ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 High of 89 Low of 78 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 POLITICS AND RELIGION: FORESHADOWING OUR UPCOMING ELECTIONS BUSINESS | PAGE 15 UK PARLIAMENT VOTES TO IMPLEMENT COUNTRY- BY-COUNTRY REPORTING Class discipline a key concern for departing school teachers JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A pattern of lack of discipline in Cayman’s classrooms, administrative dysfunction and overall job frustration permeates exit inter- views from teachers who have left the school system over the last three academic years. The note-form transcripts from the inter- views were released to the Cayman Compass under the freedom of Information Law. The names of the teachers and the schools were redacted in the FOI response. In all, 18 exit in- terviews were released. Among the more disturbing comments: ■■ “There are still assaults occurring on staff and students [and] persistent be- havior issues with certain students in lessons and around the school.” ■■ “I think it is of great detriment to not have an alternative education building that is large enough to house the stu- dents on island that need such a thing. This resulted in students that had absolutely no business being on prop- erty due to repeated drug and violence violations, and no interest in pursuing an education, wandering the grounds, disrupting the learning of others.” ■■ “Despite what the statistics may be saying, any teacher at [school name redacted] will tell you that these students are far, far be- hind their international peers in literacy and mathematics, and that isn’t an issue that can be pretended away with political speeches and new-age school structures.” ■■ “The students feel that they have the run of the school and teachers are second- class citizens. I thought that I would be sad to leave but all I feel is relief.” Several teachers, apparently from Clifton Hunter High School, said the open-plan layout of the school made teaching and classroom management, in particular, very difficult. One consistent theme in the interviews is frustration at the workload and the amount of cover lessons some school teachers are GOVERNMENT TRIES AGAIN WITH LAWYERS BILL BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com With an international anti-money laun- dering review looming next year, Cayman Is- lands lawmakers will try one more time to pass modern regulatory legislation for the legal profession. At least four attempts to significantly amend the Legal Practitioners Bill in the past 15 years have failed, most recently following complaints from the financial services in- dustry that the updated legislation would hurt attempts to expand business overseas. Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton said Cayman’s major professional organiza- tions for attorneys, the Caymanian Bar Asso- ciation and the Cayman Islands Law Society, collaborated with government on the bill, al- lowing it to “come closer to passage than ever before.” The bill is expected to be debated during the next meeting of the Legislative Assembly, set to start in early October. Premier Alden McLaughlin said passage of the revised law is critical to Cayman’s con- tinued success in the offshore financial ser- vices industry. “The failure to pass this legislation has been damaging to us, not only as a jurisdic- tion, but also to the interests of Caymanian lawyers,” he said. The 126-page bill is partly aimed at ad- dressing concerns around money laundering and terrorist financing identified by the Ca- ribbean Financial Action Task Force, which Surgeries successful, young patients head home BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com On Aug. 6., year-old Mchaendel Gilot spent most of an hour-long flight between Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Grand Cayman crying in his cousin’s arms. Following heart surgery in mid-August at Health City Cayman Islands, the change in the toddler has been astounding, according to family members and countrymen who traveled with him for the procedure. “Now he’s only smiling,” said interpreter Gheissa Martineau, speaking at the Island Air property Tuesday. “He’s eating a lot more and now he’s making more friends.” Mchaendel is one of three Haitian chil- dren, including another toddler, Miloury Jeudy, and 15-year-old Benjamin Baptiste, who arrived last month for life-saving heart procedures at Health City. They re- ceived the treatment as part of a collab- orative effort between nonprofit groups, The Haitian heart patients depart Grand Cayman on Tuesday. From left, Miloury Jeudy with her dad Makinson, Mchaendel Gilot with his cousin Berline Valcin, and Benjamin Baptiste with his mom Janna Blaise. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » 180913_PRINT-Ad-Strip-BOTY-6colxPage 1 11/30/15 12:30:30 PM2 LOCAL NEWS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 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. Daily Matinees Every Day $8.00 Seniors, Mon-Fri Before 6pm Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. - WEDNESDAY - KUBO AND THE TWO (PG) STRINGS 3D 1:00 | 3:30 2D | 7:00 | 9:30 2D HANDS OF STONE (R) 1:20 | 4:00 | 7:10 | 9:50 PETE’S DRAGON 3D (PG) 12:30 | 3:15 2D | 6:45 | 9:35 2D MECHANIC RESURRECTION (R) 1:10 | 3:40 | 7:20 | 10:10 MORGAN (R) 12:40 | 3:10 | 5:30 | 7:45 | 10:00 DONT BREATHE (R) 12:50 | 3:00 | 5:10 | 7:30 | 9:45 640-FILM (640-3456) Sponsored by: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17th 8PM YCLA Foundation names five 2016 finalists TAD STONER tstoner@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Young Caymanian Leadership Foundation has announced its five 2016 fi- nalists, four women and one man, ranging in age from 27 to 34, and each professionally employed. The group comprises: Kristina Maxwell (nee Bramwell), 30, who has a doc- torate in physiotherapy from the University of Miami, and is employed at the Cayman Is- lands Hospital. She has been a lecturer at the Department of Community Rehab, the Health Services Authority’s volunteer training program, the Cayman Islands Hospital, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and Be Fit Cayman, and has conducted screenings for the Grand Cayman Special Olympics team. Brianna Ebanks (nee Wilk- erson), 27, who has an MBA from the University of Tampa, is employed as a regional fi- nance senior associate at PwC. Active in her George Town Church of God Chapel, she is a member of the wor- ship team and a member of the PwC corporate social re- sponsibility committee. She is a certified public accountant, qualified by the Georgia Public Accounting Board, and in July gained a health coaching certificate from Manhattan’s Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Alexandra Bodden, 30, has a postdoctoral degree in clin- ical psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. She is the daughter of lawyer, former Leader of Government Business and MLA Truman Bodden. She holds a doctor of psychology from Nova Southeastern University and was previously an ad- junct lecturer in the Depart- ment of Social Sciences at the University College of the Cayman Islands. She is now a psychologist at Behavioral Health Associates Cayman. She coordinates Radio Cay- man’s “Mental Health Mat- ters” show and is president of the Young Business and Pro- fessional Women’s Club. Shena Ebanks, 32, has a master’s in Human Resource Management from UCCI and is employed as human re- sources and freedom of in- formation manager at the Ministry of District Ad- ministration, Tourism and Development. She is president of the Cayman Islands Society of Human Resource Profes- sionals, a member of the So- ciety for Human Resource Management and a director of the UCCI board of governors. Tedrick “Ted” Green, 28, has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from UCCI. Next year he hopes to complete a master’s in international business administration at Nova Southeastern Univer- sity. He is employed as an of- fice manager at State Street Cayman Ltd. He is a founding member – and currently curator – of Cayman Hub, a World Eco- nomic Forum organization seeking to improve communi- ties globally. He is also a Ki- wanis volunteer, treasurer of the Cayman AIDS Foundation and last year’s Young Entre- preneur of the Year. Candidates’ comments “I really can’t ex- press how this feels,” Ms. Maxwell said. “You do not go into healthcare for fame and fortune; you do it to make a difference. “We see so many negative things [in healthcare], so it’s nice to make a positive im- pact,” she said. If selected as this year’s winner, she said her message would be to promote “health- care and wellness.” “We so often put health- care and wellness on the back burner, almost as though it‘s not important, as though we have no time for exercise or eating right. But you can be healthy without spending a lot of time. You need a strong base or you can’t re- ally do anything that’s going to make an impact. You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe,” Dr. Maxwell said. Brianna Ebanks said, “With this nomination, I have already resolved to make it my goal to understand the needs of young Caymanians and to do whatever is in my power and influence to serve them … in greater ways than I have already, and to em- power young and old Cay- manians to fully be who they are and do what they are called to do.” If chosen as Young Cay- manian Leader, she would pursue “a desire to empower [young people] … in seeing their dreams become reality. “To … stand up for what you believe in and feel in your heart … is worth it. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability … to step up and stand out in the midst of that fear.” Dr. Bodden welcomed the nomination, saying, “It’s al- ways been something spe- cial and I have always ad- mired the YCLA. This is huge for me and my family, and especially for the mental health community.” Dr. Bodden’s chief sponsor is Marc Lockhart, mental health advocate in Cayman, who called her “an ideal can- didate, a gifted and dedicated psychologist with exceptional character” who “dedicates many hours to various com- munity organizations, often taking the lead on projects, working hard to raise aware- ness, create strategic partner- ships, and inspire change.” If selected, she said, “I’m interested in education, and want to help young people understand who they are and their potential. I en- courage young people to take chances, and I want to let them know that someone be- lieves in them.” She would use the Young Caymanian leadership plat- form to battle the stigma of mental health: “I want to help people understand mental health and what it is.” Shena Ebanks said she “was taken aback” by her nomination, crediting the support of her family, friends and church. If named Young Cayma- nian of the year, Ms. Ebanks said, she would use the posi- tion to aid young job-seekers. “My passion is training and development of young people,” she said, “and I would use the organization to help pull them up, provide career coaching and how to fit into the country and get a foot in the door.” Describing herself as a one-woman “Passport2Suc- cess,” a Ministry of Educa- tion training program for job- seekers, Ms. Ebanks said she had assisted with the course, saying that “people don’t al- ways appreciate the ‘soft skills,’” such as interview techniques, social interaction and presentation. Mr. Green said, “To be cel- ebrated in this way for things that I would happily do for free, means everything to me.” Mr. Green, who will turn 29 just after the YCLA awards, said if he were chosen as the Young Cayma- nian of the year, he would use the position “to bring some attention to issues and causes that are important to me and our community. “I am a huge believer in our youth and the concepts of Caymankind. My mes- sages would likely be em- bossed with calls of action for my audiences to: get in- volved; believe in them- selves and their abilities; to be proud of where we are from; and to be community- minded, as we can do a ton more together than we can accomplish on our own.” This year’s YCLA awards ceremony, themed “step up, stand out,” is scheduled for Nov. 5 at the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa. YCLA finalists, from left, Alexandra Bodden, Tedrick ‘Ted’ Green, Kristina Maxwell, Brianna Ebanks and Shena Ebanks CHIROPRACTOR’S CASE SENT TO GRAND COURT CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com George Town chiropractor Jemal Abdullah Khan appeared in Summary Court on Tuesday, when he elected to have charges of indecent assault and causing harassment, alarm or dis- tress tried in Grand Court. The nine harassment charges allege that Khan engaged in insulting behavior by taking photographs of patients without their consent between 2013 and 2016. Eleven indecent as- sault charges are based on incidents during the same time frame. Magistrate Valdis Foldats directed the de- fendant to appear in Grand Court on Sept. 30. According to Khan’s bail conditions, he cannot treat a female patient without her written consent that confirms she is aware he is suspended from providing chiropractic/ acupuncture treatment by the Council of Pro- fessional Allied Medicine and that he faces charges arising from allegations from former female patients. The person giving consent would also agree that her contact details could be given to police. Other bail conditions remain, such as resi- dence, reporting to police weekly and non-con- tact with witnesses. WEBSTER GROSS INDECENCY CHARGES TO BE HEARD IN GRAND COURT Four charges of gross indecency with a minor were sent to Grand Court on Tuesday, with defendant Errington Webster directed to re- turn to the higher court on Sept. 30. Magistrate Valdis Foldats said that because defense attorney Steve McField had agreed, he was able to commit the matter without reviewing the papers in the case. He extended the defendant’s bail until Sept. 30. NINTH LOCAL ZIKA CASE REPORTED Four new local cases of Zika virus has been reported in Cayman, bringing the total number of locally transmitted cases to nine, according to public health officials. Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Samuel Williams-Rodriguez said in a press release that of 14 new test results from the Caribbean Public Health Agency, known as CARPHA, five returned positive. “Four females, all local residents of George Town, have no reported travel history to any of the countries where there is currently an outbreak of the Zika virus, thus bringing local transmission of the Zika virus within the Cayman Islands to nine cases,” Dr. Williams-Rodriguez said. The fifth positive result involved a woman from George Town who had traveled to a country between July 27 and Aug. 1 where there is an es- tablished outbreak of the Zika virus. Her case brings the total number of imported cases to seven. “None of the five patients are related and neither are they pregnant,” Dr. Williams-Ro- driguez said. For advice on mosquito control, contact the Mosquito Research and Control Unit on 949-2557. For information on Zika, contact the Public Health Department at 244-2648 or 244-2621.The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 MINISTRY OF HEALTH & CULTURE The Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman 20th – 22nd October 2016 The Chapters of a Healthy Life healthcareconference.ky Open to all and free to attend. CME Certificates will be available. ONLINE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN facebook.com/CaymanHealthcareConference | @cayman_healthThe 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 EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will findtheirownway” Inside the Lions Centre on Sunday, thousands of resi- dents rallied for the preservation of traditional “family values.” The huge gathering, impressive by any measure, was testimony to the fact that the collective character of the Caymanian people is rooted deeply in conserva- tive religious values and beliefs. Our churches continue to be central in the lives of many – more likely, most – of our people. Given the fact that the quadrennial political season is upon us, it is hardly surprising that our country’s reli- gious values and our politicians’ secular agendas are likely to overlap. For early evidence, consider that both Premier Alden McLaughlin and Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush addressed the assemblage at the Lions Centre (with a number of other elected members and hopeful aspirants also in attendance). The remarks of our premier and opposition leader were largely political, although grounded in religious orthodoxy. The key topic on the social agenda, of course, is the perceived threat of same-sex marriage becoming the rule of law in the Cayman Islands. However, as nearly everyone knows, that is extremely unlikely to happen. In Cayman, “traditional” marriage between one man and one woman is enshrined in the Constitution, and no politician will campaign on the platform of legalizing same-sex marriage. If gay marriage were ever going to be instituted in Cayman, it will not come from the Legislative Assembly, but from the courts (just as it was in the U.S.) or from the U.K. Either way, as far as our local elections are concerned, gay marriage is likely to become a much discussed campaign issue, but the tenor of the debate almost cer- tainly will focus on who is MORE/MOST against gay marriage. Voters, we would hope, will not be distracted or spend too much time on the nuances dividing similar positions. Every candidate in every district with a chance of winning will argue against legalizing gay marriage. May we suggest that more important issues deserve the electorate’s attention – in particular, education, law and order, the proper balance between development and the environment, government’s fiscal performance, public sector accountability, infrastructure and, above all, good governance (which is the governor’s responsibility). Speaking of the governor, in a 2014 missive sent back to U.K. officials, Governor Helen Kilpatrick lamented that this editorial board did not opine immediately on that year’s budget “but instead return[ed] to its favourite topic of the landfill site.” [Editor’s Note: Governor Kilpatrick was correct but, of course, after we had analyzed and assimilated the complex fiscal document, we published many news reports and editorialized extensively on the budget’s contents and priorities.] But as the governor reminds us, what about the landfill? Budgets come and go, as do elected govern- ments (and governors). But, so far, the George Town landfill remains … and will remain on our agenda as a sig- nificant issue in the coming election. In future months the Compass will be devoting unpar- alleled and unsurpassed resources to covering the May 2017 elections. We will be covering in depth the issues, the candidates, their campaigns, and their positions. Politics and religion: Foreshadowing our upcoming elections WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS Tyranny emerges from a double standard that favors the elites More than two years ago, several independent re- searchers, investigative jour- nalists and columnists (in- cluding yours truly) began providing evidence and re- porting on apparent funds from Russian government- controlled entities funneling into U.S. environmental groups. The Russian intent was to help the political ac- tion activities of the environ- mental lobby to stop, or at least delay, oil and gas devel- opment in the United States. The Russian govern- ment is highly dependent on the revenues coming from oil and gas exports, and it is clearly in its na- tional interest to do what it can to keep the price of oil high. Many in the press and the administration are allies of the environmental groups that were recipients of the Russia money, so the potential for substantial and extensive violations of U.S. laws were ignored by many news outlets and the Justice Department. Suddenly, with the rev- elations that Russians and other foreign interests are hacking into political party emails, and perhaps voting machine systems, there has been a newfound concern that foreign interests may be doing illegal things to alter election and policy out- comes. The fact is that the “hacks” are nothing more than another way for for- eign interests to affect U.S. political processes – like the contributions to the environ- mental groups. There is evidence that the monies the Russians spent on the U.S. and other envi- ronmental groups did in- deed slow oil and gas de- velopment, thus keeping petroleum products prices higher than they would have been otherwise. The result – American consumers were raked over to the tune of tens of billions of dollars, thus reducing real living standards – all because a po- liticized Department of Jus- tice failed to do its job. From the time of the American founding, the idea of the rule of law – as con- trasted with arbitrary de- cisions by government of- ficials and unequal justice – was acclaimed as a basic principle, even though America, in practice, fell short. Slavery, though legal in parts of the United States, violated the rule of law in its failure to treat all equally. Subsequently, by denying rights to some, “Jim Crow” laws and other forms of ra- cial and religious discrimi- nation violated the concept of equal justice. Despite past sins, America has almost to- tally eliminated legal, racial, ethnic and religious discrim- ination, but at the same time there has been a rise in un- equal treatment based on one’s political beliefs or per- sonal loyalties. Only those oblivious to the obvious have failed to see that the Department of Justice has become increas- ingly politicized. Exam- ples abound: The failure of former Attorney General Eric Holder to turn over docu- ments to Congress related to Operation Fast and Furious as he was legally required to do; the failure to bring legal action against Lois Lerner and other Internal Revenue Service officials for clear vio- lations of the administration of the tax law; the failure to hold IRS Commissioner John Koskinen accountable for lying to Congress about re- cords the IRS had but failed to provide, and again for clear violations of the rules regarding the administration of the tax laws; the failure of the FBI to investigate (to date) Hillary Clinton’s lying to Congress, under oath, about the number of emails she had provided – despite the evidence of her taped testimony and the FBI’s own findings; and, the failure of the Justice Department to bring action against Mrs. Clinton for destruction of evidence – both emails and devices – after the legal de- mand of Congress to pre- serve such records. The above is just a small sample of the Justice Department’s failure to uphold the rule of law and equal justice. All of this matters, be- cause it is fundamentally corrupting and, if not re- versed, will lead to an in- creasing tyranny by those in government over the citi- zens. As Thomas Jefferson warned, “When government fears the people, there is lib- erty. When the people fear the government, there is tyr- anny.” A government that fails to uphold the rule of law, the protection of pri- vate property, individual rights and equal justice un- dermines economic growth. Economic growth depends on capital formation – that is, saving and its produc- tive investment. Both indi- viduals and businesses be- come increasingly reluctant to invest in economies where the rule of law is being un- dermined and is uncertain. It is no surprise that coun- tries that strictly enforce the rule of law, including prop- erty rights’ protection, tend to have a much higher stan- dard of living than those that do not. The FBI and the Justice Department depend exten- sively on the willingness of the citizens to voluntarily assist them in many mat- ters, such as providing in- formation in background investigations. If these agen- cies are increasingly viewed as partisan and corrupt, the populace will be less and less inclined to speak with their staffs and be helpful – which is not good for law enforcement and for civil government. Now that the FBI and the Justice Department have a newfound concern over for- eign influence on the U.S. political process, it will be interesting to see if their in- vestigations will extend to the corrupt enrichment of their own political friends or is just a partisan exercise. Richard W. Rahn is chairman of Improbable Success Productions and on the board of the American Council for Capital Formation. © Copyright 2016 The Washington Times, LLC. Why equal justice matters RICHARD W. RAHN RICHARD W. RAHN As United Nations Secre- tary-General Ban Ki-moon takes part in his last an- nual General Assembly meeting, delegates from all countries will be looking to see who might replace him. The four secret straw polls that the Security Council has already con- ducted offer few clues. Their results have been leaked, but not to the point of revealing how the five veto-bearing permanent members voted. So the pu- tative front-runner, former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, could in fact be out of the running. It’s much easier to see what kind of person should get the job. For starters, it should be someone who can marshal the international community to confront hu- mankind’s one truly exis- tential challenge: climate change. Getting countries to build on last December’s groundbreaking Paris ac- cord is the most essential task he or she will face. What’s more, the next UN leader should be ca- pable of pushing hard for institutional reforms. It is essential, for one thing, to see that peacekeeping op- erations protect people rather than prey on them – or serve as a jobs pro- gram for ineffectual mili- taries from poor, repres- sive nations. More broadly, the next secretary-general should strengthen over- sight, shut down ineffectual or overlapping programs, and revisit the UN budget to make sure that all coun- tries pay their fair share. In other words, the UN needs a leader with proven man- agement and political skills and the willingness to con- front unpleasant truths. In this regard, it would help if the secretary-gen- eral served not a renew- able five-year term, but a single seven-year stint. That would allow more time to make changes, insulated from political pressures. More straw polls will be taken before the final vote next month. Make these transparent, and the ulti- mate winner may be able to gather more widespread support from the insti- tution he or she begins to lead. © 2016, Bloomberg View What to look for in the next UN secretary-general5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 175197_PRINT-Ad-Compass-4colx12-Page 1 9/9/16 12:02:06 PM Government seeks to give CIMA’s enforcement teeth with new fines MICHAEL KLEIN mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com Government is proposing to give the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority new en- forcement powers by intro- ducing administrative fines that range from $5,000 for minor breaches by individ- uals to $1 million for very serious offenses by corpo- rate entities. The proposed legislative changes, published on Sept. 9 in the official Gazettes, come as part of a series of bills in preparation for the inspec- tion by the Caribbean Finan- cial Action Task Force, which will assess the anti-money laundering regime of the Cayman Islands in 2017. The suggested amend- ments to the Monetary Au- thority Law aim to give the fi- nancial services regulator the power to impose administra- tive fines for breaches of reg- ulatory laws and anti-money laundering and terrorism fi- nancing regulations. The fines are intended as an independent civil penalty. Criminal sanctions could come in addition to the mon- etary forfeit, if a breach is deemed an offense. The bill distinguishes be- tween minor, serious and very serious breaches. Minor breaches carry the penalty of one or more continuing fines of $5,000 up to $20,000 until the breach is stopped. For “serious” and “very se- rious” breaches of laws and regulations, CIMA would have the discretion to impose respective fines up to $50,000 and up to $100,000 for indi- viduals and up to $100,000 and up to $1 million for cor- porate entities. In applying the fines, the authority has to consider the need to maintain a sound fi- nancial system, prevent li- censees from benefiting from violations, and the need to punish breaches and deter future offenses. If the bill becomes law, Cabinet will determine in separate regulations the pro- visions to which fines can be applied, the procedure for imposing fines and the ap- peals process. The lack of fines in Cay- man’s regulatory enforce- ment regime has been noted for some time. A 2009 Inter- national Monetary Fund re- port on Cayman’s compliance with anti-money laundering standards highlighted the lack of administrative sanc- tions. It suggested legislative changes that would allow the Financial Reporting Au- thority, which receives suspi- cious activity reports related to money laundering, to di- rectly impose administrative sanctions in addition to crim- inal penalties. The report noted CIMA’s ability to impose regulatory sanctions against entities that do not have anti-money laundering reporting systems and procedures in place, but it said additional administra- tive sanctions would stream- line the process. The new bill proposes now to give power to impose administrative fines to CIMA rather than to the FRA. More legislative changes The Ministry of Financial Services prepared a total of 12 bills to improve Cayman’s regulatory framework. Other proposed legislative changes, published on Sept. 9, include the removal of references to bearer shares from the Com- panies Law, amendments to the Proliferation Financing (Prohibition) Law, two new categories of audits under the supervision of the Auditors Oversight Authority and, once again, a bill for the regulation of nonprofit organizations. The Ministry of Financial Services said all bills have the support of industry and are intended to maintain the jurisdiction’s adherence to international standards and prepare Cayman for the Ca- ribbean Financial Action Task Force’s mutual evaluation process in 2017. “In order to continue ad- hering with international standards, the ministry’s bills are intended to provide for greater powers for law enforcement and regulatory agencies, including their abil- ities to administer adminis- trative penalties and more effectively cooperate with their international counter- parts. Greater clarity is also introduced as to the types of businesses that have a re- sponsibility to adhere to the international standards,” the ministry said. In May, government abolished the ability of Cayman Islands exempted companies to issue bearer shares, which can be held anonymously, to improve the transparency of the true owners of these companies. All existing bearer shares had to be converted into reg- istered shares, held in the name of the beneficial owner, by July. A new bill aims to re- move the last references to bearer shares from the Com- panies Law. In addition, government wants to amend an existing law that prohibits the fi- nancing of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons to en- sure conformity with the in- ternational standards rec- ommended by the Financial Action Task Force. The regulation of non- profit organization is also back on the table, because of the potential for money laundering and terrorism fi- nancing in this as yet unreg- ulated space. The U.S. State Department report on international nar- cotics control highlights each year the “weak supervision of nonprofits and non-financial organizations” in Cayman as a major anti-money laun- dering weakness. Under the Non-profit Or- ganisations Bill, charities and other nonprofits will have to be registered and maintain fi- nancial statements. The registration system is designed to meet the FATF requirement that countries know the nonprofits that are operating in their terri- tory and facilitate investi- gations of bad actors in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits with a gross annual income of more than $250,000 will have to main- tain audited accounts. In the past, certain chari- ties criticized the proposed regulation, stating they would not be able to afford the additional expense for re- cord-keeping and annual ex- ternal audits. The ministry said it will conduct a public education campaign for the Non-profit Organisations Bill, 2016, in the near future. The debate on the bills in the Legislative Assembly is tentatively set for the first week of October.DISTRICT DAYS 6 District Days Sister Islands WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS 50 YEARS AGO: New teachers welcomed to the Brac In the Sept. 14, 1966 edition of the Caymanian Weekly, a precursor of the Cayman Compass, Cayman Brac correspondent Lilian Ritch wrote: “We extend a hearty wel- come to the teachers who have joined the staffs in our island for the first time. Freshly graduated from Shortwood Training Col- lege are Miss Zelmalee Ch- isholm, formerly of North Side, whose optional sub- jects were mathematics, sci- ence and physical educa- tion, and Mrs. Lilian Barnes (nee Bodden) of George Town, whose optionals were physical education, religious knowledge and history. Mr. James Ryan, after one year in West Bay Primary School, has returned to his alma mater, West End Primary, as head teacher. “We welcome home Mrs. Olivene Kirkconnell of Stake Bay after her long vacation with her children. “Welcome home also to Mr. and Mrs. Selbourne Lazzari, Claudette and ‘Bud,’ from their vaca - tion. While Mr. Sellie, who is our genial bus owner and operator, took it qui- etly at North Side with the family, Mrs. Georgine was away to the Barbados teachers’ conference. “Capt. and Mrs. Sedley Ritch returned by the Kirksons on Thursday and we are glad for the measure of improved health in Mrs. Ritch after her serious illness. “We were glad to see Colford Scott, one of our Cayman Brac scholars, who has gone forward to the Secondary Grammar School, vacationing between trips of the Kirk Trader with his aunt and grandfather, Miss Niva and Mr. Isaac Scott of Bamboo Bay. “Mr. Victor Llewellyn Ritch of Cayman Brac died in Miami, Florida in his 69th year on Monday the 8th. He was the fourth of nine chil- dren of the late Joseph and Rhoda Ritch of the Creek. “In common with many Caymanians, as a young man of 18 years he went to Jamaica to seek em- ployment. He was for sev- eral years a warder at the General Penitentiary in Kingston. Later he took a job at Pigeon Island pro- cessing crystals from its saltwater pond in an en- terprise to develop the salt trade in Jamaica. “In 1947 he left Kingston to reside in Miami in the employ of Messrs. Banana Suppliers, a shipping cor- poration operating out of the city. He continued with that firm, his last post being ships’ carpenter on the S.S. Montego, until he retired due to ill health in October 1964. He had a heart condition, angina pectoris, but remained rea- sonably active. On the 8th, after assisting a neighbour with repairs to his roof, he sat down in a chair and died. A few relatives and close friends attended the funeral …. Beautiful floral tributes included a wreath from his son Haldon who had just arrived back home in Canada after visiting him. One sister, Gladys, Mrs. O.B. Ritch of Cayman Brac, and one brother, Hugh of Philadelphia. Many relatives and friends mourn his loss.” Summer Culture Camp sets the bar high for next year Brac youngsters had the opportunity to experience a wealth of activities at this year’s Summer Culture Camp. The YMCA youth develop- ment and family services or- ganization partnered with the Brac Heritage House to offer the two-week camp in early August for children ages 5 to 13. Activities for the first week included art with Conroy Ebanks, a catboat building lecture with Jude and Laura Walton, thatch plaiting with Annelee Ebanks and Isabelle Brown, rope laying and twisting with Lea- than and Laurel Martin, a hand line fishing trip with Tenson Scott, and a tour of the historic Spellman McLaughlin home, with sto- rytelling by Norma Scott and Martha Scott. A tour of the Walton’s Mango Manor house, gar- dens, private library and Beth Shalom Temple, was also given by Lynne and George Walton. There was also a storytelling workshop with Quincy Brown and a visit from Bonnie Scott Edwards, during which kids played a conservation game. While there was no camp at the weekend, campers and their parents came together for a Friends and Family Night on Saturday, Aug. 6, at the Heritage House. The group watched a slide- show of the week’s activi- ties, and ate a Caymanian coconut dinner prepared by Starrie Scott. Various snacks, donations and sponsorships were given by the Cayman Brac Beach Resort, Dan and Lisa Scott, Belinda Sanford, Kirkcon- nell Ltd. and Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell. The second week of camp began on Monday, Aug. 8, with a field trip to Le So- leil D’Or farm, where the children were treated to a healthy snack and got to pick fruits from the grove. The group also visited a goat farm where they got to feed the goats. The following day, campers went to the beach in search of turtle crawls with the turtle patrol, then stopped in for some play time at West End Commu- nity park. The children then walked the nature trails and took part in either a scav- enger hunt bingo game, or a tree identification activity with Wallace Platts and Isa- belle Brown. On Wednesday, Aug. 10, the campers took in a sto- rytelling session with Mr. Brown, and soldier (hermit) crab races. The day con- tinued with lessons on how to make coconut whistlers, with Mr. Scott, and how to dance the quadrille, with Sophia Johnston. The next day, Laurel Martin taught the children how to make coconut drops and Lance Boley gave a pre- sentation on coconuts and a demonstration on coconut oil pressing. On the last day of camp, there was some impromptu storytelling, as well as a demonstration and calavan bird trap building compe- tition. A final Friends and Family Night was held on Aug. 13, which featured a slideshow of photos from the camp, a performance of a folk song by the chil- dren, and cake and pies made by Laurel Martin and Starrie Scott. “It was a pleasure to work with the camp leaders Kimberley Conolly, Annelee Ebanks and Phoebe Smith, along with the camp assis- tant, Quincy Brown, and the volunteer heritage instruc- tors with our sponsors to teach Caymanian heritage and culture to our children of today, adults of tomorrow,” said camp coordinator Simone Scott. Operations Director for the YMCA of the Cayman Is- lands Gillian Roffey said, “The Y is so grateful to have had the opportunity to partner with Simone Scott to offer such a unique and cul- turally rich camp experience to Cayman Brac youngsters. “We look forward to con- tinuing to help serve the needs of the Cayman Brac community, through the Ex- tended After-School Pro- gram and future community initiatives.” Tenson Scott intrigues campers by making coconut whistlers.DISTRICT DAYS 7 District Days Sister Islands As part of an ongoing project to document the Brac’s early days, Saskia Ed- wards of the Cayman Brac Heritage Committee recently sat down with educator Mexi-Ann Grant. Ms. Grant reminisced and reflected on various changes that have occurred within the educa- tion system over the years. The original interview ref- erenced below will be in- cluded in a special memory bank being created for the Sister Islands. Mexi-Ann Grant, nee Tib- betts, was born in Cayman Brac on Oct. 30, 1942. Having held the positions of pupil teacher, classroom teacher, deputy principal, principal and, finally, education of- ficer for the Sister Islands, Ms. Grant has experienced and witnessed many changes during her 40 years of service in education on Cayman Brac. In earlier times, it was common for parents to send their children to be cared for by other members of the community before they were old enough to attend ele- mentary school, an informal schooling system which be- came the foundation of learning for many. “Those days, you didn’t start school until you were seven. So there were some ladies who would take chil- dren into their homes, care for them and teach them. I guess it was like what we call day care or preschool now. I went to three different ones. Ms. ‘Loma’ Green, as we called her, was one of the ladies. Another one I went to was Ms. Ida McLean and my last private teacher was Ms. Alma Scott.” In 1950, Ms. Grant started attending Creek Primary. “By the time I was ready to start school, I was ad- vanced and started Standard 2,” she recalls, explaining the era’s grade rankings, Stan- dards 1 through 6. Ms. Grant also noted that the Creek Primary School at the time was located where the police station is today. The school year started in January and ended in December, with breaks for Easter, summer and Christmas. Girls wore navy blue skirts and white blouses, and the boys wore white shirts with khaki pants. “Devotions was the first thing we did in the morning. Then you would take [the] roll, and you had to say ‘Present, Ma’am’ or ‘Sir.’” Numerous subjects such as math, science and social studies would be taught. Al- though material resources were scarce, the students and teachers did their best with what they had. “There were no textbooks, but we had to buy reading books. Not everyone had, as some parents couldn’t afford them, and [books often] had to be passed down to sib- lings or cousins.” She also recalled how, during the cooler months, it was exciting for the children to watch waves crash ashore by the school. “I remember when a Northwester would come, and the sea would come up under the school floor, be- cause the building was up on stilts then. That’s also where we would eat lunch, under there.” With no designated lunch room, students often brought their water and meals from home and ate and drank under the building, or under shady trees. During breaks, she said she and her classmates would play “jacks and a game called rounders, which was something like baseball. We even had a cricket pitch in front of the school yard, and would play cricket there. “And I remember when it was mango season, and we had our round mangoes, we would go by the old barca- dere and eat them. We would make boats out of the skin and pelt them with rocks to sink them.” Some of the teachers who taught Ms. Grant and greatly shaped her educational ex- perience included Genevieve Bodden, Islay Conolly, Carlyn Hislop and Asley South. “We had a school inspector, Mr. Arthur Hunter. Sometimes he would come and take over and teach,” she recalled. In 1951, the school relo- cated to its current spot on Student Drive. “There was one main hall – there were no partitions,” said Ms. Grant. “Sometimes we had to do our classes outside. It was so noisy the teachers would take us out- side and teach us under the trees. The platform or stage area in the back was where the teacher and principal would sit down.” Students were given re- sponsibilities, including jani- torial duties. “The upper division was on duty to clean the building – there were no janitors. The older students had duties like tidying the desks, and sweeping out the hall,” said Ms. Grant. “Back then, Creek School had green tiles and we had to take [a piece of] coconut husk, put polish on it and clean the floor.” Something else that she fondly recalls was a speaking activity that the older students would take part in. “On Fridays, we had what we called hat debates. You would write down topics on scrap paper, put them in a hat and take turns pulling them out. Whatever you pulled out you had to talk about. I remember there was one child whose topic was ‘describe Cayman Brac 50 years from now.’ The student thought about it and said he imagined that there would be roads and homes on the bluff. At the time, the idea seemed so farfetched to us that we laughed at him.” Ms. Grant said that once students reached Standard 5 or 6, parents had to pay the teacher to keep the chil- dren after school to prepare for exams. “You took your exams in July and got your results in October,” she said. “I remember our history books came two to three weeks before our [final] exam. Our teacher would excuse us from our normal work so we could go and prepare for these exams. I’ll never forget us sitting under an almond tree, reading to each other [and] taking turns trying to explain it. We more or less had to teach our- selves. It was a miracle that we passed. After you took your exams and you passed, [the] government would give [some] students a scholar- ship to go to Jamaica to train to be a teacher.” Ms. Grant was one of the students who was afforded the chance to travel to Ja- maica to seek higher educa- tion. Before her departure, at age 14, she was first em- ployed as a pupil teacher, given the title along with one of her fellow classmates but with a unique condition. “They only had money to pay one person, but since both Levonne Tibbetts- Ryan and I had passed our exams, they said they would give each one a job but we would have to share the salary. The wages were 12 pounds a month so each of us got 6 pounds.” Ms. Grant remembers helping students with their reading, sitting under a lime tree behind the school building. Two years later, she went to the West Indies Col- lege in Jamaica and upon re- turning taught at West End Primary School. In the 1960s, a Jamaica Local School Exam Centre opened at West End Pri- mary School, which was a big change that im- pacted education. “After you finished Stan- dard 6 you went there. They employed Teacher Mr. Llewellyn from Jamaica to teach [there]. He also taught commercial courses like shorthand, typing and book- keeping. Mr. Spencer Bodden would drive children there and then pick them up again. This went on until the high school was built, at which point the Jamaica exams were abolished and Cambridge and CXC exams were given.” Following her marriage to the late Captain Geddes Grant in 1960, and the birth of their first child, she put her career on hold to raise her family. When her youngest became of school age, she was encouraged to return to teaching. She ob- tained an associate degree from the College of Precep- tors, London, and an elemen- tary education degree from the University of Tampa in 1984, after which she re- turned to teaching at Creek Primary, eventually be- coming the education officer for the Sister Islands. During her time as edu- cation officer, she initiated the merger of Creek and Spot Bay Primary Schools, as along with others she felt this was a better use of resources. Her outstanding services to education earned her the Cayman Islands Certificate and Badge of Honour award. In her retirement, Ms. Grant still visits the primary schools and volunteers to read to children. Along with traveling over- seas to visit loved ones, she also enjoys gardening, cro- cheting, socializing with family, friends, and visiting. When asked what she be- lieves is in store for the fu- ture of education in the Sister Islands, she com- mented: “I believe there is great potential, and it is a great future for education.” CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 Brac educator Mexi-Ann Grant At back-to-school-time, Brac educator looks back on changes Footballers test skills at Brac Invitational Johnson & Wales University of Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States won the Brac Cup Invitational Men’s Football Tournament, which returned to Cayman Brac after a 12-year hiatus. Here the team poses with their trophy and with Sister Islands MLA and Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell. The team faced some tough competition from the Cayman Brac Football Club and the CI Under-20 National Team in at times challenging conditions during the knockout tournament, Aug. 26-28 at the Cayman Brac Sports Complex.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS In Memory of Kris (Bella) Anderson on his 39th birthday!! September 14th,1977 A limb has fallen from the family tree. Knowing Kris he would say “Don’t grieve for me. My mind is at ease, my soul is at rest. You cannot question Father God because he knew best.” We continue traditions with you in our heart and laugh when we visualize you saying something smart. We miss you dearly, and try to carry on but it’s difficult to face the reality that you’re gone. Today is especially sad because you are not here One day we will meet again and everything will be clear. RIP from your loving family and friends. required to do, beyond their own lessons. Several teachers complained that this additional work was not dis- tributed equitably. Others suggested the lack of a fair, transparent and eq- uitable system of pay and promotions affected their de- cision to leave. The ministry in the past year has introduced a new literacy intervention program for the youngest students, and a new behavior manage- ment system was brought in this year to help ensure a more consistent approach to school discipline. While some said new poli- cies on behavior management in schools had made an im- pact, several commented that the training and resources were not supplied to back it up. “Having one special needs teacher for a case load of over 200 is the definition of failing our most vulnerable students,” said one teacher. The Ministry of Education announced last month that it had been given funding for 40 new posts, many of them classroom assistants. One teacher had expe- rience working in primary schools but had been given a high school class after ar- riving in Cayman. Others felt the ministry had not lev- eled with them about the be- havior issues in schools and the academic level of some of the students. Many of the teachers en- courage the ministry to be more open with candidates about difficulties in the school system and suggest that publishing the inspec- tion reports will help ensure new teachers do not arrive with false expectations. Another source of frus- tration for some school teachers was the level of training and expertise of the classroom assistants. “Teacher assistants are working with the students who have the most needs and in many cases, the teacher assistants are equally in need of guidance and sup- port. In one of my schools, the teacher assistant stated that she could not work with a group of [elementary level] students because the material was too difficult.” Another educator recom- mends “Retrain classroom assistants and provide a cer- tificated course for them all to undertake.” There were too many officials and not enough teachers, an educator at one school stated. “The school structure needs overhauling. For a school of approximately 800 students, there is no need for 10 senior managers earning a massive salary, most of who don’t teach, and have very little accountability for the jobs they should be doing,” the teacher said. Despite assurances from education officials that there is plenty of paper and other basic resources to go round, several school teachers echoed concerns reported from Parent Teacher Association meetings that this was not the case. “On a regular basis there was no paper for photo- copying. The machines often needed service or ink. I would have friends donate pens/pencils and stationary supplies or I would purchase items myself,” said one. PARTING WORDS Some of the comments from departing teachers in their exit interviews: ■■ “There is a lot of tension between certain mem- bers of staff which some- times spilled over into the classroom in a display of utter unprofessionalism in front of the students.” ■■ “There seems to be no re- percussions for teachers when, year after year, their students don’t show sat- isfactory progress.” ■■ “Many enjoy being sent out of lessons … many also do not view after school deten- tions or the in-school unit as a punishment as they are not expected to work in silence.” ■■ “Thank you for hiring me. This has been an amazing experience, to return to the Cayman Islands and serve as a teacher. I have no regrets and I am full of gratitude.” ■■ “It is challenging and can be highly frustrating, but if you can learn tech- niques to cope with this it can be very rewarding.” ■■ “Ultimately I have not set- tled on island and be- tween working in the [re- dacted] class without experience or training, I have found the last few months the most stressful of my teaching career.” ■■ “Half-term was set too late in the term. By defini- tion, it should be halfway through the term.” ■■ “I found the job to be de- moralizing. As a new-to- the island teacher, I was given mostly low set classes and the self-esteem and self-belief of these stu- dents was a tragedy.” ■■ “One of the most wel- come, friendliest places I ever lived and worked.” Class discipline a key concern for departing school teachers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 including the Haiti Cardiac Alliance and Have a Heart Cayman, as well as through the largely not-for-profit ef- forts of Health City and its chief pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Sripadh Upadhya. Dr. Upadhya said last month that Miloury, 20 months old, had a heart problem rarely seen, even for a specialist who has examined thousands of patients in India with the Na- rayana health system. “There’s a hole in her heart, but it’s in a very un- usual location,” Dr. Upadhya said. “It’s in between two ar- teries. We use a device to close [the hole] … it’s very rarely done. This defect is very rare … it’s maybe the third or fourth one I’ve done.” It’s unlikely a child with Miloury’s condition would have lived to see her 16th birthday without receiving the complex surgical proce- dure that is, at least at the moment, impossible to per- form in Haiti. On Tuesday, Miloury was up and about, exploring the building and pulling at Mchaendel’s shirt. “She didn’t want to eat [be- fore the surgery], she didn’t want to drink milk,” Miloury’s dad Makinson said Tuesday. “Now she drinks lots of milk. I hope that after this surgery she will have a long life.” The three Haitian children, among more than 60 from the impoverished Caribbean nation who have attended surgeries at Health City since late 2014, were waiting Tuesday morning with their parents and guardians for a chartered Cayman Airways flight which would take them back to Port-au-Prince. Health City interna- tional patient care manager Darren Zucker, who was there to see the little group off, said he was awaiting a much larger contingent aboard the Cayman Air- ways return flight. Mr. Zucker said some 30 people, including 15 heart patients of varying ages (all 18 and under) would receive care at Health City in the coming weeks. In a way, the collaborative effort between the Haitian nonprofit, Health City and the Cayman Islands charity group is a race against time. Not all patients will get to go, and even some heart pa- tients who are “on the list” to receive surgeries following initial screenings, do not sur- vive long enough to arrive at the life-saving procedure. Speaking to the Cayman Compass at the Port-au- Prince airport on Aug. 6, Kessy Acceme with the Haiti Cardiac Alliance said he was well aware that a few of those children had already missed their chance. “In the past few months, we’ve had five kids die waiting for surgery,” Mr. Ac- ceme said. “But it’s just beau- tiful when kids go to the Cayman Islands for surgery and they come back healed and happy. They can do any- thing they want in life.” Ultimately, Mr. Acceme said, the Haiti Cardiac Alli- ance wants to open its own “center of excellence” for these types of surgeries in the home country, since the bureaucratic and logistical problems in Haiti make get- ting the sick children out to receive medical treatment a monumental task. The Haiti Cardiac Alliance has man- aged to get about 200 chil- dren successful medical pro- cedures around the world, with about one-third of those (64 surgeries) having oc- curred at Health City Cayman Islands since late 2014, Mr. Acceme said. For interpreter, Ms. Mar- tineau, this trip with the Health City patients was her first time away from home. She is staying in Cayman for the time being to help with the large group of patients coming over on the Cayman Airways return flight. “I was afraid to leave home. I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “But this was a great experience.” is expected to make a return inspection in Cayman in the latter half of 2017. Next year’s review is expected to encom- pass not only the local finan- cial services operation, but also other businesses that typically handle large sums of money, including real estate and precious metals dealers. The Legal Practitioners Bill is one of several pieces of legislation that have either recently passed or which are due to be considered in Oc- tober in preparation for the 2017 Financial Action Task Force review. Minister Panton said the lawyers bill will demonstrate the local legal profession’s adherence to the task force anti-money laun- dering recommendations. The legislation creates a new regulatory body for local lawyers, called the Cayman Islands Legal Practitioners Association. This is envi- sioned as an industry “self- regulator” with eight attor- neys appointed as members. Five of those members must be Caymanian. If the bill is passed, the association will be respon- sible for promotion and training of Caymanian at- torneys. It also must ensure all attorneys practicing in the Cayman Islands are suitably qualified. The bill also creates a separate business staffing plan regime for locally op- erating law firms, including rules that seek to ensure Cay- manian lawyers are “properly considered” for promotions. Cayman Islands Law So- ciety President Alasdair Rob- ertson said his organization would support the bill, which is badly needed to bring the local legal profession into the modern era. Surgeries successful, young patients head home Government tries again with lawyers bill CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Mchaendel Gilot, 1, with his cousin Berline Valcin at the Health City Cayman Islands hospital in mid-August just before his procedure. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 Dalai Lama urges talks with ISIS The Dalai Lama says there should be dialogue with Islamic State extremists to end bloodshed in Syria and Iraq, and argues that religion is never a justification for killing. He insists that Islam should never be conflated with terrorism. LUNCH SPECIAL EVERYDAY MON-SAT 11.30 TO 4PM DIM SUM SUNDAY 11-3PM Plaza Venezia, North Sound Road, George Town 945-3490 OPEN FOR DINNER DELIVERY AFTER 5PM Three Syrians believed sent by ISIS arrested in Germany BERLIN (AP) – Three Syrian men believed to have been sent to Germany last year by the Islamic State group as a possible “sleeper cell” were arrested in raids on Tuesday, part of efforts to root out ex- tremists sent to Europe amid the migrant influx, authori- ties said. The three are accused of coming to Germany in mid- November at the behest of ISIS “in order either to carry out an assignment they had already received or to keep themselves ready for further instructions,” federal prosecu- tors said. The three are sus- pected of membership in a foreign terrorist organization. Their arrests followed raids at refugee homes in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the men had been under ob- servation for months, and that “there are no indica- tions of concrete attack plans” at present. “This may have been a sleeper cell,” he told reporters. De Maiziere said the sus- pects appear to have made it to Europe through the same channels as two men who blew themselves up outside France’s national stadium in November in the Paris at- tacks claimed by ISIS. “Everything points to the same smuggling organiza- tion as with the Paris at- tackers having brought these three who were arrested to Germany,” he said. “And everything points to the travel documents having come from the same workshop.” Prosecutors identified the suspects only as Mahir Al- H., 17, Mohamed A., 26, and Ibrahim M., 18, in keeping with German privacy rules. The three traveled to Ger- many via Turkey and Greece, the route used by most mi- grants to Europe last year. Mahir Al-H. joined ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, earlier last year and received weapons and ex- plosives training, prosecutors said, before he and the other two suspects in October told an ISIS official responsible for “operations and attacks out- side the ISIS area” that they would travel to Europe. The three were provided with pass- ports by ISIS and were given a “high four-figure sum” of cash in U.S. dollars as well as cell- phones with a pre-installed communication program, pros- ecutors said in a statement. The Federal Criminal Po- lice Office said that six loca- tions in two German states were searched Tuesday. It said that, as well as the ar- rests, “extensive material” was seized as evidence. The office noted that the attacks in Paris and Brussels over the past year showed that ISIS has used the migrant flow to send people to Europe. It said that it knows of more than 400 tips about people among the migrants who might have a terrorist back- ground, but most turned out to be wrong. However, more than 60 investigations were opened. In July, two attacks were carried out in Germany by asylum seekers who ar- rived over the past two years and claimed by ISIS. Five people were wounded in an ax rampage on a train near Wuerzburg and 15 in a bombing outside a bar in Ansbach. Both of the at- tackers were killed. Those attacks and two others unrelated to Islamic ex- tremism in the same weeklong period put the country on edge and stoked tensions over the arrival last year of hundreds of thousands of migrants. Those tensions have helped the nationalist, anti-immigra- tion Alternative for Germany party, which won over 20 per- cent of the vote in a state elec- tion in the northeastern re- gion of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Sept. 4. Tuesday’s arrests come days ahead of another state election in Berlin. De Maiziere said they “show that security author- ities are vigilant and are acting with determination.” British pound takes a fresh tumble after flat inflation news LONDON (AP) – The British pound fell sharply Tuesday after official figures showed that inflation in the country held steady in August, a surprise development for many in the markets who had been ex- pecting a further pick-up in the wake of the country’s decision to leave the European Union. The Office for National Statis- tics said that cheaper prices for food and non-alcoholic drinks helped to offset an increase in transport costs, notably air fares, and restaurant and hotel bills. The unchanged consumer prices index proved a jolt to many, evi- denced by the 1.1 percent fall in the pound to $1.3195. The consensus in markets was that inflation would edge up for the third month running to 0.7 percent partly because of the dra- matic fall in the pound to 31-year lows below $1.30 following June’s vote to leave the EU. A lower pound makes imports, from oil to copper that are priced in dollars, more expensive. “Raw material costs have risen for the second month running, partly due to the falling value of the pound, though there is little sign of this feeding through to consumer prices yet,” said Mike Prestwood, head of inflation at the statistics agency. Analysts said some firms may have chosen to absorb their higher costs but that over time they will have little option other than to pass them on, which could push inflation up toward the Bank of England’s target of 2 percent in the coming months. “Over the next few months ex- isting inventories will be wound down, and currency hedges put in place by supermarkets and other importers will gradually start to fall out of the equation,” said Ben Brettell, senior econo- mist at Hargreaves Lansdown. “It is only then that the full impact will be seen.” The Bank of England, which on Tuesday unveiled a new plastic 5-pound note that depicts wartime leader Winston Churchill, is fully aware of the potential uptick to inflation but has opted to focus more on the softer growth outlook in light of the Brexit vote. As a re- sult, it enacted another stimulus last month, including cutting its main interest rate to a record low of 0.25 percent. Though there’s been a run of economic data that suggest that the initial impact of the vote may not have been as bad as many forecasters had been predicting, there are still huge uncertainties surrounding the outlook for the British economy, especially its fu- ture trading relationship with the EU. Still, given the recent signals coming out of the economy, the Bank’s policymaking panel is ex- pected to keep rates unchanged at its next meeting on Thursday. “It could probably afford to cut rates even further if required – though current conditions of slow, but not negative, growth do not create any urgent need to do so,” said Alasdair Cavalla, senior econ- omist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research. TEEN CHARGED WITH PLANNING LONDON BOMBING LONDON (AP) – A teenager charged with preparing acts of terrorism planned to carry out a bombing in a busy area of London, British prosecu- tors said Tuesday. Haroon Ali-Syed, 19, is accused of engaging in “conduct in preparation” of terrorist acts between April and Sep- tember. He was arrested at his home in west London on Thursday and charged on Tuesday. During a hearing at Westmin- ster Magistrates Court, prosecutors said Ali-Syed attempted to obtain weapons online, including an explo- sive device, with a view to launching an assault on a busy area of the British capital. The teenager spoke only to con- firm his name, age and address during the brief court hearing. District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe ordered him de- tained until his next court appearance on Monday. Two other men, aged 19 and 20, de- tained at the same time have been re- leased on bail. Police said the arrests were part of an “intelligence-led investigation” by counterterrorism officers. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere The Bank of England on Tuesday unveiled a new plastic 5-pound note that depicts Winston Churchill. - PHOTO: APNext >