertebrae and the spinal cord. Mr. Walkington said he learned that Mr. Campbell was an angry, jealous man at whose hands Ms. Thomas had suffered physical and mental abuse. Police had re- sponded to five reports of in- cidents between them. For ex- ample, in October 2012, when officers went to their Bodden Town home, Ms. Thomas told them Mr. Campbell had ac- cused her of having another boyfriend in Jamaica. He ad- mitted hitting her, but she did not want him arrested. Clearly this was a domestic incident, Mr. Walkington stated, but it was wrongly clas- sified as a civil dispute. A form should have been filled out for the Central Referral Unit, but it was not because Ms. Thomas said she was leaving the island. In September 2013, Ms. Thomas reported that Mr. Campbell had taken her passport, their baby’s pass- port and the baby. Mr. Campbell subsequently told officers he had wanted to get them more time from Immigration. No fur- ther action was taken. Mr. Walkington said the inci- dent was domestic and a re- ferral should have been done but was not. In January 2014, Ms. Thomas reported that Mr. Campbell had threatened her with a screwdriver. She again said she did not want him arrested. Officers contacted the Crisis Centre and Ms. Thomas was advised it could offer her safe shelter, but she did not contact the shelter. Mr. Walkington said his investigation showed no evidence of a third party’s involvement. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Public agency job applicants asked nationality, birthplace CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 One of the aims of the long-discussed Public Authorities Bill, which is expected to go to the Progressives-led government caucus in April, is to bring hiring practices for all government entities in line. Inquests begin for couple in ‘volatile relationship’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Next >