High of 84 Low of 74 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 LET US ALL PRAISE CAYMAN’S ‘TITANS OF TRASH’ LOCAL | PAGE 2 IGUANAS CAUSE POWER OUTAGE ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 Health premium-sharing plan stalls BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com No deal has been reached on a proposal to make Cayman Islands civil servants pay for a portion of their healthcare premiums, despite claims by the previous government adminis- tration that such a move would be imperative in balancing upcoming budgets. Former Finance Minister Marco Archer said six months before the May 2017 elec- tions that the cost-sharing plan would have to be in place at the start of 2018 “whoever is in government” at the time. Mr. Archer lost his Legislative Assembly seat following the 2017 election and current Finance Minister Roy McTaggart made no mention of the pro- posal during his budget address to the as- sembly in October. Meanwhile, government has planned for increases of nearly $10 million in health in- surance premiums over the next two years, ac- cording to budget documents. About $4.3 million of that will be paid this year, and another $5.6 million is due in 2019. “This is reflecting year-to-year premium in- creases for civil servants – this cost is covered by government,” Accountant General Matthew Tibbetts said. There were meetings early in 2017 on the subject, but the organization that represents government employees said this week that it is unaware of any changes to the current healthcare scheme. Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, who has overall responsibility for the civil service, said this week that he had no update to provide on the issue at the moment. All civil servants are 100 percent covered at present by the Cayman Islands National Insurance Company for healthcare expenses without any deduction in their monthly pay. However, to obtain the free healthcare services, those workers are required to use publicly POLICE: DRIVER TESTED AT 0.387% ALCOHOL LEVEL BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com A man who tested at nearly four times the legal limit for blood-alcohol content was arrested Saturday morning after a single-car crash. He was one of nine people arrested in the Cayman Islands over the weekend for sus- pected drunken driving. Two of the arrests oc- curred in Cayman Brac. According to the Royal Cayman Islands Po- lice Service, the 37-year-old man, who lives in George Town, was tested at 0.387 percent blood-alcohol content, or BAC, following a 1 a.m. Saturday wreck near the Cayman Na- tional roundabout in George Town. He was ar- rested on suspicion of DUI, police said. RCIPS officials said that his BAC was one of the highest levels of drunkenness Cayman police have ever observed behind the wheel. Blood-alcohol content is given as a per- centage of alcohol in the blood or breath when compared to the amount of blood in a per- son’s circulatory system. A 0.1 percent blood- alcohol content is one-10th of one percent, meaning that an individual’s blood contains one part alcohol for every 1,000 parts of blood. To put that in perspective, Cayman’s legal limit for BAC is 0.1 percent. The Web MD site defines a blood-alcohol level of 0.2 percent – twice the legal limit – as causing the intoxi- cated person difficulty walking, double vi- sion and nausea. A 0.3 percent blood-alcohol level may lead to the person passing out, shaking, ex- periencing memory loss and/or a lowered body temperature. Cayman makes a splash in dive awards JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Several Cayman dive resorts were ranked among the best in the world by readers of one of the most popular scuba magazines on the shelves. Scuba Diving magazine’s annual Gold List asks avid divers to rate their favorite opera- tors, liveaboard boats, resorts and dive sites. The list features 11 awards for Cayman businesses and attractions. The destination was also classed as the best in the world for underwater photog- raphy, technical diving and visibility. The Cayman Aggressor, which runs dive trips around all three islands, is ranked as the top liveaboard in the world. Little Cayman Beach Resort, Sunset House in Grand Cayman, Southern Cross in Little Cayman, Cobalt Coast in West Bay and Compass Point dive center in East End are all ranked among the top 20 dive resorts. Reef Divers on the Brac and Divetech in Grand Cayman are also ranked among the world’s top dive operators. “It is really positive for the Cayman Islands as a whole,” said Jo Mikuto- wicz of Divetech. “If you look at the article, there are Cayman businesses in the top 10 or 20 on every list. “Scuba Diving magazine has a very large reach in print and on social media, PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » A freediver investigates the Guardian of the Reef sculpture at the Lighthouse Point dive site, which was voted among the best shore dives in the world. - PHOTO: DIVETECH PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS • Daily Matinees Every Day • $8.00 Seniors, Mon-Fri Before 6pm Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 • Additional charges will apply per 3D/VIP ticket requested SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. - WEDNESDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) MOLLY’S GAME (R) 12:55 I 6:45 STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (PG13) 12:45 VIP I 3:40 I 6:55 I 9:25 THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (PG) 4:25 I 7:15 I 9:50 FERDINAND (PG) 1:40 I 4:25 I 7:00 INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY (PG13) 1:35 I 3:50 I 6:50 VIP I 9:45 JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (PG13) 1:00 I 4:05 VIP I 6:45 I 9:20 VIP I 10:10 PITCH PERFECT 3 (PG13) 1:20 I 4:00 I 9:50 Iguanas cause power outage SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Caribbean Utilities Company experienced a brief power outage caused by iguanas on a power line on Tuesday. CUC spokeswoman Pat Bynoe-Clarke said the outage affected 1,268 customers in two dif- ferent areas. All four iguanas were killed from exposure to the power lines. “Sometimes, iguanas get onto the line,” she said. “It happens on an island.” The power outage lasted an hour and 17 min- utes, and crews worked to restore service to cus- tomers in downtown George Town and around Eastern Avenue. CUC was forced to iguana-proof several elec- tricity poles around Grand Cayman in 2016 after a series of reptile-related power outages. Workers wrapped metal sheeting around nearly half of the island’s utility poles in an effort to keep the iguanas from getting onto lines and causing outages. CUC has also had power outages caused by snakes and frogs in the past. CUC workers were able to restore service in less than 90 minutes on Tuesday. - PHOTO: KEN SILVA Venezuela extends trade ban with three Caribbean islands CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela has extended its ban on air and maritime ties with three nearby Dutch Ca- ribbean islands, citing out of control smuggling, officials said Tuesday. Venezuela is pressing for high-level talks with leaders of Aruba, Curacao and Bo- naire before trading can re- sume, officials said. Vice President Tareck El Aissami said that leaders of the three islands must step up to control criminal groups that he says are smuggling Venezuelan goods, harming citizens of his country. “We are not going to allow anymore aggression from these criminal organizations,” El Aissami said on Twitter, urging leaders of the islands to take action. President Nicolas Maduro on Friday first ordered the 72-hour ban, accusing is- land leaders of being complicit in illegal traf- ficking. It follows threats he made in mid-December to close the routes. Venezuelan authori- ties allege that the smug- gling of products to neigh- boring countries is one of the causes of the severe shortage of food and other basic prod- ucts that the South American country has been facing for several years. The islands popular with tourists lie a short distance from Venezuela’s coast and host oil refineries run by Ven- ezuela’s state oil giant and U.S. subsidiary Citgo. In recent years, Venezu- elans fleeing the nation’s economic collapse have sometimes fled to the is- lands by boat. In 2015 and 2016, Maduro took a sim- ilar measure to combat smuggling, temporarily closing the border crossings with Colombia. 850 ‘cold stunned’ sea turtles brought to Florida facility FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Officials say more than 850 “cold stunned” sea tur- tles have been brought to a Florida facility since a cold snap began last week. Gulf World Marine In- stitute spokeswoman Sam Tuno told the North- west Florida Daily News that it’s the second largest cold-stunning event in the Florida Panhandle since 2010, when approximately 1,800 sea turtles were rehabilitated. Sea turtles’ bodies can go into shock when the wa- ters get below 50 degrees in shallow bays and estuaries. Tuno says they are ex- pecting to lose up to 10 percent of the turtles, but the majority of them will be fine. The Kemp’s Ridley, Green and Logger- head sea turtles will be released as soon as the water warms up. Officials are monitoring a second cold snap expected later this week that could send more turtles their way. U.S. SAYS ‘VIRAL ATTACK’ AMONG THE THEORIES OF DIPLOMAT ILLNESSES IN CUBA FBI reports puts sonic attack theory in doubt WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States is investigating a range of possibilities be- yond “sonic attacks” for the cause of U.S. diplomats’ mys- terious illnesses in Cuba, the Trump administration told Congress on Tuesday, in- cluding the possibility of a viral attack. Top State Department of- ficials testifying on Capitol Hill pushed back strongly on suggestions from some lawmakers that Americans had not been attacked in Cuba. A new FBI report said there is no evidence backing up the initial theory of a sonic weapon. “I’ve seen the range of what possibly could have taken place, beyond the acoustic element,” said Todd Brown, assistant di- rector for the State Depart- ment’s Diplomatic Security service. He said one possi- bility was that a virus was deliberately deployed to harm Americans, but he of- fered no evidence for why investigators believed that might be the case. The U.S. has not pub- licly presented evidence to show that Americans were attacked in Cuba, and the government in Havana has said repeatedly that it be- lieves nobody was attacked. But State Department offi- cials told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that they had spent months examining all possibilities for how the U.S. Embassy workers grew ill, and that every theory had a major hole – with the exception of deliberate attacks. Despite the FBI report, which was revealed Monday by The Associated Press but has not been released pub- licly, Brown said he would not rule out a sound compo- nent entirely. He said there had been an “acoustic element” as- sociated with the sensa- tions and feeling experi- enced by diplomats who fell ill. He said it’s pos- sible the sound masked some other technology that caused the damage. Dr. Charles Rosenfarb, medical director for the State Department’s medical bu- reau, said investigators are confident that something in- deed caused medical harm to the Americans. “The findings sug- gest this is not an epi- sode of mass hysteria,” Rosenfarb said. “Sometimes, iguanas get onto the line. It happens on an island.” PAT BYNOE-CLARKE, CUC Top State Department officials testifying on Capitol Hill pushed back strongly on suggestions from some lawmakers that Americans had not been attacked in Cuba. Venezuela is pressing for high-level talks with leaders of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire before trading can resume. Padre Island National Seashore’s Tom Backof holds a rehabilitated sea turtle before releasing it in to the Gulf of Mexico Sunday. - PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 ATTRACT THE FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS Take advantage of this unique program to showcase your business products, services and opportunities for employment and scholarships. A must-have guide for all Cayman students and their parents! CAREERSGUIDE 2018 A must-have guide for all Cayman students and their parents! When starting out in the business world, our Careers Guide is an essential tool for any graduate looking to navigate the business world. EXTENSIVE DISTRIBUTION: • Inserted in the Cayman Compass prior to the Careers, Education and Training Expo. • Delivered to all high school and higher education facilities. FOR ADVERTISING CALL: 949-5111 or email sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com AD SPACE DEADLINE: Monday, Feb. 5 DISTRIBUTED AT THE CAREERS EXPO FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD PRESENTED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCEThe 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. WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Call them what you will – trashmen, garbagemen, sanitation specialists, environmental engineers – they regularly make their rounds, certainly not unnoticed but definitely unpraised. Given recent reports regarding trash piling up on street sides, “management musical chairs” at the Department of Environmental Health, and millions of dollars in overtime expenditures, it would be tempting, but wrong, to blame Cayman’s army of servicemen who actually pick up the garbage, refuse, detritus and discarded home goods from every residence and most businesses on the island. We have no idea how much these sanitation workers get paid – and, frankly, we have no interest in finding out because we do know this with certainty: It’s not enough. Consider for a moment what these men do. Long before dawn, while most of us are sleeping, they are crisscrossing the island, making thousands of stops, lifting untold tons of refuse from our curbs into their trucks. They do this, some days, in the pouring rain. Certainly picking up the trash doesn’t normally conjure up images of romance or glamour. There is, however, a certain choreography of power and grace in the movements of a well-coordinated team of trash collectors – one man behind the wheel, commanding the mastodonic machine (one of Cayman’s biggest beasts?), while the others nimbly alight, quickly attend to the cans and then deftly re-embark with the signal to move on. (If for an instant, any reader is inclined to mar- ginalize the complexity of collecting Cayman’s trash, consider that this department has achieved what no other private or public entity has been able to do – including the Cayman Islands Postal Service – that is, regularized door-to-door service for every address in the country.) It is only when the system fails and we are con- fronted with the evidence of our material existence that we think about the trashmen. (As in: “Where the @*$% are they?!”) Trash collectors are not, and should not be consid- ered, responsible for managerial policies that have led to far too much trash on Cayman being uncollected in recent weeks. When government bureaucrats issue a moratorium on overtime for trash collectors, they must have antici- pated that such a decision would result in fewer man- hours on the job, exacerbated by increased volumes of refuse during the holiday season and the periodic pick-up of “bulk waste” (discarded furniture and appli- ances). Clearly there was a miscalculation here. (Not to be too critical of management, we fully rec- ognize that overtime pay for public sector or private sector workers can quickly get out of control if it is not properly monitored and managed. Employees who receive copious amounts of overtime pay soon become dependent on it, absorbing it into their house- hold budget. Reducing overtime hours significantly, or entirely, almost always results in an unhappy or dis- gruntled workforce. This is one issue that management cannot afford to leave unattended because, predict- ably, it will quickly become virtually unmanageable.) For years, the Compass editorial board has led public discourse on shortcomings in the solid waste system, starting at the top of Mount Trashmore, through the administrative halls of the Department of Environmental Health, and down to the street sides and vacant lots where abandoned vehicles and mounds of garbage accumulate. While we will continue to scrutinize (and when appropriate, criticize) the government’s solid waste management practices, we are unlikely, ever, to be critical of our cadre of hard-working sanitation workers. Of one thing we are certain: They work a heck of a lot harder than politicians, white-collar professionals and, yes, journalists. Let us all praise Cayman’s ‘Titans of trash’ Infrastructure gives Trump an opportunity to shine US President Donald Trump demonstrated he can work with the Republicans in congress by passing the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. The nation’s sagging infrastruc- ture offers an opportunity to reach across the aisle and prove he can lead the nation in common purpose. Whereas he failed to con- vince Democrats that tax cuts were prudent and could be fair, most everyone agrees rebuilding America’s infra- structure is needed but is ter- ribly difficult. The shortage of federal, state and private funds to upgrade Interstate 95, met- ropolitan New York’s mass- transit system and other fa- cilities around the country exceeds $1 trillion. Through 2025, the Amer- ican Society of Civil Engineers estimates inefficiencies im- posed by outdated facilities will cost $3.9 trillion in lost GDP – not to mention the ter- rible frustrations we endure commuting to work, running businesses or just visiting family at the holidays. By addressing the mess, big cities stand to gain a lot – something Democrats like Sen. Schumer should love – and the jobs created in smaller municipalities and rural communities would be substantial – a direct boost to the GOP’s political base. Sadly, political stars are as much crossed as aligned. Finding the money and the penchant for the courts to arrogate policymaking au- thority from democratically elected legislatures has frus- trated political and business leaders of all stripes. Federal and state budgets hardly have the $1 trillion the Trump administration says is needed to catch up the na- tion’s infrastructure invest- ment. Initially, several hun- dred billion was to be found by taxing U.S. corporate profits parked abroad but that money was used to help lower the top corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent. Some projects could be fi- nanced by raising dedicated taxes – most notably the gas tax to fix roads and bridges – but many in Congress and motorists fiercely opposes that solution. Too often, highway funds are spent wastefully and on green proj- ects such as bike paths. Mr. Trump should seek consensus with unions to streamline work rules so that the Davis-Bacon Act, which essentially requires union workers on federally assisted projects, results in fewer workers merely leaning on shovels. In exchange, he offers more dollars for the roads and genuinely produc- tive jobs. A bike and tire ex- cise tax to finance cycling projects makes sense too. The administration is pushing hard for private fi- nancing but state experi- ments with private investors have often resulted in exor- bitant utility bills, unreli- able ambulance services and bankrupt toll roads – or at least roads too expensive for many commuters. The basic problem is privatized facilities usually become unregulated monopo- lies, and private equity loads them up with debt to create big paydays for Wall Street fi- nancial engineers. If the administration is set on privatizing the nation’s air traffic control system, then the customers – which too often were not adequately represented by local govern- ments in the situations noted above – must be at the table. The airlines – represented by their chief financial officers – along with federal and local officials, should have to ap- prove financial structures, fees and standards of perfor- mance in any deal that hands the air traffic control system to private investors. Finally, environmental ac- tivists have abused the courts to impose controls contrary to national and state policies established by congress and elected legislatures. For ex- ample, the Millennium Pipe- line Company proposed to build a 7.8 mile line to an elec- tric utility in New York that local groups managed to get a federal judge to delay on grounds that natural gas use added to greenhouse emis- sions and encouraged fracking. Such environmentalists’ tactics and judicial activism are ill-conceived and mock democracy – these amount to little more than irrational guerrilla warfare to subvert majority rule. Environmentalists should consider that gas-fired plants generally displace coal-fired generators and reduce CO2 emissions. If they think the country should cap electrical generation altogether or end fracking, then congress is the place to make law. It’s high time that Con- gress looked at how judi- cial restraint is enforced. It seems the courts are the only branch of government that can grab policymaking au- thority without any oversight and with impunity. Articulating those issues by engaging Democratic sen- ators and governors is the only way for Mr. Trump to deliver on his promise to re- build America. If the president is the dealmaker he offers himself to be, infrastructure offers his time to shine. Peter Morici is an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, and a national columnist. © 2018, The Washington Times. PETER MORICI 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”The islands’ most-trusted news source 5 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 Join CAYMAN’S ULTIMATE HEALTH, WELLNESS & beauty EVENT This One-Day Event Will Feature Various Fitness Classes | Healing Therapies | Exercise and Yoga Massage and Meditation | Healthy Food and Samplings Wellness Workshops and Screenings | Beauty Techniques Style and Fashion | Musical Entertainment | Sales Boutiques For partnership inquiries 815-0015 or 815-0085 SA TURDA Y january 20th The ARC a t Camana Ba y Ford Fitness6 LOCAL NEWS WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Dart revives Camana Bay hotel plan Details of hotel ambitions included in underpass application JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Dart group has re- vived plans for a five-star hotel on Seven Mile Beach – incorporating the current site of the Royal Palms bar. Concept plans for the ex- pansion of Camana Bay, showing a hotel on the site, are included in a new appli- cation to extend the under- pass the developer is building on West Bay Road. The Central Planning Au- thority turned down an ap- plication for an extension last year, saying it did not have enough information about Dart’s future development plans to approve the works. The new application in- cludes that detail, indicating that the purchase of the Royal Palms site, which went through in August last year, has enabled the developer to resurrect a previously an- nounced ambition for a hotel, including buildings over the top of the road. The substantive plan- ning application is for an ap- proximately 171-foot exten- sion to the underpass. The hotel plan, which would re- quire a separate application, is included to illustrate Dart’s long-term goals for the site. The developer has been in discussions with a five- star operator, understood to be the Four Seasons, about a new hotel for some time. Planning documents, in- cluded with the underpass submission, indicate the op- erator had cooled on the proposed location, because it did not include enough beach frontage. Dart had switched its at- tention to another site, north of the Kimpton Seafire Re- sort, as the preferred location for the resort. But it encoun- tered different hurdles at that property, with beach rock in the shallow coastal waters along the beachfront cited as an obstacle for future guests. A bid to remove the rock stalled amid a requirement for an environmental impact assessment on the likely ef- fect of the modifications on Seven Mile Beach. Now, with the purchase of the Royal Palms doubling the beach frontage and in- creasing the acreage at the Camana Bay site, Dart ap- pears to have reverted back to Plan A. According to architect John Doak, in a submission to the Central Planning Au- thority in support of the un- derpass expansion, “The in- clusion of the Royal Palms site will provide adequate beach frontage to connect the future five-star hotel to the rest of Camana Bay, en- hancing the country’s tourism product, while providing meaningful beach access to the Camana Bay community and the general public.” Drawings submitted with the application show the Royal Palms site incor- porated in a “master plan,” which shows Camana Bay stretching across the Esterley Tibbetts Highway and West Bay Road, linking the hotel to the town center over an el- evated avenue. Some of the hotel build- ings are shown directly over the road. Dart needs to extend the length of the West Bay Road underpass from its current length of 406 feet to 577 feet to make the concepts outlined in the master plan possible, the submission indicates. “This particular infra- structure is considered es- sential in the creation of a pedestrian friendly town con- necting Seven Mile Beach to the North Sound,” it states. “Visitors and residents will be able to travel safely from sea to sound, enjoying the amenities along the way of landscaped paths and planned development on an elevated plane between the West Bay Road and the Es- terley Tibbetts Highway.” New parking will be added under the elevated plane and a network of paths have been included in the design for pedestrian and cycle access. Concept plans for the expansion of Camana Bay, showing a hotel on the site, are included in a new application to extend the underpass the developer is building on West Bay Road. Dart Real Estate is seeking approval to extend the length of the underpass on West Bay Road. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY Man charged with illegal trade in conch 850 pounds allegedly imported without permit CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A man accused of il- legally importing 850 pounds of conch ap- peared in Summary Court Tuesday. Carl Harshell Ebanks, 39, was charged with “im- porting or introducing from the sea a specimen [the conch] without a valid permit.” The case prompted Magistrate Valdis Foldats to comment that it was a very unusual charge – “one I’ve never seen before.” The charge was brought under the Endan- gered Species (Trade and Transport) Law. The alleged offense oc- curred at the George Town harbor on Oct. 17, 2017. Mr. Ebanks said he worked on a commercial boat. “I go and come,” he ex- plained, adding that he was based in Honduras. He told the court that he did have an attorney, who was off island and so could not attend that day. The magistrate ob- served that the law gives the court the power to order forfeiture of the vessel if there is a conviction. He noted that the matter had to do with an inter- national treaty, so he said the court would appreciate copies of the law. No other details were given and no plea was entered. The magistrate set the next mention for Jan. 23, when it was expected that Mr. Ebanks’s attorney would be present. Under Cayman’s Endan- gered Species (Trade and Transport) Law (2017 Re- vision), a person guilty of an offense is liable for a fine of up to $500,000 or a prison term of up to four years or both. The specimen in respect of which the offense was committed would be for- feited to the Crown. PROUD OF THEM Syms honored for academic work West Bay’s Janelle Syms, 19, has received a “Proud of Them” accolade for her aca- demic achievements. Even from an early age, Janelle excelled in aca- demics, graduating as top student from Sir John A. Cumber Primary School, be- fore moving on to John Gray High School, from which she graduated in 2015. At graduation, she re- ceived many accolades and awards which included: Best report, which led to her re- ceiving the Ernst & Young Award for Academic Excel- lence, recognizing her at- taining a final total of 11 O- Level equivalent passes, Level 2 Diploma with High Honors, recognition as valedictorian and being made head girl for her graduating year. During high school, she was president of the school’s Focus Christian Fellowship Club and also participated in the Cayman Islands Youth Parliament as “Minister of Fi- nancial Services, Commerce and Environment.” Janelle was a Cayman Is- lands youth ambassador at the Global Young Leaders Conference in New York and Washington, D.C. She was also selected to represent the Cayman Islands at the 2013 Next Generation Lead- ership Awards in Canada for Junior Achievement. She is a 2017 graduate from the University Col- lege of the Cayman Islands where she graduated with a 4.0 GPA and obtained an as- sociate of arts degree, with honors, in primary educa- tion. While at UCCI, she was on both the President’s and Dean’s Lists twice. She was also selected as a substitute teacher at UCCI during the Spring 2016 se- mester, where she was re- sponsible for the supervision of a Spanish lab for ma- ture students. Thanks to a government scholarship and partial funding from the National Council of Voluntary Organ- isations, she is currently pur- suing her bachelor’s degree in early childhood and edu- cation at Liverpool Hope Uni- versity in the U.K. She is a member of the Afro Caribbean Student So- ciety and the student course representative for her early childhood seminar group. The Proud of Them initiative recognizes the positive achievements of young people between the ages of 10 and 25. Through a public nomination process, individuals are honored in various categories. Each person selected is featured for six months on billboards across the Cayman Islands and receives a certificate and $500. Even from an early age, Janelle excelled in academics, graduating as top student from Sir John A. Cumber Primary School, before moving on to John Gray High School, from which she graduated in 2015. Janelle SymsThe islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 so it is great exposure for the islands.” Divetech’s local site at its Lighthouse Point headquarters, where visi- tors can explore a spec- tacular reef wall and visit the bronze sculpture, the Guardian of the Reef, was voted in the top five shore dives in the world. The USS Kittiwake was ranked among the top wreck dives and the reef off Sunset House was classed among the most pop- ular night dives. Darwin’s Arch in the Galapagos Islands was voted the best dive site in the world, while Buddy Divers in Bo- naire was ranked as the best dive resort. Patricia Wuest, editor of Scuba Diving magazine, told the Compass that the islands had been a favorite among readers since the magazine began the Gold Awards in 1994. She said, “There isn’t a diver on the planet who doesn’t love diving on any of the three Cayman Is- lands. After all, the trio of islands – Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman – offer spectacular year-round diving,” she said. “The dive slate is im- pressive – jaw-dropping wall diving, clear, warm water, healthy reefs and awesome wreck diving. Whether you like shallow reefs or deep walls, a vi- brant nightlife or napping in a hammock, you’ll find what you’re looking for in the Cayman Islands.” A 0.4 percent al- cohol content can lead to trouble breathing, coma or possible death. The RCIPS reported that it arrested a handful of drivers who measured be- tween 0.17 percent and 0.21 percent blood-alcohol con- tent during various inci- dents between Jan. 5 and Jan. 8. Some of the tests were conducted using field breathalyzer units and others via blood tests done at the hospital. In one in- stance on Sunday afternoon, police said an intoxicated Dodge Ram driver ran into the back of a Ford Escape SUV along Shamrock Road before striking a concrete wall. The Ford was carrying four children, who all were checked out at the scene and released with no injuries. Police said the 40-year- old suspect had a blood-al- cohol level of 0.21 percent. On Saturday night, a car crashed into another vehicle waiting at a police roadblock along the Esterley Tibbetts Highway. The 34-year-old driver was arrested after his blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.173 percent. “The holiday season is over, but drunk driving is continuing and so is our enforcement,” said RCIPS Inspector Ian Yearwood. “With over 10 accidents on average per day, and ex- tremely high levels of intox- ication by some behind the wheel, we know we cannot change behavior on the road by ourselves. “We need the public to work with us; if you see someone who is clearly intoxicated and insists on getting behind the wheel, call us.” The traffic unit recorded more than half a dozen weekends between July and December last year where 20 or more crashes occurred during a 48-hour period. DUI driving Typically, individuals arrested and charged for drunk driving do not have their drivers’ licenses taken away until they are either convicted or they admit to their crime before a court. “The normal presumption of innocence under the law applies and in cases of DUI, it is the magistrate or judge who decides on driving privileges,” according to an RCIPS statement. Local defense attor- neys who handle DUI cases told the Cayman Compass that there are some circum- stances in which drivers who plead guilty can agree to hand in their licenses early, but that is typically at the defendant’s discretion with advice from counsel. Traffic court cases can be lengthy affairs. The Compass reported on one such matter involving a local lawyer who was sentenced to prison for three years for injuring two tourists in a hit-and-run ac- cident on West Bay Road in January 2015, who faced separate charges of speeding and drink driving dating back to 2011. Despite at least 25 sched- uled court dates between 2011 and 2016, the DUI matter was not adjudicated until early 2017. How Cayman compares The Cayman Islands has one of the highest limits for blood-alcohol content in the world, among those coun- tries that do have limits for drunken driving. By comparison, neigh- boring Jamaica’s limit is 0.04 percent. England, the U.S., Trinidad and Mexico all have a limit of 0.08, al- though some municipalities enforce a lower rate. Germany, France, Ire- land and Canada have a 0.05 BAC limit. A handful of countries do not impose any upward limit on blood-alcohol content for drunk drivers, including Vanuatu and Laos. Anyone convicted on in- dictment in Cayman for driving while under the in- fluence of drugs or alcohol can face up to 10 years in prison and a driving disqualification of up to five years. funded clinics and hospitals. Any requirement that civil servants pay a por- tion of their own health pre- miums would essentially amount to a pay cut for gov- ernment workers. “The Cayman Islands Civil Service Association has heard nothing further re- garding possible healthcare remuneration changes for our members,” said the as- sociation’s president, John Bothwell. “The associa- tion remains committed to working with the govern- ment, should they wish to consider changes to civil ser- vants’ healthcare coverage, or other national health cov- erage changes, which could affect our members.” Mr. Bothwell said the as- sociation was keen to avoid “retrograde” steps that could affect the health of thousands of Caymanians. Roughly 3,600 people work in the central government ser- vice – 75 percent of whom are Caymanians. Another 2,200 employees work in the public sector’s statutory au- thorities and government- owned companies. CINICO covers more than 15,000 Cayman Islands resi- dents, including all civil ser- vants, civil service pensioners and their families. However, thousands of public sector employees, including many of those working in the gov- ernment’s 19 statutory au- thorities and the seven gov- ernment-owned companies, do not use CINICO coverage. In most cases, the authorities and companies will charge employees a percentage of monthly premiums and those workers will also have to co- pay for certain doctors visits. Government healthcare managers have talked for years about getting those remaining authorities and companies to include their workers on CINICO’s plan as a way to share risk and, thereby, lower the monthly premiums the public sector pays. However, CINICO chief executive Lonny Tibbetts said efforts to encourage this within the past year were rejected, with the public sector entities stating government premium rates were much higher than the ones they pay now to pri- vate sector insurers. Cayman makes a splash in dive awards CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Police: Driver tested at 0.387% alcohol level CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Health premium-sharing plan stalls Government has planned for increases of nearly $10 million in health insurance premiums over the next two years, according to budget documents. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The Cayman Aggressor was voted the best liveaboard by readers of Scuba Diving magazine. - PHOTO: WAYNEWORKS MARINE RCIPS officials said that is one of the highest levels of drunkenness Cayman police have ever observed behind the wheel. The list features 11 awards for Cayman businesses and attractions.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS OFFICE TEL FAX E-MAIL WEBSITE Unit 201 Alissta Towers 943-IMPT (4678) 943-4679 Info_impt@candw.ky www.impttraining.com FAST TRACK YOUR CAREER!! Train locally to compete globally!Train locally to compete globally! 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Get AAT Qualifi ed AAT Foundation Certi cate in Accounting AAT Advanced Diploma in Accounting AAT Professional Diploma in Accounting Classes begin week of Jan. 16th Ask about our payment plans for self-sponsored students Upcoming Modules: (only 3 modules to be completed over a 12 to 18-month period) • IFA Core Modules • Accounting Fundamentals Classes begin week of Jan. 16th Ask about our payment plans for self-sponsored students Accounting Certi cations – from ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certi ed Accountants – over 100 years strong) AAT QUALIFICATIONS (From the Association of Accounting Technicians) ICSA® C erti cate in International Finance & Administration 13,000 tourists stuck in Matterhorn town Swiss authorities near the famed Matterhorn peak have closed ski slopes, hiking trails, cable cars, roads and train service into the nearby town of Zermatt amid a heightened risk of avalanches, stranding some 13,000 tourists in the town. North Korea to join Olympics in South Korea as tensions ease Iran lawmaker says 3,700 arrested in days of protest, unrest TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – An Ira- nian reformist lawmaker said Tuesday that some 3,700 people were arrested in the days of protests and un- rest that roiled Iran over the past two weeks, offering a far higher number than authori- ties previously released. The protests, which vented anger at high unem- ployment and official corrup- tion, were the largest seen in Iran since the disputed 2009 presidential election, and some demonstrators called for the overthrow of the gov- ernment. At least 21 people have been killed in the unrest surrounding the protests. The official news website of the Iranian parliament, icana.ir, quoted Mahmoud Sadeghi of Tehran as saying that different security and in- telligence forces detained the protesters, making it difficult to know the exact number of detainees. He did not elabo- rate, nor did he say where he got the figure. Previously, authorities have said “hundreds” were arrested in Tehran alone, not offering a total figure for arrests as the demon- strations spread into the Iranian countryside, in- cluding small towns. Interior Minister Abdol- reza Rahmani Fazli has said about 42,000 people at most took part in the anti-gov- ernment protests. Sadeghi’s figure of arrested offered Tuesday would mean nearly 10 percent of those who dem- onstrated were arrested. On Sunday, Tehran pros- ecutor, Abbas Jafari Dola- tabadi, said that 70 of the detained protesters have been released on bail during the last 48 hours. He added that there would be more re- leases from detention, except for the main instigators of the riots who will be “dealt with seriously.” Also Sunday, Iranian law- makers held a closed session in which senior security offi- cials briefed them on the pro- tests and the conditions of the detainees, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Iranian authorities have said that the protests are waning. That is in part due to the government blocking access to the popular mes- saging app Telegram, which demonstrators used to share images of the rallies and or- ganize. Authorities also have deployed additional police and members of the Basij, a volunteer organization affili- ated with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. It remains difficult for journalists and outsiders to piece together what’s hap- pening beyond Tehran, as Iran is a vast country of 80 million and travel there is restricted. In recent days, gov- ernment supporters have held several mass rallies across the country to pro- test the unrest. The United States and Is- rael have expressed sup- port for the protests, which began on Dec. 28 in Iran’s second largest city, Mashhad, but deny Iranian govern- ment allegations that they fomented them. U.S. officials and ana- lysts studying Iran say be- lieve conservative opponents of President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate within Iran’s clerically overseen gov- ernment, started the demon- strations in Mashhad, but quickly lost control of them. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday also blamed “Amer- icans and Zionists” for the protests, saying money sup- porting them came from “one of the filthy-rich governments of the Persian Gulf.” SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – The rival Koreas took steps to- ward reducing their bitter animosity during rare talks Tuesday, as North Korea agreed to send a delegation to next month’s Winter Olym- pics in South Korea, hold talks on reducing tension along their border and re- open a military hotline. The meeting, the first of its kind in about two years, was arranged after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made an abrupt push for improved ties with South Korea following a year of elevated tensions with the outside world over his ex- panding nuclear and mis- sile programs. Critics say Kim may be trying to di- vide Seoul and Washington in a bid to weaken interna- tional pressure and sanc- tions on the North. “I think we took an im- portant first step toward the development of South-North relations,” chief South Ko- rean delegate Cho Myoung- gyon said after the talks, ac- cording to media footage from the border village of Panmunjom, the venue. Cho’s North Korean coun- terpart, Ri Son Gwon, read a joint statement in which the two Koreas agreed to “ac- tively cooperate” in the Py- eongchang Olympics to “en- hance the prestige of the Korean people.” He said North Korea will send a delegation of officials, athletes, cheerleaders and journalists and South Korea will provide necessary ser- vices for the delegation. “I believe that North Ko- rea’s participation in the Py- eongchang Games will pro- vide us with a chance to reduce tension on the Ko- rean Peninsula,” said Cho, whose official title is unifica- tion minister. During an earlier era of inter-Korean detente, ath- letes from the two Koreas paraded together at inter- national sports events such as the Olympics and fielded a unified Korean team. The government of current South Korean President Moon Jae- in wants the two Koreas to agree to similar reconcilia- tory steps at the Feb. 9-25 Py- eongchang Games. North Korea is weak in winter sports and a pair of figure skaters, Ryom Tae OK and Kim Ju Sik, earlier be- came the only North Korean athletes to qualify for the Py- eongchang Games before the North missed a confirmation deadline. The International Olympic Committee said Monday it has “kept the door open” for North Korea to take part in the games. North Korea also agreed to hold military talks with South Korea aimed at re- ducing animosity along their tense border and to restore a military hotline commu- nication channel, according to Cho and Ri. The countries have a long history of failing to follow through with rapproche- ment accords. In 2015, ne- gotiators met for nearly 40 hours before announcing a deal to pull back from a mili- tary standoff caused by land mine blasts that maimed two South Korean soldiers. But animosities flared again sev- eral months later after the North’s fourth nuclear test. The meeting’s venue, Pan- munjom, is the only place on the tense border where North and South Korean soldiers are just feet away from each other. A North Korean sol- dier in November defected to the South across Panmunjom amid a hail of bullets fired by his comrades. He was hit five times but survived. An agreement on the North’s Olympic participation had been widely expected be- fore the talks began, but the Koreas appeared to remain sharply at odds over how to improve their overall ties. North Korea was expected to demand rewards in return for South Korea’s proposal of family reunions, such as a halt to South Korean pro- paganda broadcasts and a scaling back or halting of military drills with the U.S. It was not immediately clear whether the North made such a demand. Suspension of the military drills would be unacceptable for Seoul because it would seriously undermine its al- liance with its chief ally, the United States, which wants to put more pressure on North Korea. The North views the drills as a rehearsal for an invasion. South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, left, poses with head of North Korean delegation Ri Son Gwon while shaking hands during their meeting in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea, Tuesday. – PHOTO: AP9 WORLD&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2018 The family of Roy Randall Lewis announces his death on Wednesday, 3 January, 2018. A Funeral Mass will be held at 4:00 p.m. Friday 12 January 2018 at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, viewing will be from 3:00 p.m. Prior to the service. A wake will be held from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Thursday, 11 January 2018 at Bodden Funeral Service, 117 Walkers Rd. In Loving Memory of Beloved Astee Astor Alvintine Range November 9, 1973 - January 10, 2010 Time has passed so fast. Today is 8 long sad years since you left us. Oh, how I miss you. This was how it was to be or you would still be here with me. My heart breaks and the tears fall when I think of that cold, windy January day you left me, but the Lord knows best. We will cherish your memory in our hearts forever. From your broken hearted Mother & Father your Sons, Daughter, Brothers, Sisters, Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Cousins and all of your many friends. Salvadorans fear their country not prepared for returnees SANTA TECLA, El Salvador (AP) – Being deported to an El Salvador he had not seen in more than three decades was a trauma Hugo Castro re- calls clearly. The 51-year-old said Monday that his country must begin preparing now to receive the nearly 200,000 Salvadorans who may have to return following the Trump administration’s decision to lift their temporary protected status next year. “The main problem for de- portees is that they’re made invisible. They’re rejected, there’s no work. They don’t help us,” said Castro, who was deported from the U.S. in 2015. The U.S. announcement brought fears that a major source of income for this poor Central American nation will be cut off and that families could be separated. But there was also a hint of optimism that Salvadorans with many years of experience in the U.S. could bring expertise and in- vestment to spur the economy. Homeland Security Secre- tary Kirstjen Nielsen said Sal- vadorans who have stayed in the U.S. with temporary pro- tected status – only a frac- tion of the estimated 2 mil- lion Salvadorans living there – would have to leave by Sept. 9, 2019, unless Congress came up with a solution al- lowing them to stay. The temporary protected status program has been offered to citizens from a number of countries fleeing natural disasters or other in- stability. The affected Salva- dorans received the status after earthquakes in 2001 killed more than 1,000 people. Thousands more who arrived in the United States in recent years fleeing gang violence were not eligible. The biggest worry among many Salvadorans is that their nation of 6.2 mil- lion people will see a big drop in the amount of cash sent home by countrymen working in the United States. Salvadorans transferred more than $4.5 billion from the U.S. in 2016, accounting for 17 percent of El Salva- dor’s economy, according to government figures. Luis Membreno, an eco- nomic analyst in El Salvador, said that fear may be over- blown. He said Salvadorans who have protected status in the U.S. tend to be more long- standing migrants who have their families there and send less money home. Many more Salvadorans are not in the program, with growing num- bers entering the U.S. illegally over the past decade fleeing violence and poverty. “I don’t think that family remittances are going to fall in the short term,” Membreno said. He also thinks some Sal- vadoran families in the U.S. could start sending more money back – something that started when Donald Trump was elected president – so re- mittance figures could rise. In addition, he said, many of those eventually returning could be skilled and have money to invest. “All of this could generate a certain dynamism in the economy,” he said. Caesar Rios, director of the nonprofit group where Castro works, is less op- timistic. “Our country is not prepared to re- ceive thousands of Salva- dorans,” he said. Deportees are often tar- geted by gangs, because they believe they have money. Po- lice also target them, be- cause of the stigma that they are criminals. El Salvador immigrants Diana Paredes, left, and Isabel Barrera, react at a news conference following an announcement on Temporary Protected Status for nationals of El Salvador, in Los Angeles, Monday. – PHOTO: AP Powerful California storm floods roads, loosens hillsides LOS ANGELES (AP) – Heavy rains pounding Southern California for a second day caused flooding and loos- ened hillsides as officials in fire-ravaged communities warned people to stay off roads over fears of destruc- tive mud flows. Water and debris in lanes shut down coastal U.S. 101 and traffic accidents on rain- slicked roadways across the region slowed the Tuesday morning commute to a crawl. Several inches of rain fell in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, where thousands of residents evacuated over fears of mudslides in areas where the state’s largest-ever fire raged last month. “Creeks that normally would be dry would turn into raging rivers of mud and debris and large rocks and trees,” said Robert Lewin, director of the Santa Bar- bara County Office of Emer- gency Management. “These can be quite damaging. They’ll destroy roads, they’ll take out homes.” Forecasters issued flash flood warnings and predicted that the cold front with pow- erful winds could bring higher rain totals to down- town Los Angeles than seen in the past 10 months. Man- datory evacuations were or- dered for about 700 homes in former burn areas of Los Angeles County. A winter weather advi- sory was in place for moun- tain areas, where officials warned motorists to pre- pare for difficult travel condi- tions, including gusty winds, low visibility and snow- covered roads Flash flood watches were also issued for parts of So- noma and Mendocino coun- ties north of San Francisco, warning that the rains that were saturating the area Monday night could trigger mudslides in areas devas- tated by October wildfires. The blazes leveled en- tire neighborhoods, killing 44 people and destroying more than 8,900 homes and other buildings. GREECE TO LIMIT SHARIAH LAW AFTER COURT CHALLENGE ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Law- makers in Greece are set to limit the powers of Is- lamic courts operating in a border region that is home to a 100,000-strong Muslim minority. The proposal aims to scrap rules dating back more than 90 years ago and which refer many civil cases involving members of the Muslim community to Sha- riah law courts. The new legislation will give Greek courts priority in all cases. The changes – con- sidered long overdue by many Greek legal experts – follow a complaint to the Council of Europe’s Court of Human Rights over an inheritance dispute by a Muslim woman who lives in the northeastern Greek city of Komotini. Legislation concerning minority rights was based on international treaties fol- lowing wars in the after- math of the Ottoman em- pire’s collapse. The Muslim minority in Greece is largely Turkish speaking. Minority areas were visited last month by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Greek governments in the past have been reluc- tant to amend minority rights, as many disputes be- tween Greece and Turkey re- main unresolved. Currently, Islamic court hearings are presided over by a single official, a state-ap- pointed Muslim cleric. 200 INJURED IN S. AFRICA COMMUTER TRAIN CRASH JOHANNESBURG (AP) – A train collision on the out- skirts of South Africa’s com- mercial hub, Johannesburg, left more than 200 people in- jured, emergency responders said Tuesday morning. It was the second train crash in the area within a week. At least 226 people were taken to hospitals “but most with minor injuries,” said Nana Radebe, spokeswoman for the city’s emergency man- agement service. No one died in the crash at the Geldenhuis commuter train station, emergency re- sponse group ER24 said in a statement.Next >