ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 High of 90 Low of 77 Seas: Rough with wave heights of 4 to 6 feet. Small craft should exercise caution over open water. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 FEW WINNERS IN CAYMAN’S ‘LIZARD LOTTO’ SPORTS | PAGE 17 CAYMAN BODYBUILDER HEADING TO PRO ELITE COMPETITION Ministers’ plan splits law enforcement roles Premier heads immigration, human resources portfolios BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Progressives-led coalition govern- ment has divided responsibilities for dif- ferent law enforcement agencies among two government ministries, one led by Premier Alden McLaughlin and the other by Min- ister Tara Rivers. Under a newly created Ministry of Human Resources, Premier McLaughlin will take Min- ister Rivers’s former Employment Ministry, along with the Immigration Department and financing responsibility for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. Minister Rivers will take the remainder of the Ministry of Home Affairs, including respon- sibility for fire services, prisons, prisoner reha- bilitative services and drug treatment services. She will also take over former Minister Wayne Panton’s role as Minister for Financial Services. Mr. McLaughlin said Tuesday that the di- vision of responsibilities under Home Af- fairs and Human Resources ministries sig- nals the new coalition government’s intention to enact wholesale immigration-labor re- form this term. “[We intend to] create a human resources department that deals with all aspects of em- ployment in Cayman,” Mr. McLaughlin said. “I don’t expect it’s that difficult an exercise … I certainly want it done before the end of this calendar year.” Mr. McLaughlin, who will also oversee the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Community Affairs, said he has essentially taken on three government ministries in what’s expected to be his final term in local politics. “I think all of the ministers are happy with their new roles, except me,” he joked at a press briefing in the Government Administration Building Tuesday morning. Minister Rivers, in addition to the new law enforcement responsibilities she now holds, LOW IGUANA CULL NUMBERS CONCERN ENVIRONMENT CHIEFS JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Environment officials are rethinking their iguana-control strategy after a weak return in the first month of a planned community cull. Just 1,437 iguanas were culled in May, compared with nearly 20,000 during three weeks of test culling last year. Fred Burton, the Department of Environ- ment’s terrestrial resources manager, said the strategy, which involves a mix of contracted hunters and volunteer cullers, is not working. “It is quite clear that the scale of operation needed to take care of this in any meaningful way is going to be way bigger than what we are doing at the moment,” he said. He said his personal view is that profes- sional contractors would need to be hired on full-time contracts for several years at a price that made it worth their while. The reason for the low numbers of iguanas culled so far, he said, is that many of the con- tractors have other jobs and were culling spo- radically in their spare time. The relatively low $2 per head bounty on iguanas, compared with $5 during testing last year, also proved a deterrent, he added. Though 29 people or busi- nesses have signed on for the cull, just three groups are responsible for the majority of the iguanas caught so far. Interest in the community raffle has been even less, with just nine people signed up to take part. Mr. Burton said, “It was an idea to see if it would catch on, and it clearly hasn’t caught on. We may have underestimated how reluc- tant the average person would be to wrestle Police: 15 shots fired in gang retaliation BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com At least 15 shots were fired at a home in George Town’s Scranton neighborhood early Saturday morning, including one that hit the mattress of a sleeping resident in what po- lice said was an attempted gang retaliation. One man was ar- rested Tuesday in connection with the shootings. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service received two re- ports of shots being fired early Saturday, one on Myles Lane in Scranton and an earlier shooting in the vicinity of a Mary Street bar. Police said it appeared the shooters from the bar fol- lowed their intended victim to the home on Myles Lane and opened fire. No one was hurt in either in- cident, but Police Commissioner Derek Byrne said the two shoot- ings caused officers concern about a “dramatic escalation” in gang tensions on the island. “The indiscriminate shooting at this residence shows an utter disregard for life, and those responsible for it are a clear danger to the commu- nity,” Mr. Byrne said. “Such firearm violence cannot be tol- erated, and we are responding firmly to the threat posed.” Following two police opera- tions involving CID detectives, firearms units, K-9 and the Air Operations Unit Tuesday, po- lice arrested a 24-year-old man from West Bay on suspicion of attempted murder and posses- sion of an unlicensed firearm in connection with Saturday’s shooting incidents. Saturday’s gunfire comes PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » Armed police officers take part in an operation Tuesday on Lariat Road, off Frank Sound Road, in the wake of gang-related violence over the weekend. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVY2 LOCAL&REGIONAL WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS Daily Matinees Every Day $8.00 Seniors, Mon-Fri Before 6pm Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS 3D (PG) 1:20 I 4:00 2D I 6:20 2D EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING (PG13) 12:40 I 3:00 I 5:20 I 7:40 I 10:10 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (PG13) 12:45 I 3:45 I 6:45 I 9:45 BAYWATCH (R) 1:20 I 4:05 I 7:15 I 10:05 WONDER WOMAN 3D (PG13) 12:45 I 4:10 VIP I 7:30 2D VIP I 8:45 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES 3D (PG13) 1:00 2D VIP I 3:30 I 6:30 2D I 9:25 - WEDNESDAY - 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. *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. 640-FILM (640-3456) Visiting Gynecologist will be available for consultation at Dr. Vivek's offi ce at Smith Road Plaza from 1-16 June, 2017 For appointments please call (345)945-6077 +1 (345) 323-7840 www.drbarryrichter.com A roundabout way of fundraising Energetic volunteers – and a large spotted dog – take a leap Tuesday morning at the Island Heritage roundabout on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway as the annual Island Heritage CharityDrive gets under way. Three charities are chosen each year as recipients of money raised. On Tuesday, Cayman Animal Rescue Enthusiasts, known as CARE, was represented. On Wednesday, it will be Cayman Islands Little League’s turn, and on Thursday, the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre will be the focus of attention. For every car that passes the roundabout, Island Heritage donates $1 to the charity of the day, up to $10,000 per charity, plus a $5,000 bonus for the charity with the most support on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Ocean science could bring Cuba, US closer together (AP) – Cuba, the ecolog- ical crown jewel of the Ca- ribbean, harbors thousands of the region’s endemic spe- cies and about half of its coastal ecosystems. It is rare to find comparable ecosys- tems or such rich biodiver- sity anywhere in the Carib- bean, and perhaps in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba also is inextricably linked to its neighbor coun- tries, especially the United States. While these two na- tions have been adversaries for more than 60 years, their common backyard is an ocean filled with limited shared resources. Since December 2014, when then-President Barack Obama ordered the restora- tion of diplomatic relations with Cuba, both governments have taken steps to improve cooperation, including agree- ments to work together to pro- tect some of the Caribbean’s most important coral reefs and marine sanctuaries. Now, however, the Trump adminis- tration reportedly is planning to slow or halt at least some U.S. engagement with Cuba. Connected waters Cuban waters provide vital spawning and nursery grounds for snapper, grouper and other marine species that are commercially im- portant in the United States. Cuba is also a major stopover point on migration routes for many North America birds. When Jorge Alberto An- gulo-Valdes, a Cuban ma- rine biologist and visiting research scholar at the Uni- versity of Florida, tagged and tracked longfin mako sharks with colleagues from Florida, they found that they ranged into territorial waters around Cuba, the United States, the Bahamas and Mexico. Other scientists have reported sim- ilar results for species in- cluding manatees, sea turtles and fish larvae. Since the U.S. govern- ment relaxed restrictions on American travel to Cuba in 2015, Cuba has experienced an explosion in international tourism. Expanding tourism and related development, combined with long-standing poor management of reefs and fisheries and economic scarcity, could have major impacts on the waters that link the two countries. Although Cuba’s coastal habitats are in fairly good condition, its fish popula- tions are heavily exploited and threatened by commer- cial and private subsistence fisheries, Angulo-Valdes says. More than 80 percent of its fishery resources are in crit- ical condition. In many coastal commu- nities, for example, small pri- vate fishermen depend on fish for subsistence and also supplement their incomes by selling fish on the black market. Pressures on targeted species such as tarpon and bonefish are believed to be substantial, but currently no data are available to quantify the extent and magnitude of impacts on fish populations or ecosystems. Cuban agriculture does not presently rely on exten- sive use of synthetic fertil- izers, pesticides or other ag- ricultural chemicals. This means that pollu- tion and over-fertilization, which produces large blooms of algae and “dead zones,” may not be major threats to its fisheries and ma- rine ecosystems. FORMER BRAZIL MINISTER ARRESTED HOURS BEFORE KEY TRIAL BEGINS RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – A former tourist minister and ally of embattled President Michel Temer was arrested on Tuesday, increasing pres- sure on Brazil’s top leader hours ahead of an electoral court trial that could push him from power. The high-profile arrest also came just a day after federal police sent Temer a list of questions in a sep- arate criminal probe that involves him. Last month, a recording emerged that apparently captured Temer endorsing hush money to ex-House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, another former ally. Cunha is serving a 15-year prison sentence for corruption and money laundering. Temer has denied wrongdoing and has vowed to stay in office in the face of increasing calls for him to step down. “Temer is hanging on by the skin of his teeth,” said David Fleischer, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Brasilia. The latest developments in Brazil’s ongoing political crisis began early Tuesday when former Tourism Min- ister Henrique Eduardo Alves was taken into cus- tody on allegations of cor- ruption related to the con- struction of a 2014 World Cup stadium in Natal. Globo News captured images of Alves being ar- rested by federal police. Of- ficials held a news confer- ence later where they laid out allegations that Alves and Fred Queiroz, Natal’s secretary of public works, received bribes from major construction companies. Alves, a former speaker of the lower Chamber of Deputies, was tourism minister under President Dilma Rousseff and Temer, who assumed the coun- try’s top post last year when Rousseff was re- moved for illegally man- aging the federal budget. Alves left the minister posi- tion soon after Temer took power in May 2016. Later Tuesday, the Supe- rior Electoral Court was to begin the judgment phase of a trial involving allegations that the 2014 Rousseff- Temer ticket received illegal campaign financing. The court is expected to meet for three days and could make a ruling this week. If the court decides that the ticket did receive illegal campaign financing, as sev- eral plea bargains have sug- gested, what’s left of Temer’s mandate would be annulled. The high-profile arrest also came just a day after federal police sent Temer a list of questions in a separate criminal probe that involves him. A U.S. Navy diver is pictured off the coast of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. - PHOTO: U.S. NAVY3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 FREE ADMISSION Register Online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NMJLMGF WhEN: Friday, June 9th, 2017 TIME: 5:00 pm Registration and Refreshments 6:00 - 9:00 pm Presentations LOcATION: St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine, Leeward Building 3, Hippocrates Hall SpEAkERS & TOpIcS: John Greskovich, MD - Cleveland Clinic Florida Radiation Oncologist Saving Lives with Innovative Radiotherapy Technologies Thomas Samuel, MD - Cleveland Clinic Florida Oncologist Emerging Strategies in Breast Cancer Risk Assessment and Treatment Kimon Bonadie, MD - Oncology Surgeon Management of DCIS: Current Controversies and Future Directions Hosted by: State-of-the-Art Breast cancer Strategies and Innovations in Radiation Therapy and Radiosurgery a CME Symposium Whirlwind year for CI London office Terror attacks, political uncertainty in U.K. BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com In between periodic wel- fare checks on nearly four dozen students living in the greater London area fol- lowing Saturday night’s terror attacks, Cayman Is- lands London Office Director Eric Bush was trying to keep tabs on the snap elec- tion scheduled for Thursday in the U.K. – the results of which could have serious consequences for Cayman. It’s been that kind of year for the overseas office. “The U.K. has been any- thing but stable over the last 11 months,” Mr. Bush said Monday. “It’s a been a wild ride. I’m just trying to tra- verse through it.” Mr. Bush said so far there have been no reports of the 45 students living in the greater London metro- politan area having been in- jured or directly affected by Saturday’s attacks. Seven people died and at least an- other four dozen were in- jured when a van rammed into pedestrians along London bridge. U.K. Met police said three men jumped from the van and carried out stabbing at- tacks in the nearby Borough Market before they were shot dead by police. Mr. Bush said he had been in Borough Market earlier on Saturday with his wife, children and a family friend. Show of respect Flags were flying at half- staff Monday at all Cayman government buildings out of respect for the victims of the attacks – the third by terror- ists in the U.K. in the past three months. In March, a man drove a car into pe- destrians on Westminster Bridge. Last month a suicide bomber targeted an Ariana Grande concert at Man- chester Arena. More than 30 people were killed in the three attacks. “Since we had the at- tack on Westminster, we’ve put safety protocols in place with the staff. They’re all to report in on WhatsApp as soon as possible,” Mr. Bush said. “We’ve also put volun- tary protocols in place with the students [in the London area]. Prior to that, we hadn’t thought about it.” Mr. Bush said he has spoken to the three other London office staffers in the wake of the attacks, as well as the five tourism em- ployees and lone Maritime Authority employee stationed in the area. He said they are dealing with it as best as can be expected. The tougher role, when terrorist attacks or other in- cidents occur, is that of “dad,” Mr. Bush said. “I had to talk to my chil- dren about it and make sure they still feel safe …. So- phie is 8 now, Alex is 6,” he said. “Sophie’s old enough to read and understand what’s going on.” The terror attacks have taken an emotional toll on Caymanian students in the U.K. Lloyd Barker, who lives about one-third of a mile from the Manchester Arena, said the day after the attack there, “You can just see the fear, really. People are con- tinuously looking behind them. It definitely puts me on alert because these in- cidents recently in London [the stabbing attack out- side Parliament] and Man- chester … It just makes you wonder what’s next. “It’s not easy just to go out on the streets and think it’s all good. I’m going to stay vigilant but I can only do so much.” Challenging political scene If one can set aside the devastating impact of the three recent terrorist at- tacks, the U.K. political scene has been challenging for the London office in a different way. One week before Mr. Bush took over the London Office director’s position, the June 23, 2016 Brexit vote occurred. No one was expecting the result – that the U.K. would pull out of the European Union – and the potential effects on the Cayman Islands are still unknown. In April, U.K. Prime Min- ister Theresa May’s called for snap elections, scheduled for Thursday. “I’m trying to create re- lationships politically, so- cially and commercially, and when you have [an early election], they’re just so in- wardly focused,” Mr. Bush said. “We had formed the All-Party Parliamentary Group [with British law- makers who support Cayman and the overseas territo- ries] and we’re growing that membership, and then that was dissolved and they’re in full campaign mode.” “Since being here, nothing has gone to plan,” he said. “The U.K. has been anything but stable over the last 11 months. It’s a been a wild ride. I’m just trying to traverse through it.” ERIC BUSH, director, Cayman Islands London office Flags fly at half-staff at the Government Administration Building on Monday out of respect for victims of the terror attacks in London on Saturday night.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” WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS “It was an idea to see if it would catch on and it clearly hasn’t caught on. We may have underestimated how reluctant the average person would be to wrestle with an iguana and deal a death blow to it.” – Fred Burton, Department of Environment’s terrestrial resources manager The Cayman Islands government’s big idea – to supplement professional green iguana cullers with a volunteer “lizard lotto” – turned out to be a bad idea. Here are the numbers: • According to various government estimates, Grand Cayman’s invasive green iguana population is doubling every 12 months and now stands at roughly 1 million reptiles • Mr. Burton reckoned that in order to contain and ultimately reduce the population, cullers would have to eliminate about 750,000 iguanas per year, or 62,500 per month • In May, the first month of the government’s new iguana program, the number of iguanas culled was 1,437. As Mr. Burton points out, it seems the ordinary resident lacks the killer instinct required to execute the scheme (and the lizards), even when tempted with cash prizes. Government officials might be disap- pointed in the paucity of blood lust among Cayman’s people. We sure aren’t. In this case, it would be far worse for the “commu- nity culling” program to have been a runaway success. (Can you imagine throngs of amateur cullers hunting down and killing thousands of green iguanas, probably in brutal fashion and possibly in public spaces, in full view of relatively squeamish bystanders, including tourists? No thanks. Not before breakfast.) Faced with the dismal results, Mr. Burton – Cayman’s chief green iguana eradicator – has gleaned some observations about the culling program: The bounty of $2 per iguana hasn’t drawn near the same level of interest among professional cullers as the previous bounty of $5 per iguana. The “entry fee” of 10 dead iguanas for the “community raffle” seems to have been too high a hurdle, with only nine people signing up so far. In an attempt to “fix” the program, the Department of Environment is changing the rules of the raffle. Par- ticipants will now get a ticket for every iguana they kill, and a $1,000 prize draw will be held after 500 iguanas are captured and culled. Sweetening the pot is one way to go … But we’d go in a different direction: Don’t try to “fix” the community culling program – kill it. Mr. Burton seems to understand this, saying it will require a multimillion-dollar, multiyear contract with professional cullers to manage the iguana pop- ulation effectively. “[Government officials] will have to decide if they want to put that type of financial resources into this problem, because anything less than that could be a waste of money, I’m afraid,” Mr. Burton told the Compass. We assume he’s telling the same thing to his bosses at the department, ministry and Cabinet levels. Are they listening? We’ll amplify the message using our editorial megaphone. So far, in this battle of Man vs. Nature, the iguanas are winning. Multiplication is trumping subtraction. If that is an acceptable outcome, then officials should do nothing, and save precious taxpayer funds. If that is not acceptable, then officials should get serious and budget accordingly. Whether you’re in a schoolyard, a backyard or on a battlefield, the first rule is never to get into a fight unless you’re planning to win. Grand Cayman’s green iguanas are committed to this game of life and death. Are we? Few winners in Cayman’s ‘Lizard Lotto’ PETER MORICI Infrastructure plan could power economic stimulus President Trump has an- nounced a plan to privatize and modernize the nation’s air-traffic control system, as a down payment on his $1 trillion campaign promise to update the nation’s infra- structure. Improvements to the nation’s sagging trans- portation system could de- liver a powerful stimulus to the economy. However, the benefits of such spending attract skep- ticism, because President Obama’s financial-crisis stim- ulus program failed so badly at creating many new jobs. The Obama Administration mis- used much of the $319 billion Congress allocated through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on proj- ects like Solyndra and similar solar energy fiascos, ill-fated health-care reforms, school- district worker-training bu- reaucracies and grants to aca- demics for summer pay. Only $30 billion was al- located to highways and $18 billion to traditional transit and high-speed rail, and the money was spent slowly. Still, the bumpy ride on Amtrak from Washington to New York, the poor condi- tion of many bridges on inter- state highways, and crowded conditions on many urban mass-transit systems testify to the fact that federal and state transportation agencies have long queues for mainte- nance and improvement proj- ects. Similarly, school districts around the country have leaky roofs, faulty plumbing and worse waiting for attention. So far the Trump admin- istration has been sketchy at best about its plans, but his campaign website promised $550 billion for highways, bridges, tunnels, rails, air- ports and the like. That could easily boost GDP by about $750 billion – directly and through additional spending by Americans put to work. Over eight years, that would add more than 500,000 jobs, and raise private- sector productivity, interna- tional competitiveness, GDP and employment by moving goods and people around the country more quickly and at much less cost. For example, consider all the time and ef- ficiency we lose through end- less delays and stress for business travelers at airports. All of this would be slowed by the morass of envi- ronmental and other reviews required by federal rules that have greatly slowed construc- tion dramatically, as com- pared to the period before 1970, when most of the inter- state highway system, for ex- ample, was constructed fairly quickly by today’s standards. Executive orders can help, but much that needs to be done requires new legislation. Trump could forge alliances with Democrats in Congress eager for new federal dollars in their states and districts and even among environmentalists who want more positive ben- efits from the review process. All of this will test the willing- ness of liberals to finally coop- erate with the president. In addition, federal pro- curement rules must be re- formed. Instead of moun- tains of forms and layers of approvals, the money should be issued to federal and state agencies with instructions to spend according to simple guidelines – for example, money must be used on the existing backlog of unfunded projects and according to sound commercial principles. Audits could then follow but be performed by private accounting firms and ac- cording to the standards CPAs apply to private businesses when certifying the accuracy of books and annual reports to comply with SEC and fed- eral tax-reporting rules. President Trump would like to finance much of his program with private money, but many projects cannot generate enough revenue in tolls and user fees to attract private capital. Currently, the Davis- Bacon Act requires exces- sively high union wages and cumbersome work rules on federal-sponsored transpor- tation projects. These and other unnecessary regulatory requirements raise the cost of federally supported proj- ects by about 20 percent and over eight years, eliminating those could easily free up $100 billion for additional in- frastructure projects. With only 6 percent of pri- vate-sector employees now represented by unions, Davis- Bacon should be replaced by straightforward open compe- tition and standard enforce- ment of federal and state worker safety rules. President Trump would like to finance much of his program with private money, but many projects cannot gen- erate enough revenue in tolls and user fees to attract pri- vate capital. State and local governments are too strapped to contribute much than has been historically required in federal-state efforts like those for federal highways. Some federal money could be found by offering U.S. cor- porations a special 17.5 per- cent corporate tax rate to repa- triate much of the $2.4 trillion in profits currently parked off- shore to avoid the statutory rate of 35 percent. That could raise up to $350 billion to fi- nance Trump’s program. Whatever funding short- fall remained should be scored against the continuing increases in federal and state tax revenue, accomplished through increased produc- tivity and GDP, proper in- vestments in infrastructure would accomplish. Netting all this out, well- targeted, efficient spending on transportation and other public facilities, could be one of the best investments Presi- dent Trump offers the nation. Peter Morici is a professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. He served as chief economist of the U.S. International Trade Commission from 1993-1995. He tweets @pmorici1.The islands’ most-trusted news source 5 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 FLOWERS EST 1946 June 10th, 2017 | 25th Annual Flowers One Mile Sea Swim June 12, 2017 Flowers Internat ional 5k & 10 k Swims Entry fee for this event is CI$60 or US$75. Visit Flowers SeaSwim .com for more informa tion. Entry Fee CI$32 or US$40 Register Online at FlowersSeaSwim.com All Registration Proceeds Donated to the Cayman Islands Cancer Society SWIM AND WIN! $100,000 IN CASH AND RANDOM PRIZES • Over 40 airline tickets to 25 destinations, including Europe, North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean** • Restaurant vouchers, Gift Certifi cates from Red Sail Sports and Anytime Fitness • Smart Phones, Tablets, plus Special Prizes from the Flowers Group and so much more **Restrictions apply JOIN THE CHALLENGE!DISTRICT DAYS 6 District Days Sister Islands WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS Artists team up for ‘This Is Us’ exhibit The husband and wife duo of Gordon J. Solomon and Alta Sol- omon have teamed up once again, this time sharing 15 paintings and 11 poems at the “This Is Us” exhibi- tion at Solomon Studio. The artists’ exhibition, which opened on May 26, drew a diverse range of visitors who expressed many words of appreciation, sup- port and encouragement of the arts. From the youngest to the oldest, there was a buzz of excitement throughout the night, marking an- other historic event for the Brac, the couple said in a press release. “We had a great night at the opening of our first [Cayman Brac] joint exhibition,” they said. The last time the two artists col- laborated was for the 2011 joint ex- hibition “Paint Meets Poetry,” in which a collection of poems written by Ms. Solomon over a period of years formed the backbone. “Gordon’s intuitive, artistic brain went to work. My poems leaped onto his fingers and ex- ited from his paintbrush, my words came alive,” the artists said in the release. The exhibition, at the Sol- omon Studio on West End Road, will be open to the public for three months. 50 YEARS AGO Actor intrigued by skeleton found at his home In the May 31, 1967 edition of the Caymanian Weekly, a precursor of the Cayman Compass, American actor Burgess Meredith, who was visiting Cayman, spoke to the news- paper about the discovery a week earlier of a skeleton on his property on Little Cayman. Mr. Meredith, who played the Pen- guin in the “Batman” TV series in the 1960s and would go on to appear as Mickey Goldmell, a boxing trainer, in Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky,” had pur- chased a house on Little Cayman. The paper reported: “He was quite intrigued that a series of coincidences should have led to this discovery. He feels that it is incredible that anyone should have chosen such a lovely spot in the island to bury this body. “Then, nine years ago, someone chose just this same spot to build a house. “Now he comes along and, having bought the house, decided to remodel it and add a well. The first place they dug, the water was brackish and it was only when they were dig- ging a second time that they hit this particular spot. “This is rather inaccessible at the moment but Mr. Meredith is hoping a road suitable for a jeep may be cut through to it soon.” On his visit to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in May 1967, Mr. Mer- edith was accompanied by his wife Kaja, James Bond “Thunderball” screenplay co-author and producer Kevin McClory and his wife Freder- icka, and friend Carl Marcum.” Also appearing in the June 7 edi- tion, was the following report on the “Martin Wedding in Cayman Brac”: “On Thursday evening, 11th, a packed church of relatives and friends of the popular young people Laurel Dilbert and Leathan Martin witnessed their marriage at the Eb- enezer Baptist Church. Mrs. Matilda Dilbert and Mrs. George Jackson ren- dered ‘O Perfect Love’ in duet and Mrs. Audrey Ryan played nuptial airs on the piano before the arrival of the bride. “Preceded by ring-bearer Deryck Tibbetts and flower girls Julie Connor and Dana Watson, the beautiful bride entered the church at 7 p.m., leaning on the arm of her father, Glanston Dilbert; her empress train held by the groom’s sister Marie Martin and her cousin Melba Scott attending her. The waiting attendants were Leila Smith, Anna Dilbert and Sylvia Neil. Groomsmen were Ernest Foster, Glindell Dilbert, Davy Lee Tibbetts and Levi Walton. “Rev. Lee King officiated and called on Mr. Taylor Foster for the prayer of blessing before the joining of hands after which Mrs. Ryan sang the beau- tiful ‘Marriage Prayer.’ “The bride’s gown was a New York creation of alencon lace over slipper satin cut in empire style.” Nineteen loggerhead turtle nests and another 21 “turtle related activities” were verified recently on Little Cayman by Department of Environment turtle conserva- tion intern Lucy Collyer. Ms. Collyer spent time checking and recording the turtle tracks and nests identi- fied by dedicated volunteers, according to the DoE. For each turtle “ac- tivity,” the DoE said, Ms. Col- lyer determined whether eggs were laid, took a GPS point and triangulation, and recorded data. A turtle-related activity includes a “false crawl,” where a turtle left a beach without laying eggs. The DoE will next check the nests in about 50 days for the first signs of hatching. Ms. Collyer also found time to volunteer for CCMI’s Island Wide World Oceans Day cleanup, which resulted in the removal of 50 bags of marine debris from turtle nesting beaches. 19 LOGGERHEAD TURTLE NESTS DISCOVERED Nineteen loggerhead turtle nests were discovered on Little Cayman. To determine that a turtle has laid eggs, a Department of Environment coordinator digs down to the eggs before re-covering them with sand. Gordon and Alta Solomon at the opening of the exhibition of their work on Cayman Brac last week.7 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 For details and to book, call Cayman Airways Reservations on 345-949-2311, contact a local travel agent, or book online at caymanairways.com FLY NONSTOP TO CHICAGO CHICAGO (ORD) O’Hare TO GRAND CAYMAN (GCM) DESTINATION DEPARTS ARRIVES FREQUENCY CHICAGO TO GRAND CAYMAN 1:05pm 5:00pm SUN GRAND CAYMAN (GCM) TO CHICAGO (ORD) O’Hare DESTINATION DEPARTS ARRIVES FREQUENCY GRAND CAYMAN TO CHICAGO 7:45am 11:40am SUN Seasonal Summer service begins June 4, 2017 through August 13, 2017 AIRFARES NOW ON SALE TO TRAVEL FROM GRAND CAYMAN TO $187* CI *One-way, including taxes & fees SALE FARES STARTING FROM JUST The quoted fare is based on one way economy class purchase for travel from Grand Cayman to Chicago and include government taxes and fees up to CI$85.88 per ticket. Taxes may vary based on currency exchange rates at the time of booking. Fares are valid for travel between June 04, 2017 and August 13, 2017. Confirmed reservations are required for all sectors. Tickets must be issued one day after reservations are made or by June 12, 2017 whichever is earlier. Fares are non-refundable and non-transferable. Seats are limited for this fare and may not be available on every flight. Change fee is CI$126.00 plus any fare difference. Through fares to the Sister Islands are available for up to an additional CI$44.00 per one way. SALESALESALE HURRY! SALE ENDS JUNE 12, 2017. TRAVEL BETWEEN JUNE 4, 2017 AND AUGUST 13, 2017. Prison worker jailed for supplying ganja CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com As a consequence of a “stupid mistake” made more than three years ago, Robert Brenley Jackson-Diaz was sentenced on Monday to eight-and-a-half months’ imprisonment, with three months to be served imme- diately and the balance sus- pended for two years. Jackson-Diaz, now 33, pleaded guilty to supplying 18 grams of ganja at North- ward Prison on Nov. 5, 2013. Defense attorney John Furniss explained that Jackson-Diaz was working for a contractor and the job was a roof repair inside the prison. He was on the roof when a package fell very near to where he was. He picked it up and realized it was ganja. Because he had previous convictions for possession and consumption of drugs, he made a “stupid mistake” and dropped the package, then kicked it off the roof out of his way instead of turning it over to a guard. What he did was facili- tate the drug going into the yard some other person was trying to throw it into, Mr. Furniss said. The attorney argued that the court had to dis- tinguish this case from someone throwing the drug over the fence. Magistrate Valdis Fol- dats agreed that the circum- stances were different. A case summary provided by the Crown indicated that a prison officer was mon- itoring security cameras when she observed an in- mate walking outside and he looked up to the kitchen roof. She saw a white object fall from the roof and the inmate picked it up. Other officers were alerted and the package was retrieved. File records show that the matter first came to court in March 2014. Trial was set for December 2014 but was ad- journed for legal arguments. In June 2015 Jackson-Diaz pleaded guilty to supplying the ganja and consuming co- caine. An application was made for him to join the Drug Rehabilitation Court, where he spent time until last month. Both Mr. Furniss and Magistrate Foldats referred to a case dealt with by Mag- istrate Kirsty-Ann Gunn, who used a starting point of three years for someone who threw drugs over the fence and into the prison compound. Magistrate Foldats used one year as his starting point and said Jackson-Diaz could not get full credit for his guilty plea because it had come very late. He took off two months, arriving at 10 months, and then gave the defendant six weeks’ credit for time he had spent on curfew and in a halfway house. Fireman loses job after being jailed for firearm offense Fabian Thompson ‘terminated with immediate effect’ CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Two days after being sentenced in Grand Court to five-and-a-half years in prison for a firearm offense, Fabian Oliver Thompson lost his job as an officer with the Cayman Islands Fire Service. Thompson, 34, had been on required leave since May 23, 2016, following his ar- rest for possession of an imi- tation firearm with intent to resist arrest. He pleaded not guilty and elected trial by judge alone. On May 8, 2017, Jus- tice Malcolm Swift found him guilty and passed sen- tence on May 30. This week the Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that Thompson was advised in writing on June 1 that his employment as a fire officer was “terminated with imme- diate effect.” Justice Swift imposed a prison term of five years and six months, pointing out that imitation firearms have the same capacity to frighten and intimidate as real firearms. In this case, it was not known whether the handgun was real, since it was never recovered. The incident that led to the charge began on Jan. 20, 2016, when police officers went to a Bodden Town residence to conduct a search under the Misuse of Drugs Law following the ar- rest of Thompson’s brother. Thompson was not the sub- ject of the search. When officers came to the door and others remained in the yard, Thompson left the house and did not comply with instructions to stop. He went over a fence and what happened next was captured by the camera on an officer’s Taser gun. Justice Swift watched the video from the Taser and said he could infer the in- tent to resist arrest from the fact that Thompson had run from police. He said he was satis- fied that Thompson did take something from his pocket, as officers testified, to pre- vent them from following him. The officers thought it was a 9mm pistol and they were in fear of being shot. Thompson escaped but turned himself in sev- eral days later. He did not turn in any object, and a police search did not re- cover anything.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS must steer passage of the proposed Legal Practitioners Bill during the fi rst Legis- lative Assembly meeting of the new government – ex- pected to occur sometime in September. The bill is one of a number of pieces of legislation the previous Progressives-led co- alition attempted to pass, but it failed in the 11th hour due to intense pressure from Cay- manian lawyers and special interest groups. “We obviously just can’t go back to the House with the same piece of legislation,” Mr. McLaughlin said. “It is critical we get this done for a number of reasons.” The main reason is the pending territorial assess- ment for Cayman’s fi nan- cial services sector and other business sectors, under the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force that will take place later this year, the premier said. Minister Rivers’s former Education Ministry has been handed to Minister Ju- liana O’Connor-Connolly, along with the ministries of Youth, Sports, Agricul- ture and Lands. Mr. McLaughlin acknowl- edged that Ms. O’Connor- Connolly had been given a signifi cant number of re- sponsibilities and would likely receive two backbench MLAs to assist her as min- istry councilors. New Minister Dwayne Seymour was given respon- sibility for the Health Min- istry and the Environ- ment Ministry, as well as Housing and Culture. Mr. McLaughlin said a number of recently passed bills that touch Mr. Sey- mour’s areas of responsi- bility, including the Na- tional Conservation Law, would be reviewed and amended during this gov- ernment’s term. “A number of pieces of legislation that have been passed … are going to be subject of a review,” he said. “The National Con- servation Law is certainly one of those.” Mr. Seymour also will have the George Town Land- fi ll as part of his responsi- bilities. Residents of Mid- land Acres east of Bodden Town, who once feared the landfi ll would be moved to their area, can likely rest easy, as Mr. Seymour repre- sents that neighborhood in his constituency. Another new minister, Roy McTaggart, will take over former Minister Marco Archer’s responsibilities for government fi nance and eco- nomic development after what the premier termed the “incredible loss” of Mr. Archer in the May 24 gen- eral election. Mr. McTaggart, the former managing partner of KPMG in the Cayman Is- lands and an accountant with more than 30 years’ ex- perience, will also oversee the Customs Department as part of his ministry. Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell will see no change in his own ministry from the last government – his areas of responsibility include tourism, district ad- ministration and transport. New Minister Joey Hew will take the ministries of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure. in the wake of another shooting in late April in which a man and woman were injured on Eastern Avenue in the vicinity of Bananas Restaurant and Lounge. Both vic- tims in that incident sur- vived, and a man was ar- rested and charged with attempted murder . The fi rst report of gun- fi re on Saturday came around 2:30 a.m. in the vicinity of the Roof Top Bar on Mary Street. The second report came a short while later from the home on Myles Lane. According to a police report : “A man who had been at the Roof Top Bar that evening encountered three men known to him and attempted to elude them, but they followed him. The man then came down the staircase and jumped over the railing of the second fl oor, falling on a parked car below. “The three men pur- sued him from the bar as he ran down the street and fi red what he believed to be a gunshot in his direction. The man ran all the way to a residence on Myles Lane in Central George Town. “When there, the man met his friend in the yard of the residence; a silver Honda then came by with the three men inside the ve- hicle who were earlier pur- suing the man at the Roof Top Bar. The men in the ve- hicle opened fi re on the two men in the yard, who ran and were not injured.” Police were asked about the shooting over the weekend by Cayman Com- pass reporters, but did not return requests for comment until a Tuesday press re- lease was issued by the de- partment. Police said “sen- sitivities surrounding the criminal investigation” pre- vented them from releasing details until Tuesday. At one point during the initial response to the Roof Top Bar, a police of- fi cer’s weapon was acci- dentally discharged. The weapon was not aimed at anyone and no one was injured, according to po- lice statements. That inci- dent is also being investi- gated, police said. PREMIER ALDEN MCLAUGHLIN Ministry of Human Resources, Immigration Department, RCIPS (fi nancing), Community Affairs Ministry, Cabinet Offi ce (Chief Offi cers: Wesley Howell, Dorine Whittaker, Samuel Rose) DEPUTY PREMIER MOSES KIRKCONNELL Ministry of District Administration, Tourism and Transport (Chief Offi cer: Stran Bodden) ROY MCTAGGART Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (Chief Offi cer: Ken Jefferson) TARA RIVERS Ministry of Financial Services and Home Affairs (Chief Offi cer: Dax Basdeo) JOEY HEW Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure (Chief Offi cer: Alan Jones) JULIANA O’CONNOR-CONNOLLY Ministry of Education, Sports, Youth, Agriculture and Lands (Chief Offi cer: Christen Suckoo) DWAYNE SEYMOUR Ministry of Health, Environment, Culture and Housing (Chief Offi cer: Jennifer Ahearn) Cayman’s new Cabinet ministers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Ministers’ plan splits law enforcement roles with an iguana and deal a death blow to it.” The department has tweaked the rules of the raffl e and will now hold a $1,000 prize draw after 500 iguanas have been caught, with par- ticipants getting a ticket for every iguana caught. He said the exercise so far has had little impact on the exponentially increasing population of green iguanas and is not currently keeping pace with the expected rate of reproduction during breeding season. Mr. Burton believes trained cullers would need to kill 750,000 iguanas per year to reverse the trend and turn an increasing population into a declining one. He said the fi rst month of what was planned to be a four-month cull at least provided new information about the market rate re- quired to motivate hunters to cull iguanas. “We already had a clear understanding of the scale of the problem and we are now getting an increas- ingly clear idea of the rela- tionship between price and motivation to hunt on the scale we need.” He said it would be a question for the new govern- ment as to whether they were prepared to pay “X million” to various contractors for what would be a multiyear job. “They will have to de- cide if they want to put that type of fi nancial re- sources into this problem because anything less than that could be a waste of money, I’m afraid.” Low cull numbers concern environment chiefs MAN CHARGED WITH FIREARM OFFENSE, DANGEROUS DRIVING SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com Leshawn Forrester, 23, was charged Tuesday with a pair of crimes stemming from a late-night weekend encounter with police in which he allegedly drove through a roadblock. Forrester, who was ar- rested in the early morning hours on Sunday, was charged with possession of an imi- tation fi rearm with intent to resist arrest and dangerous driving. Both charges will be heard in Grand Court, and Forrester will make his next court appearance for a pre- liminary inquiry on June 22. Patrick Moran, deputy di- rector of public prosecu- tions, presented the Crown’s evidence to Magistrate Valdis Foldats Tuesday after- noon. Forrester allegedly ap- proached a police roadblock near Public Beach on Seven Mile Beach in a dark-colored Honda sedan late Saturday night, and then led police on a high-speed chase. Two police offi cers were standing in the road, said Mr. Moran, and they had to leap aside when the Honda drove through the roadblock. Mr. Moran said that the car traveled within two to three feet of one of the offi cers as it roared through the road- block. From there, police chased the Honda, which Mr. Moran said was traveling at speeds in excess of 70 mph, before it returned to the car park at Public Beach. At that point, two males exited the car and ran, in- cluding one who appeared to be holding a fi rearm, he said. Those suspects are still at large, but Forrester was apprehended while sitting in the driver’s seat of the Honda. Defense attorney Lee Halliday-Davis pointed out that Forrester made no at- tempt to run away. Later, while in police cus- tody, Mr. Moran said that For- rester made a veiled threat to uniformed personnel. “You think you’re untouchable,” Forrester allegedly said. “Wait til I touch the road.” Ms. Halliday-Davis con- ceded that Forrester’s driving was “undesirable” and could be said to be “dangerous” in the course of her request for bail, but she also pointed out that the police could not clearly see a weapon because it was late at night and they were at least 30-50 feet away. Magistrate Foldats elected to withhold bail , saying he believed there was potential for further offenses or to at- tempt to intimidate witnesses in light of Forrester’s alleged comments toward police. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Police: 15 shots fi red in gang retaliation CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2017 †This Mortgage Money Back promotional program and promotional rate is being offered from March 1, 2017 up to and including June 10, 2017 and is for mortgage purchases, switches and refinances (over $25,000 US or local equivalent) only. ®Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under licence. Get everything you want from a mortgage. Even money back. ky.scotiabank.com/mortgage #MortgageThatPays Soccer club applauds fan’s bravery A British soccer club has applauded the bravery of one of its fans who fought back against terrorists in the London Bridge attack. Millwall Football Club commended Roy Larner, 47, for ‘his immense bravery in incredibly terrifying circumstances.’ Larner was knifed eight times. Police shoot hammer-wielding attacker near Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris PARIS (AP) – A police officer shot and wounded a man who attacked officers with a hammer near Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday, Paris police and a police union official said. Union official Cedric Mi- chel said a man armed with a hammer went after police who were patrolling the esplanade in front of the world-famous cathedral known for its gothic architecture and gargoyles. A police spokesperson told The Associated Press that an officer used his weapon to shoot the assailant. The spokesperson was not autho- rized to be publicly named. He said the unidentified at- tacker taken to a hospital. Paris police tweeted that one officer was wounded in the attack. The incident happened around 4:30 p.m. Large num- bers of police cars filled the area on the Ile de Cite is- land in the Seine River in the center of Paris. Shortly after the at- tack, Paris prosecutors opened a counterterrorism investigation. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb says the at- tacker cried “it’s for Syria” as he went after officers patrol- ling an esplanade in front of the famous landmark. Speaking after the at- tack, Collomb said po- lice found kitchen knives, a hammer and other unso- phisticated weapons on the wounded assailant. Hundreds of people on the esplanade in front of Notre Dame were evacuated and authorities urged people to stay away from the area. People inside Notre Dame, the nearby Sainte-Chappelle cathedral and area bars and cafes were told to stay inside. A former U.S. ambas- sador to the United Na- tions was among the hun- dreds of people held inside the cathedral. Ambassador Nancy Soder- berg said she was admiring the church’s stained glass windows on Tuesday when she heard an announcement in French urging visitors to stay calm as police dealt with an incident outside. Soderberg told The Asso- ciated Press that those inside got nervous when they were told soon after that the cathe- dral’s doors were closing and everyone had to stay there. She says the group stayed calm and orderly throughout despite not knowing what was happening, though “ev- eryone was very quiet and very scared” when police came in to check the cathe- dral’s pews row by row. Soderberg tweeted a photo from inside the Notre Dame showing those locked inside putting their arms in the air as instructed by police. Witnesses described a dramatic police operation in the tourist-filled area. Lawrence Langner, a 73-year-old American visiting the neighborhood just across the Seine River from the ca- thedral, told The Associated Press that he suddenly heard a commotion and two deto- nations like gunshots. Journalist David Metreau, who said his office overlooks the square that fronts Notre Dame, tweeted that there were two blasts that sounded like shots. Looking down from his office, he saw a man inert on the square. “The police didn’t seem interested in him at the be- ginning,” Metreau said. “I thought he was dead.” They then checked his pulse and medics later came and took him away on a stretcher. Others posted photos on- line of what appeared to be the interior of medieval Notre Dame, one of France’s most- visited monuments. Police spokeswoman Jo- hanna Primevert told The Associated Press just before 5:30 p.m. that the operation was over. She did not provide further details. Paris remains under high security after a string of Is- lamic extremist attacks in re- cent years, including several targeting police officers and security personnel. In April, an attacker opened fire on a police van on Paris’ Champs Elysees, killing one and gravely wounding two others. The attacker was shot dead by police. Police officers seal off the access to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, after the assailant’s attack on Tuesday. - PHOTO: APNext >