ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 High of 90 Low of 78 Slight to moderate with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 THE ASSEMBLY: TALK ABOUT A ‘TALK SHOW’! SPORTS | PAGE 17 LADIES HELM FEATURES CAYMAN CLUB SAILORS Personal Insurance In 1984, customers knew us as BritCay. In 2016, they and the next generation still do. Your insurance cover with BritCay is supported by a group of companies managing $390 million in insurance and pension contributions. More cover, more benefits, more security. BRITISH CAYMANIAN INSURANCE CO. LTD. BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, George Town, P.O. Box 74, KY1-1102 Tel. 949-8699 www.britcay.ky A member of Colonial Group International: insurance, health, pensions, life Call 949-8699 www.britcay.ky cgigrp Bird’s-eye view of Cayman’s sunken treasure Snorkelers swarm on one of the Cayman Islands’ premier underwater attractions, the USS Kittiwake, in a rare bird’s-eye view of the famous shipwreck, captured by Aerial Innovations. The company, which specializes in aerial photography and cinematography, shot the image of tourists snorkeling on the wreck with Red Sail Sports on a typical afternoon at the popular site. Perry Levy, president of Aerial Innovations, said, ‘We are always trying to showcase Cayman’s landscapes and attractions from what we believe to be perspectives never seen before. This particular case was no different in that we wanted to not only highlight the wreck, but the entire experience.’ The former U.S. Navy submarine rescue vessel was sunk off Seven Mile Beach in 2011. – PHOTO: AERIAL INNOVATIONS RECORD ATTENDANCE EXPECTED AT NATIONAL HEALTHCARE CONFERENCE TAD STONER tstoner@pinnaclemedialtd.com The sign-up sheets suggest record atten- dance at this year’s Oct. 20-22 healthcare con- ference, featuring 10 speakers from North America and the Caribbean and exploring the medical challenges confronting individ- uals as they age. This is the seventh consecutive year the Ministry of Health has staged the confer- ence. This year’s theme is “The Chapters of a Healthy Life.” The event, staged at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman looks set to outdraw last year’s record 1,000-delegate attendance. The Premier: Cayman booming, but immigration issues unresolved Chamber urges action on work permits, permanent residence BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands is “in a much better position” than the territory was four years ago, Premier Alden McLaughlin told a group of several hundred local businesspeople, with the development and tourism in- dustry surging, unemployment down and a strong partnership between government and the private sector. However, immigration - the issue identified as one of the local Chamber of Commerce’s major concerns – went largely unaddressed by the premier during a 45-minute speech at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman early Wednesday afternoon. During a brief speech before the premier’s address, Chamber President Paul Pearson iden- tified immigration, labor and the cost of doing business as the main concerns identified by Chamber members as disadvan- taging local businesses and their ability to obtain “qualified labor.” Mr. Pearson noted that some firms are now outsourcing jobs to other jurisdictions because of immigration-related difficul- ties and the cost of hiring new workers generally. He also said that the ongoing delay in gov- ernment hearing and approving permanent residence applica- tions is affecting senior and middle-management decisions at local firms. In some cases, approval time for work permits, which are re- quired for any non-Caymanian workers for legal employment in Cayman, has gone from six weeks to six months, Mr. Pearson said. “This can be a disincentive PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS Daily Matinees Every Day $8.00 Seniors, Mon-Fri Before 6pm Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 640-FILM (640-3456) *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. 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. THE ACCOUNTANT (R) 1:00 | 7:00 | 9:50 MASTERMINDS (PG13) 1:15 | 4:15 | 7:15 | 10:00 THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (PG13) 6:45 | 9:40 THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (R) 12:50 | 3:30 | 7:30 | 10:05 STORKS (PG) 1:30 | 4:20 MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME (PG13) FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN 3D 12:45 2D | 3:45 | 6:40 2D | 9:30 DEEPWATER HORIZON (PG13) 12:40 | 3:40 | 6:50 | 9:45 - THURSDAY - BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com A Cayman Islands Legisla- tive Assembly debate this week over changes to the public bid- ding rules turned into a po- litical fight ahead of the May 2017 general election. The Progressives-led gov- ernment brought forward a long-recommended Procure- ment Bill, which was approved by lawmakers late Monday after some debate over what amounted to “political inter- ference” in the public sector bidding process. During the debate, East End MLA Arden McLean said the public often does not “speak of the other side of it” when discussing the need to separate politicians from the bidding process. He gave as an example a situation during the Progressives’ former admin- istration (2005-2009) where he, as minister of works at the time, demanded that local aggregate providers reduce prices per yard for fill used to construct some local roads. “Within two weeks, [the price] was down to $23 per yard [from $27 per yard],” Mr. McLean said. “We spent over $50 million on roads. You know what $4 a yard meant? Millions of dollars. “You shouldn’t politi- cally interfere? The responsi- bility lies on that front bench for the management of the funds of this country. Now if they steal it, that‘s a different matter, or [if] they interfere to get it over the cost it should be. But their job is to get value for money, so stop this about political interference. I don’t want to hear it.” Education Minister Tara Rivers took exception to Mr. McLean’s statements. “He claimed the need for political interference was needed in order to ensure that value for money was achieved,” Ms. Rivers said. “If that was always the case, then we cer- tainly wouldn’t need this bill.” Ms. Rivers pointed to the management of the Grand Cayman high schools project by the former United Demo- cratic Party administration, particularly under former Ed- ucation Minister Rolston An- glin, as an example of “what not to do” in public bid- ding projects. “We can’t afford to have a repeat of what took place under the former minister of education,” she said. “We have real, serious examples of where political interference cost us much more.” Mr. Anglin recently an- nounced that he was running for public office again in West Bay, likely in the newly formed electoral district of West Bay South, where Ms. Rivers also implied recently she in- tended to run. Mr. Anglin was sharply crit- icized in a 2015 auditor gen- eral’s report on the bidding process surrounding the John Gray and Clifton Hunter high schools’ construction after the initial project contractor, Tom Jones International, was dropped by the government in a legal dispute. The auditor’s report stated: “The project resulted in the completion of only one of the three high schools origi- nally planned, another two high schools being started but not completed, took over nine years, and cost $172.7 million, or almost double the initial planned costs.” “What we had was nothing short of a complete fiasco,” Ms. Rivers said. Opposition Leader McK- eeva Bush criticized Ms. Rivers for taking shots at Mr. Anglin under parliamentary privi- lege in a Legislative Assembly meeting where the former West Bay MLA could not defend himself. Mr. Anglin did defend his role in the management of Cay- man’s high school construction projects during a 2015 Public Accounts Committee meeting, stating he walked into a “storm” when he took over the job – a “storm” left by the former Pro- gressives government adminis- tration of 2005-2009. Mr. Anglin told the committee that he in- herited a “ship that wasn’t just sinking, it was sunk,” after he was elected in 2009. “The high school projects were in crisis and we went with a sole source and quite frankly, it saved the country millions of dollars in my view from a po- tential lawsuit with the former general contractor,” he said. Mr. Anglin disputed the au- ditor general’s suggestion that Cabinet should have been pro- vided with new details on full costs, design changes and completion date at the recom- mencement of the project. “This idealistic and calm wording does not reflect the true storm, and the attendant pressures that existed at that time. We had legal and con- struction advice regarding the timeliness of a restart. We got as much data to Cabinet as possible within the time con- straints,” Mr. Anglin said. Lawmakers’ debate turns into political fight CORRECTION In a story titled “Legal Practitioners Bill stalled, may return for vote in 2017” on page one of Wednesday’s Cayman Compass, Selina Tibbetts was incorrectly iden- tified as a current employee of Maples law firm. She is a former associate. The Cayman Compass strives for accuracy and is committed to correcting errors that appear in the newspaper. Those interested in contacting the paper for that purpose can send an email to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com. US SENDS TOP DISEASE SPECIALISTS TO CUBA HAVANA (AP) – The Obama administration sent some of the United States’ top infectious disease special- ists to Cuba on Wednesday to open a new phase in medical cooperation after more than a half-century of isolation. Two dozen U.S. and Cuban experts on tropical diseases opened three days of meetings about each country’s research into in- sect-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell was to fly to Cuba Thursday to attend. The visit is part of President Barack Obama’s push to build irreversible momentum behind his de- tente with Cuba in the final months of his admin- istration. The administra- tion has issued six sets of regulations loosening the 55-year-old U.S. trade em- bargo on Cuba, but the executive actions could be reversed by a future administration. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who leads in polls three weeks before the presidential election, has promised to con- tinue normalization. Re- publican Donald Trump has pledged to roll back Obama’s policy. Obama visited in March. U.S. Trade Repre- sentative Michael Froman visited this month, as did Dr. Jill Biden, the vice president’s wife. More visits are planned in coming months. “Representatives of the U.S. government are be- ginning to flock to Cuba,” said Dr. Hugh Auchin- closs, deputy director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “There’s every reason in the world for us to be working together.” The meetings are meant to lay the foundation for permanent cooperation between public health of- ficials and researchers in the U.S. and Cuba. The U.S. embargo has prevented virtually all interaction between the United States and Cuba, which has made medical research and healthcare one of the na- tion’s highest priorities since Fidel Castro took power in 1959. 100 Women in Hedge Funds initiates ‘Next Gen’ program 100 Women in Hedge Funds, the industry associa- tion for women in alterna- tive investments, is launching “Next Gen,” a program for professional women with fewer than 10 years’ industry experience, with a confer- ence in the Cayman Islands Thursday and Friday. Next Gen is specifically designed for female profes- sionals in the early stages of their careers, a press release states. “We have been successful in empowering professional women globally across the al- ternative investment and fi- nance industry through edu- cation, access to peer networks and opportunities to give back,” said 100WHF Global CEO Amanda Pullinger. “But we also recognize we need to do more to support and grow the next generation of female leaders in the industry. “The launch of the Next Gen group in Cayman is part of our global commitment to ensuring that we provide this vital support to young women starting out in their careers, so they can better face the challenges and opportunities in the finance industry.” Christina Bodden, a partner at Maples and founding member of 100 Women in Hedge Funds Cayman, said in preparing the program, the association took stock of how many of its 600 members fall into the Next Gen demographic, and how new members eligible for 100WHF Next Gen could be attracted. “100WHF Next Gen is an important part of the overall 100 Women in Hedge Funds organization as we look to grow. The energy and inno- vation of the millennial gen- eration has created a cul- tural shift in the modern workplace. Successful com- panies will need to adjust ac- cordingly to ensure they at- tract, retain and promote this new talent,” Ms. Bodden said. ‘Next Gen Inspire’ The “Next Gen Inspire” event features a career forum to address trending topics for millennial women in business, according to organizers. The event will open with an eve- ning beachfront panel discus- sion and networking cocktails on Thursday at a private resi- dence in South Sound. Confirmed Next Gen In- spire panelists and mentors include Ms. Pullinger; Jackie Doak of Dart Realty Ltd.; Anne Story of DMS Organiza- tion; Pilar Bush of Dart Realty Ltd.; Melissa Wolfe of Better Angle Photography; Ruthanna Young of Renaissance Salon & Day Spa; Sharron Eyers of Le Visage; Steve McIntosh of CML Recruitment; Tara Tvedt of Squarepeg Ltd.; Danielle Young of Shirlaws; Sheena Conolly of Sotheby’s Interna- tional and Colleen Brummer of Energy Essential Fitness. On Friday, the Cayman Is- lands National Gallery will host a half-day career inno- vation forum, designed by 100WHF Next Gen Cayman in partnership with Celebrations for a re-imagined concept of a traditional career conference. Attendance at Next Gen Inspire is capped at 100. The event will kick off the educa- tional and social calendar for Next Gen Cayman, organizers said. Future events include a series of career advancement seminars, fitness classes, per- sonal branding advice and style events. Next Gen members will also have the opportunity to pair with senior professional mentors of 100 Women in Hedge Funds Cayman. 100 Women in Hedge Funds started in 2001 as an industry association for women in alternative invest- ments. It has evolved into an advocate for female career ad- vancement with more than 15,000 members worldwide in 20 locations. In November 2015, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, be- came royal ambassador of the 100WHF Next Generation ini- tiatives and visited Cayman earlier this year. Amanda Pullinger3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 The Riviera hotel closes without warning CHARLES DUNCAN cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Riviera hotel on South Church Street in George Town closed suddenly last week, with a bank giving employees two days’ notice before shut- tering the hotel and bar and forcing out the dive shop by the end of the week, ac- cording to the owner of the dive shop and others familiar with the hotel. Ben Fisher, one of the owners, told the Cayman Compass, “The Riviera has temporarily closed down and expects to reopen later this year under new management.” The reason for the closing is unclear, and Mr. Fisher would not give additional comment. The property, which sits between the towering tanks of the two fuel termi- nals on South Church Street, is listed for sale by Coldwell Banker for US$7.2 million. A pair of lawsuits in 2012, filed by Cayman National Bank, accuse The New Co- conut Harbour Ltd., which owns The Riviera, of owing more than $5 million on the property. An electrical con- tractor filed a third lawsuit in July of this year, alleging the owner owed more than $100,000 for work and to re- fund a downpayment for an apartment at the hotel. The attorney for Cayman National had no comment on the case. The real estate agent selling the property would not give any details on the property; however, The Riv- iera property is under con- tract, according to James Andrews, a hotel-industry analyst with Integra Re- alty Resources. Ash Knight, owner of Go Pro Diving, which had a shop on the property, said a bank representative told them on Oct. 10 that they would have to be out by Wednesday. He said he was able to nego- tiate so they could remain until Oct. 14. He said he has been able to make alternative arrange- ments for his employees and his shop, which was based in a converted metal container in the corner of the property. “A lot of the diving com- munity has pulled together to help us,” he said, and he still has access to classrooms and pools to teach the advanced diving courses his shop specializes in. The Riviera, Grand Cayman, was marketed as a European-style boutique hotel. The first phase of the project included one long building along the property with 15 hotel rooms and 12 apartment units. The second phase never materialized, but news coverage at the time re- ported the plan was for 58 units, two bars, a spa and a fine-dining restaurant. Mr. Fisher told the Com- pass at The Riviera’s 2010 launch party, “What we’re doing here is delivering the next generation of resort for Grand Cayman.” The northern section of the property, slated as the site for a second building, still sits empty. The site for the building is a dirt lot used until recently as parking for the Blue Parrot bar. The Riviera sits on the site of the old Casa Bertmar/ Coconut Harbor dive hotel that dated to the 1960s. In 2001, Hurricane Michelle caused severe damage to the hotel and it remained closed for almost a decade. Mr. Fisher and New Coconut Harbour Ltd., including de- veloper Mike Brown, re- opened the hotel, renovating the old Coconut Harbor building in 2010. Mr. Andrews, with Integra Realty Resources, said that despite the placement of the hotel, facing the ironshore between Cayman’s two fuel terminals, a hotel could make money in the spot. Mr. Andrews said, “It would be feasible to run as a low-cost hotel with a dive shop on the site.” The Riviera hotel closed suddenly last week, giving employees and the dive shop on site days to vacate. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAYThe 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” THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS When Shakespeare opined that “all the world’s a stage,” he couldn’t have anticipated that the elected members of the Legislative Assembly would take him lit- erally. And yet, if anyone was surfing the airwaves Monday and happened to pause on the Cayman Islands Govern- ment Television channel (a long way, indeed, in time and place from the Bard’s Globe Theatre in London), they might have witnessed Education Minister Tara Rivers delivering an hour-long political soliloquy — a stump speech, actually. The content of the speech (let’s be frank) was utterly unremarkable. What was noteworthy, however, was the venue — the floor of the Legislative Assembly. In this instance, Minister Rivers used the proposed Procurement Bill as a staging area from which to launch a verbal assault upon an individual who wasn’t there to defend himself, former Education Minister Rolston Anglin, who is a potential opponent for Minister Rivers in the district of West Bay. In regard to the subject of her oral dissertation, the construction of Clifton Hunter High School, we will simply say that the project was fraught with bad ideas, even worse execution and a complete lack of fiscal restraint, from conception to completion, spanning multiple govern- ments, including both major parties. If Minister Rivers had been content to leave her remarks at that, it would have constituted fair comment. Instead, she elaborated, expostulated and excoriated Mr. Anglin, in particular, rendering her oration off-topic, unfair and unworthy of a parliamentary discussion. We do not understand why House Speaker Juliana O’Connor-Con- nolly did not put a halt to this. That being said, this sort of behavior is far from being limited to Minister Rivers. In fact, all too often, Cayman lawmakers misuse the sanctum of the “People’s House” in order to abuse their personal and political opponents. At other times, legislators meander through less-splenetic but just as irrelevant territory in their floor speeches, for example using their time at the microphone to complain that this cousin, or this constituent, wasn’t hired for this or that position in the public service. We understand the concept of “parliamentary privi- lege” enables lawmakers in the Legislative Assembly to say just about anything they want — no matter how libelous, factually incorrect or inflammatory — behind a nearly impenetrable shield of legal immunity. But just because they can doesn’t mean they should. Compounding the offense, and the offensiveness, is that the lawmakers’ words and actions are being broad- cast via government-owned media entities, for example CIG-TV and Radio Cayman, for direct public consumption (at the taxpayers’ expense, of course). While there no doubt is value in ensuring that Cayman’s population has a “live feed” of their lawmakers creating government policy, that ideal is corrupted when government media are instead used as megaphones to amplify shameless electioneering by the incumbents. As we pointed out in an earlier editorial, this session of the Legislative Assembly is jammed with dozens of bills, many of them complex, technical and substantive. If the Progressives government is truly intent on holding meaningful discussion on these myriads of pages of legis- lation, then the proceedings must be disciplined, germane and with little time carved out even for lunch breaks. Each minute of this session should be deemed precious, not adjudged as an opportunity for political blather, invec- tive and vitriol. Our elected members must understand that the Leg- islative Assembly (and Radio Cayman, and CIG-TV) are arenas for the discussion of public policy — not a stage, podium or platform to defame their opponents with the goal of getting themselves re-elected. The Assembly: Talk about a ‘talk show’! Colleges should encourage a diversity of viewpoints WASHINGTON – A specter is haunting academia, the specter of specters – ghosts, goblins and “cultural appro- priation” through insensitive Halloween costumes. Institu- tions of higher education are engaged in the low comedy of avoiding the agonies of Yale. Last October, the uni- versity was rocked to its 315-year-old foundations by the wife of a residen- tial college master (a title subsequently expunged from Yale’s vocabulary lest it trigger traumas by re- minding people that slavery once existed). In response to a university memorandum urging students to wear cul- turally sensitive costumes – e.g., no sombreros – she wrote an email saying it should be permissible for young people to be inap- propriate, provocative or even offensive because “the ability to tolerate offense” is a hallmark of “a free and open society.” After the dust settled from this, she and her husband left the residential college. And Yale had trampled in the dust the noble legacy of its 1975 Woodward Report. Named for the chairman of the committee that pro- duced it, historian C. Vann Woodward, the report was written after Yale’s awk- ward handling of some controversial speakers. Re- affirming freedom of expres- sion’s “superior importance to other laudable principles and values,” the report said: “Without sacrificing its central purpose, [a univer- sity] cannot make its pri- mary and dominant value the fostering of friendship, solidarity, harmony, civility or mutual respect. ... It will never let these values, im- portant as they are, override its central purpose.” That purpose, as Hanna Holborn Gray, a former pres- ident of the University of Chicago, once said, is not to make young adults com- fortable, it is to make them think. Since 1975, however, universities have embraced the doctrine that speech that offends people actu- ally harms them, mentally and even physically. The de- cision to treat young adults as fragile and perpetually vulnerable to victimization coincided with academia’s turn away from the world: Fifty years ago, student as- sertiveness concerned mo- mentous issues of war and civil rights. Today, students have macro-tantrums about micro-aggressions (e.g., som- breros). Time was, students rebelled against universi- ties acting in loco parentis. Today, they welcome having their sexual and other social interactions minutely sub- jected to government regula- tions administered by Peck- sniffs with Ph.D.s. Fortunately, The Chron- icle of Higher Education re- ports that some schools are having second thoughts about their “bias-response teams” that spring into ac- tion when someone says that someone has said something offensive. These schools have noticed the obvious: When such teams elevate campus harmony to the supreme value, they become civility enforcers with a chilling ef- fect on speech. America’s great research universities are ornaments of Western civilization, so their descent into authori- tarianism and infantiliza- tion matters. Because con- servatives are largely absent from faculties, and conserva- tive students are regarded as a rebarbative presence, many conservatives welcome aca- demia’s marginalization of it- self by behavior that invites ridicule. But universities are squandering the cultural pat- rimony that conservatism ex- ists to conserve. And what happens on campuses does not stay on campuses. According to the Pew Research Center, Amer- ican millennials (ages 18 to 34), fresh from academia, “are far more likely than older generations to say the gov- ernment should be able to prevent people from saying offensive statements about minority groups.” Forty per- cent of this cohort think government should be em- powered to jettison much constitutional law concerning the First Amendment in order to censor speech offensive to minority groups. Gerard Alexander, a Uni- versity of Virginia political scientist, argues in National Affairs quarterly that a uni- versity’s “permanent popula- tion,” the faculty, is secure in the tenure system and main- tains its monochrome intel- lectual culture by hiring from a Ph.D. pipeline that young conservatives are under- standably reluctant to enter. He could have added that faculties’ ideological tenden- cies are reinforced by peer re- view of publications. “Schools,” Alexander notes, “have applied millions of hours of work to the pri- ority of improving racial, ethnic and gender diversity. Viewpoint diversity could be elevated to similar promi- nence and urgency.” This would improve scholarship, especially in the humanities and social sciences. Their re- search concerns economic behavior, the meaning and importance of classic lit- erature, which social prob- lems matter most and the evidence about ways of ad- dressing them, how to eval- uate different ethical po- sitions and legal systems, and which aspects of his- tory most merit study. View- point diversity in faculties would, Alexander argues, at least pit one scholar’s sus- ceptibility to “confirma- tion bias” – the tendency to seek, and be receptive to, ev- idence that buttresses one’s beliefs – against another’s different bias. Academia just now needs a reminder akin to Florence Nightingale’s terse axiom that whatever else hospi- tals might do, they should not spread disease. Univer- sities, as the word suggests, have many missions, but be- coming safe spaces for fac- ulty and student juvenility is not among them. George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2016, Washington Post Writers Group America’s great research universities are ornaments of Western civilization, so their descent into authoritarianism and infantilization matters. GEORGE F. WILL5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 Tributes pour in for beloved Cayman Prep counselor JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The devastated husband of a beloved school counselor who died suddenly last week at the age of 36 has spoken of his heartbreak at losing the love of his life. Karen Doran, a mother of two, died at the Cayman Is- lands Hospital on Oct. 12 after being rushed to the acci- dent and emergency unit with breathing difficulties. She died after suffering complications caused by a blood clot. Since then hundreds of tributes have been paid to a “kind and caring” woman who friends and family say touched the lives of everyone she met. Children at Cayman Prep school, where she worked as a counselor, covered her office in heart-shaped cards, while vol- unteers flying supplies to hur- ricane-stricken Haiti dedicated the relief flight to her memory. Her husband Will Doran, one of the founders of the Cayman Music Collective and a former teacher at various island schools, said he was still in shock. He said his wife had come down with what they thought was a routine bug on Monday last week, but her condi- tion rapidly worsened and he took her to hospital early Wednesday morning. “I went from walking into the hospital with my wife to, four hours later, facing a life- time without her and bringing up our two kids on my own.” The couple has two chil- dren, Caitlin, 9, and Jacob, 7. “The children are old enough to understand that she is not coming back. They are heartbroken, we are all heart- broken. I have lost my best friend and the one person I want to spend my life with. “She was just a gorgeous person, lovely and kind. She was a fantastic mother and the perfect wife.” Mr. Doran said the couple met at university in London in 2000. For both, it was love at first sight. “I asked her to marry me after about 20 hours. It’s hard to explain. I just knew,” he said. They married in 2003 and lived in Liverpool, working to- gether to help set up a school in Zambia before moving to the Cayman Islands, ini- tially to work at St. Ignatius school in 2010. “From the moment she came here, she said she felt like this was her home. She loved the culture and the com- munity, she was involved with everything. Cayman kindness was a reality for Karen and through her it became a re- ality for me.” Through her work as a school counselor, he said, his wife was constantly encour- aging the children to get in- volved in charities, most re- cently for Hannah’s Heroes and the Humane Society. He said his wife was a thoughtful and spiritual person who had lived by the maxim, “Love God above all things and treat your neighbor as yourself.” One of the last things she did before she died was to do- nate food and supplies to the Haiti aid campaign. “I remember being an- noyed on Monday when I was looking for a Chef Bo- yardee lasagna and I real- ized she had cleared the cup- boards and sent everything to Haiti,” he joked. “That’s the sort of person she was. She was always dropping stuff off at the Red Cross or getting involved in a charity fundraiser.” He said her most recent project had been planning a pirate-themed party at their home in George Town for his 40th birthday next month. The couple are well known around Cayman, partly be- cause of Mr. Doran’s work with the Cayman Music Col- lective, an organization he set up with Badir Awe to promote and celebrate local musicians and create opportunities for them to play live. “I feel like a lot of people have got my back,” he said. “The music community has been lovely. I have a group of about 15 friends on What- sapp who have just taken over my life for me. “Right now, I’m in de- spair and I am being carried through by the goodness of the people around me.” Trish Taylor, principal of the primary school at Cayman Prep where Mrs. Doran worked since 2012, said the school had lost a caring, loving, humble and kind pro- fessional, who was loved by students and staff alike. “Although there is great sadness and sorrow at her loss, the outpouring of heart- felt messages and support from the students, staff and parents and the local commu- nity show the joy and love that she brought to all our lives, and we are truly grateful for the time that we had her here as school counselor, colleague, friend and parent,” she said. Ms. Taylor said Mrs. Doran had led the primary school student council and had been instrumental in getting the students involved in raising money for various chari- ties. The school will present a check in her honor at the Na- tional Council for Voluntary Organisations’ annual tele- thon on Friday. Mr. Doran said he was humbled by the love and sup- port shown to his family by their friends and the wider Cayman community. He said the support of An- drew and Danielle Morrison, Justin and Leona Okali, Kunal and Alpa Juneja, Josh and Belle Rice, Miriam Foster, the Cayman Music Collec- tive and Badir Awe, Randy and Charlene Merren, Jason Howard, Ormond Williams, Debra McLaughlin, Trish Taylor and John Lawless was helping him through. “So many people have done so many kind things for us and I want to thank everyone who has been there for us, particu- larly Charlene Merren. At the worst time in my life, she was there holding my hand.” A funeral service will take place at the First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman at 4:30 p.m. Friday. All are wel- come and there will be an op- portunity to make donations to the Haiti relief fund.Will and Karen Doran at a recent event. Students at Cayman Prep primary school have covered Karen Doran’s office in heart-shaped cards. - PHOTO: JAMES WHITTAKER Karen Doran with her two children; Caitlin, 9, and Jacob, 7.DISTRICT DAYS 6 District Days Bodden Town THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS 50 years ago: Education lecture rings familiar tone In the Oct. 19, 1966 edi- tion of the Caymanian Weekly, a precursor of the Cayman Compass, Bodden Town correspondent Haig Bodden wrote: “‘Education is to de- velop mind, body, useful skills, expression and per- sonal relations,’ – so said Mr. John Macpherson during the course of a public lecture arranged by Mr. R.M. Walters, head- master of the Bodden Town school last Wednesday. “Mr. Macpherson said he considered the teaching of West Indian history im- portant. Emphasis should be on the developmental stages of the region. West Indians largely originated from slavery. Then there was emancipation. As it was wrong for man to be- long to another man as property, so it was wrong for a whole country and hence, Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana have champi- oned their independence from Britain. “There is a strong anti- colonial feeling throughout the whole region and he asked if Caymanians are thinking like other West Indians. “Speaking on the topic ‘The role of education,’ Mr. Macpherson said ex- ercises are designed to de- velop the different func- tions of the person. The three ‘R’s’ – reading, writing and arithmetic – were principally to develop the mind to think and solve problems. “He also placed much emphasis on physical education, games and sportsmanship. ‘West In- dians’ he said, ‘should have a wonderful ball sense.’ “Developing his theme, Mr. Macpherson went on to say we live in a scientific age and children should be encouraged to seek out the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of things. He had his audi- ence laughing when he said that people seek the obeah man because they lack the scientific outlook. “Early in the lecture, the speaker asked why par- ents send their children to school. He had several an- swers, summed them up and said jokingly it was to get rid of them, for parents had to work and children were a bother during those times. The main reason ex- pressed by him was that no matter how educated a person is, ‘he cannot teach his own child.’ “Mr. Macpherson, who was on a visit to the is- land, is a research officer of the Institute of Educa- tion in Jamaica. “Mr. Walters presided over the meeting, and at its close the vote of thanks was moved by Mr. Anton Bodden, MLA for this district.” Licensing Department open in Breakers JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com The new Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Li- censing branch is now open to the public at the SouthCoast Plaza in Breakers, Bodden Town. Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The plaza opened on Thursday, Oct. 14, and fea- tures a full inspection sta- tion, registration and drivers’ licensing kiosks offering similar services to the one on Crewe Road in George Town. The department is staffed by five government em- ployees – supervisor Della Henry, vehicle inspector Shawn Solomon and three customer service agents, Keisha Royal, Niuvis Carter and Kevin Powell. Midland Acres resident Michael Chapman said he was pleased that the depart- ment was in the area and he did not have to travel all the way to George Town to li- cense his vehicle. A tire and tire repair shop also opened to the public in the Plaza on Thursday. Located in Breakers, op- posite the South Coast Bar and Grill, the Plaza was built by bar owner Tony Powell. Government leased the facility from the pri- vate owner to house the Li- censing Department. This is the third licensing station for the department – one is located at DVDL’s 990 Crewe Road headquar- ters and the other at 9 Rev. Blackman Road in West Bay, near the police station. The Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing at SouthCoast Plaza, Breakers, is now open to the public. - PHOTOS: JEWEL LEVY Customer Michael Chapman, left, meets the staff at the licensing department.DISTRICT DAYS 7 District Days Bodden Town CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com A group of Northward Prison inmates were in Bodden Town recently, helping to spruce up some outdoor areas. The prisoners car- ried out cleanup work at the Harry McCoy Sr. Park, Nurse Josie’s Senior Centre and Heritage House. As well as tidying up cer- tain areas, the inmates also removed old and rotted thatch from cabana roofs in the park and repainted them white, and trimmed all the trees and plants. “It has been a good thing for the guys, they really come out and focus, and work really hard and they feel appreciated as well, when they give back to the community,” said Paul Lor- raine, manager of the prison’s Release on Temporary License program, which allows the lowest risk inmates to work outside prison walls. The scheme also aims to develop life skills for prisoners by exposing them to the “real world” prior to their release. One inmate removing the dead trees from around the cabanas said the active work kept him busy and he liked to come out and help. “It’s a partnership with the community and we will con- tinue to work with the com- munity since the prison rein- troduced the outwork scheme,” said Mr. Lorraine. In the last three years, he said, the prison has had several groups of low-risk category prisoners go out in the community to carry out projects. They have gone to various places including beaches, community parks, people’s homes, and even the homes of prisoners who are being released and need their homes renovated. Agnes McCoy, a member of the Bodden Town Heritage Committee, said the cleanup was welcomed as some sprucing up was needed so people in the community could sit and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, a sentiment echoed by fellow committee member Caroline Allison. Harry McCoy Sr. Park is lo- cated on Gun Square Road in Bodden Town. The site was founded in 2008 by Bodden Town residents Florence Wood, Betty Wood, Agnes McCoy and Ellen Eden. Adjoining the park is Nurse Josie’s Senior Centre, a tra- ditional Caymanian cottage fitted out with furniture and fixings from the times of old. Inside the house, visitors can view relics more than 100 years old and colorful artwork painted on the walls, giving a taste of the history and people of Bodden Town district. The park site, which covers three-and-a-half acres, also in- cludes a playground and chil- dren’s park. The heritage group has also constructed a stage that can accommodate a band. A gift shop is stocked with memorabilia and artifacts, and there is also a chicken coop, pig pen, outhouse, old-time kitchen and caboose. “We will continue to work with the community since the prison reintroduced the outwork scheme.” PAUL LORRAINE, manager, Release on Temporary License program Deloitte volunteers clear logwood at Mission House JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com Volunteers from De- loitte recently joined the Na- tional Trust for the Cayman Islands to spruce up the outside of Bodden Town’s Mission House. Armed with machetes, chain saws, knives and rakes, the group swapped suits for T-shirts and went to work clearing overgrown logwood from a section of the Mission House grounds on Friday, Oct. 14, the company’s annual “IMPACT Day.” Glen Mernett, team leader of the group, said on IMPACT Day, the De- loitte office closes and staff go into the community to work on a variety of proj- ects. The Mission House project, he said, was orga- nized by Deloitte staffer Krista Hoyles. Projects are chosen by the company’s so- cial committee, headed by partner Cindy Hislop. Paul Watler, National Trust environmental pro- grams manager, and field officer Stuart Mailer as- sisted the group with cut- ting down the big trees and placing them on a truck pro- vided by the National Trust. According to Mr. Mailer, logwood is an invasive spe- cies once cultivated for dye making that is harmful to na- tive vegetation. The Trust is attempting to remove it from all of its properties so plants that truly belong will have room to grow. “On behalf of the National Trust, we would like to thank the group of volunteers. It was a great effort, they worked hard and made a big difference,” Mr. Mailer said. Deloitte partners Mike Penner and Nick Kedney were also on hand in Bodden Town Friday, joining with company staff on the volunteer projects. “Helping the National Trust is something we enjoy doing and we’re glad to make a difference,” Mr. Penner said. Mr. Kedney said the his- toric Mission House is one of his favorite places on the island. “It’s a beautiful peaceful spot and I love coming here,” he said. “We are keeping it tidy, removing the bush from out back, so that it can be preserved for future visitors and locals to enjoy.” “We would like to thank the group of volunteers, it was a great effort, they worked hard and made a big difference.” NATIONAL TRUST FIELD OFFICER STUART MAILER Prisoners clean up fallen coconut branches. An inmate removes thatch from a roof. The prisoners carried out cleanup work at the Harry McCoy Sr. Park, Nurse Josie’s Senior Centre and Heritage House. - PHOTOS: JEWEL LEVY Deloitte volunteers hack fallen logwood limbs outside Bodden Town’s Mission House. The group spent several hours cleaning up the historic site. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVY Prisoners work for a good causeThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 • CAYMAN COMPASS Cayman AIDS Foundation Run2Zero Proceeds benefit Cayman Aids Foundation www.caf.ky Proceeds benefit Cayman Aids Foundation www.caf.ky SAVE THE DATE RUN. WALK. SAVE LIVES. RUN. WALK. SAVE LIVES. October 23rd, 2016 Smith Cove - South Sound Walk or Run - 5k & 10k CI$25 Walk or Run - 5k & 10k CI$25 Sign up at CAF Office or Cayman Active. Tee shirts to the first 100 to sign up! www.caf.ky for more information. Sign up at CAF Office or Cayman Active. Tee shirts to the first 100 to sign up! www.caf.ky for more information. Sponsored by daily sessions start with breakfast and throughout the day there are speaker sessions, coffee breaks and networking, followed by evening cocktails. The conference opens at 4 p.m. on Thursday with a 45-minute session by sponsor BritCay, followed by registra- tion from 5-5:30 p.m. After- ward, Premier and Minister of Health Alden McLaughlin will deliver opening remarks. In his formal introduction on the www.healthcareconfer- ence.ky website, the premier described the conference’s “chapters” theme as “partic- ularly appropriate” as local healthcare services continue “to grow and expand,” en- suring “we can take care of all persons at each stage of life.” After some additional re- marks, Dr. C. James Hosped- ales will address “Writing the Next Chapter: Achieving Goals for a Healthier Caribbean Re- gion.” Dr. Hospedales is execu- tive director of Trinidad’s Ca- ribbean Public Health Agency, founded in 2010 to pool re- gional research on public health and boost cross-juris- diction efforts to counter such broad threats as chikungunya and the Zika virus. After another session closes out the formal sec- tion of the first day, there will be a cocktail reception spon- sored by Cayman’s Ironshore Pharmaceuticals and Develop- ment at 7:15 p.m. Starting at 7:45 a.m. with registration and breakfast, sponsored by Miami’s public health trust Jackson Interna- tional, sessions begin at 8:30 a.m., when Dr. Verna Brooks McKenzie, women’s health consultant with the Jamaica government, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the North American Menopause Society, and 2016 documentary film- maker, will speak on “Women’s Menopausal Health.” She will be followed at 9:30 a.m. by fellow Jamaican Dr. Fitzroy Henry, of Kings- ton’s University of Technology, speaking about nutrition in an overview titled “Nutrition: The Preface to a Healthy Life.” A 15-minute coffee break, sponsored by Cayman’s Well- ness Centre, offers a short hi- atus before Toronto author and educator Michael Reist speaks on “Promoting Emo- tional Health Through Child- hood and Adolescence,” ad- dressing parental roles helping children and adoles- cents face unique stresses. Mr. Reist will explore strategies to help achieve a “balance be- tween freedom and structure in parenting, and how to help kids negotiate their way in a competitive world dominated by screens and technology.” Barbadian Sophia Chandler Alleyne, child psychologist at the Cayman Island’s Hospital, will speak at 11:50 a.m. on the critical problem of child abuse: “Victims or Survivors: Possible Outcomes Over the Lifetime of Those Who Have Experienced Childhood Trauma.” “Violence and trauma can have serious and long-lasting consequences for children’s physical and mental health” and can “last right through their lifetime, robbing them of the opportunity to live their best life,” she says. High-profile West Bay res- ident, founder of the “Blue Spot” campaign for handi- capped motorists and mother of a “differently abled” son, Chelsea Rivers will next de- tail her family’s experience in a talk titled “Children with Disabilities: When Hugs and Band-Aids are not Enough.” She will discuss how the “chapters of a healthy life” may be dramatically different for those “differently abled,” espe- cially as regards the health- care, insurance and educa- tional industries. Closing Thursday’s roster of speakers is Canada’s Dr. David Greenberg, looking at men’s health under the title “Development and Implemen- tation of Men’s Health Guide- lines for Family Practice and The Alpha Male/How to Care for the Man Who Doesn’t Think He Needs Your Care.” In an entertaining and in- cisive hour, Dr. Greenberg will analyze his efforts to counter common ailments – and broad cultural assumptions – beset- ting almost 8 million over-40 Canadian males. Thursday will be capped by three two-hour breakout sessions offering attendees a chance to circulate, ask ques- tions and interact with con- ference speakers and ex- pert panelists. Between 3:15 and 5:15 p.m., the three panels will discuss “Tech-ing up Your Health,” moderated by the Health Ser- vices Authority’s Dr. John Lee, leading discussion among Mr. Reist, Dr. Kyu Rhee of IBM and Stephanie Deer of Kansas City-based health-informa- tion technology services sup- plier Cerner Corp. The “Saving Face: Teeth, Eyes & Ears” discussion will be led by Cayman Islands Hospital CEO Lizzette Year- wood, and feature Dr. Naude Dreyer of the Merren Dental Center, Dr. Eugene Foley of Foley’s Eye Clinic and Dr. An- nette Stephenson of Cayman Hearing Center. The third panel, “Under- standing the Ageing Brain,” will be led by Ministry of Health Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn, and staffed by Dr. Hospedales, Saturday speaker Louis Tenenbaum of Cana- da’s Homes Renewed/Aging in Place Institute, and Dr. Romnesh de Souza of Cay- man’s Alzheimer’s and De- mentia Association. On the final day, Mr. Tenen- baum will address “Ageing in Place,” followed by Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Dr. Colin Higgs speaking on “A New Approach to Increasing Population Physical Activity.” Closing speaker will be Dr. Wael Barsoum of Flori- da’s Cleveland Clinic, sum- ming up the conference and offering his own reflections in his talk titled “The Chap- ters of a Healthy Life: Change Your Chapter by Modifying your Behavior.” Pinnacle Media Ltd., a major sponsor of the event, will be introducing at the conference its new publica- tion, the “Cayman Health Di- rectory 2017.” All attendees are invited to stop by the Pin- nacle booth and display to receive their free copy. Education Law approved JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A new Education Law rad- ically revising the outdated legislation underpinning the island’s school system has been approved by lawmakers. The law was unanimously approved after an extended discussion in the Legisla- tive Assembly on Tuesday and Wednesday. It outlaws strapping, en- shrines the National Cur- riculum in law, creates the framework for the creation of charter schools and es- tablishes an independent schools inspection unit called the Office of Education Quality Assurance. It also establishes a legal basis for the authority of the Minister of Education, bringing the law in sync with the constitution. Premier Alden McLaughlin said the old law had been in place effectively since the 1970s and had not been amended to reflect the changes in the system since that time. He said the new legislation was based largely on the education moderniza- tion law which was passed in the last days of the pre- vious Progressives adminis- tration, but never enacted by the United Democratic Party government that followed. Education Minister Tara Rivers said it enshrined in law some of the key princi- ples and policies of the edu- cation system, including the requirement for early child- hood education and to pro- vide technical and voca- tional training. She added that it also brought the law up to date with modern practices in the education system, cor- recting an imbalance between the law and estab- lished procedure. “The bill seeks to ensure that the practice, manage- ment and regulation of edu- cation are guided by and en- shrined in a solid legislative footing, correcting technical breaches of the law whereby the practices and policies of education have not been in keeping with what the cur- rent and essentially decades old law calls for. “This legislation repre- sents a comprehensive pro- vision for education from the cradle to the grave, starting from early child- hood care and education to post-compulsory edu- cation, tertiary and tech- nical vocational education and training.” By legislating on key points like the national cur- riculum and oversight and inspections, she said, the law sought to provide an underlying framework that would make the key tenets of the system resistant to election cycles. “This legislation will provide a substantive framework from which all policies, programs and ini- tiatives should emanate to ensure persons of all abili- ties are provided for.” Addressing the issue of publicly funded but privately run schools, similar to U.S. charter schools, which some legislators, including inde- pendent MLA Winston Con- nolly have advocated for, she said the law made that type of arrangement possible. “This bill specifically provides the legislative framework that it is essen- tial to have before you can talk about partnerships in governance going for- ward,” she added. Zika numbers continue to grow CHARLES DUNCAN cduncan@pinnaclemedialtd.com One new case of locally transmitted Zika was re- ported by public health officials on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed local cases to 19. A total of 10 cases of overseas transmission have been confirmed. Dr. Samuel Williams-Ro- driguez, Cayman’s leading public health official with the Health Services Au- thority, said Cayman has had an additional 230 sus- pected cases of Zika that were not confirmed by lab- oratory tests. Two of the local Zika cases have been pregnant women. Zika causes mild or no symptoms in most cases. The 20 percent of people with Zika who do show symptoms may experience a rash, low-grade fever and muscle pain. The main con- cern is for pregnant women. Zika is known to cause se- vere birth defects in babies born to infected women. The Public Health De- partment has been hosting town hall meetings across Grand Cayman to answer residents’ questions in each of the island’s districts. The next meeting will be at Sir John A. Cumber Primary School Hall, West Bay, on Tuesday, Oct. 25. The department has ad- ditional meetings planned for the North Side Civic Centre on Nov. 1, and at the East End Civic Centre on Nov. 8. All meetings will be from 5:30-7 p.m. Record attendance expected at national healthcare conference CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Dr. C. James Hospedales will be one of the speakers at the first day of the conference.The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2016 to businesses to create new jobs,” he said. Mr. McLaughlin said in some ways Cayman has be- come a victim of its own economic success with re- gard to processing immigra- tion applications. He said the number of work permit ap- plications is at “an all time high,” along with 1,200 plan- ning applications being filed since May 2015. In both areas, the “sheer number” of applications has slowed mat- ters somewhat. “But this is a good indi- cator of the confidence in Cayman that businesses have since this government took office,” Mr. McLaughlin said. With regard to the grants of permanent residence for longtime non-Caymanian workers, the premier indi- cated that this matter con- tinues to be a “vexing” issue for all involved. Close to 900 people are awaiting word on permanent residence appli- cations filed since late 2013, but an August 2015 court judgment threw into ques- tion a number of areas con- cerning how application ap- provals are being handled by government. The government has ob- tained a consultant’s report to assess the 2015 Grand Court judgment, but has not stated what it would do with the report’s suggestions or what course it might take in changing Immigration Law in response to the concerns raised by Chief Justice An- thony Smellie. “There is no sinister reason for the advice remaining con- fidential at this stage,” Mr. McLaughlin said, adding that “relentless” attempts by the Cayman Compass to obtain the advice through an open records request had made it more difficult for him to even discuss the matter pub- licly “as it may be claimed that we have waived the legal professional privilege that we have asserted with respect to this advice.” “All I can do is crave the patience of those awaiting their applications to be pro- cessed,” the premier said. “The government takes this matter most seriously.” Financial services The premier also pledged that the current Progressives- led administration would seek to approve a revised ver- sion of the Legal Practitioners Bill, which sets out a modern regulatory framework for lawyers in the territory. The legislation is seen as a key piece to advance Cay- man’s financial services in- dustry, but an attempt to pass it through the current meeting of the Legislative As- sembly failed due to polit- ical pressure. “Although we have de- ferred the bill to the next meeting of the House in Jan- uary in order to give inter- ested parties more time to consider the bill and make representations to govern- ment, I want to assure all concerned that this govern- ment is determined to pass a modern, effective law to bring the regulation of legal practice in the Cayman Is- lands into the 21st century,” Mr. McLaughlin said. The premier also pointed out that Cayman has largely settled difficulties over the reporting of beneficial own- ership information for local companies and trusts in re- cent months, and that local company registrations have done “quite well,” partially due to a new Limited Lia- bility Company Law the terri- tory enacted this year. Local unemployment has dropped steadily over the past several years, the pre- mier said, from a high of 10.5 percent in 2012 to about 5.7 percent this spring. “We cannot be satis- fied until every Caymanian willing and able to work has an opportunity to do so,” the premier said. “Being Caymanian is not an auto- matic qualification for a job. But certainly every Cayma- nian who is willing and able to do a job must have the op- portunity to get employment.” Elections Mr. McLaughlin refer- enced local politics signifi- cantly more in Wednesday’s speech than in past ad- dresses to the Chamber audi- ence, noting that this was the last chance he would have to address the local busi- ness organization as a whole before the May 2017 gen- eral election. He offered some advice to local business leaders: “Elec- tions have consequences.” “There are those that walk and talk about the need to elect independent can- didates, crowing that the party system has failed the country,” he said. “I am not sure what party they are re- ferring to, but in terms of this government and the out- comes that we have obtained, I think it is true to say that the party system can work. “There are those who, based on their rhetoric, ap- pear not to understand that the country will not prosper if business does not do well. And business cannot prosper if the country does not prosper.” Immigration scam witness claims she paid 32K for status grants CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A woman who paid $32,000 for what she believed would be legitimate grants of Caymanian status told the court on Tuesday that she had a meeting with McKeeva Bush and his attorney. Norma Richards was giving evidence in the trial of Paul Anthony Hume Ebanks, who has pleaded not guilty to obtaining a total of $167,400 from various complain- ants, mostly by falsely rep- resenting that a specific sum of cash was required as pay- ment for a legitimate grant of Caymanian status. Mrs. Richards, who de- scribed herself as “Cayma- nian by paper,” said she was aware of grants of status in 2003 when Mr. Bush was Leader of Govern- ment Business. In April 2012, she heard about a scheme concerning grants of status and spoke to her friend Earldine O. Gordon about it. Ms. Gordon earlier told the court that the defen- dant had convinced her of the scheme’s legitimacy and she agreed to recruit people for it. Mrs. Richards said Ms. Gordon told her the scheme was “legit.” The witness said she paid Ms. Gordon $2,000 on behalf of a family member. She was not sus- picious because she had previously dealt with Ms. Gordon, who she said was honest and sincere. Mrs. Richards did not ac- tively recruit anyone to pay for status, but she did men- tion it to someone who gave her money on behalf of other applicants. She ended up handing over a total of $32,000. She understood that the first batch of status grants would be in October that year, but by the end of 2012 there was no progress, only promises. “At that point, there was some disturbance in govern- ment with the premier and I was told there was going to be a delay,” Mrs. Richards told the court. Crown prosecutor Toyin Salako asked if then-premier Mr. Bush had any involve- ment in the status scheme. The witness replied, “Not to my knowledge, but his name was called.” After Mr. Bush was ousted from office in De- cember 2012, Mrs. Richards said she became concerned but Ms. Gordon assured her there was nothing to be worried about. In January 2013, Mrs. Richards received a phone call from a man who said he was calling from Peter Gough’s office. She did not know who Mr. Gough was. Thinking she was the female family member who had paid for status, the man told her, “Congratulations, you’ve been granted Caymanian status.” The man gave her a date to come to the Government Ad- ministration Building for a ceremony for status. About two hours later, she received another call from the same person, who told her that a male family member, for whom she had paid $2,000, had also been granted status. She called Ms. Gordon, who told her other people had also phoned her to say they had received the same congratulatory call. Later in her evidence, Mrs. Richards said she did not know of Ebanks’s involve- ment until July 2013. After speaking with him on that occasion, she concluded that Ebanks’s voice was the voice she heard in the congrat- ulatory calls. She noted that the man had called back to say there was a change in how status would be granted: it was going to be sent by registered mail. Asked what she received in registered mail, Mrs. Rich- ards replied, “Nothing. I’m still waiting.” After nothing happened, she decided she wanted a refund. Around May 2013, Mrs. Richards phoned the United Democratic Party office to speak to Mr. Bush. She got an appointment and met him and his lawyer, who she did not name, at the lawyer’s of- fice on South Church Street. Her husband went with her. She said she was ad- vised by the lawyer to get her money back from Ms. Gordon. She said Mr. Bush pointed out that a person had to be in Cayman for a number of years and submit docu- mentation to apply for status. He said he had no part in the scheme she described. When she said she was going to the police, the lawyer cautioned her, but Mrs. Richards said she had done nothing wrong and was not afraid. She said the lawyer re- plied, “You two little Jamai- cans – you go to the police, they will put handcuffs on you.” She said he indicated that she would be arrested on some conspiracy charge. After that meeting, she did not go to police, but called Ms. Gordon again, de- manding a meeting with other people who had been collecting money for status. That meeting took place in July 2013. Present were Ms. Gordon, her sister Margaret McLaughlin, and Siri Rus- sell (all of whom have given evidence). Also present were two Jamaicans and Ebanks. She said Ebanks explained to her that he was contacted by the “big boss McKeeva,” and he was the person to re- port to Mr. Bush. Mrs. Richards demanded her money back and Ebanks admitted he had received the money from Ms. Gordon. He said if he gave it back, he might not get it again when the certificates were presented. He explained that Deputy Governor Franz Manderson was going to be acting governor later that month when the governor left the island, and as acting gov- ernor he would be the person to sign the certificates. Mrs. Richards said Ebanks later arranged to meet her to give her money back, but he did not keep the appointment. Police con- tacted her in October 2013 and she subsequently gave a statement. She said she was paid back $2,000, but did not specify from whom. Defense attorney Laurence Aiolfi suggested she was mis- taken about Ebanks being the man who called to offer con- gratulations about receiving status. Mrs. Richards replied, “I’m very certain.” Cayman dollar now nearly equal to pound sterling BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com With the U.K. pound falling sharply twice since the June 23 vote to separate from the Euro- pean Union, Cayman Is- lands currency is now worth almost as much as the Mother Country’s. According to currency conversion data avail- able Wednesday, CI$1 was worth 99 British pence, a roughly one-to-one ratio. The Cayman Islands dollar is pegged to U.S. currency, not the U.K.’s. The Brexit vote sent the U.K. pound to its lowest levels against the U.S. dollar since 1985. Cayman Islands London Office chief Eric Bush said the U.K. cur- rency appeared to be ral- lying on Wednesday, but that local officials were bracing for a “further blow” if Prime Minister Theresa May invokes Ar- ticle 50, the formal, legal separation from the EU. In a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Cayman Wednesday, Pre- mier Alden McLaughlin noted that the territory was “watching the evo- lution of Brexit” and was optimistic that “in the sea of uncertainty that is Brexit, the Cayman Islands is an increas- ingly attractive place to live, work, invest and do business.” Premier: Cayman booming, but immigration issues unresolved BRITISH POUNDUS DOLLAR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Next >