FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS Late night dining We’ve got the scoops on some of your best options B4 Sourdough success After lots of trial and error, one local baker has got a winning formula B6 Events Events Food & Drink ■ FOOD & DRINK Island Roast returns Feed Our Future brings back its foodie night under the stars. B3 Pilates for Pink Fitness enthusiasts and fundraising supporters prepare to gather en masse B5 When is a birdie a parrot? Avast ye maties! The annual Pirates Week Golf Classic is on the horizon B7 STOLI FLAVOURS 2 for $ 56 Until 31 July Registered Merchant of CaymanGiftCertificates.com Fine Wine and Spirits TORTUGA 15 stores island-wide and Mary Lou’s in Cayman Brac. For more information, please call 949-7701. 2 for $ 20 For the Month of October REGULAR $11.99 EACH. HARDY’S STAMP WINE FROM AUSTRALIA CAYMAN WEEKENDER Island Roast returns EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 MOUNT TRASHMORE: GOOD NEWS, GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE! High of 90 Low of 80 Smooth with wave heights less than 2 feet. ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 75 CENTS – FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA RED BAY BACON CHEDDAR RANCH CHEDDAR BBQ BACON BACON CHEDDAR RANCH NEW CRISPY CHICKEN NEW CRISPY CHICKEN PRESELL + INSERT Construction of John Gray to resume in 2019 Mothballed school project revived JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Work on the new John Gray High School is not expected to resume until mid-2019, with a multi-stage assessment process planned over the next two years to determine the best way to complete the project. Construction on the new school first began in September 2007, but it was left half built amid a dispute with the major contractor. Work resumed in 2016 on the school’s gym, which was completed earlier this year at a cost of $8.8 million, and will host a U.S. college basketball tournament next month. Now government officials say they must follow a detailed planning, budgeting and tendering process – required for major cap- ital projects through the Framework for Opposition: Make education priority BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Revelations that one Grand Cayman high school has a high percentage of special edu- cation needs children and that another may not finish construction for four years led op- position politicians on Wednesday to ques- tion government’s commitment to education. “The numbers and what they’re proposing to do … does not bear out that education is No. 1,” Opposition Leader, North Side MLA Ezzard Miller said to a crowd of 40 Savannah- Newlands area residents Wednesday night at Savannah Primary School. “If we’re spending more money on the [cruise ship] dock … if we’re spending more money on Cayman Air- ways … in my part of the country, where I come from, that’s not No. 1. US military aircraft touch down in Cayman Helicopters and plane returning from hurricane relief operations TAD STONER tstoner@pinnaclemedialtd.com En route from Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay to their home base in Honduras on Friday morning, the American military briefly took over part of Owen Roberts Interna- tional Airport on Thursday. Six aircraft were parked on the apron – three UH-60 Black Hawk and two CH-47 Chinook helicopters with the U.S. Army and one C-130 Hercules transport aircraft with the U.S. Coast Guard. The airborne armada represents some of the most durable and well-known aircraft in the U.S. arsenal. The UH-60 Black Hawk is the army’s “front-line utility helicopter” used for air assault, air cavalry and aeromedical evac- uation. Made famous in Hollywood’s 2002 “Black Hawk Down,” the aircraft carries 11 combat-loaded air assault troops, and it is capable of moving a 105-millimeter how- itzer and 30 rounds of ammunition. Made by Connecticut-based Sikorsky Air- craft, the four-bladed, twin-engine, medium- BAIL EXTENDED AGAIN IN SUGAR GLIDER CASE Bail was extended for the fifth time last week for a man and woman ac- cused of smuggling an exotic pet, known as a sugar glider, into the Cayman Islands. They will find out later this month if they will face criminal charges. For more on this story, see page 2. ROBBERY VICTIM SAYS HE WAS HIT BY BULLET MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com A robbery victim says contrary to ini- tial police reports about a Wednesday night armed holdup at Grand Harbour, there was a gunshot and he was hit. Frederick “Ricky” Handal, 56, said he is re- covering from a superficial bullet wound to the back of his head. Mr. Handal said he was sitting with two other men at a picnic table at Mike’s Bar, a free-standing bar in a patio area near Salty’s Sports Bar in Grand Harbour, after the business had closed. Mr. Handal, owner of the floral and land- scaping business Every Bloomin’ Thing, said he heard a commotion behind him and turned to see several men running toward him. “I heard a bang,” Mr. Handal said. “I felt something hit me in the back of the head.” He said it felt as if he’d been hit by a rock and determined that he’d been shot. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 12 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 13 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 13 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 12 » U.S. Army personnel gather beside a Black Hawk helicopter which arrived at Owen Roberts International Airport Thursday morning, along with four other helicopters and a plane. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY2 LOCAL&REGIONAL FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS www.fountainhead.ky CMYK FOUNTAINHEAD JOB Nº: FH002005CLIENT: Big Brothers Big Sisters VERSION: FINAL_PRESS_02 TITLE: BBBS_AD_#2PUBLICATION: Cayman Compass INSERTION DATE: 100217DATE: October 3, 2017 12:32 PM PROCESS: CMYK SPOT COLOUR: n/aPDF STD: pdf/x4:2008DIMS: 6 X 2 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Full colour 6 X 2 horizontal ad, All fonts outlined.BLEED: n/a SUBSTRATE:FILE ENQUIRIES: design@fountainhead.ky BBBS_CC_6X2H_V_FINAL_100317.indd 103/10/2017 12:32 PM Celebrating 17 Years Come Join Us! Cocktail Specials Lunch Specials Dinner Specials Marquee Plaza, Seven Mile Beach • Mon - Fri 7:30am - 10pm • Sat & Sun 7am-10pm 947.2782 Woman arrested in bribery, fraud investigation Investigators from the Anti-Corruption Com- mission and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Ser- vice arrested a 31-year- old woman from Bodden Town Thursday morning on suspicion of corrup- tion offenses. According to a press re- lease from the Anti-Corrup- tion Commission, the woman is suspected of commit- ting three offenses, namely: bribery of public officials, contrary to Section 10 of the Anti-Corruption Law; fraud on the government, contrary to Section 11 of the Anti-Cor- ruption Law; and breach of trust, contrary to Section 13 of the Anti-Corruption Law. The commission stated that the woman had been detained for questioning at the Prisoner Detention Center at Fairbanks before being released on bail. In its statement, the commission added that, as the investigation was con- tinuing, it would not be re- leasing any further details at this time. NAFTA talks begin under contentious conditions WASHINGTON (AP) – The North American Free Trade Agreement is in its 23rd year. But there are growing doubts that it will survive through its 24th. President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw from the agreement if he cannot get what he wants in a renegotiation. But what he wants – from requiring that more auto production be made-in-America to shifting more government contracts to U.S. companies – will likely be unacceptable to Amer- ica’s two NAFTA partners, Mexico and Canada. Round 4 of NAFTA talks began Wednesday in Ar- lington, Virginia. In a sign of how contentious things could get, the countries extended the negotiations for two extra days, through Tuesday. “What is the administra- tion going to do? Are they going to be patient and work through these things?” asks Phil Levy, senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “Or are they going to take this as a pretext and say, ‘We tried negotiations; they failed. Now we need to blow this up?’ “ Blowing up the deal ap- pears to be Trump’s favored choice. On the campaign trail, he called NAFTA a job-killing disaster. And in an interview with Forbes magazine pub- lished Tuesday, Trump said: “I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminated if we’re going to make it good. Otherwise, I believe you can’t negotiate a good deal.” Levy pegs the chance of NAFTA’s survival at less than 50 percent. The end of NAFTA would send economic tremors across the continent. Amer- ican farmers depend on Mex- ico’s market. Manufacturers have built complicated supply chains that cross NAFTA bor- ders. Consumers have bene- fited from lower costs. NAFTA erased most trade barriers along the United States, Canada and Mexico and led to an explosion in trade between the three countries. But critics say the pact sent hundreds of thou- sands of U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico, where cor- porations took advantage of low-wage labor. Before the renegotiation began in August, many busi- ness and farm groups hoped the Trump administration would settle for tweaking rather than abandoning the trade deal – updating it, for ex- ample, to reflect the rise of e- commerce. But U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer declared at the outset that the U.S. would not be satisfied with anything but a major overhaul. So the administration has been seeking to ensure that more auto production be made in America to receive NAFTA benefits, that more government contracts in the NAFTA bloc go to U.S. compa- nies and that NAFTA expire unless the countries agreed every few years to extend it. It also wants to scrap a dis- pute-resolution process fa- vored by Canada. Those proposals are con- sidered poison pills by Canada and Mexico. Visiting Washington on Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that he thinks “it is very important and very pos- sible to get a win-win-win” from the NAFTA talks. But he acknowledged that “we have to be ready for anything – and we are.” The negotiators are under pressure to reach a deal this year – before presidential elections in Mexico and mid- term elections in the United States raise the political tem- perature in 2018. “The administration set itself the task of doing a re- ally radical overhaul and having it done by Christmas,” says Levy, a former trade ad- viser to President George W. Bush. “I’m not surprised that Ambassador Lighthizer hasn’t been able to square that circle.” Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Insti- tute for International Trade, says Trump “very likely” has the legal authority to with- draw from NAFTA on his own if talks collapse. But Congress can fight back. Lawmakers could pass a res- olution calling on the presi- dent to obtain congressional authority before invoking the NAFTA clause that lets coun- tries pull out. They could also threaten to block the president’s agenda unless he secures congressional ap- proval to withdraw. If the United States left NAFTA, trade barriers to Canada and Mexico would pop back up. Some of the tar- iffs would not be especially high. But Mexican tariffs on many American farm prod- ucts could soar – to as high as 37 percent on corn, for ex- ample, notes Caroline Freund, a senior fellow at Peterson. For that reason, many ag- ricultural lobbies and law- makers from farm states have urged the adminis- tration to “do no harm” in the NAFTA talks. Daniel Ujczo, a trade lawyer with Dickinson Wright PLLC, predicts that Canada and Mexico would likely call a timeout if the United States insists on pushing conten- tious proposals. “The Canadian and Mex- ican strategy will be to take a pause,” he says, and “allow the U.S. domestic process to play itself out” with busi- ness and farm groups and many lawmakers rising to defend NAFTA. Sugar glider pair bailed again Bail was extended for the fifth time last week for a man and woman accused of smuggling an exotic pet, known as a sugar glider, into the Cayman Islands. They will find out later this month if they will face criminal charges over the incident. The 31-year-old man and 26-year-old woman were ar- rested in June after the marsupial escaped on a Cayman Airways flight from Miami. They have been on bail ever since. Customs Collector Charles Clifford said, “The two indi- viduals in this case have been bailed again and are sched- uled to return on Oct. 25, by which time we anticipate that we will have a decision from the Director of Public Prosecutions on charges in this matter.” The man who was arrested was identified in an earlier report as Jimel McLean, son of East End MLA Arden McLean. Government budget put off for two weeks BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands government has delayed the public presentation of its first two-year budget for two weeks. The spending plan was due to be presented in the Legislative Assembly on Oct. 13, but opposition politicians said Wednesday that they had been informed the start date was now Oct. 27. The new budget cycle, which begins on Jan. 1, 2018 and runs through Dec. 31, 2019, will be Cayman’s first at- tempt to review and approve a two-year financial plan. Lawmakers have until Dec. 31 to finalize the proposal. The new budget will also represent a change in the fiscal year, from the previous July-June cycle to one that follows the calendar year. The North American Free Trade Agreement has widened access to Mexican and Canadian markets, boosting U.S. farm exports and benefiting many farmers. Some worry that they will lose out in a renegotiation. – PHOTO: AP3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 1 26 M aclendon Dri v e , Industrial P ark , G r and C a y man | W : w w w.r efuel.ky | E : info @r efuel.ky | T: + 1 345 745 -FUEL (38 35) The energy economy of the Cayman Islands is currently based almost entirely on imported petroleum products with millions of gallons of Diesel and Gasoline imported on a monthly basis to generate electrical energy and supply the transportation sector, the second largest energy consuming sector in the economy. Current trends and pressure for more sustainable options have lead governments around the world to mandate the addition of renewables to petroleum products, and this has resulted in more and more renewables being added to petroleum products in an effort to oxygenate fuels and reduce emissions. Ethanol blended gasolines and biodiesel blended diesels have become commonplace proven fuels around the globe with many billions of miles driven on them every year. The Australian Medical Association has said: FUEL DOESN’T HAVE TO COST THE EARTH! Rethink fuel with Refuel Until now, such fuels had yet to be adopted in Cayman. On March 15th 2017 the Cayman Islands Government passed new legislation in the form of the National Energy Policy. The National energy policy recognizes the benefits of these fuel and promotes their introduction into Cayman's fuel market through its "Fuel Sector Strategy". Specifically promoting the introduction of E10,(10%ethanol, 90% Gasoline) and B5, (5%Biodiesel, 95% Diesel). Refuel is the first company on Island to bring the vision of the Fuel Sector Strategy to life, offering not one, but three grades of E10, a grade of B5 and even a grade of B20,(20%Biodiesel, 80%Diesel). Through our different model, Refuel hopes to prove that these emission reducing modern fuels can be supplied in an economically advantageous manner, and become commonplace in Cayman. It's time to Rethink Fuel with Refuel, where fuel doesn't have to cost the Earth. There is incontrovertible evidence that the addition of ethanol to petrol and biodiesel to diesel will reduce the deaths and ill-health associated with the emissions produced by burning those fuels. ASK ABOUT FLEET MANAGEMENT REWARD PROGRAMS COMING SOON! ‘Pay attention’ to land sales, MLAs warn BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands gov- ernment is now in the pro- cess of selling off an esti- mated $38 million worth of what it considers surplus properties, opposition politi- cians said Wednesday. “Pay close attention to that, it’s happening now,” Newlands MLA Alva Suckoo told a group of Bodden Town residents at a public meeting Wednesday night. The list of properties available for sale was made public after a Public Ac- counts Committee hearing in August and Mr. Suckoo said it has been distributed to local residents. He urged anyone in the districts where the public lands are being sold to make their voices heard if they disputed the sales of those properties. “This has been lingering for a while, but now it’s hap- pening; they’re selling the land,” Mr. Suckoo said. The opposition members have previously questioned why government is selling any of those properties with the public sector now in a surplus cash position and Grand Cayman’s land values on the increase. “I cannot get my mind around [the] fact that govern- ment wishes to liquidate as- sets that are not costing them any money to maintain, but in fact are gaining in value daily,” accounts committee chairman Ezzard Miller said. “Once it’s sold, it’s sold.” Bodden Town West MLA Chris Saunders said he was more concerned about the process govern- ment was using to deter- mine which lands were sold, and to whom. “We need to go out and engage the people, not a group of people that are sit- ting down and trying to push their will through,” Mr. Saunders said. Lands and Survey De- partment Director Rupert Vasquez said, following rec- ommendations in the Ernst & Young consultants report in 2014, his department took land sale proposals to the Progressives-led government caucus which narrowed the initial list. This was objected to at the time by Mr. Miller, the North Side MLA, who said a political caucus was not a legally recognized body that had decision-making au- thority within government. After the caucus review, Mr. Vasquez said the National Conservation Council also re- quested that certain proper- ties be removed from the list. MLAs were then given a revised list of potential properties for sale in Jan- uary 2017. According to Mr. Vasquez, if any MLA objected to the sale of property within their representative district, it was removed from the list. There were also objections to certain property sales by the National Roads Authority and the Water Authority – Cayman for various reasons. After taking into account all those factors, a revised Crown property sale list went to Cabinet in May 2017. The newly elected government still has to make some deci- sions to clarify what proper- ties will be made available for sale, Mr. Vasquez said. Both Mr. Miller and Mr. Saunders generally objected to the process Mr. Vasquez described, saying it is not transparent. Mr. Miller said that while MLAs received a list of properties for sale in their own districts, they were unaware of any prop- erties made available else- where. He also said mem- bers of the public had no idea what the government was discussing. Moreover, the MLAs noted, in the absence of an updated national develop- ment plan for the islands, it seemed difficult for govern- ment to state precisely what properties might be con- sidered surplus. “While it might appear as useless property today, 10 or 15 years from now, it might be the perfect place to put a small park in a commu- nity that has development,” Mr. Miller said. “I cannot get my mind around [the] fact that government wishes to liquidate assets that are not costing them any money to maintain, but in fact are gaining in value daily. Once it’s sold, it’s sold.” EZZARD MILLER, chairman, Public Accounts Committee Leader of the Opposition Ezzard Miller speaks at a district meeting in Savannah Wednesday night. - PHOTO: BRENT FULLERThe 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. After years of anxiety (and for this newspaper, reporting and editorializing) over what the Cayman Islands is going to do about the hulking health hazard known as the George Town landfill, residents can finally rest easy: The government has reached an agreement with the Dart Group. Government officials – particularly Premier Alden McLaughlin, Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn and Senior Project Manager Jim Schubert – deserve recognition for their navigation and negotiation of this complex and important issue. A consortium led by Dart’s engineering arm, DECCO, beat out six competitors for the contract, which includes waste-to-energy, recycling and composting facilities that are expected to divert up to 95 percent of waste that currently goes into the landfill. The rela- tively small remaining amount of trash will be interred in a much smaller lined landfill site, to be located near or within the perimeter of the existing dump. As for “Mount Trashmore,” the goal is to transform it – and also the dump sites on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman – into green spaces (i.e., grass-covered public parks). In the future, waste from the Sister Islands will be brought over by barge to the new facility on Grand Cayman. Dart is both the obvious and the natural choice to close, cap and remediate the noxious George Town dump; to build a modern waste management facility; and further, to see that it is operated in an effective manner for the next 25 years. Dart has the means, and as the troublesome dump’s immediate neighbor, the motivation to see that the project is executed properly. The company, of course, also has a sterling track record. Any major project – for example, building hotels, creating commercial centers, building highways or fixing a dump – gives rise to a number of questions concerning matters such as financing, intent, exper- tise, commitment and vision. Who’s going to pay for this? Where is the money coming from? Do they have a long-term plan? Can they execute at the highest standards of excellence? For the past decade in Cayman, those questions have been answered time and again with a single syllable: “Dart.” Our government and our country cannot and should not rely on any single private sector entity, including Dart, to ride to the rescue every time Cayman confronts a major issue or problem. That being said, when it comes to the landfill, we can think of no better steward than Dart. To quote L. Bell, a frequent commentator to our website (www.cayman- compass.com), “Finally! No one can do it better!” Solid waste management is a complex issue – far too complicated to be adjudged during casual conver- sations along the marl road … or even on the opinion pages of this newspaper. We can, however, express our full confidence in Dart to see this project through to completion and satisfaction. Although the players are similar, the new deal between government and Dart is in one respect dif- ferent from – and in our view, superior to – the arrangement between government and Dart that the Progressives threw out after being elected in 2013. Under the previous deal, Dart would have remedi- ated the landfill and built a new landfill (in east Bodden Town), but after that would have walked away. Under the new deal, Dart has agreed to fix the landfill, build a new landfill (in George Town) and – importantly – commit to operating the new facility for 25 years. They are in it for the long haul. Years ago, the members of the Compass Editorial Board met with top-level executives from Dart for an “on-background” conversation about issues related to the landfill. During the meeting, the question was posed: At what point will we know that Cayman has solved the problem of solid waste? Our response is this: We can declare victory when the first blade of grass, on the top of Mount Trashmore, pushes its way out of the ground, toward the heavens. Mount Trashmore: Good news, goodbye and good riddance! FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS Don’t underestimate the sizzle of tax cuts If one does not know his- tory and basic math, and the fact that people adjust their behavior on the basis of in- centives, then one should not prove ignorance by com- menting on the likely effects of tax changes. Much of commentary on the proposed tax cut legis- lation in the US leads one to think that 1980s never hap- pened, and the basic laws of economics have been re- pealed. It should be easy to understand that a percentage change in a tax rate and a percentage change in tax rev- enue are not the same thing. As Art Laffer of Laffer Curve fame endlessly points out, there are two tax rates where the government collects no tax revenue – zero and 100 percent. At 100 percent, people stop engaging in tax- able activities, so we know that the tax and growth-max- imizing rate must be less than 100 percent. The actual maximizing rates depend on the specific tax. It is possible to have a high tax rate on cig- arettes because they are ad- dictive (up to the point where it is cheaper to obtain black- market cigarettes as in New York City). In contrast, the tax rate on capital gains needs to be low, because people can choose whether or not to re- alize a capital gain – to some extent, it is a voluntary tax. We are constantly being told that a tax rate cut will re- sult in much greater deficits, which is true in the short run for many taxes if wasteful government spending is not cut. But in the longer run, a properly structured tax cut will cause higher economic growth, resulting in a much bigger economic pie, and thus government can take a smaller percentage and still have the same or greater rev- enue. A number of years ago, I calculated that the Reagan tax cuts “paid for themselves” in about seven years as a re- sult of the bigger economic pie and many more at work with higher wages. Back when the 1978 cap- ital gains tax rate reduction was proposed, the Congres- sional Budget Office (CBO) forecast that the rate reduc- tion would lose more than $1 billion (that was back in the day when a billion was big money). Others, including yours truly, forecast the rate reduction would probably result in $1 billion of extra revenue. I turned out to be wrong: The first-year revenue gain was more than $2 bil- lion, but at least I had the di- rection of my sign right. De- spite further changes in the capital gains tax rate, the CBO continued to not only get the number wrong but the direc- tion. (The empirical evidence has shown that capital gains rate cuts result in an almost immediate revenue gain.) It is almost impossible to be precisely correct when making economic and tax revenue forecasts. But some organizations, like the Tax Foundation, have a track re- cord of smaller errors than most. Many in the media ap- pear to be know-nothings ei- ther because they are or they have a political agenda, such as when they refer to the Tax Policy Center (a creation of two liberal policy organiza- tions, the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution) as “nonpartisan.” The Tax Policy Center claimed huge negative effects from the proposed Re- publican tax plan before it even had the details. The Wall Street Journal re- ported on Jan. 23, 1984: “Back in mid-1982, when a pack of critics was baying at Reagan- omics, even the supply siders at the U.S. Chamber of Com- merce were feeling the heat. [T]he Chamber’s top econo- mist, Richard Rahn, and his supply siders called the 1983 recovery almost on the nose. They predicted 3.2 percent real growth in gross national product. The official outcome was 3.3 percent.” Subsequent revisions by the government put the number at 4.6 percent; so again my team was wrong but far less wrong than the others, who were trapped in the old Keynesian models. The CBO projection made in Feb- ruary 1983 forecast 2.1 per- cent growth for 1983 (less than half the actual number). What the CBO missed in the 1980s was the incentive effects of the Reagan tax rate cuts and deregulation. What they missed in the 1990s was the positive effects of both the capital gains tax rate cut and the real reductions in govern- ment spending as a result of a compromise between Pres- ident Clinton and the House Republicans led by Newt Gin- grich. In the period from and after 2011, the CBO and the other official forecasters (e.g., the Federal Reserve and Inter- national Monetary Fund) were stuck in the Keynesian be- lief (contrary to the evidence) that big increases in gov- ernment spending would in- crease economic growth and real job creation. Congress should not let itself be bound by the CBO projections of the tax changes, given that the of- fice is still using models that fail to adequately account for changes in behavior. A good tax bill should not die on a cross of the CBO. Richard W. Rahn is chairman of Improbable Success Productions and on the board of the American Council for Capital Formation. © 2017 The Washington Times, LLC. RICHARD W. RAHN RICHARD W. RAHN 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 find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 Anti-money laundering workshop held for jewelers, real estate companies KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com With the Financial Ac- tion Task Force set to eval- uate Cayman’s safeguards against money laundering and terrorist financing in less than two months, the Department of Commerce and Investment held a work- shop on Thursday to let designated non-financial businesses know their re- porting obligations. While designated busi- nesses – such as real estate firms and jewelry stores, which are non-financial but nevertheless susceptible to money laundering – have al- ways technically been sub- ject to anti-money laun- dering rules, they have never had a government agency to report to until March, when the Department of Com- merce and Investment was made their regulator, ac- cording to DCI Head of Com- pliance Claudia Brady. Now that the department is regulating designated non-financial businesses for the purposes of anti-money laundering, Ms. Brady said at Thursday’s workshop that inspections will soon be made to check whether those businesses have proper pre- vention measures in place. Businesses should have a written internal process for detecting and reporting suspicious transactions, evi- dence that they trained their staff on such processes, know-your-client documen- tation, and evidence that they have filed suspicious activity reports, she said. If companies do not have that documentation, the De- partment of Commerce and Investment may conduct on- site inspections and review their documents, she said. Ms. Brady added that her department will soon issue a handbook on the specifics of becoming com- pliant, and that businesses still have time to imple- ment their internal proce- dures and become compliant with the anti-money laun- dering regulations. “We won’t just turn up at your door. We’re going to give you notice – maybe three weeks, a month, or two months so you have time to prepare,” she said. “We ap- preciate the fact that you’re a business, and we don’t want to disrupt your business.” Francis Arana, the di- rector of the Anti-Money Laundering Unit, also spoke at the workshop, stressing the importance of desig- nated businesses becoming compliant with anti-money laundering rules for the rep- utation of the territory. The previous three FATF evaluations basically checked to see whether Cayman had the proper anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist fi- nancing legislative frame- work in place. This next evaluation will go beyond that scope, checking to see whether the legislative framework is actually being followed in practice, Mr. Arana explained. “That’s where you come in,” he told the workshop at- tendees, adding that FATF evaluators will be speaking to a “sample” of non-financial businesses in December to see if their procedures meet international standards. FATF evaluators will be on island from Dec. 4-15, ac- cording to Mr. Arana. APPLICATIONS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSISTANCE OPEN The Ministry of Educa- tion is accepting financial as- sistance applications for its Early Childhood Assistance Programme fund for Cayma- nian children who were born between Sept. 1, 2013 and Aug. 31, 2014. According to a press re- lease, applications are being accepted from families that meet certain criteria to as- sist with the payment of fees at an early childhood center until June 30, 2018. “The fund is limited, and thus will be allocated to qualified applicants on a first-come, first-served basis until it is depleted,” the release stated. Application forms and information can be down- loaded from the Ministry of Education’s website, www. education.gov.ky. Forms may also be collected from the Government Administra- tion Building and all early childhood centers. All completed application forms and required docu- mentation must be submitted to the Early Childhood Care and Education Unit on the 2nd Floor of the Government Administration Building. For more information, contact Early Childhood Care and Education Officer Renee Barnes at 244-5735 or email ecap@gov.ky. Members of the real estate and precious metals industries attend an anti-money laundering workshop on Thursday. - PHOTO: KEN SILVADISTRICT DAYS 6 District Days East End North Side FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS Morritt’s resort ambassador celebrates 90th birthday G NOWAK Frank Conolly of East End celebrated his 90th birthday on Sunday, Oct. 8, surrounded by friends and family. Mr. Conolly, who is an elder at Gun Bay United Church, is renowned in the East End district, so much so that the Morritt’s Tortuga Re- sort has made him its official ambassador. He greets, wel- comes and entertains guests at the East End resort with his insights of Cayman’s his- tory and traditions. After a short tenure tur- tling in the Mosquito Cays, Mr. Conolly, like so many other Caymanians, went off to sail with National Bulk Carriers from 1953 until 1967. During that 14-year pe- riod, he returned home a few times to visit family. On his final return visit to Grand Cayman, he worked with Suzy and Eric Berg- strom at the Tortuga Club (now the Morritt’s Tortuga Resort) and did some main- tenance and painting. When Mrs. Bergstrom (now Suzy Soto) noticed his rapport with the tourists, next thing you know, Mr. Conolly was the official bartender. During his time at the Tortuga Club, he served his popular rum concoc- tions to thousands of lo- cals and visitors, in- cluding Prince Charles and Jacques Cousteau. Boasting is not a Frank Conolly characteristic, so he’s forgotten just how many awards he’s received over the years, but those accolades include the Queen’s Medal and Appleton Rum’s Bar- tender Trophy. Mr. Conolly feels a statue of the late Daniel K. Ludwig, owner of National Bulk Car- riers, is way past due, consid- ering he employed so many Caymanians before tourism and banking took hold in these islands. G NOWAK Olga and Earlie Whit- taker made their home in East End, Grand Cayman. Olga was a busy house- wife who had her hands full raising five children, which included Dawson, Maxine, Eileen, Rexford and Calvin. Earlie was a hard working farmer and construction worker, as putting food on the table for a family of seven required more than one occupation. Their son Dawson Whit- taker followed his father’s footsteps as a building foreman; he owns a local construction company and is highly respected for building custom homes and overseeing renovations. This image was taken in the early 1980s. Olga passed away in 2002 at the age of 83 and Earlie passed away in 2000 at the age of 88. This image is from the book ‘The People Time Forgot’ by G Nowak. The book is for sale at the National Museum and all proceeds from sales go towards museum projects. 50 YEARS AGO Investment climate very attractive The Oct. 11 edition of the Caymanian Weekly, a precursor to the Cayman Compass, included the following story: “At the conclusion of his week’s visit to the is- lands, Mr. S. Morey-Bell, Economics Officer and 2nd Secretary of the U.S. Em- bassy in Kingston, told our reporter that he has had a wonderful time. Everyone had been helpful far beyond the call of duty and thus his stay had been a plea- sure as well as very profit- able. He was also particu- larly glad to have had an opportunity of getting over to Cayman Brac. “Mr. Morey-Bell said that the purpose of his visit was to make a basic survey of the structure of the economy of the islands and their po- tential for private foreign investment. This is the first such survey undertaken in recent history by the United States. It was undertaken firstly because the embassy in Kingston acquired juris- diction over the Cayman Is- lands for consular purposes about one year ago, and in the natural course of events this would be done, and sec- ondly a number of enquiries had been received in the U.S. about Cayman – which in- dicated that there is some interest among investors – to which requests the em- bassy responded. “He told the Caymanian Weekly that his reaction is favourable and the potential for private American invest- ment is very substantial, i.e., the investment climate is very attractive. “Some of the problems that the economy here has, e.g., lack of a deep water harbour and the mosquito control programme which affects the tourists, are not in my opinion, insuperable and would not injure the investment climates,” Mr. Morey-Bell said. “Asked by our reporter about the reports he would be making, it was ascer- tained that the principal re- port would be made to the U.S. Department of Com- merce and would be pub- lished under a title such as ‘A Profile of the Cayman Is- lands.’ Private businessmen in the U.S. read the Depart- ment’s publications all the time and thus information about the islands would be disseminated throughout the States. Other minor re- ports would be made to various Departments of State concerned with for- eign affairs.” The same edition also carried the following brief story, titled “Wed in Tampa”: “Elizabeth Anne Jackson, whose origins are in the Cayman Islands, became Mrs. Lee Andrew Gregory, in a marriage ceremony performed by the Rev. Billy Barber at the Culbreath Chapel of the First Baptist Church in Tampa on Sept. 16. “Elizabeth Anne, the daughter of Mrs. John E. Jackson and her late hus- band (Ernest), was given in marriage by her grandfa- ther, Mr. MacNeil Jackson.” Suzy Soto wishes Frank Conolly a happy 90th birthday. - PHOTO: DEBI BERGSTROMThe islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 © 2017 DCB Holding Ltd. and its affiliates. www.deloitte.com/ky Our offices will be closed today, as our staff spend the day volunteering at local non-profits for our 14th annual IMPACT Day. IMPACT Day is a celebration of Deloitte’s commitment to community investment. A day to leave the emails, calls and laptops aside, and put our passion and skills to work towards making an impact that matters in our community. Throughout the year, our firm and staff have made numerous contributions to local non-profits, as well as educational, youth development and professional development projects. These include: 100 Women in Hedge Funds • Alzheimer’s and Dementia Association of the Cayman Is- lands • Breast Cancer Foundation • Business and Professional Women’s Club • Cayman AIDS Foundation • Cayman HospiceCare • CI Cancer Society • Cayman Islands Crisis Centre • CI Humane Society • Cayman Islands Institute of Professional Accountants • CI Red Cross • CI Youth League Hockey • Cayman Prep & High School • Hedge Funds Care Cayman • Leadership Cayman • Meals on Wheels • South Sound Squash Club • YMCA This year’s IMPACT Day projects are: Blue Iguana Recovery Facility • CI Humane Society • Francis Bodden Children’s Home • Lionfish culling • Mastic Trail • Red Bay Primary School Working together to make a difference Deloitte’s Annual IMPACT DayThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS ® Trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under licence (where applicable). ky.scotiabank.com #StartWithYou You’re always moving forward in your life. That is why every loan we offer—from auto to education to home loans— always helps you to do just that. Because with a good start, there’s no stopping where you can go. It’s about giving you the best start.9 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017 The family of the Late Nelda “Miss Nelda” Wilson regrets to announce her passing on Thursday, October 5, 2017. Condolences can be registered at www.boddenfuneralservices.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page Funeral services will be announced at a later date. The family of the Late Alan Marcel Dibben regrets to announce his passing on Sunday, October 8, 2017. Condolences can be registered at www.boddenfuneralservices.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page A Funeral service will be held 3:00 p.m. Monday, October 16, 2017 at Elmslie Memorial United Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cayman HospiceCare. We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Willoaughby Carlisle Whittaker affectionately known as “Joe” of Breakers, who passed away on October 3, 2017. A Thanksgiving Service will be held on Sunday, October 15, 2017 at East End Seventh Day Adventist Church, at 12:00p.m. Viewing will be from 11:00-11:45a.m. Interment follows at East End Cemetery. We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Willoaughby Carlisle Whittaker affectionately known as “Joe” of Breakers, who passed away on October 3, 2017. A Thanksgiving Service will be held on Sunday, October 15, 2017 at East End Seventh Day Adventist Church, at 12:00p.m. Viewing will be from 11:00-11:45a.m. Interment follows at East End Cemetery. Condolences can be registered at: www.churchillsfuneralhome.com Number of criminal defense attorneys in Cayman increases Court statistics do not tell the whole story CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com When two new attorneys join the ranks of 744 other attorneys, the net increase is less than three-tenths of 1 percent. But when those new at- torneys join the small group practising criminal de- fense in Cayman, that in- crease works out to more than 7 percent. Gregory George Burke and Oliver James Grimwood are not new legal practitio- ners: they have more than 30 years of experience between them. But they are new lo- cally, having been called to the Bar of the Cayman Is- lands on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Justice Alastair Malcolm presided at the formal court ceremony in which attorney David McGrath moved the admission of Mr. Burke and attorney Richard Barton set out the qualifications of Mr. Grimwood. Justice Malcolm wel- comed both men and said he had no doubt that other members of the bar would assist them and they in turn would be great assets. The judge said he knew the Cayman bar well, since he had been coming to this ju- risdiction for 17 years. Seventeen years ago or so, the number of attor- neys licensed to practice in Cayman was less than a third of what it is today. There were 227 names on the roll of attorneys in the year 2000; 235 in 2001. When Mr. Burke and Mr. Grimwood signed their names in the official reg- ister, they became numbers 745 and 746 in a list that in- cludes Crown counsel and other attorneys attached to government departments. But if a list were made of attorneys in the private sector, and then a sub-list of those who do criminal defense work, their ranking would be much higher. An informal count of attor- neys who currently ap- pear in criminal cases on a regular basis brings to mind only 12 names. Se- nior attorney Lloyd Samson, deputy chairman of the dor- mant Criminal Bar Defence Association, has agreed that at its most active, the group consisted of just 10 to 12 members. There are 13 to 15 other attorneys whose practice in- cludes civil and family mat- ters, so their criminal case work tends to be on an oc- casional basis. The total number of lawyers doing criminal defense is there- fore about 27. An officer at the Prisoner Detention Center at Fair- banks confirmed this week that there is a list of 25 at- torneys who can be con- tacted when individuals are arrested and want legal ad- vice. Those numbers mirror the situation 17 years ago, when approximately 25 at- torneys were doing criminal defense work regularly or occasionally. So if fewer than 30 at- torneys appear in crim- inal cases, what are almost 700 others doing? Alasdair Robertson, president of the Cayman Islands Law So- ciety in 2014, answered that question when he noted that the largest component of at- torneys provides legal ser- vices in the financial sector. At the opening of Grand Court that year, he pointed out that “the financial ser- vices sector is the single biggest contributor to the economy of the Cayman Is- lands and represents 49 per- cent of the Gross National Product. The industry fur- ther generates 55 percent of the revenue of government.” The complexities of com- mercial cases had already been recognized with the establishment of the Fi- nancial Services Division of the Grand Court in 2009. In 2016, 225 cases were filed in this division, with an- other 250 filed in the Civil Division (including Admi- ralty) plus Family and Es- tate matters for a total of 891 cases. Civil matters at the Summary Court level totaled 321, with another 142 maintenance and affili- ation matters. These statistics are from the Judicial Administra- tion website, which shows the numbers for both civil and criminal matters over the years. In the year 2000, there were 917 criminal cases in Summary Court and 4,380 in Traffic Court. For 2016, the last year for which com- plete numbers are available, those numbers had risen to 1,451 criminal cases and 6,886 traffic cases. Criminal appeals from Summary Court to Grand Court totaled 59 in 2000, 37 in 2016. There were 79 indictments filed in Grand Court in 2000. In 2016, that number had in- creased to 121. Criminal appeals from Grand Court to the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal to- taled 54 in 2000 and never reached that number since, with 35 cases in 2016. Numbers, of course, do not tell the whole story. Since 2000, court re- sources have been stretched to provide a rehabilita- tive approach to unlawful behaviors. The Drug Re- habilitation Court, estab- lished by law in October 2007, deals with a range of defendants, who usually need more than one year to successfully complete the program. There are also informal programs for in- dividuals charged with of- fenses of violence in a do- mestic context, an informal mental health court and a course offered before sen- tencing to people who plead guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol. Of course, not every de- fendant facing a criminal or traffic charge wants or needs an attorney. For those who do, there are both large firms and sole practitioners they can consult. Mr. McGrath is the man- aging partner of the firm McGrath Tonner, which now has eight attorneys with the addition of Mr. Burke. Mr. McGrath introduced Mr. Burke to the court by noting that his work had been largely of a common law na- ture and would hopefully continue to be criminal and legal aid work in Cayman. Mr. Burke was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1999, prac- ticing in the Midlands. He became a partner in the firm of Rogers and Co. in Wolverhampton in 2007 and served as managing partner from 2012 to 2017. His prin- cipal areas of expertise are criminal defense and busi- ness regulation. In contrast, Mr. Barton preferred to work on his own until the recent deci- sion to take on an associate. “There is an increasing de- mand in our practice for the need to represent more se- rious crimes in the Grand Court and to appear in the Court of Appeal. Mr. Grim- wood’s experience will offer diversity in this regard and we are optimistic about his ability to enhance the existing complements at the criminal bar as well,” he explained. He introduced Mr. Grimwood as “a coun- sel’s counsel, a friend, and someone I highly respect in the law.” Mr. Grimwood was called to the bar of England and Wales in 2002 and is a member of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. His first area of expertise covers business crime, fraud, bribery and corruption, money laundering, proceeds of crime matters and asset forfeiture. The other area of his practice has included se- rious violent crime, sexual and drug offenses, robbery, kidnapping and blackmail. He and Mr. Burke have joined a select group, whose most senior members still active include Steve Mc- Field, called to the bar in 1977; Peter Polack, 1983; John Furniss, 1986; and Graham Hampson, 1987. The local veterans can assist the newcomers, while the new- comers can bring fresh per- spectives on developments in English law, just as Jus- tice Malcolm suggested. Taking part in the bar call for two defense attorneys are, from left, David McGrath, Gregory Burke, Justice Alastair Malcolm, Oliver Grimwood and Richard Barton. - PHOTO: CAROL WINKER An officer at the Prisoner Detention Center at Fairbanks confirmed this week that there is a list of 25 attorneys who can be contacted when individuals are arrested and want legal advice.Next >