ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 SPORTS | PAGE 19 GYMNASTS AIM FOR INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT High of 86 Low of 75 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 THE PEOPLE THAT CAYMAN FORGOT #203 Alissta Towers, 85 North Sound Road, Grand Cayman KY1-1109, T: + 1 (345) 949-9744 E: Aleisha.Lalor@caribbeanalliance.com www.caribbeanalliance.com 5,000 work permit categories ‘must simplify’ BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com A work permit processing system at the Cayman Islands Immigration Department that includes about 5,000 different job categories must be clarified, according to civil service managers who confirmed last week that even immigration employees are baffled by it. Ministry of Home Affairs Chief Officer Eric Bush told lawmakers during Public Accounts Committee hearings last week that a revised system for classification of jobs held by non- Caymanian workers should be completed within the next six months. “It needs to be simplified and we’re working towards that,” Mr. Bush said. All non-Caymanian private sector workers in the Cayman Islands must hold a legal permit to work. Fees are paid by the compa- nies that employ those workers each time a permit is awarded or renewed. There can often be a vast disparity be- tween what is charged for non-Caymanian workers, even for those performing the same basic types of jobs. For instance, in the legal profession, the annual permit cost for a book- keeper is $4,600, but the same permit fee for a “clerk, bookkeeping/accounts” is $1,050. In the publishing industry, a graphic designer’s an- nual permit costs $6,000, while a graphic art- ist’s permit is $4,743.75. In the hairdressing, beauty treatment and personal service activities industry, a non- Caymanian administrative assistant costs $1,575 to employ, but in the legal profes- sion that administrative assistant’s annual permit fee is $2,100. In the programming and broadcasting industry, a work permit for a sales representative/agent costs $2,100 per year, while in the landscaping and gardening business, a sales representative permit costs $1,050 per year. Difficulties with the current SHARON LAMB DENIES ALLEGATIONS MADE IN WRIT A longtime Cayman Islands trust practi- tioner said Friday that she acted with com- plete propriety and honesty in relation to the affairs of a British Virgin Islands company, which issued a writ of summons against her and the Dundee Merchant Bank late last year, alleging funds held by the BVI company were unaccounted for. Sharon Lexa Lamb filed a response to the lawsuit by the Willaud Corp. and Canadian Lawrence Heath, QC, in December stating that “no transaction occurred in relation to the as- sets held … without the positive instruction of Northland [a wealth management company] and Mr. Heath.” Ms. Lamb served as a director of the Willaud Corp. between February 2013 and September 2015, her response states. She has agreed to the Cayman Compass publishing her response to the Willaud Corp. lawsuit, which is typically not a publicly available document in the local courts. Further, Ms. Lamb denies that there was any connection between herself and Ryan Bateman, director of the Cayman Islands in- vestment brokerage firm, B&C Capital to which the custody of the Willaud account was transferred, other than provision of custo- dial services to certain accounts of which Ms. Lamb provides director services. Any other claims against B&C Capital in the Cayman Islands Grand Court are sepa- rate from the action carried forward by Mr. Heath and the Willaud Corp. against Dundee Merchant Bank and Ms. Lamb. According to Ms. Lamb’s response to the writ, a massive online smear campaign which has been ongoing since August of last year was designed by Lawrence Heath, Monte Butterfield Bank discloses possible US$4.8M payment Second bank faces IRS tax probe BRENT FULLER AND MICHAEL KLEIN bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com; mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd. has made provision for the payment of US$4.8 mil- lion, recorded during its finan- cial year which ended Dec. 31, 2015, against the possibility that it could be required to make a settlement payment as the result of an ongoing U.S. federal inves- tigation into tax evasion. According to explanatory notes attached to the Bermuda- based bank’s 2015 financial statements: “Management be- lieves, at this stage, a provi- sion of US$4.8 million … is appropriate based on the meth- odology used in similar settle- ments for other financial in- stitutions. As the investigation remains ongoing at this time, the timing and terms of the final resolution, including any fines or penalties, remain uncertain and the financial impact to the bank could exceed the amount of the provision.” When bank officials were asked for comment Monday, Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Ltd. Deputy Managing Director Mike McWatt referred the Cayman Compass to the year-end finan- cial statement documents. In November 2013, the U.S. Students from local schools converged on the Legislative Assembly on Monday to take part in and watch the annual Youth Parliament assembly. The young ‘politicians’ debated legalization of abortion and improving Cayman’s public transportation system. Youth Parliament is held every Commonwealth Day in Cayman. Pictured, the young parliamentarians pose with members and staff of the Legislative Assembly, including, seated from left, Premier Alden McLaughlin, Speaker of the House Juliana O’Connor-Connolly and Leader of the Opposition McKeeva Bush. See page 2 for more on this story. Youth Parliament convenes on Commonwealth Day PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS Sponsored by: SATURDAY, MARCH 19th 8PM LONDON HAS FALLEN (R) 1:20 I 4:00 I 7:00 I 9:25 ZOOTOPIA 3D (PG13) 12:30 I 1:00 2D I 3:00 I 3:30 2D I 5:30 7:15 2D I 8:00 I 9:45 2D THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY (R) 12:50 I 3:00 I 5:10 I 7:20 I 9:30 GODS OF EGYPT 3D (PG13) 12:40 I 3:30 2D I 6:50 I 9:50 2D EYE IN THE SKY (R) 1:10 I 3:40 I 7:10 I 9:55 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. - WEDNESDAY - Daily Matinees Every Day $8.00 Seniors, Mon-Fri Before 6pm Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 640-FILM (640-3456) MAN DIES IN BEACH BAY INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT A 63-year-old man has died after an acci- dent Tuesday at a residen- tial construction site on Nature’s Circle, off Beach Bay Road in Lower Valley, police reported. A representative from con- crete company C.I. Precast, listed on the construc- tion site, said the man was working on the house at the time of the accident. The com- pany would not say whether the man was working for C.I. or another company. Emergency Medical Services Director Stephen Duval said 911 dispatched an ambulance just after noon Tuesday to the res- idential area in Bodden Town. Police say Workplace and Labour Safety repre- sentative are investigating. Mr. Duval said the call was listed as an “in- dustrial accident.” He said the ambulance transported the man to the Cayman Islands Hospital. See caymancompass.com for more details as they become available. MEXICO CITY (AP) – The Rolling Stones made a tri- umphant return to Mexico a decade after they last per- formed in the country, de- lighting a crowd of about 60,000 fans who packed a sports stadium in the capital. Mick Jagger celebrated Monday night’s concert by poking fun at actor Sean Penn, whose secret inter- view with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman while the convicted drug lord was a fugitive from justice has provoked contro- versy in Mexico. “Sean Penn came to inter- view me at the hotel, but I escaped,” the British band’s frontman said to cheers and roars of laughter. Penn’s article was pub- lished by Rolling Stone mag- azine in January a day after Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was re- captured by Mexican au- thorities following his second brazen prison escape months earlier. Speaking in a heavily ac- cented but charming Spanish, Jagger said the Stones were “having a great time in Mexico” and expressed fond- ness for the city’s iconic Zocalo, or main square, for “lucha libre” wrestling and for the ancient pyramid ruins of Teotihuacan out- side the capital. “It has been 10 years since we last came to Mexico,” Jagger said. “It’s cool to be back.” He also joked that the band enjoyed drinking te- quila but now they prefer mezcal, another agave-based spirit which is known for its smoky flavor. Performing beneath three huge video screens at the Foro Sol arena, the band kicked off the show with the classic “Start Me Up.” “Hola Mexico! Hola guey!” Jagger exclaimed, employing a uniquely Mexican slang word that roughly translates as “dude,” before launching into “Tumbling Dice.” Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts powered through other hits including “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It),” “Out of Control,” “Wild Horses” and “Paint It Black,” before sending the crowd home with a rousing rendition of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The Rolling Stones are wildly popular in Mexico, and many local fans refer to the band as “Their Satanic Majesties” in a nod to the title of their 1967 album. The Stones will play a second show Thursday in Mexico, the penultimate stop on their “Ole” tour of Latin America. Then they’re off to Havana for a historic free concert on March 25, three days after U.S. President Barack Obama wraps up his own landmark visit to communist-run Cuba. Like on other stops on the tour, it fell to a star-struck local band to warm up the crowd in Mexico City. “It took us a whole day before we told our parents that we would open for the Stones’ concerts in Mexico. Even we didn’t believe it!” said Santiago Casillas, singer and guitarist for the group Little Jesus. “My mom almost cried,” Casillas added, “and my dad was paralyzed by the news.” Jagger jokes about Penn-Chapo story as Stones rock Mexico Mick Jagger performs during The Rolling Stones’ ‘Ole Tour’ at Foro Sol in Mexico City on Monday. - PHOTO: AP The scene of Tuesday’s industrial accident in Nature’s Circle in Beach Bay. – PHOTO: BRENT FULLER Youth Parliamentarians address social issues In observance of Commonwealth Day, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association hosted its ninth annual Youth Parliament at the Legislative Assembly on Monday. Students from nine schools took part in two motion debates – on the le- galization of abortion and on improving the public transportation system – be- fore an audience of school- mates, legislators, teachers and parents. Youth Parliament offers students the freedom to dis- cover and address relevant issues affecting Cayman, organizers said. It aims to educate students about the process of lawmaking and amending regulations while developing public- speaking skills. Throughout the morning, “parliamentarians” weighed in with their views as “mem- bers of the opposition or gov- ernment” about the revision of the Penal Code to allow abortion in specific cases. The second debate ad- dressed issues of safety, routes, customer service ex- perience and the lack of Caymanians employed in the public transport sector. Both motions were defeated. To prepare for the mo- tion debates, students met twice weekly to work on their scripts and to meet with Members of the Legislative Assembly and other pro- fessionals related to the motion topics. Opening the ceremony with Queen Elizabeth II’s Commonwealth Day message was Speaker of the House Juliana O’Connor-Connolly. Premier Alden McLaughlin, Leader of the Opposition McKeeva Bush and Youth Parliament Committee Chairman Alva Suckoo also offered words of encourage- ment and congratulations to the youth parliamentarians. Led by ‘Serjeant-at-Arms’ Nathan Whittaker, the Youth Parliament Speaker’s procession enters the Legislative Assembly chamber on Monday. ARGENTINA CONTEMPLATES DEBT DEAL WITH US CREDITORS BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – Argentine legisla- tors on Tuesday began considering the govern- ment’s proposed deal with a group of U.S. creditors that is intended to end the long fight that has kept the South American nation on the margins of interna- tional credit markets. The agreement reached late last month must be approved by both houses of Argentina’s Congress. As members of the lower house debated the deal, protesters gath- ered outside Congress to voice disapproval. Under the deal, Argentina would pay $4.653 billion to resolve all related claims, including those from billionaire Paul Singer’s group in New York and other creditors around the world. 3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 10 months for causing road death Driver sentenced following 2012 Esterley Tibbetts crash that killed woman CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A driver was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving. Fitzroy Marin Roach was driving a truck for which he was not licensed when it collided with a taxi van driven by Beverley Ramsay around 6 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2012. The collision occurred along the Esterley Tibbetts Highway when Roach’s truck went across the center line and into Mrs. Ramsay’s lane. Roach had said he was blinded by the lights of her vehicle. But Justice Alistair Malcolm cited accident in- vestigation reports that showed the van’s head- lights were dipped and not on high beam. Roach also denied dozing off while driving after working until 1:30 a.m. and then sleeping in the truck. There was no evidence to show that Roach did doze off, the judge pointed out. All that could be said was that he paid no atten- tion to drifting into the other lane and Roach made no attempt to correct the truck’s direction. Accident reports indi- cated that Mrs. Ramsay was not speeding; in fact, speed played no part in this accident. The truck hit the front of the van on the driver’s side. After the impact, both vehi- cles spun in a clockwise di- rection and the truck ended up on its side. Roach tried to assist Mrs. Ramsay and waited at the scene until authori- ties arrived. He was given a breathalyzer test, which proved negative. He had two phones on him, but a check showed they were not in use at the time of the collision. Justice Malcolm quoted from a victim impact state- ment, which described Mrs. Ramsay as the glue that had held her family together. She and her hus- band had been married for 30 years. She had six chil- dren and seven grandchil- dren. Her death had left a void that could not be filled. Mrs. Ramsay had driven a taxi for 25 years and had maintained a clean license her whole career. The judge noted that the maximum sentence for causing death by careless driving is seven years. In this case, he found that the appropriate sentence was 15 months. Then he con- sidered credit for the guilty plea. Defense attorney Dennis Brady had asked for a full one-third discount. The indictment against Roach was laid in January 2013 and he did not plead guilty until September 2015, which Mr. Brady described as the defen- dant’s first opportunity to enter a plea. Justice Malcolm said a layman might wonder how two years and four months might be a first opportunity. A family member had decried the time lapse and did not accept that he could not have admitted his guilt earlier. The judge referred to Mr. Brady’s submission that an accident report from the defense expert had not been received until August 2015. The attorney had previously made the court aware of reasons for the delay. Justice Malcolm urged all attorneys to keep in mind the effects of delay. In this case, he granted the full one-third discount, taking the final sentence to 10 months. He said he con- sidered suspending the sen- tence, but this was not an appropriate case to do so. He disqualified Roach from driving for three years. The guilty plea to driving the truck without the correct group license for the size and weight of the truck was an aggra- vating factor in the causing death offense, he said, how- ever he did not impose any separate penalty. The collision occurred along the Esterley Tibbetts Highway when Roach’s truck went across the center line and into Mrs. Ramsay’s lane. The truck driven by Fitzroy Marin Roach lies on its side following the Oct. 16, 2012 crash in which taxi driver Bevereley Ramsay was killed. - PHOTOS: TANEOS RAMSAY The taxi vehicle driven by Beverley Ramsay following the collision in which she died. The driver of the truck that collided with her car, Fitzroy Marin Roach, has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for causing her death by dangerous driving.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. 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” WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS Our country’s social services are a disservice — to the Caymanians who need public assistance, and to the welfare officers who deliver it. In testimony before the Public Accounts Com- mittee, Needs Assessment Unit Director Tamara Hurlston described a broken system of dysfunction and unaccountability. The unit’s 24 staff members are being overwhelmed by thousands of clients, many of whom wait months to be vetted for eligibility for assistance … and some who stand in line outside the building, for hours on end under the hot sun, in hopes of having their paperwork pushed forward. Remember these are the poorest of the poor in the Cayman Islands, the disabled, the elderly — Cayma- nians who have been left out of the general economic cornucopia brought forth by the “Cayman miracle.” We are not advocates of government largesse and dependency, but we support the principle that a society with means (which Cayman certainly pos- sesses) has the obligation to care for people who are truly in need (and only those people). Is this how we treat the most defenseless among us? At the very least, even if they do not end up quali- fying for material assistance, each applicant certainly deserves to interact with an efficient and smooth-run- ning government apparatus that is professional, timely and fair. What is going on in regard to the Needs Assess- ment Unit amounts to nothing less than cruel and unusual punishment — on both sides of the door, for applicants and staffers. Compounding the inherent unacceptability of the situation is its sheer magnitude. Government spends nearly 10 percent of its core budget on public assistance programs, totaling nearly $50 million for the 2013-14 fiscal year. Currently, the Needs Assessment Unit serves 2,500 Caymanian families — which, based on Census figures, extrapolates to some 7,500 individuals in those households. (For perspective, in the year 1952, the total population of our islands was 7,651 people.) Using the rough estimate of 7,500, that means nearly one-quarter of the current Caymanian popula- tion, which stands at 33,447 according to the 2014 Compendium of Statistics, receives some form of public assistance. That number dwarfs the 1,200 Cay- manians classified as “unemployed” at last count. (As an aside, consider that some 4,400 Cayma- nians work for government entities. Assuming each of those civil servants has one or two dependents, that would mean one-half to two-thirds of all Caymanians are dependent on the government for sustenance — whether through receiving public assistance or being on the public payroll. Mull that over for a moment as you ponder Cayman’s future.) Ms. Hurlston, the NAU director, is crying out for help from lawmakers. She says she has 24 staff members, but really needs 40. We pride ourselves on being among the fiercest budget hawks in Cayman, but we recognize an area of under-investment when we spot it. Give Ms. Hurlston the resources to hire the staff she requires. She knows what she needs. Lawmakers and ministry officials should not try to second-guess her. Do not appoint a commission, committee or study group. Top officials have appointed Ms. Hurlston to head up this agency. Either they trust her — or they need to remove her. We suggest that they give her what she needs, allow her to hire who she wants, then follow up on the NAU’s performance at regular intervals and adjudge her decisions accordingly. Right now, all they have been doing is ignoring her, and by extension the thousands of needy Caymanians she’s trying to serve. The people that Cayman forgot It’s time to stop bashing Wall Street MATTHEW WINKLER There’s a perverse compe- tition among some presiden- tial candidates: Who can most loudly blame Wall Street for the problems of Main Street. They’ve got it wrong. Financial firms are doing more to help consumers, business and in- dustry in America than they have in decades. And for the first time since the early years of the 21st century, global in- vestors consider U.S. banks among the world’s best. One of the reasons the American economy is per- forming better than any of the largest in Asia and Europe is that its regulators have re- paired the damage of the fi- nancial crisis and the worst recession since the Great Depression. Led by the Federal Reserve, they replaced incen- tives for reckless speculation with catalysts for old-fash- ioned credit creation backed by levels of capital that are un- precedented in modern times. Banks today are most willing to lend money since at least 1990. Perhaps the best mea- sure of restored confidence in the financial system is the 63 percent of Americans who are within 7 percentage points of the all-time-high valuation of their homes in 2006. All but ignored in the pres- idential debates this year is the record US$1.06 trillion of loans to commercial and in- dustrial firms by the largest U.S. banks, an amount that has increased for 21 consecu- tive quarters. That’s a streak unequaled since 1985, when Ronald Reagan occupied the White House (and Bloomberg began compiling such data). In its quarterly survey of senior loan officers, the Fed in January reported that banks have been willing lenders for 25 consecutive quarters, the longest period of commit- ment since President George H.W. Bush was president 26 years ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That helps explain why in- vestors for the first time since 2004 are paying a premium to purchase the shares of U.S. banks compared with their global peers on a price-to- book-value basis, according to Bloomberg data. The price- to-book ratio of the 24 major U.S. banks in the KBW Bank Index exceeded the compa- rable measure of 157 banks worldwide for the first time since President George W. Bush was re-elected. Home mortgages now total US$9.95 trillion after bot- toming in 2014 after the re- cession. That amount is com- parable to the easy-credit days of 2006, before the finan- cial crisis. Today, in contrast, the mortgage market shows no signs of the leveraged lending that precipitated the housing bust and, if anything, is poised to keep growing. The average home price, up 30 percent since 2012, reflects an increasingly ro- bust outlook for housing, ac- cording to data compiled by Bloomberg. U.S. homeowner equity now amounts to 93 percent of the 2006 peak, which means Americans from coast to coast and North to South can look forward to re- covering value lost from their homes when the market col- lapsed during the recession, Bloomberg data show. If one excludes the pe- riod comprising the height of subprime lending, the finan- cial crisis and ensuing reces- sion, financing for consumers to homeowners is as good as it’s ever been and get- ting better. Credit-card lines are increasing steadily while household debt payments as a percentage of dispos- able income have plummeted to 10.02 percent from 13.22 percent in 2007. The combi- nation of healthier debtors while credit is expanding shows why banks are so willing to keep lending. The biggest banks today bear little resemblance to the risk-embracing juggernauts of a decade ago. The 24 big banks in the KRW index had the lowest total debt as a pro- portion of their assets since the data became available in 2002: 15.9 percent com- pared to 34 percent in 2004 and 30.6 percent in 2008. Estimated tangible common equity, the most conservative measure of a bank’s capital, climbed to a record in 2015, says Alison Williams, an ana- lyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. The convergence of U.S. banks’ propensity to keep lending and global investors favoring them as best bets is reflected in the average ratio of nonperforming loans to total loans among the KBW Index banks. By the end of 2015, the ratio was 0.66 percent, the lowest since 2007 and a mi- nuscule fraction of the 2.96 percent ratio reached in 2009. Banks also have reined in most of the proprietary trading in derivatives that brought them into conflict with their depos- itors. Their share of credit de- fault swaps, for example, is down 75 percent to US$14.6 trillion since 2007. If anyone wonders what all this has to do with Main Street, the answer is revealed in the success of companies selling consumer products to Americans. Sales per share of U.S. consumer discretionary and consumer staples compa- nies are at a record since data became available in 1990. The additional sales of consumer discretionary firms such as Amazon, Nike and Netflix, compared to consumer staple companies including Coca- Cola, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart, is the widest since 2008, according to data com- piled by Bloomberg. That sug- gests American consumers are healthy and getting healthier. Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway has in- creased its holdings of Wells Fargo, Visa and U.S. Bancorp the past several years, re- cently told his shareholders that they should ignore much of what they’re hearing from presidential candidates. “As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans now believe that their chil- dren will not live as well as they themselves do,” Buffett wrote. “That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luck- iest crop in history.” Buffett should know. It can only happen when Wall Street is backing Main Street. Shin Pei contributed. Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief emeritus of Bloomberg News, writes about markets. © 2016, Bloomberg ViewThe islands’ most-trusted news source 5 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 HEART SMART HEALTH FAIR THE CAYMAN HEART FUND PRESENTS THE 9TH ANNUAL 2016 SATURDAY MARCH 19 ARC AT CAMANA BAY | 8AM - 2PM | FREE ADMISSION Email: info@caymanheartfund.com Tel: 345.916.6324 Web: www.caymanheartfund.com PARTICIPANTS EXHIBITORS BAPTIST HEALTH INTERNATIONAL CAYMAN HEALTH H.S.A. HEART HEALTH CENTER HEALTH CITY CAYMAN HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL JOHNS HOPKINS BROWARD HEALTH THE CLEVELAND CLINIC JACKSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS ST LUKE’S MAHI AND MANY MANY MORE… KNOW YOUR NUMBERS! FREE CARDIAC RISK SCREENINGS: BLOOD PRESSURE, BMI (BODY MASS INDEX), BLOOD SUGAR & CHOLESTEROL Please do NOT eat or drink 10 hours prior to. ACTIVITIES AND FUN FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY! GET ACTIVE KIDS ZONE Sponsored by: Rotary Sunrise & Cayman Heart Fund FUN ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN SUCH AS Karate, dancing, and much more! YOGA DEMONSTRATION By The Heart Health Centre FOR ALL FAMILIES TO JOIN IN! HBAC1 TESTING PROVIDED BY No fasting required! REGISTER TO BECOME A BLOOD DONOR and receive a plant courtesy of Vigoro NurseryThe Harmony Learning Centre on Cayman Brac, which provides assistance to adults with disabilities, is holding its main annual fundraiser, a walkathon, on Saturday. The Walk With Harmony begins at 7 a.m. on Saturday at Harmony House to the West End park in Cayman Brac, located across from Scott Development’s office. Free refreshments will be provided after the walk, and there will be a drawing for various prizes after the walk, as well. Registration for adults is $15 and $10 for children. Payment can be made on the morning of the walkathon and is accepted in the form of cash or checks. This will be Harmony Learning Centre’s fifth Walk With Harmony, which raises funds to support the facility. The center was founded in 2011 and is the only non- profit organization on the Brac working to provide assistance to adults with disabilities, in the form of educational and vocational programming de- signed to help them achieve their full potential. The facility is similar to Grand Cayman’s Sunrise Centre, teaching life skills like cooking, cleaning, personal grooming and gardening, and social skills through fun and educational programming. Harmony runs a program five days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. from October to April. It currently provides assistance to around five adults with learning disabili- ties, aged between 18 and 58 years old. Harmony volunteer teacher Jocelyn St. Pierre said the center is “extremely important to the people who are in attendance right now. “It gets people out of the house. It makes them feel proud. It makes them feel like they’re a part of their com- munity as well.” The program is not sub- sidized by the govern- ment and relies on dona- tions to continue to operate, organizers said. For more information, contact Ms. St. Pierre at 923-5552 or hlcbrac@yahoo.com. Fundraiser for Brac special needs center WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS 6 DISTRICT DAYS District Days Sister Islands In the March 16, 1966 edition of the Caymanian Weekly, a precursor of the Cayman Compass, Cayman Brac corre- spondent Lilian Ritch wrote: “‘Massa’ George Saml. Scott of Watering Place returned on the 7th from Jamaica. He reported that he felt much better after receiving treatment at the University College Hospital. He had sus- tained injuries in a motor car accident which occurred on the road to wind- ward of Stake Bay on Feb. 18 last year. “P.T.A. meetings took place on the 7th and 8th. The Spot Bay Association was visited by Mr. Charlie Briggs and Dr. Harriman, two of our winter res- idents. Introduced by head teacher Hugh Maxfield Morris, Mr. Briggs ad- dressed the meeting. He spoke about youth activity and the lack of it here. He referred to youth organizations in other parts of the world, i.e., 4-H clubs, YMCA, YWCA, etc. “If any organization should get started, he would like the people to know of his willingness to support such effort. “On Tuesday evening, the Creek Primary Association enjoyed color films and commentary by Bill Harper and Ernest Foster. Bill is a friend of the is- land who has been visiting for the last 7 years. He showed pictures of holi- daying in Little Cayman and of wildlife and scenery around the family’s home, the Pasadena Farm near Royal Oak Village, Maryland, which is washed by the Chesapeake waters. Ernest showed places of historic interest through which he passed as a scout attending the Jamboree in the summer of 1963. “There was a good audience present and everyone felt that we could have more of this recreation. Mr. Harper de- lighted audiences at the Inn and also at Hanson’s theatre with his films. “Capt. Bertie, Capt. Curwin and Mrs. Hildreth Foster left for Jamaica on Wednesday. “Among the many old friends at Buccaneer’s Inn recently were Mr. and Mrs. Rowley Miller who tell us that they will be returning shortly to begin building their home on the south side.” 50 years ago: Youth in the spotlight This will be Harmony Learning Centre’s fifth annual Walk With Harmony, which raises funds to support the facility. Harmony Learning Centre participants, from left, Vickie Scott, Jamaree Douglas, Joy Tibbetts and Paula Malone. Leo St. Pierre pushes Jamaree Douglas in last year’s Walk With Harmony walkathon.Participants in last year’s Walk With Harmony.CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 7 DISTRICT DAYS District Days Sister Islands Little Cayman getting ready for Agriculture Show Gates open at 9 a.m. for the all-day affair. Organizers are all set for a celebration of Little Cayman’s cultural and agricultural heritage this weekend. A host of interesting and family friendly activities are slated for the Little Cayman Agricultural Show, taking place on Saturday, March 19, at the Blossom Village community park. Gates open at 9 a.m. for the all-day affair. “During Pirates Week, we don’t put on a Heritage Day, so this event is not just our agricultural show but also our culture day as well,” explained fair coordinator Debbi Truchan, noting Little Cayman’s uniqueness lends to the incorporation of some special aspects to the show. “Here in Little Cayman, we don’t have cows and horses or any of the other traditional farm animals to put on display,” she said. “But we make up for that with a dog show, which is extremely popular.” Ms. Truchan also noted that demonstrations and displays are the centerpiece of the show. “This year, we have dem- onstrations on container gardening, conch cleaning, splicing rope, and catching a fish,” said Ms. Truchan. “We will also giving baking demonstrations, for example, making fresh co- conut ginger drop cookies,” she added. Ms. Truchan will be put- ting on a hat fashion show of her creations made out of thatch and coconut mesh, complemented by jewelry. The children from the Little Cayman Educational Services will be showing off their cupcake making skills, and making deco- rations for their baked goods using local edible sugared flowers from the rosemary, periwinkle and neem tree blooms. “The kids get very ex- cited about this activity and the cupcakes will be avail- able for purchase after- ward,” said Ms. Truchan. Children will also be manning a drinks booth selling coconut water and lemonade, while food choices will include en- trees like stewed conch and stewed turtle. “We are doing a meal for the dignitaries which is going to be great, with conch, turtle, steamed fish, jerk chicken, breadfruit, plantain, coleslaw, heavy cake and homemade ice- cream,” said Ms. Truchan. Entertainment is going to be open-mic style, with some notable performances anticipated from local am- ateurs keen to captivate the crowd. “We will also have A-Way, a fairly new band on the scene, which has recently been earning a lot of praise performing,” said Ms. Truchan. There will also be plenty of contests, including a baking contest, and plant, produce, jewelry, and arts and crafts competitions. A coconut distance toss is one of the most popular events at the show, and com- memorates the replanting of all of the island’s co- conut trees after they were wiped out by a blight. This year’s photography contest promises to be bigger and better than ever. “This year, Cathy Church is sponsoring the show by covering the printing of all the entries, which is ab- solutely amazing,” said Ms. Truchan. “We have over 50 entries, which are all going to be dis- played at the show grounds.” The show will also have a voter registration booth. In anticipation of the in- terest in the event, Cayman Airways will be adding flights to Little Cayman, and the show grounds are within walking distance of the air- port. The show grounds are also accessible by boat. “It’s really exciting to see people arriving to the show via plane, boat, car and foot, it’s quite a spectacle,” said Ms. Truchan. “The Little Cayman Agriculture Show is a true celebration of who we are, and is the one event that literally brings the whole community together in one place.” Admission is $5. For more information, contact Ms. Truchan at 925-6442. Youngsters take part in the 2015 Lego building contest.Robin Fite is ready to show off his produce. Wetland reserve a haven for wildlife Little Cayman’s Booby Pond Nature Reserve on the island’s south side fea- tures a land-locked salt- water lagoon with man- grove margins and old growth dry forest. The site is home to the largest red-footed booby colony in the Caribbean along with Cayman’s only breeding colony of magnif- icent frigate birds. It is now the height of booby breeding season, and the National Trust’s Environmental programs manager Paul Watler says that at latest count, the colony had about 2,500 ac- tive nests. Booby populations are falling across the Caribbean, so the large size of the Little Cayman colony is proving sig- nificant; scientists be- lieve it now represents at least a third of the birds’ entire Caribbean and Atlantic population. In 1994, the 334-acre re- serve was designated as a “Wetland of International Significance” under the terms of the Ramsar Convention (an interna- tional treaty on the conser- vation of wetlands) and it is the only Ramsar site in the Cayman islands. The Trust notes that while the southern mar- gins of the pond are in private ownership they are protected under the Cayman Islands’ Animals Law, which prohibits the disturbance of any form of plant or animal life within the reserve’s boundaries. Birdwatchers can access the National Trust’s visitors center’s rooftop viewing deck and telescopes. The boobies and the op- portunistic frigate birds wage a daily battle over the squid and small fish the boobies bring home to feed their young, a fasci- nating sight to behold as the boobies band together in flocks to stave off the predatory frigate birds.Little Cayman has the largest red-footed booby colony in the Caribbean.Red-footed boobys on Little Cayman. - PHOTOS: NATIONAL TRUST FOR THE CAYMAN ISLANDSThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS We thought of you with Love today, But that is nothing new. We thought about you yesterday, And days before that too. We think of you in silence, We often speak your name. Happy Birthday Dan-Dan, we love and miss you very much. Love always, Dad, Mom and the rest of the Family. In loving Memory of Daniel Mitchell Grant on your second birthday away from us. (16 March 1993 - 22 July 2014) on your second birthday away from us. Now all we have is memories, And your picture in a frame. Your memory is our keepsake, With which we’ll never part. God has you in his keeping, We have you in our hearts. Daniel Mitchell Grant on your second birthday away from us. jobs classification system, which replaced the old “skill-based” permit eval- uation method, are found on both sides of the im- migration fence. Mr. Bush said local employers often complain of being over- charged for certain jobs, simply because a worker’s title has changed from the last employment period. It’s not unusual for weeks to be spent in a “back and forth” between the Immigration Department and a private sector em- ployer over the actual cost of a permit, he said. “The system that we have that’s based just on job title alone is very problematic for the de- partment, it is problem- atic for the customers,” Mr. Bush said. Public Accounts Committee member Winston Connolly said it was in a company’s best interest to browse through the hundreds of jobs in an industry cat- egory to ensure that “less money is spent on that work permit.” Committee Chairman Ezzard Miller alleged that companies would often at- tempt to employ non-Cay- manian workers in lesser job titles in attempts to cut their fees, hiring car- penters as “carpenter’s as- sistants” or stone masons as “mason’s helpers.” Ministry Deputy Chief Officer Wesley Howell said immigration con- ducts about 40-50 assess- ments a month of local companies, and if some finagling with the job ti- tles is occurring, those firms are fined. “In the … six months up to January, there were 211 administrative fines levied by the Immigration Department. Most of those have to do with [an em- ployee] not working within the correct job title,” Mr. Howell said. Mr. Bush said some legislative change would be required to alter the job lists maintained by the department. Moreover, he said immigration would have to move further away from its current “paper- based” and “interaction- driven” permit system. “We hope to make this more automated, more Web-based once the meth- odology of fees is agreed … and either they pay for [the permit], or they don’t,” he said. 5,000 work permit categories ‘must simplify’ Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the issuing of what were called the “John Doe summonses” to U.S. finan- cial institutions with which Butterfield Bank had corre- spondent bank relationships. The John Doe summonses sought “to obtain informa- tion about possible tax fraud by individuals whose identi- ties are unknown,” according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release from Nov. 12, 2013. The summonses required five banks operating in the U.S. to produce that informa- tion in connection with undis- closed accounts at Butterfield Bank and its affiliates in the Bahamas, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Malta, Switzerland and the U.K. Butterfield bank made a brief reference to the on- going investigation in its year- end financial statements for 2014: “There are actions and legal proceedings pending against the bank and its sub- sidiaries which arose in the normal course of its business. Management, after reviewing all actions and proceedings pending against or involving the bank and its subsidiaries, considers that the resolution of these matters would, in the aggregate, not be material to the consolidated financial po- sition of the bank.” The financial statements for 2015, released late last month, provided more detail: “The bank has been fully co- operating with the U.S. au- thorities in their ongoing in- vestigation. Specifically, the bank has conducted an exten- sive review and account re- mediation exercise to deter- mine the U.S. tax compliance status of U.S.-person account holders. The review process and results have been shared with U.S. authorities.” The U.S. authorities in- volved have not com- mented regarding adequacy of the US$4.8 million esti- mates in the bank’s finan- cial statements, according to Butterfield. In addition to the US$4.8 million provision, Butterfield reported it had spent about US$3.8 million on the in- ternal review and account remediation program de- scribed in the notes to the financial statements. The reports in the Butterfield Bank financial statements were released about three weeks before Cayman National Corp.’s af- filiated trust and securi- ties management businesses pleaded guilty to conspiring with American taxpayers to hide US$137 million in as- sets managed by those com- panies from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Cayman National Trust Co. Ltd. and Cayman National Securities Ltd. have agreed to forfeit US$6 million as part of the deal. In addition, the companies agreed to turn over account information on the alleged tax evaders whose accounts they managed. Cayman National Corp.’s shareholders were informed of the pending court ac- tion last year in the com- pany’s 2014/2015 fourth quarter financial statements ending Sept. 30, which iden- tified the US$6 million set- tlement. Those statements were released in December 2015. Cayman National Corp. is the parent company of Cayman National Bank, as well as the trust and securi- ties businesses. A statement released last week by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority indi- cated the authority has been “assured” that the guilty pleas by Cayman National Trust Co. Ltd. and Cayman National Securities Ltd. should have “no adverse im- pact on the solvency of Cayman National Bank.” Cayman Islands Bankers’ Association President Mark McIntyre said Monday that he did not wish to comment on behalf of the association with regard to any particular bank operating in Cayman. Mr. McIntyre said local banks were doing everything they could at the moment to main- tain correspondent banking relationships with U.S. finan- cial institutions. In April 2013, a U.S. fed- eral court authorized the IRS to serve a John Doe sum- mons seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who may hold accounts at CIBC FirstCaribbean. The summons seeks the records of FCIB’s correspon- dent banking account at Wells Fargo. The Department of Justice said the summons would identify U.S. taxpayers who have accounts at CIBC FirstCaribbean and other fi- nancial institutions that used FCIB’s Wells Fargo corre- spondent account. The Butterfield and CIBC FirstCaribbean summonses were issued in response to 81 Butterfield and 129 CIBC FirstCaribbean U.S. ac- count holders admitting, as part of various IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure pro- grams, that they had not disclosed these accounts in the past. Butterfield Bank discloses possible US$4.8M payment Friesner and Kenneth Rijock, to discredit her. Reports car- ried in those online sources that have linked Ms. Lamb directly to Mr. Bateman and B&C Capital Ltd. employee Fernando Mendes are now the subject of a counter- claim defamation lawsuit that Ms. Lamb’s attorneys filed in December against Heath, Friesner and Rijock, as part of the response to the Willaud Corporation’s writ. The initial November 2015 writ states that Mr. Heath and his advisers had transferred certain assets into the Willaud Corporation in the British Virgin Islands to be held on his behalf. Through a complex series of legal maneuvering, an- other company named TDMB was agreed as custodian of Willaud Corporation’s invest- ments while a Bermudian company, Longbar Nominees Ltd., acted as nominee shareholder of the Willaud Corporation, holding the shares in trust for Mr. Heath. “It was understood by Mr. Heath that TDMB and Willaud BVI would liaise with each other … about Mr. Heath’s assets, but that all parties would ensure that Mr. Heath was kept fully in- formed of proposed material changes to his portfolio and, indeed, seek his instructions on any such changes in ad- vance,” the November 2015 lawsuit states. In her response, Ms. Lamb states that TDMB, where she held the posi- tion of senior vice president until the bank’s closure, did have cash and securities held for the Willaud Corp. and re- ceived fees for those services. TDMB began to wind down its operations in Cayman to- ward the end of 2013. As part of the termina- tion of TDMB’s custodian agreement in relation to the assets held, three cash ac- counts, 16 securities and one physical security were trans- ferred to B&C. She also states that funds held by the Dundee Merchant Bank were transferred to B&C Capital only upon the written instructions of Mr. Heath and his advisers. “Acting on the authority and with the consent of Northland [wealth man- agement company] and Mr. Heath, and the con- sent of Ms. Lamb as the di- rector of the [Willaud Corp.], TDMB effected the transfers of those assets to B&C be- tween 12 and Feb. 26, 2015,” Ms. Lamb’s response writ states. “TDMB duly deliv- ered to Northland closing statements showing all such transfers with dates and nil balances on the ac- counts of [the Willaud Corp.] with TDMB as at March 25, 2015. Ms. Lamb delivered to Northland thereafter peri- odic statements in relation to those assets issued by B&C.” Ms. Lamb said she “fully reported” to Northland and Mr. Heath the funds trans- fers until she ceased op- erating as a director of the Willaud Corp. on Sept. 7, 2015, the lawsuit re- sponse states. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Sharon Lamb denies allegations made in writ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Butterfield Bank (Cayman) headquarters in downtown George Town. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY The Immigration Department building in George Town. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2016 HomeOptions BRITISH CAYMANIAN INSURANCE CO. LTD. BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, George Town, P.O. Box 74, Grand Cayman KY1-1102 Tel. 949-8699 12 Kirkconnell Street, Stake Bay, P.O. Box 254, Cayman Brac KY2-2101 Tel. 948-1760 www.britcay.ky A member of Colonial Group International: insurance, health, pensions, life Shop around and pay less for more insurance! Save $250** with your car insurance! • $250** gift certificate with each new buildings insurance policy (see below) • Convenient, interest-free installment payments • Competitive deductibles • Fast, uncomplicated claims service! • Flexible home contents and lifestyle protection Ask for a quote 949-8699 or visit www.britcay.ky FREE $10 Million ASSET PROTECTION! with motor cover* $250** CERTIFICATE WITH BUILDINGS INSURANCE *private motor insurance **Applies to new private buildings insurance policies only. Certificate can be used with car insurance purchase from BritCay. cgigrp Roads authority set to counter South Sound Road congestion TAD STONER tstoner@pinnaclemedialtd.com The National Roads Authority hopes to ease con- gestion on South Sound Road as demand grows from resi- dential and commercial de- velopment, and increasing use as a rush-hour alter- native to Linford Pierson Highway and Crewe Road. Already, the growth of commuter traffic and un- precedented pace of devel- opment is stressing the two- lane blacktop, while Cayman Enterprise City will break ground on the first of two phase-one $25 million build- ings in the second half of this year. NRA Managing Director Paul Parchment said de- mand on the 15,000-foot road had grown nearly 66 percent since 2009, from 6,000 ve- hicles per day to 9,950 vehi- cles per day in 2015 in the vi- cinity of Crewe Road. While the NRA recorded slightly slower growth in the vicinity of Walkers Road, the 8,600 trips per day translated to a 43 percent increase since 2009, he said. The nearly 10,000 daily trips on South Sound Road split evenly eastbound and westbound, while “peak-hour distribution … is roughly 1,800 vehicles traveling west- bound between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and roughly 1,100 vehi- cles traveling eastbound be- tween 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.,” Mr. Parchment said. The crowded conditions occurred because the road “is not intended as a primary ar- terial roadway to move traffic to and from the schools and central business district. “Approximately 30 percent of the traffic on South Sound Road is pass-through traffic as a consequence of lack of capacity on Linford Pierson and Crewe Road,” he said. However, he added that the NRA was not “overly con- cerned with future traffic growth on South Sound Road. “The NRA is monitoring the progress and development closely and we work with the Planning Department to re- view all development appli- cations,” he said. Cindy O’Hara, chief devel- opment officer for CEC and Design Cayman Ltd., said the group planned ground- breaking, “in Q3 or Q4” 2016, on the first “gateway” office buildings, finishing construc- tion in three years. CEC officials, who al- ready have Planned Area Development permission for the 70-acre site, are seeking approvals for the several subdivisions, which will ul- timately cover between 800,000 square feet and 850,000 square feet of mixed- use development around a 10-acre lake. The main entrance to the site, 1,000 feet by 3,000 feet, will be off Fairbanks Road, near the women’s prison, Ms. O’Hara said, “and we’ll need a road system in there. There will be round- abouts and connectors in there, some will have to be added to the gazette,” while linking to the NRA’s exten- sion of the East-West Arterial and a link to Agnes Way, across an expanded Linford Pierson Highway. Senior Engineer Edison Jackson said the NRA was looking at its options: “Right now, we are looking at the Linford Pierson Bypass,” ex- panding it to four lanes. The highway and South Sound Road, he said, will ultimately intersect near CEC. Gazetted long ago and in- formally dubbed “section 25,” the CEC corridor “has a lot of engineering work to be done,” Mr. Jackson said, assessing drainage, culverts, elevation, intersections, roundabouts, which all have to be com- pleted “before full phasing.” He was unable to say when work on the corridor might start: “We plan things some ways ahead, but it de- pends on CEC – and then we kick start [construction] as a national priority.” In the meantime, small “fixes” will be implemented, smoothing access and traffic flows at various points. “We will do some engineering sur- veying of the road and see [if] we can add some measures in the interim,” he said. Section 25 will inter- sect South Sound Road near The Boulevard – and de- veloper Rene Hislop’s nine- acre development site, it- self adjacent to a 40-acre site owned by China-based Datang Investments, who are building 30 condos and hoping for a phase two and phase three. A shopping center is also planned for the area. Paul Pearson, half of the executive team at Davenport Development, has sold all 56 one-, two- and three-bed- room condominiums at Vela I, moved half the second set of 56 at Vela II and is plan- ning the third set at Vela III, which, he said, will not be re- leased for sale until next year. He pegs the population of Vela as high as 300 people. Development was contin- gent upon the NRA, he said, which “does all the calcula- tions, and you have to go to them for planning permis- sion.” He and partner Ken Thompson had to give the authority 50 feet of their Vela property, another 50 feet at their San Sebastian property while their neighbors had to give up a similar 50 feet “for the NRA bypass.” Stefan Baraud has sold all six of his condos at Baraud Development’s “ultra-high- end,” 16,800 square foot Shore Club, scheduled for a September opening. Tania Knapik, sales and marketing coordinator for the NCB Group, says Tides, a 24-home, 1.6-acre beach- front development, is set to break ground in June on a site adjacent to the South Sound cemetery, finishing in September 2017. Already, eight units have sold, and Ms. Knapik de- scribed heavy interest in an- other four. Other developments in the area include Adagio Community Development, im- mediately west of Old Crewe Road, a 91-acre residential development with 20 lots for multi-family condos; and Bel Air, an eight-condo residen- tial project. Traffic backs up on South Sound Road during evening rush hour. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAYNext >