SECTION | PAGE ## TITLE FOR THE SPORT/ BUSINESS SKYBOX FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS Saba’s ‘Seadrift’ exhibition Revered artist reveals his latest works B2 Furever Hollywood The Cayman Islands Humane Society brings Tinseltown to the Marriott B4 Food & Drink Events Events St. Paddy’s Day St. Paddy’s Day Shamrocks, shillelaghs and pints of Guinness take center stage. B7 Slow Food Day at Camana Bay Chef Clare Smyth, MBE, and chef Will O’Hara from Abacus cook up some plans B3 Team trades balls for chips to raise funds for tour B6 www.babichwines .co.nz Excellence Through Experience www.babichwines .co.nz Excellence Through Experience www.babichwines .co.nz Excellence Through Experience www.babichwines .co.nz Excellence Through Experience STOLI FLAVOURS 2 for $56 Until 31 July Registered Merchant of CaymanGiftCertificates.com SAVE ALMOST $5. Regular $13.99 each. Fine Wine and Spirits TORTUGA 15 stores island-wide and Mary Lou’s in Cayman Brac. For more information, please call 949-7701. 2for$28 Month of March only Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Cayman Rugby 7s Casino Night FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS CAYMAN WEEKENDER St. Paddy’s Day EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 POLICING IN CAYMAN: GETTING THE WORD OUT High of 81 Low of 74 Seas: Rough with wave heights of 5 to 7 feet. Small craft warning is in effect. ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 75 CENTS – FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 Also Available RED BAY SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA Fewer police now than in 2007 New commissioner discusses RCIPS revamp BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service has about 10 fewer police officers now than it did a decade ago, according to figures exam- ined by the Cayman Compass. Police Commissioner Derek Byrne said during an exclusive interview with the Com- pass this month that the service now has 356 uniformed officers, not including civilian staff members. In August 2007, then-Commissioner Stuart Kernohan told the Compass the force had 365 officers and likely needed to increase its staff at that time. Plans to significantly boost police staff are proceeding in the current budget year, and Commissioner Byrne said he has authorization in the spending plan to hire about 40 more officers. “We haven’t gone to government looking for anything yet,” said the commissioner, who joined RCIPS on Nov. 7, 2016. “At some stage, when we’re talking about specialist [positions], we may have to. But I really don’t want to go to them until I know exactly what we need.” Mr. Byrne, a 36-year veteran of Irish na- tional police force An Garda Síochána, has spent quite a bit of time “hitting the books” since his arrival, reviewing the present capa- bilities of the RCIPS. He said he is being de- liberate before making any long-term po- licing strategy decisions, but he has come to a few early views. “The underpinning principles of a good po- lice service are sound, which is good – you have something to work with,” he said. “Do we need to modernize and move forward … to be- come a 21st century police service? Yes, we do. LAWMAKERS TRY AGAIN ON LAWYERS BILL COMPROMISE BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com For the second time this week, Cayman Islands lawmakers suspended the public meeting of the Legislative Assembly to com- mence a private parliamentary session in at- tempts to “reach consensus” on the Legal Prac- titioners Bill. Efforts to compromise in a closed-door meeting Monday afternoon failed when oppo- sition MLAs did not show up for the sched- uled talks. East End MLA Arden McLean said Wednesday evening that he felt that meeting was not a genuine attempt at negotiation and that other individuals who were not members of parliament – including the chief justice – had been invited to participate to assist in in- forming the debate. The thorny piece of legislation, which has received support from the Progressives-led ad- ministration but which has been vehemently rejected by opposition and independent law- makers, has now been the subject of assembly debate for more than a week. It seeks to update a 48-year-old law and set ground rules for law firms that practice Cayman Islands law in overseas jurisdictions. The bill also seeks to create a self-governing council of lawyers and sets requirements for the hiring and promotion of Caymanian, lo- cally trained attorneys. During earlier legislative debates Wednesday, angry words were hurled around the assembly chamber as Premier Alden McLaughlin accused opposition lawmakers of using delay tactics to stall and eventually de- feat the bill which they had said will cement Coral nurseries thrive in Grand Cayman waters KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com Coral nurseries floating in Grand Cay- man’s coastal waters have performed better than expected, according to reports from dive groups. Sea of Change Foundation adviser Jerry Beaty said the nurseries have propagated 700 feet of coral since they were set up in April 2016. The growth has been double that of initial estimates. “They are doing better than any of us ex- pected. We wouldn’t have put our hopes up quite this high,” Mr. Beaty said. “To get that much growth that quickly was pretty amazing. When it took off the way it did, we were very cautious.” Sea of Change, a U.S.-based organization, donated money and coordinated training through the Coral Restoration Foundation to set up Grand Cayman’s four coral nurs- eries, which primarily grow staghorn coral. The Grand Cayman nurseries have been managed by local divers from Ocean Fron- tiers, Sunset House, Cayman Eco Divers PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 15 » Divetech’s Jo Mikutowicz works on a coral nursery at Lighthouse Point in Grand Cayman. - PHOTO: DIVETECH PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 14 » Little Cayman’s marine research center receives anonymous $500,000 donation – see Page 112 LOCAL&REGIONAL FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS 945-2290 • West Shore Center, Seven Mile Beach • 10am to 10pm Eat-in!Take-Out! ON THE Wood Roasted Marinated Chicken Mac & Cheese Honey Glazed Sweet Potatoes Tarragon Carrots Caribbean Style Cornbread $ 29.95 EASTER WEEKEND April 14th - 17th Global Services Int'l Immigration Services Call us for all your Company Registration Annual Returns Trade & Business License Work Permits Application Caymanian Status Permanent Resident Call 946-1080 or visit us at 180 Shedden Road, Unit 2 Introducing Kelly Cosmetologist Haircut, relax, color, natural hair, Braiding & weave, extension, microlink, Jerricurl, locking, wigs, crochet braid, eyelash extension and waxing Mon – Thur 9am – 6pm Fri – Sat 9am – 7pm Opening Hours The Edge Plaza, Unit #4 #6 Ashgo St., Godfrey Nixon Way call: 949-0252 blushessence@live.com Health officials say HIV false negatives from isolated cases The Health Services Au- thority provided addi- tional information Thursday about three recent cases of false-negative HIV results from private clinics in the Cayman Islands. The three cases occurred between July 2015 and July 2016, and were unrelated, public health officials said. In each case, the indi- vidual originally tested pos- itive at a private clinic and the results were sent to the Public Health Department. Upon consultation with a second private clinic, the patients received neg- ative results. As is standard fol- lowing positive test results, the patients were re-tested at a Health Services Au- thority facility and the re- sults were confirmed by Integrated Regional Labora- tories in Florida. “We categorically reaf- firm that the patients, all healthcare providers in- volved, the Health Practice Commission and other rel- evant stakeholders were in- formed immediately of the results by the Acting Med- ical Officer of Health,” the Health Services Authority said in the release. “We take this opportu- nity to reassure the public that these are isolated cases and by no means undermine the quality of care offered in the Cayman Islands by both public and private health- care providers.” Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Samuel Wil- liams-Rodriguez said there is no concern about using private clinics and that patients should be tested where they feel the most comfortable. “If anyone has a con- cern that there has been a false negative, they could check with their doctor to make sure they used a reliable test,” he said. Dr. Williams-Rodriguez and the Health Services Au- thority are currently con- sulting with government to improve HIV-testing recommendations. The Authority has en- couraged clinics to utilize tests approved by the World Health Organization. The Health Services Au- thority coordinates free HIV testing every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Red Cross in George Town. Antigua Guatemala rolls out flower carpet for Easter ANTIGUA GUATEMALA, Guate- mala (AP) – The rising sun has not lit up the cobblestone streets of this colonial city yet, but people of all ages are busy covering them with brightly colored sawdust mo- saics and carpets made of flowers and fruits. Many have worked over- night on these elaborate mas- terpieces that will disappear in a couple of minutes under the feet of dozens of men car- rying in procession a 3-ton religious float. Whether shouldering massive sacred images or decorating the streets where they will pass, the people of Antigua Guatemala create one of the world’s most daz- zling and moving displays of Easter devotion. That makes early spring an ideal time to visit this vol- cano-ringed city that looks remarkably as it did 500 years ago when it was the capital of Spain’s Central American empire. Easter festivities kick off the fifth Sunday of Lent – April 2 this year – with the first procession revering Je- sus’s passion. A group of 90 “cucuruchos,” as the purple- robed and hooded volun- teers are called, shoulders a block-long wooden float at the parish of San Bartolome Becerra at 6 a.m. Every 100 yards on the 7.5-mile route, a new group will relieve the sweating, swaying men, until the an- tique sculpture of Jesus falling under the weight of the cross has made its way through the city center. There are approximately 9,000 car- riers. Some are from Antigua but they also come from across Central America and even from the United States, with Guatemalans living elsewhere coming home for the celebration. It will be 1 a.m. the next day before the last group deposits the float back at San Bartolome, said Hiram Salazar, spokesman for Her- mandad de Jesus Naza- reno de la Caida, the Cath- olic confraternity in charge of this procession first re- corded in 1902. As the float inches its way on top of the first green, yellow and red carpet, a hush comes over the crowd squeezed against white- washed houses to let the cucuruchos walk through. Incense mixes with the fra- grance of crushed trop- ical flowers and candlewax wafting from small chapels. By Easter Sunday, these scenes are repeated as a dozen other processions carry sacred images past Antigua’s crimson and gold single-story homes, arcaded palaces, tree- lined plazas, and monumental churches and convents like the canary yellow, sculpture- filled La Merced. In the past few years, hundreds of thousands of visitors descended on An- tigua for Easter festivities. But if you go early enough in the morning, the streets still belong to two teenagers perched on a wooden plank patting down violet saw- dust or a man fashioning a large cross of red rose petals among a giant square of white calla lilies and pink snapdragon blossoms. TOMPKINS CONSERVATION DONATES HUGE NATIONAL PARKS TO CHILE SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) – Tompkins Conserva- tion signed an agreement with Chile’s government Wednesday to donate 1 mil- lion acres for new national parks in the largest private donation of its kind for the South American nation. Chilean President Mi- chelle Bachelet signed the deal with Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, the widow of American conservationist Doug Tompkins, who built a legacy protecting threat- ened ecosystems in Argen- tina and Chile. “This is a key step to treasuring this giant source of biodiversity and safe keep it in the public in- terest,” Bachelet said at a ceremony in southern Chile. The agreement will provide land to create three new national parks, expand three existing national parks and unite some na- tional forests into two na- tional parks. Bachelet is ex- pected to sign the decrees to create the parks before she ends her presidential term in March 2018. The proposal will eventu- ally help create the “Route of Parks,” a network of 17 parks spanning more than 1,500 miles from Puerto Montt to Cape Horn. In all, the plan ultimately seeks to increase Chile’s national parkland by more than 10 million acres. Tompkins Conservation said the area that will be pro- tected is three times the size of the United States’ Yo- semite and Yellowstone na- tional parks combined. “If anyone has a concern that there has been a false negative, they could check with their doctor to make sure they used a reliable test.” DR. SAMUEL WILLIAMS-RODRIGUEZ, acting medical officer of health This March 22, 2015 file photo shows a block-long, intricately designed carpet made of colored sawdust on a cobblestone street in Antigua, Guatemala. - PHOTO: GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO VIA APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS DAVID R. LEGGE AND VICKI L. LEGGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DAVID R. LEGGE EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will findtheirownway” FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS WASHINGTON – When he was Ronald Reagan’s secre- tary of state, George Shultz was once asked about the CIA’s disavowal of involve- ment in a mysterious recent bombing in Lebanon. Replied Shultz: “If the CIA denies something, it’s denied.” Has there ever been a more dry, more wry, more ironic verdict on the world of espionage? Within it, there is admission and denial, smoke and mirrors, impenetrable fog and deliberate obfusca- tion. Truth? Ask the next guy. Which is why my default view of espionage is to never believe anyone because ev- eryone is trained in decep- tion. This is not a value judg- ment; it’s a job description. We learn, for example, from last week’s spectacular WikiLeaks dump that among the CIA’s various and ne- farious cybertools is the ca- pacity to simulate intrusion by a foreign power, the equiv- alent of planting phony fin- gerprints on a smoking gun. Who are you going to believe now? I can assure you that some enterprising Trumpite will use this revela- tion to claim that the whole storyline pointing to Rus- sian interference in the U.S. election was a fabrication. And who was behind that? There is no end to this hall of mirrors. My rule, therefore, is: Stay away. Hard to do with Wash- ington caught up in one of its periodic conspiracy fren- zies. Actually, two. One, anti-Donald Trump, is that he and his campaign col- luded with Russian intelli- gence. The other, anti-Barack Obama-CIA-”deep state,” is that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower to ensnare candidate Trump. The odd thing is that as of today, there is no evidence for either charge. That will not, of course, stop the launch of multiple all-consuming investigations. (1) Collusion: James Clapper, Obama’s director of national intelli- gence, who has been deeply and publicly at odds with Trump, unequivocally states that he has seen zero evi- dence of any Trump cam- paign collusion with Russia. Nor has anyone else. The contrary suspicion arises because it’s hard to explain why Michael Flynn falsely denied discussing sanctions with the Rus- sian ambassador and why Jeff Sessions falsely de- nied having any contacts at all. That suggests con- cealment. But there was nothing inherently inappro- priate with either behavior. So why conceal? Suspicion, nonetheless, is far short of assertion – and a fairly thin basis for a major investigation, let alone for a special prosecutor. To prose- cute what exactly? (2) Wiretap: The other storyline is simply fantastical. Congres- sional Republicans have uniformly run away from Trump’s Obama-wiretap ac- cusation. Clapper denies it. FBI Director James Comey denies it. Not a single- member of Trump’s own administration is willing to say it’s true. Loopier still is to demand that Congress find the truth when the president could just pick up the phone and instruct the FBI, CIA and DNI to declare on the re- cord whether this ever oc- curred. And if there really was an October 2016 FISA court order to wiretap Trump, the president could unilater- ally declassify the informa- tion yesterday. The bugging story is less plausible than a zombie inva- sion. Nevertheless, one could spin a milder – and more plausible – scenario of exec- utive abuse. It goes like this: The intelligence agen- cies are allowed to listen in on foreigners. But if any Americans are swept up in the conversation, their part of it is supposed to be re- dacted or concealed to pro- tect their identity. According to The New York Times, how- ever, the Obama administra- tion appears to have gone out of its way to make sure that information picked up about Trump associates’ contacts with Russians was as widely disseminated as possible. Under Obama, did the agencies deliberately abuse the right to listen in on for- eigners as a way to listen in, improperly, on Americans? If they did, we will find out. But for now, all of this is mere conjuring. There is no evidence for either the collu- sion or the wiretap charge. We are headed down a rabbit hole. An enormous amount of heat and energy will be ex- pended, ending – my guess – roughly where we started. What a waste. There is a major national agenda waiting to be debated and enacted. And there is trouble be- yond the cozy confines of the capital that needs to be con- fronted. Self-created crises can leave us distracted, spent and unprepared when the real thing hits. It’s unquiet out there. North Korea keeps testing missiles as practice for at- tacking U.S. bases in Japan. Meanwhile, we are scram- bling to install an antimis- sile shield in South Korea as early as next month. Fuses are burning. When the detonations begin, we’d better not be in the rabbit hole. Charles Krauthammer’s email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com. © 2017, The Washington Post Writers Group It’s hardly newsworthy (or even noteworthy) that this newspaper and its parent company, Pinnacle Media, enthusiastically and vocally support our local police. We take this stance, not blindly or unreservedly but in the belief that other than the beauty of our beaches and the allure of our sea, the greatest attraction of these islands is their safety and security, both of which contribute greatly to quality of life for our residents and attractiveness to our visitors. Whenever the tranquility of our shores are under threat, by aggressive and threatening “dirt-bikers,” for example, this newspaper speaks up loudly – and repeatedly. Our image, when it comes to law and order, must be matched by our reality. Nevertheless, neither we, nor our recently arrived Police Commissioner Derek Byrne, are myopic about the challenges that the RCIPS currently faces. In a wide-ranging interview on Page One of today’s Compass, Commissioner Byrne speaks to the need to modernize the department he leads, as policing here, and indeed everywhere, faces issues that were unknown in earlier times – such as cybercrime and sophisticated financial wrongdoing. Moreover, shortcomings of the family unit, the education system, and social services are putting increased burdens on our police. At the same time, respect for “the uniform” by both the public and too many politicians is diminishing. In recent weeks, this newspaper has reported incidents where police have been shot at, assaulted and spit upon. Gun crime, although rare in comparison to the region, is com- mitted with a regularity that would have been unimagi- nable in Cayman only a few years ago. Commissioner Byrne is not naïve when it comes to dealing with, as President Trump might say, “bad hombres.” He spent 36 years in the ranks of An Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. In his short time with the RCIPS, he has become known among his fellow officers as fair, “by-the-book” – and tough. He also is a committed proselytizer for the gospel of grassroots “community policing.” He recognizes that one of the shortcomings of his department is lack of follow-up with victims of crime as their cases continue to be investigated and eventually enter the justice system. We agree, but would go further. We in the media can and do work in partnership with the police, but we ought not be the surrogate voice of the RCIPS. We report on crime – but only when we learn of it through the RCIPS or our own sources. Currently, the spokesperson for the police, Jacqueline Carpenter, gets high grades from those of us who work with her on a daily basis. Commissioner Byrne also gets acco- lades for being open and accommodating whenever we encounter him, including at major crime scenes. However, we would urge even more openness and transparency from the RCIPS. In our newsroom, almost all of our reporters have on their CVs a stint covering police in jurisdictions around the world. It’s part of the “rite of passage” for a reporter. Most police departments make available to the media an accounting of all crimes reported or investigated in the previous 24 hours. Cayman should adopt this practice. We don’t want to over-emphasize crime in this jurisdic- tion, but we don’t want to underreport it either. In any event, we particularly subscribe to Commis- sioner Byrne’s worthy goal of fashioning a department where young Caymanians enthusiastically pursue careers in law enforcement. It’s a necessary – and noble – profession. Policing in Cayman: Getting the word out Going down the conspiracy rabbit hole Charles KrauthammerKrauthammer Self-created crises can leave us distracted, spent and unprepared when the real thing hits.The islands’ most-trusted news source 5 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 6 LOCAL NEWS FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS Samuel Jacques-Cloutier brings more than 11 years of business banking experience, helping corporations finance new projects, equipment purchases and commercial real estate transactions. In his role as a relationship manager, and commercial lender, Samuel has helped thousands of companies from service, manufacturing, and or retail sectors adapt and grow to meet new challenges. He works around a business owner’s schedule, meets shareholders at their place of work, and endeavors to leverage the vast resources of RBC to help his clients. His track record in commercial lending and corporate banking, will be of tremendous benefit as he assists clients in the achievement of their business goals. Samuel holds a bachelor’s in Economics from the University of British Columbia in Canada, is trilingual and is currently pursuing a Certified Risk Manager certification. For more information about RBC’s business banking products and services, call 914-8273 or 925-6126 or email Samuel at Samuel.jacques-cloutier@rbc.com Samuel Jacques-Cloutier Relationship Manager, Business Banking It’s All About You www.rbc.com/caribbean, ®/™ Trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence Canadian boxing champion teams up with Health City Health City Cayman Is- lands has picked up Ca- nadian boxing cham- pion Steven Wilcox as its sports ambassador. Mr. Wilcox, known as “The Piranha,” holds the North American Boxing Association title for super lightweight. He turned professional in 2012 and claimed the title of Canadian lightweight champion in 2013. Mr. Wilcox is from Ham- ilton, Ontario, where Health City Cayman Islands has an office to assist Cana- dian patients. He visited Grand Cayman in January for the Is- land Rumble boxing show- case, hosted by World Boxing Organization wel- terweight super champion Manny Pacquiao. Mr. Wilcox became in- volved with Health City at that time, when he toured the facility and was in- troduced to the cardiac program, Have a Heart Cayman Islands. After the January show- case, Mr. Pacquiao teamed up with the Have a Heart pro- gram through his Philippines- based charity, Emmanuel and Jinkee’s Heart Foundation. Mr. Wilcox said he was moved by the trip, in part due to his personal experience. He often fights to benefit the Robbie Wilcox Foundation, which honors his brother, who died from brain cancer at the age of 7. “I lost my older brother at a very young age to brain cancer. The Wilcox family is dedicated to helping char- ities supporting children with healthcare needs. Have a Heart Cayman Islands is an amazing organization that we will be supporting at our hometown title belt events,” Mr. Wilcox said in a press statement. Mr. Wilcox comes from a family of boxers. His father, Bob Wilcox, runs the Steel- town Boxing Club in Ontario. Three of his brothers are cur- rent Canadian boxing cham- pions and one is a profes- sional boxer. Mr. Wilcox’s next fight is March 18. Boxer Steven Wilcox meets with children at Health City Cayman Islands to received heart surgery. – PHOTO: WILBIGNALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM CAYMAN HEART FUND’S ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM NEXT WEEK The Cayman Heart Fund will host its 10th annual In- ternational Symposium at the Marriott resort next week. The symposium will bring together several international speakers, with presenta- tions by doctors specializing in heart disease from the Cleveland Clinic, Holy Cross, JMH International, Memorial Global Health and the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Insti- tute, part of Baptist Health South Florida. According to a press re- lease, speakers will share in- formation about the latest research, technology and advancements in preven- tive cardiovascular medi- cine on Thursday, March 23, from 5-9 p.m. Cayman Heart Fund Vice Chairwoman Dr. Bella Beraha will deliver the opening message. Dr. Charles Russo from Holy Cross will give a pre- sentation on “Advanced Car- diac Therapeutics in a Com- munity Hospital Setting.” He will be followed by Dr. Robert Cubeddu of the Cleve- land Clinic, who will discuss “Interventional Therapies for Stroke Prevention.” Pediatric cardiac sur- geon Dr. Steven Bibevski of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, part of Memorial Healthcare System, will elab- orate on “Innovative Thera- pies in Congenital Heart Sur- gery” and will share insights about a case study from the hospital. Dr. Constantino Peña of Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute will give an “Up- date on the Treatment of Ar- terial Disease.” The final speaker of the evening will be Dr. Courtney Cummings from the Cayman Islands Health Services Au- thority, who will give a pre- sentation on “George Town Hospital Stroke Protocol.” Dr. Bibevski said in the press release, “We are very fortunate to have an ex- perienced group of ex- perts who gather together in search for ways of inno- vating treatments while de- livering compassionate care to our patients.” The Cayman Heart Fund invites the medical commu- nity to register for the con- ference and receive 4.5 Con- tinuing Medical Education Certificates. To register, visit www.surveymonkey. com/r/8SS3L5Y. For more information, visit www.caymanheartfund.com or contact info@caymanheartfund.com or 916-6324.7 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 Data Protection Bill revival surprises lawmakers BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Another oft-debated and much-maligned proposal – the Data Protection Bill – suddenly appeared before Cayman Islands lawmakers Wednesday, in the midst of their ongoing debate over the controversial Legal Prac- titioners Bill. The data legislation, which seeks to regulate specific pro- tections of personal privacy rights and which instructs private sector businesses and government agencies on how they must handle personal re- cords, was put before the Leg- islative Assembly last April and later withdrawn. Two previous attempts to pass data protection legisla- tion failed to make it to the House floor, largely because of an uproar from the Cayman business community after its members eyed the cost of im- plementing such a plan for their operations. Moreover, Acting Informa- tion Commissioner Jan Li- ebaers said last spring that the current draft of the Data Protection Bill would likely fail any European Union “ad- equacy test” it was measured against. This, Mr. Liebaers said, is due to a lack of in- dependence for the govern- ment official charged with implementing and enforcing data protection. Under the current legis- lation, the information com- missioner would be respon- sible for that implementation and enforcement, but that of- fice is proposed to be placed under the direction of a “super ombudsman” post – a person not yet appointed. The proposals creating that ombudsman position are also due to come before the Legislative Assembly in the current meeting. Lawmakers have only eight more regular business days to conclude all proposals be- fore the Legislative Assembly is dissolved ahead of the next general election. On Wednesday, the Data Protection Bill was read and set down for debate later in the meeting. East End MLA Arden McLean questioned how the measure, which had been ob- jected to during previous public reviews, had changed since it was brought before the assembly nearly a year ago. Amendments forthcoming Attorney General Sam Bulgin said the bill had not been amended. However, Mr. Bulgin said, it was the govern- ment’s intention to propose a number of amendments in leg- islative committee in response to the concerns received. Those amendments have not been made public. A similar process is on- going with the Legal Prac- titioners Bill, which was brought before the assembly in October and which re- appeared during the cur- rent meeting. Close to 200 amendments were proposed for that bill. Mr. Bulgin did not indi- cate how many changes were being considered for the data protection legislation. At the heart of Cayman’s continued efforts since 2009 to formulate some sort of personal data protection re- gime is a push by the territo- ry’s financial services sector to obtain “adequacy status” – as determined by the Euro- pean Commission – for per- sonal records. “In the EU … you’re only allowed to export personal data to a country that pro- vides adequate protection [of that data],” Mr. Liebaers said during an interview last year. Without obtaining that adequacy status, multina- tional companies that wish to do business with European entities – which in financial services terms, generally in- volves customers’ sensitive financial and personal de- tails – must either create le- gally binding corporate rules or potentially be shut out of that business. The issue has obvious ram- ifications for the future of the financial services industry here, which has been seeking inroads to European markets for a number of years. If the Data Protection Bill is approved by local law- makers, a group of EU regula- tors known as the “Article 29 working group” would have to come to Cayman and review its data protection processes, write a report to the European Commission and essentially state whether the territory has adequate privacy protections. Mr. Liebaers said the ad- equacy status requirement has been the subject of some legal battles between the U.S. and Europe in recent years and that many countries out- side the EU do not maintain that status, including the U.S., China and India. All three British Crown de- pendencies, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man have achieved EU adequacy status with regard to privacy protec- tion. None of the British over- seas territories have enacted similar legislation, although Mr. Liebaers said both Cayman and Bermuda have gone “far down the road” with the issue. Changes The Data Protection Bill applies to everyone in the Cayman Islands, public and private sector alike, as well as entities outside the is- lands that have certain data processing functions here. Mr. Liebaers said several key changes to the proposal have been made since its last iteration in the bill pre- sented to lawmakers in April 2016, most notably that a re- quirement for government to maintain a register of all “data controllers” – those who handle personal infor- mation – has been dropped. In addition, certain pro- tections have been put in place for companies or public entities that mishandle per- sonal data, to allow them to make representations in their own defense to the in- formation commissioner/data protection commissioner. Violations of the data protec- tion requirements can cost up to $250,000 in fines, ac- cording to the bill. If the legislation is ap- proved, its timeline for im- plementation is some- what unclear. Mr. Liebaers said certain sectors of Cay- man’s business community are “ready to go” with re- quirements contained in the legislation while others, typi- cally smaller “mom-and-pop” operations, may find the data protection requirements to be “new to them.” Also, the Informa- tion Commissioner’s Of- fice will likely need addi- tional funding and staff to put in place training and ed- ucation programs before the onset of the law.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS The Family Of The Late Condolences can be registered at boddenfuneralservices.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page. Conrad Rutkowski regret to announce his passing on Sunday, 5 March 2017. A funeral service will be held 3:00 PM Saturday 18 March 2017, at Cayman Islands Baptist Church, Pedro Castle Rd. Interment will follow in Garden of Reflections Cemetery. In lieu of flowers please makes donations to Cayman Hospice Care. The Family Of The Late Condolences can be registered at boddenfuneralservices.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page. Berkley Kelly regret to announce his passing on Thursday, 23 February 2017. Funeral services will be held at the 90&9 Outreach Ministries Church, West Bay, Sunday 19 March 2017 at 2:00 P.M. Viewing will take place from 1:00-1:45 PM. Interment will follow in West Bay Cemetery. We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Neptune Sylvester affectionately known as “Ned” of George Town, Grand Cayman, who passed away on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. A Thanksgiving Service will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2017 at 10:00a.m. at St. George’s Anglican Church, off Eastern Avenue. Viewing will be from 9:00-9:45a.m. Interment follows at Prospect Cemetery. We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Neptune Sylvester affectionately known as “Ned” of George Town, Grand Cayman, who passed away on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. A Thanksgiving Service will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2017 at 10:00a.m. at St. George’s Anglican Church, off Eastern Avenue. Viewing will be from 9:00-9:45a.m. Interment follows at Prospect Cemetery. We have been asked to announce the passing of St. George’s Anglican Church, off Eastern Avenue. Condolences can be registered at: www.churchillsfuneralhome.com Persons needing transportation to the funeral for Mr. Berkley Kelly can take advantage of free bus service. A Webster’s bus will be leaving from Pease Bay at noon on Sunday and making the following stops Cox in Pease Bay, Gas station by BT. Public Beach Northward Junction. Prospect (McRuss store) Crewe Road Eastern Avenue (Saxon Insurance area) Condolences can be registered at: www.churchillsfuneralhome.com We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Melvin Welcome affectionately known as “Mello” of Honduras and George Town, Grand Cayman, who passed away on Thursday, March 2, 2017. A Thanksgiving Service will be held on Sunday, March 19, 2017 at 3:00p.m. at Church of God (Universal), Walker’s Road. Viewing will be from 2:00-2:45p.m. Interment follows at Prospect Cemetery. “It’s an unarmed po- lice force, with an armed response capability. It’s a citizen-based approach to po- licing. Community is at the center of what we do.” Successes While the numbers show the police are down in staff compared to a decade ago, Mr. Byrne said this does not necessarily reflect the view that there “aren’t enough cops on the beat.” It is in the specialist areas of financial crime, cyber- crime, public relations and community/neighborhood policing where some of the additions are needed, he said. When it comes to serious, violent crime or fraud-re- lated cases, Mr. Byrne said the RCIPS has been able to celebrate some big wins in the past year. Convictions of financial fraudster Canover Watson, high-profile thieves Michelle Bouchard and Robert Aspinall, and Cay- man’s most infamous former university president, Hassan Syed, were noted. “I was very pleased with the [Hassan] Syed case,” Mr. Byrne said. “That was a complex technical fraud in- vestigation and we got it over the line.” Meanwhile, a police “crit- ical incident response” to a West Bay hostage situation in recent weeks likely saved the lives of several commu- nity members after a deadly shooting in broad daylight outside a bar. Mr. Byrne said the reso- lution of that incident was down to community policing, an alert 911 operator and po- lice officer Orlando Mason, whom the suspect knew and to whom he eventually agreed to turn himself in. Without the intervention of Officer Mason, the commis- sioner said, there might have been more than one homicide victim at the scene. “[That suspect] asked for a particular officer,” Mr. Byrne said. “It’s an example of how someone in the community will make the link.” Areas for improvement If the RCIPS wants to con- tinue to improve its relations with the community, it must beef up its community/neigh- borhood policing presence. Currently, six police con- stables with one supervising sergeant are assigned to community policing duties as their primary responsibility. That involves a number of tasks, but generally these of- ficers are the face of the po- lice service in the neighbor- hoods who walk the beat, know the residents and keep up with the goings-on. “I’d say that maybe 10 per- cent of your total uniform strength should be commu- nity policing officers,” Mr. Byrne said. “It can’t be a token gesture.” Ten percent of the cur- rent RCIPS staff would be around 35 officers. The de- partment has about 2 per- cent of the force assigned to the task now. “We’d like to be doing more with the schools, the skate park initiative, but when there’s a murder or major crime, it’s all hands on deck,” Mr. Byrne said. “We have good capacity to in- vestigate major crimes be- cause we tend to put all our resources into it. But that doesn’t happen when the burglary victim is out there saying ‘I’m isolated.’” The commissioner ac- knowledged that crime vic- tims are too often left un- informed, and that is something officers need to be better trained in. “If someone comes to us with a complaint, we should be able to deal with it effi- ciently and we should be able to keep the victim updated on progress to a conclusion, and that’s not happening in all cases,” he said. “I get as much positive feedback as negative feedback. Sometimes we have to focus on the nega- tive rather than the positive. But it’s in the public domain that we haven’t always been victim-focused.” Training review The need for training goes beyond improving com- munity policing efforts, Mr. Byrne said. “The standard of our [criminal] files going over to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions can cause concern on some occa- sions,” Mr. Byrne said. “That may require us to extend our training.” Right now, trainee po- lice officers who do not have prior experience in the field must participate in a 16-week training course. If that is suc- cessfully completed, they are made probationary police of- ficers for two years before be- coming full-fledged officers. Mr. Byrne said he may look at extending the training course to around 22 weeks, but that he does not believe RCIPS officers necessarily need to be university gradu- ates in order to draft a proper criminal complaint. “[Deficient reports] are not something that should manifest itself in the po- licing environment,” he said. “We have created additional problems for ourselves by not turning up in court … we can’t blame anyone else on this.” Other, more specialized skills needed to bring the po- lice service into the modern era also need to be addressed. The RCIPS has no formal unit to receive and investi- gate cybercrime. Some, but not all, of those matters can be dealt with by the Finan- cial Crime Unit or through the Family Support Unit, the com- missioner said. “As crime becomes more global and more complex, you need more specialism … that’s where I think the growth [in the police force] is going to come from,” he said. “And they may not be all uni- formed police officers.” Statistics for cybercrime are not recorded on RCIPS quarterly crime reports; gen- eral crime is not listed in each policing district. “People are starved of in- formation in regard to their police service. Not my police service, their police service,” the commissioner said. Traffic matters Traffic enforcement, par- ticularly whether police of- ficers need to hand out cita- tions for every infraction, is another key issue Mr. Byrne has identified. “The question for me is, are we over-prosecuting?” Mr. Byrne said. “If we decide that someone has a minor trans- gression and our frontline approach all the time is pros- ecute, prosecute, prosecute, we’re not using that tool of discretion that we have.” Most residents in Cayman will interact with police only in traffic situations, and officers often underesti- mate the importance of that first contact. “If they run into a po- lice officer who’s shouting at them through the window, what’s the effect of that?” he said. “Our message is that [officers] shouldn’t act brusquely. I have written to some officers about com- plaints I’ve received about ar- rogance in dealing with some members of the community.” This translates into an- other community policing issue, although a longer-term one, Mr. Byrne said, where an officer’s first contact with a young person can sway that person’s general view of po- licing and RCIPS officers. “We’re trying to recruit young Caymanians into the police force. They have to have a reason they want to join,” he said. Of the RCIPS’s 356 ac- tive police officers, 163 are Caymanian and 193 are non- Caymanian. In the civilian section of the force, there are 44 Caymanians and 19 non-Caymanians. Mr. Byrne said the po- lice service has left the cur- rent recruitment class open to encourage more local offi- cers to join, but right now it appears most of the 40 new hires will come from overseas, given the level of interest ex- pressed locally. “We’ve got to try and get the people who are genuinely interested in [policing] and we’ve got to improve the envi- ronment that we’re in. There’s no reason a young Cayma- nian man or woman shouldn’t want to be a police officer in their country.” Fewer police now than in 2007 Police Commissioner Derek Bryne Volkswagen exec remains jailed in emissions cheating case DETROIT (AP) – A judge on Thursday refused to set a bond and release a German Volkswagen executive who was arrested in the compa- ny’s U.S. emissions scandal while on vacation in Florida. Oliver Schmidt’s attor- neys said he was willing to risk $1.6 million in assets, with help from family and friends, to persuade a judge that he would stay in the Detroit area and return for subsequent court hearings. But prosecutors successfully argued that he has no ties to the U.S. and would be out of reach if he flees to Germany, his home country and the headquarters of Volkswagen. “This is a very, very se- rious case,” U.S. District Judge Sean Cox said. The decision means Schmidt will remain locked up while his criminal case moves through court. He’s one of seven VW employees charged in a scheme to cheat emissions standards on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles in the U.S. Five others also are German citizens, but they might never appear in a U.S. court because Germany does not extradite its citizens. Schmidt has pleaded not guilty to charges of con- spiracy and fraud. Until 2015, he was the manager of VW’s environment and engineering office in suburban Detroit. He’s accused of lying to U.S. regulators by saying tech- nical problems – not cheating software – were to blame for the difference in diesel emis- sions in road and lab tests. Volkswagen pleaded guilty last week and has agreed to pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties, on top of billions more to buy back cars. Cox has not ruled yet on the proposed $2.8 billion criminal fine. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2017 Doctors at seminar tout potential of medical cannabis JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cannabis has enormous poten- tial to help treat a variety of condi- tions which currently have no cure, according to two experts in the field who gave an educational seminar to around 200 people at the Lions Centre on Wednesday night. Dr. Ethan Russo, a U.S. neurolo- gist and cannabis researcher, and Dr. Dustin Sulak, who runs a med- ical marijuana practice in Maine, discussed the history of the herb as a treatment for various ailments and suggested politics, not sci- ence, has prevented it from being more widely used. Dennie Warren, who successfully campaigned for the legalization of cannabis oil for medicinal pur- poses in Cayman, also spoke at the event and called for further changes to the law to allow the plant to be grown here. He said Cayman could better manage the quality and availability of cannabis if it grew it on island rather than being restricted by the laws of exporter countries. Though the law in Cayman was changed in November last year and an import certificate for cannabis oil has been approved locally, is- sues remain around the legality of exporting it from the countries that grow the product. Dr. Russo told the Cayman Com- pass in an interview that the restric- tion on exporting cannabis from the U.S. is unfortunate. “The export ban is a huge problem. We have certain types of cannabis that would be extremely medically useful and that I would love for you to have here, but we have no method by which to export them. “Additionally, from a business stance in the States, it makes no sense at all because we are basi- cally ceding this aspect of business to other nations.” Even within the U.S., he said, there are a number of “well inten- tioned” regulations that restrict the ability of healthcare professionals to use cannabis to its full extent. Despite those concerns, he said, the health benefits of cannabis are becoming more broadly accepted by the medical community. He said there is a cannabis- based medicine that is an ap- proved pharmaceutical in 29 countries, while other applica- tions of the plant, including as a potential treatment for certain types of cancer, are going through clinical trials. The categorization of cannabis as an illegal drug in most countries has prevented more widespread re- search to date. He added, “There is a tremen- dous amount of theoretical knowl- edge about cannabis and a tremen- dous amount of animal work that supports that, [and] there have been clinical trials in certain conditions, and there is a great body of anec- dotal knowledge about efficacy for a variety of conditions.” He said the experience in the U.S. has shown that liberalization of cannabis laws has not led to greater abuse. “It has lost some of its cachet – when something is medicine, it is not as attractive as a recreational drug,” he added. He said legalizing cannabis oil, rather than legalizing the smoking of the herb, as Cayman has done, is more effective medically and easier to control from a regula- tory standpoint. “People understand this isn’t as severe a problem as they expected. “Particularly in a regulated market, the chances for abuse are much lower – as people understand this, I think attitudes will change and it will be better for everyone.” “The export ban is a huge problem. We have certain types of cannabis that would be extremely medically useful and that I would love for you to have here, but we have no method by which to export them.” DR. ETHAN RUSSO, neurologist and cannabis researcher Dr. Ethan Russo talks to the crowd at the Lions Centre on Wednesday. - PHOTO: JAMES WHITTAKERNext >