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Box 74, KY1-1102 Tel. 949-8699 www.britcay.ky A member of Colonial Group International Ltd. : insurance, health, pensions, life Gov’t backs away from GM mosquito rollout JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A multimillion dollar plan for the islandwide rollout of Cayman’s genetically modi- fied mosquito program has been significantly scaled back amid budget cuts and concerns that the technology has yet to fully prove itself. A series of emails be- tween Mosquito Research and Control Unit officials and British biotech firm Oxitec, released under the Freedom of Information Law, show the two parties were close to agreement on a two- year, US$8 million deal in August last year. But government backed away from the arrangement, budgeting only CI$940,000 in 2018 for a much smaller- scale deployment of the technique in West Bay – essentially a rerun of the pilot deployment in that area from 2016 and 2017. The decision appears to have been driven by a mix of budget issues and concerns that more data is needed to assess the effectiveness of the method of suppressing local populations of the dis- ease-spreading Aedes ae- gypti mosquito. There is no evidence of any safety or public health Immigration officer’s DUI trial adjourned CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The trial of senior im- migration officer Garfield (Gary) Wong continued on Tuesday, but had to be ad- journed until April when a police officer did not attend, although a summons had been issued for him. Mr. Wong is accused of careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence of alcohol, with a breatha- lyzer reading of .184. The charges relate to an inci- dent that occurred on Dec. 28, 2013. The trial began in January 2017 and has con- tinued to be partly heard on various dates since then. On Tuesday, court mar- shal Paul Anglin Sr. advised Magistrate Grace Donalds that the court staff was able to confirm that the summons she had issued for the police officer in January had been sent out. However, it had not been possible to confirm that it was served. Defense attorney Dennis Brady said the officer was “crucial” to the defense case. Last month, Mr. Wong had told the court that the officer who gave evidence in his trial about the breathalyzer test was not the officer who PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Local livestock, produce, culture and crafts were all featured prominently Wednesday at the 51st Annual Cayman Islands Agriculture Show, one of Cayman’s largest annual events. Thousands of people poured into the Lower Valley Agricultural Grounds throughout Wednesday to see the dozens of exhibits. The event also featured multiple competitions and demonstrations, including a beautiful baby contest, the Miss Agriculture Princess competition, and cook-off competitions. By 11 a.m., judges had awarded the farmers with the best cattle and poultry. At the cattle display, farmer Carlos Forbes proudly dis- played his first-prize winning 1,800-pound bull named “Jim.” Island flocks to annual Agriculture Show Prison service staff display produce grown by inmates of Northward Prison. - PHOTOS: TANEOS RAMSAY Look, no hands: A daring youngster stands on a horse’s back during the equestrian demonstration.Lloyd Ramoon shows off his prize-winning rooster. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 »2 LOCAL NEWS THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS • Matinees Daily (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $8.00, Mon-Fri Before 6pm • Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 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. - THURSDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) SHAPE OF WATER (R) 12:35 I 3:35 VIP I 7:00 I 9:45 MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE (PG13) 12:40 I 4:05 I 9:40 THE COMMUTER (PG13) 12:50 I 4:15 I 7:10 DEN OF THIEVES (R) 3:45 I 6:50 I 9:55 FIFTY SHADES FREED (R) 12:30 VIP I 1:10 I 3:45 I 6:50 VIP 7:15 I 9:20 VIP I 10:00 JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (PG13) 1:00 I 4:00 I 7:15 I 9:55 Dr. Wayne R. Porter MD F.A.A.D. Dermatologist call : 946-9020 between 9am to 5pm Dees Plaza #282 on Crewe Road, GT He will be in office from February 15 - February 28, 2018 Rock concert raises $10,000 for Breast Cancer Foundation TAD STONER tstoner@pinnaclemedialtd.com Tickets sold out, the 200- plus audience screamed for more and the Breast Cancer Foundation raised more than $10,000 for its Wellness Program. The foundation’s Chief Ad- ministrator Janette Fitzgerald was thrilled. “It was truly phenomenal,” she said of Sat- urday night’s rock concert fundraiser. “Just saying ‘fabu- lous’ doesn’t really cut it.” “We sold all the tickets we had. We had a few empty seats on the night, so much going on in Cayman on the same night. We’re grateful some people paid for tickets even if they did not attend. They did miss out though,” Ms. Fitzgerald added. A New York City “progres- sive rock” band, the three- member The Last Internatio- nale, dubbed “TLI,” played the Breast Cancer Foundation’s first fundraising concert, at the Harquail Theatre on Feb. 10, after performing at a pri- vate Vista del Mar party the previous evening. Party organizers and long- time Breast Cancer Founda- tion benefactors Steve and Andrea Hughes said they had “originally arranged for the band to come play for us at home, and then the idea of the BCF event followed.” “We are both big music fans and keen to kick-start any greater music opportu- nity here that we can. It’s a great band … and a great cause,” Mr. Hughes said. He said the private party had been an apt pre- cursor to the public per- formance: “It was amazing … very cool and everyone was blown away.” Most of the 40 guests at the band’s one hour and 45-minute private appear- ance, he said, also attended the Saturday event, while The Last Internationale it- self, he said, “had a total blast and loved the recep- tion they got.” The Breast Cancer Foun- dation’s annual operating budget runs about $200,000, much of it directed to- ward its Wellness Program – started three years ago – and training for medical pro- fessionals in lymphoedema treatments, cold capping at chemotherapy, awareness programs and running a sup- port group. The foundation also sponsors the Cancer So- ciety for its work with breast cancer patients. “All monies raised will go to the foundation’s Well- ness Program where it is truly needed – 152 patients, five new ladies last week, that is how it goes,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. “We try to cover for all patients, survivors and their families who come our way. We pay for the mammo- grams, either directly or via the Cancer Society, we cover prosthetics and specialized bras also via the [society] and we also pay an additional $50K to them for the finan- cial aid they need to give for breast cancer patients going overseas for treatments they cannot get here.” The foundation now has cold caps available in all three hospitals and has trained staff on the proce- dure to help patients keep their hair during chemo. “We also launched our Awareness Campaign in the last few months,” she said, indicating the foun- dation wanted “to edu- cate anyone who will listen on what to look for, how to lessen the chances of you get- ting it and who to turn to if you need help. “We are just glad we have people like Steve and Andrea Hughes who will go out on a limb and spend this money for us. They paid for the band to come over, flights, the lot. The foundation had no costs at all,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. The evening kicked off at 7:45 p.m. with local sextet Scotch & Soda, “who had ev- eryone dancing in the aisles,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. The Last Internationale appeared just after 8:30 p.m. and played until after 11:00. “The crowd just did not want them to stop. They did two encores,” she said. Mr. Hughes said the band “loved the mix of people and the warmth everywhere they went at the gig, afterwards and with us around the is- land bars, restaurants, etc.” Both Ms. Fitzgerald and Mr. Hughes left the door open for a similar future event. “We hope to, yes,” Mr. Hughes said. “Several people approached me offering help and wanting to be involved.” The Last Internationale wowed the audience at the Harquail Theatre on Saturday night. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY Date set for conch trial ASSAULT AT SCHOOL JURY NOTICE Going bear-headed for Valentine’s Day CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A man accused of im- porting 850 pounds of conch without a valid permit last year pleaded not guilty in Summary Court Tuesday. The defendant, Carl Har- shall Ebanks, was repre- sented by attorney Michael Alberga. Mr. Alberga told Magistrate Valdis Foldats that he could make his legal submissions in five or 10 minutes and the whole trial did not need to take more than half an hour. The magistrate asked if he and Crown counsel Kenneth Ferguson agreed on the facts of the case. They both indicated yes. “So, the issue is whether the law applies to the facts?” the magistrate asked. “Yes,” Mr. Alberga replied. Mr. Ebanks is accused of bringing the conch, re- ferred to in the charge as “a specimen,” into George Town harbor on Oct. 17, 2017. The charge was laid under the Endangered Species (Trade and Transport) Law, 2017. The law provides for a pen- alty of up to $500,000 and four years imprisonment. It also allows for the vessel concerned to be seized. Mr. Alberga advised that the boat on which Mr. Ebanks had brought the conch had not been seized, so there was no urgency in setting a trial date. The magistrate set trial for Thursday, June 7. Police arrested a male student at John Gray High School for assaulting a school employee last week. Police said officers re- sponded to a report of an assault shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8. “An employee at the school had been hit in the head with an object by a student, a male juvenile,” police said in a statement released Monday, Feb. 12. The boy was arrested on suspicion of assault in the presence of his parent and taken to the deten- tion center, where he was later bailed. Police said the victim received minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital. All Grand Court jurors who are in the January 2018 session are advised that their next reporting date has been changed. Instead of Feb. 15, the new date is Monday, Feb. 19, at 9:45 a.m. For the most up-to-date information, call the Jury In- formation Line at 244-3899 or email jury@judicial.ky. Bus driver and hairstyle aficionado Ann Marie Tomlinson donned teddy bears, flowers and hearts in her latest coiffure to mark Valentine’s Day this week. Ms. Tomlinson, who likes to mark special occasions and public holidays by adopting an adventurous hairdo, said of her latest style: ‘It’s all about love, love.’3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2018 BrandSource Home Gallery and InsideOut magazine have teamed up to offer one lucky reader a chance to win a $5,000 shopping excursion to take your bath from drab to fab! Create a pampering retreat with distinctive European design that makes a statement. BrandSource Home Gallery features four inspiring brands: Duravit, Palazzanni, Isenberg and Design Element. The prize package can be applied to design and products – all from BrandSource Home Gallery. Refresh your bath! Home Gallery Bath Fixtures | Vanities | Showers | Tubs | Basins | Toilets | Faucets Deadline for submission is March 1, 2018. Enter online at CaymanCompass.com/contests or visit BrandSource Home Gallery in Industrial Park. $5,000 PRIZE PACKAGE Enter to win to create your customized dream bath 23-year sentence given for murder Gouldbourne’s age, 55, was extenuating factor, judge says CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com John Talmage Gould- bourne was sentenced on Monday to serve 23 years before he can apply to be released from prison for the August 2004 murder of Moreen Maree Williams. A jury convicted him in June 2006, but he had been in custody since the date he shot 29-year-old Ms. Williams in the head after inflicting 67 knife wounds that varied in degrees of seriousness. He had begun seeing Ms. Wil- liams about three months be- fore the killing. At the time, the only sen- tence for murder was life im- prisonment, but the Condi- tional Release Law that came into force in February 2016 requires that anyone sen- tenced to life must be given a specific number of years be- fore he or she can apply for release. For murder, that sen- tence must be 30 years unless there are exceptional aggra- vating or extenuating circum- stances that could raise or lower the sentence. Justice Charles Quin, who took over the case from trial judge Justice Karl Har- rison, gave judgment on the sentence. He ruled that Mr. Gouldbourne’s age at the time of the offense – 55 – and his state of mind at the time were exceptional exten- uating features. He noted that the sen- tence began from the date Mr. Gouldbourne was con- victed, but that he would receive credit for the 660 days he was in custody be- fore his conviction. Now 68, he will be eligible to apply for release in 2027, just after he turns 78. In a previous hearing, Di- rector of Public Prosecutions Cheryll Richards had advised that Mr. Gouldbourne was the oldest person awaiting sentence for murder. She had provided another court with a list of ages at which each of 22 men convicted of murder in Cayman had committed his offense: the median age was 25; the average was 27. She and defense lead counsel Charles Miskin re- ferred to U.K. cases. One of the courts there listed the age of the offender as a mit- igating factor when there is “the risk of an offender dying in prison, either due to a particular health problem or simply by reason of gen- eral life expectancy …. There should be some light at the end of the tunnel.” Ms. Richards also sub- mitted that there were ag- gravating features to the murder committed by Mr. Gouldbourne – the terri- fying mental ordeal for the victim as well as the hor- rific physical suffering. Ms. Williams had screamed for help and neighbors tried to break down the door to Mr. Gouldbourne’s apart- ment to go to her aid, but they were not successful. Even if the ordeal lasted 20 minutes, as the defense asserted, Ms. Richards said it must have seemed a life- time to the victim. Mr. Miskin called it “a shortish frenzied attack” in which many of the knife wounds were “taunting pin pricks,” but he noted there was no evidence as to what had triggered the attack. There was no evidence of any sexual interference and Mr. Gouldbourne did not give evi- dence at his trial. Justice Quin accepted what Mr. Miskin said about Mr. Gouldbourne’s back- ground. He had lived in the U.S., where he went through more than one broken mar- riage. He came back to Cayman to look after his el- derly mother, he was finan- cially dependent on his fa- ther, and he lived in cramped accommodations lacking cooking facilities, “all of which in an ordinary male could lead to serious loss of self-esteem and despair.” Justice Quin concluded that there was some mental instability in Mr. Gould- bourne’s case, even though it was not to the threshold of diminished responsibility. He said 23 years would satisfy the law’s require- ment that consideration be given to the principle of re- habilitation without injuring the principles of retribution and deterrence. THIRD DROWNING IN A WEEK Three people drowned in separate incidents after get- ting into difficulties while swimming or snorkeling in Cayman waters in a week – two on the same day. A 60-year-old Amer- ican man died after getting caught in a current while swimming off Rum Point in North Side on Monday, about three hours after an- other man, age 65, drowned off Spotts Beach. A week earlier, on Monday, Feb. 5, a 72-year- old American visitor died when he got into trouble snorkeling along Seven Mile Beach. In the Rum Point in- cident, police and other emergency services were dispatched to the scene by 911, just before 3:25 p.m. According to a Royal Cayman Islands Police Ser- vice statement, the man was found unresponsive after experiencing difficul- ties while snorkeling. “Police were informed that the man had gone snorkeling with a friend … around 2:30 p.m. where they were caught in a current. They then experienced dif- ficulties when the current picked up and they were carried further out to sea. The second man lost sight of the victim, and was able to get back to shore himself and raise the alarm,” the RCIPS statement said. After police, Fire Services and paramedics arrived, a fire officer found the man unresponsive in the water and pulled him ashore. First aid was administered and the man was transported to the Cayman Islands Hos- pital, where he was later pronounced dead. Earlier that day, around 12:40 p.m., police attended Spotts Beach after being notified by a 911 call of a swimmer in difficulty. Police and other emer- gency personnel attended the scene, where they and members of the public at- tempted in vain to resus- citate the man, a 65-year- old from the United States. He was taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:31 p.m. A week earlier, on Monday, Feb. 5, around 12:15 p.m., emergency ser- vices were called to the Public Beach at Seven Mile Beach, where a snorkeler had gotten into difficulties. The 72-year-old Amer- ican visitor was brought to shore by members of the public who adminis- tered CPR. Emergency per- sonnel took over CPR when they arrived, but the man was later pronounced dead after being taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital.The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS The trouble with “feel-good solutions” is they offer the illusion of progress without addressing the problem. Mol- lified by the soothing certainty that “someone” is doing “something,” we drift ever farther from any meaningful mitigation or resolution. In recent decades, the practice of recycling has become a cornerstone of this edifice of self-congrat- ulation. Much more than the simple dispensation of unwanted material, the thorough rinsing, diligent sorting and proper disposal of emptied containers, papers and other miscellanea has risen to the level of moral impera- tive – or so we’ve been told. If cleanliness is next to godliness, recycling appears to bestow a type of godliness. How righteous we feel, duti- fully emptying our bins in the proper container, playing saviors of the Earth. Whatever happens next in the grand circle of consumerism is no concern of ours. Having “done our bit,” we walk away with straightened spines and heads held high to generate another mountain of waste. The insufficiency of this “solution” is apparent to anyone who steps foot on Cayman’s beaches. Despite public awareness campaigns, strategically placed recep- tacles and the (apparently perfectly acceptable) public shaming of anyone gauche enough to toss an errant bottle in the trash, our beautiful island, like so many others, increasingly is being inundated with plastic waste. That is due to a simple, immutable fact: Without adequate facilities, and a bottom-line (i.e., dollars and cents) incentive to transform mountains of “recyclables” into usable products, no number of congregants in the church of recycling can turn used plastics, paper and glass into anything but trash. Developed nations have known this fact for decades. For a while, China stepped into the breach, importing more than half the world’s plastic “recycling” (including an estimated two-thirds of plastic “recyclables” from both the U.S. and the U.K.) for countries unwilling or unable to do the work themselves. For a while, China had both the capacity and the need for the materials, which were used in manufacturing – well, some of them, at least. The dirty and otherwise inferior material – tons and tons of it – was left to pile up, forming unsafe, unsightly and unsanitary mountains of trash. Now, even China is unwilling to play the world’s garbage collector. The country is closing its doors to plastic waste, throwing first-world Earth-first do-gooders into a bit of a spin. On a much smaller scale, here in Cayman, well- meaning people have been stuffing multicolored bins with items, they believed, were destined for reincarnation, only to learn that our islands’ “recycling program” has been little more than a convenient myth. As the Compass reported last week, until recently, the majority of recyclable material collected by the Cayman Islands Department of Environmental Health was left to languish in unprocessed piles or found its way into the landfill (by a rather circuitous route). In 2014, only 100 tons of the 277 tons of recyclable material collected was actually processed for recycling (whether, from there, it truly was recycled into usable goods is anyone’s guess). In 2016, 980 of 999 tons collected were processed, according to the department’s records. The overwhelming majority of that material – 832 tons – came from junked cars. Jim Schubert, senior project manager for the Inte- grated Solid Waste Management System, told the Compass his department intends to expand its opera- tions in the future, taking in even more material. We trust he will forgive our skepticism. Unless there is a market incentive for using recycled materials, all those care- fully washed and sorted bottles and packages are likely destined to become yet another pile of trash. We are not blithe about the problem: Refuse, especially plastic refuse, is a global issue that is specifically impor- tant to Cayman as the trash washes up on our beaches. But we need more than “feel good” efforts; we need to come up with viable alternatives to remove this unsightly menace from our shores. Recycling efforts: All packaging, little substance Of all the economic pol- icies President Trump has marked for attention this year – merit-based immigra- tion, infrastructure and vo- cational training – fixing the trade deficit offers the big- gest bang for the buck. Cutting in half the $620 billion trade gap would create 2 million jobs. Manufacturing would benefit most. Investments in intellectual property for new materials, supply chain management, artificial intel- ligence and the like would boost economic growth a full point to nearly 4 percent a year. A bonanza of additional federal revenues would follow that and could pay for the recent tax cuts. Washington’s atten- tion should be laser fo- cused on China – not our NAFTA partners. China accounts for 60 percent of the trade deficit, because it habitually vio- lates World Trade Organi- zation (WTO) rules to gain unfair advantages in global markets. It subsidizes do- mestic industries, limits im- ports in areas of rapidly advancing technology to in- cubate its own competitors, forces foreign multinationals to transfer technology as a condition for market access and compels their compli- ance with the Communist Party political agenda and insidious activities moni- toring its citizens. Japan and the Euro- pean Union (EU) have joined the United States in ef- forts to get the WTO to put more pressure on China but those are futile. Instead of proposing new mechanisms to bring China into broad systemic com- pliance or at least manage down its trade surpluses, the administration has fash- ioned a policy that will ulti- mately damage U.S. industry overall, alienate allies and forfeit U.S. prestige and dip- lomatic clout. Unilateral tariffs on Chi- nese solar panels, for ex- ample, will bring deserved re- lief to an American industry illegally targeted for extinc- tion by Beijing, but those will have only the slightest conse- quences for the overall bilat- eral trade imbalance. If chal- lenged, those tariffs could be found to violate WTO rules. Rifle shot remedies, ab- sent a comprehensive strategy, pose the danger of casting the Americans, not the Chinese, as malefactors in the eyes of world leaders whose cooperation Mr. Trump needs to accomplish radical change in commercial relations with China. Administration demands that Mexico and Canada eliminate arbitration panels to resolve investor disputes are particularly maddening. These provisions are in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – and just about every investment treaty the United States has negoti- ated over several decades – because those protect U.S. companies from arbitrary foreign government actions. For example, require- ments to source components locally instead of from U.S. factories, coerced technology transfers and arbitrary treat- ment by foreign courts. Killing arbitration panels – in NAFTA and the panoply of investment agreements the United States has negotiated with governments around the globe – would endanger U.S. foreign subsidiaries, re- sult in more piracy of Amer- ican intellectual property and threaten millions of jobs in the United States. Scuttling arbitration panels for overseas invest- ment is in economics the equivalent of bleeding pa- tients in medicine – only a pre-modern mind could embrace it. The WTO was conceived to be a club of market econ- omies. Its dispute settle- ment mechanism is de- signed to rein in national industrial policies that oc- casionally harm other mem- bers – namely, discipline the venial sins of market economy governments. China is not a market economy. It was admitted into the WTO on the premise that greater engagement with the West would accelerate market-oriented reforms, but Beijing’s success at flaunting the rules has taken it in the opposite direction. China’s violations of WTO rules are far more sweeping than anything the dispute settlement mecha- nism was designed to handle. The United States has re- sponded by blocking appoint- ments to its appellate body, thereby potentially crippling the system. This folly outrages other members who otherwise might be sympathetic to U.S. complaints. Meanwhile, the administration offers few positive suggestions for ad- dressing China. It’s time to recognize that China will never have a market economy compat- ible with fair competition, and Western nations would do well to multilaterally im- pose a regime that balances its trade with the West. The United States should impose a system of licenses on imports from China and encourage its allies to do the same. Exporters would be granted transferable rights to imports equal to their sales in the Middle Kingdom. The United States and other nations should simi- larly limit Chinese invest- ments in their economies to mirror restrictions Beijing im- poses on foreign investment. After that if China wants to talk trade, we can en- gage Beijing in long negoti- ations while its businesses acclimate to being treated as their government treats U.S. businesses. Peter Morici is an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, and a national columnist. © 2018, The Washington Times, LLC. How Trump’s trade policy courts disaster 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” Scuttling arbitration panels for overseas investment is in economics the equivalent of bleeding patients in medicine – only a pre-modern mind could embrace it.5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2018 FOUNDATION FOUNDATION The The EIGHTH ANNUAL BREAST CANCER BEACH WALKBREAST CANCER BEACH WALK SATURDAY MARCH 3 starting at Royal Palms on Seven Mile Beach at 7.00 pm breast cancer FACTS register Now at breastcancerfoundation.ky, or on the night at 6:00pm at Royal Palms CI$25 donation includes one raffl e entry fabulous raffl e prizes Royal Palms offer $6 cocktail special (with $1 of it donated to the BCF) and 10% off food items Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. Walk along the beach from Royal Palms to The Ritz-Carlton and back, bring the whole family, dogs included! For further information please contact The Breast Cancer Foundation on 923 1135 RISTORANTE Public Works training program wins award PROUD OF THEM: Jennelle McLaughlin honored for community service The Cayman Islands So- ciety for Human Resources Professionals chose the gov- ernment’s Public Works De- partment’s apprenticeship training program as the “Best Training Program” in the Cayman Islands for 2017. Joey Hew, minister for commerce, planning and infrastructure, congratu- lated the Public Works team, saying, “The program is pro- viding young Caymanians, not only with internationally recognized vocational certi- fications but also with the means to earn a good living throughout their lifetimes in one of our key industries, the construction industry.” He said the program now has 15 apprentices and will further expand in September. “I will continue to cham- pion this project, ensuring that it gets the necessary re- sources to support this con- tinued growth,” he added. The department earned the award at the society’s 8th annual Top Employer and 3rd annual CISHRP Awards for Human Resources Excel- lence on Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Marriott Grand Cayman Beach Resort. Max Jones, Public Works director, program manager Levi Allen and other section managers and staff members who are mentors received the award on behalf of the department at the society’s awards presentation program. Alan Jones, the ministry’s chief officer, said the pilot ap- prenticeship project kicked off in 2016/17 with no ad- ditional funding from gov- ernment and resulted in five young Caymanians receiving internationally recognized City and Guilds vocational certifications. “PWD set out to demon- strate that they could produce results before requesting gov- ernment funding, and the pilot programme did just that, showing that PWD is … most suited to be a centre of excellence for construction vocational training,” he said in a press release. According to Program Manager Mr. Allen, the de- partment offers a “structured, multi-tiered” program to pro- vide young Caymanians the opportunity to gain interna- tionally recognized C&G vo- cational qualifications in construction trades and con- struction supervision. Areas covered, he said, include plumbing, electrical instal- lation, air-conditioning, car- pentry and general building maintenance. Mr. Jones said before this apprenticeship program, Caymanians could not become certified locally in general construction voca- tional trades. So far, 19 local mentors, including four from major local contractors, have also received C&G training. Within two years, PWD will seek accreditation as a technical and vocational ed- ucation and training center for construction trades. Fol- lowing that, PWD will also be able to assess apprentices, in the Cayman Islands, for C&G certification purposes. “This is truly a national programme since it impacts not just PWD but the local construction industry and the entire Cayman Islands,” Mr. Jones said. Jennelle McLaughlin, 25, has been recognized by the Proud of Them initia- tive for her community service work. She is well-known at Elmslie Memorial United Church for her service and involve- ment in various Christian ministries at her church, including those of youth, music, Sunday school, dance and mentoring. Her participation in these minis- tries has been especially significant as a teacher in the church’s Friday night and Sunday school programs. Jen- nelle has played a key role in planning and staging the Sunday school’s annual Christmas productions and quarterly Youth Sundays, and is a role model to teenagers and pre-teens at Elmslie. She became a member of the Cayman Islands Girls’ Brigade when she was 4 years old. A member of the George Town company for the past 20 years, she has traveled as far as Australia and Africa as part of a team representing the Cayman Islands Girls’ Brigade. The George Town resident’s life of service has always been multi-faceted, and another example of this is her mem- bership of Key Club during high school. As a member, she took full advantage of the opportunities the organization gave her to learn and exercise leadership. Key Club also prepared Jennelle for a role as a peer mentor while at school. A further outlet for her devotion to community service is her active involve- ment with the Special Olympics in the Cayman Islands. Beginning during her high school Key Club years, it is a cause she has rededicated her commitment to since returning from university in the U.K. She has balanced her community ser- vice work with her academic achieve- ments. Before starting tertiary education at Bedford University in England, Jen- nelle graduated from Cayman Prep and High School with passes in nine sub- jects. She went on to consistently make her university’s honor roll and gradu- ated with a second-class upper division bachelor of science degree in accounting and finance with honors in 2015. Jennelle is currently looking to pursue the Association of Chartered Cer- tified Accountants (ACCA) qualification to become a certified accountant while working full time at Scotiabank. 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. Award sponsor Cayman First Managing Director Gordon Philip, third from left, presents Public Works Department Director Max Jones, fourth from left, and his PWD colleagues with the Cayman Islands Society for Human Resources Professionals’ award for running 2017’s ‘Best Training Program.’ - PHOTO: MAGGIE JACKSON Jennelle McLaughlinTHURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS 6 LOCAL NEWS The 51st annual Agriculture Show got under way Wednesday, drawing thousands to the Agriculture Grounds in Lower Valley. As usual, the event fea- tured a beautiful baby contest, a Miss Agriculture Prin- cess competition, arts and crafts judging, a cook-off com- petition, pony rides, storytelling and a petting zoo, as well as a vast variety of farm produce on sale and on display. Check out these photos and others by visiting caymancompass.com/photogalleries or on facebook.com/caycompass (and don’t forget to tag yourself and your friends!) Equestrian shows were one of the many demonstrations at the 51st Annual Cayman Islands Agriculture Show. Jacinda Robinson enjoys her fresh coconut water. Officials, including Governor Helen Kilpatrick, sixth from right, and Premier Alden McLaughlin, helped put on the show. - PHOTOS: TANEOS RAMSAY Ellie Fairbairn and her daughter, Coralie, make some new feathered friends. - PHOTO: KEN SILVA Carlos Forbes stands next to his prize-winning bull ‘Jim.’ Children enjoy some bouncing fun at the Agriculture Show. A coconut water vendor goes to work to serve a thirsty customer. A parent enters her child in the beautiful baby competition. Johnoi Lamie and his daughter, Hannah, look at some of the birds on display. - PHOTO: KEN SILVA Customs Officer Anthony Echenique and K9 dog Nugget perform a demo. Jonique Rivers and Kiernan Barnes show some of the products made by Willie’s Fresh Fruits and Juices.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 concerns on either side and the primary issue seems to be value for money. The total budget for the Mosquito Research and Control Unit for the next two years is CI$14.9 million. The email exchanges re- veal, for the first time, the likely costs of a large-scale deployment of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Cayman Islands. The ini- tial pilot project in West Bay, which ended in August last year, was funded largely by Oxitec, though government made a US$200,000 contribu- tion to extend it beyond the agreed deadline. An Aug. 7 email from Richard Adey, Oxitec’s regional manager for the Caribbean, to Nancy Barnard, the acting di- rector of Cayman’s Mosquito Research and Control Unit, suggests that a US$8 million plan had been agreed for a na- tional rollout in 2018/19. “Needless to say, we are delighted to be intensifying our work with the MRCU,” Mr. Adey wrote in that email. A little over a month later, the picture appears to have changed completely. In a letter to Jennifer Ahearn, the head civil servant in the ministry responsible for the MRCU, Mr. Adey expressed concern that the national rollout was not proceeding. He said Oxitec was “sur- prised” that the decision to “expand our technique throughout Grand Cayman appears to have been revised.” The letter goes on to ex- press concern about the lack of clear messaging and “sci- entific rationale” for decisions coming from the MRCU since the departure of the former director of the unit, Bill Petrie, who left for a similar job in Miami in July 2017. “This collaborative coop- eration appears somewhat di- minished and there is a lack of consistency and objectivity emerging,” Mr. Adey wrote. “Our perception is that the positioning of our tech- nology and its deployment in Grand Cayman appears to be changing, and the technical goalposts moved without good scientific rationale.” Despite that impasse, the emails show that by the end of the year, the partners were close to agreement on a deal for a new project in West Bay only in 2018. The emails also suggest some MRCU scientists had ex- pressed concern about the ef- fectiveness of the technology. In exchanges between Mr. Adey and Ms. Barnard, both acknowledge that the GM mosquitoes have yet to meet “suppression targets,” though this is partly attributed to an unspecified “setback” un- connected to the efficacy of the technique. Both acknowledge that the technology is showing “positive trends,” though the actual suppression data is redacted from the FOI re- sponse. There also appears to be some internal difference of opinion within the MRCU on whether there is enough data to justify further invest- ment in GM mosquitoes. Responding to questions from the Compass this week, Ms. Barnard acknowledged a draft agreement had been developed for the national rollout but said there was never a signed contract. She said the MRCU and Oxitec were still in the pro- cess of developing a new pro- gram for West Bay in 2018, involving using GM mos- quitoes in combination with other techniques. She said the decision not to go ahead with a national rollout was “partially dic- tated by budget and partially to allow MRCU scientists to assess a new integrated vector management approach with Oxitec in the same area of West Bay as in 2018.” She acknowledged there had been differences of opinion between government and its partner but said they worked closely together to re- solve these issues. The emails also show Ox- itec chasing payment for ex- tending the project in West Bay beyond the end of the contract in April 2017. It was not clear from the messages if the issue had been resolved, but Ms. Bar- nard confirmed Oxitec would be paid US$200,000 for ex- tending that pilot deploy- ment through to August 2017. It is understood that this is the only direct financial contribution government has made to the project so far. Kerrie Cox, a lawyer who made the FOI request on be- half of his client, U.S. non- profit Genewatch, said the emails showed the tech- nology had been over hyped. “Although the actual test results from the West Bay ‘pilot deployment’ of GMMs [genetically modified mos- quitoes] have been redacted from the FOI disclosure, it is pretty clear that they did not achieve anything like the rates of Aedes aegypti sup- pression, that were repeat- edly suggested as achievable, by former MRCU Director Bill Petrie …. “For the first time, we now have an idea of the cost of a full deployment programme of GMMs in the Cayman Is- lands and, at this juncture, it is difficult to reconcile any notion that this project would represent value for money, if it were to proceed.” CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2018 Government backs away from genetically modified mosquito rollout CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Oxitec project manager Renaud Lacroix examines GM mosquito pupae in a lab on the MRCU premises as the first batch of mosquitoes were bred at the laboratory in 2016. - PHOTO: MATT LAMERS Immigration officer’s DUI trial adjourned administered the test to him after his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Part of the defense case did proceed, with the court hearing parts of transcripts of conversa- tions held by the three officers in- volved in Mr. Wong’s arrest. Crown counsel Scott Wain- wright then suggested the adjourn- ment, since the next witness had not appeared. The magistrate noted that her next session in Traffic Court was scheduled to begin on March 26. With that date in mind, the attorneys were able to agree on Tuesday, April 3. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Talks to restore government to Northern Ireland break down LONDON (AP) – Talks to restore a government to Northern Ireland ended in failure Wednesday, just two days after the main Catholic and Protestant parties said they were close to resolving a 13-month political impasse. The two sides traded blame for failing to break a stale- mate that has left Northern Ireland’s 1.8 million people without a functioning admin- istration for more than a year. Arlene Foster, leader of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, said negotia- tions with Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein to restore the power-sharing government “have been unsuccessful.” “In our view, there is no current prospect of these dis- cussions leading to an exec- utive being formed,” Foster said in a surprise announce- ment Wednesday. Sinn Fein accused the DUP of scuttling a deal at the last minute. “We had a way forward on all the issues,” said Mi- chelle O’Neill, the party’s leader in Northern Ireland. “We had reached an accom- modation with the leadership of the DUP. The DUP failed to close the deal.” The political crisis threatens power-sharing, the key achievement of the 1998 peace accord that ended de- cades of violence and blood- shed in Northern Ireland. The Catholic-Protestant government has been sus- pended since January 2017, when it broke down amid a scandal over a botched green energy project. The rift soon widened to broader cultural and political issues sepa- rating Northern Ireland’s British unionists and Irish nationalists. Sinn Fein demands for Irish-language protec- tions emerged as the main sticking point. Foster said Wednesday the DUP was willing to “to reach an accommodation on language and cultural issues.” But she said Sinn Fein’s demand for an Irish Language Act to en- shrine the status of Irish was not “fair and balanced” and did not respect “the unionist and British identity” of Northern Ireland’s Protestants. Same-sex marriage was also an obstacle to the two parties – it’s illegal in Northern Ireland, but legal in the rest of the United Kingdom and in Ireland. Sinn Fein’s president Mary Lou McDonald, left, and Sinn Fein’s vice president Michelle O’Neill arrive to speak to the media at Stormont Parliament buildings as Prime Minister Theresa May and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar hold crunch talks at Stormont House. - PHOTO: PA WIRE Island flocks to Agriculture Show “They judge them on their con- dition, their cleanliness – they even check their teeth,” Mr. Forbes ex- plained about the competition. Nearby at the hatchery, Lloyd Ramoon had recently won prizes for a rooster and chicken he raised. While Mr. Ramoon was judged to have the most handsome hens, he said he only raises poultry as a hobby, and that he has a full-time job working at Jacques Scott. Judges had not given awards to the produce farmers by press time, but East End farmer Deanna Look Loy said she was confident that she’d win again this year. “This is my fifth time doing it, and I came second once and first four times,” she said, adding that she cares more about pro- moting local agriculture than winning prizes. Though they were not com- peting for prizes, officials from Northward Prison were also selling produce grown by six in- mates as a part of the Prison Ser- vice’s vocational training pro- gram. Austin Williams, the head of the program, said the inmates grew more than 300 pounds of tomatoes, as well as hundreds of pounds of plantains, bananas, scallions, bell peppers, broccoli and other produce. While farmers displayed their animals and produce at the northern end of the grounds, demonstrations were held at the arena, including some of Cay- man’s law enforcement officers showing people how they use their K-9 dogs. “Come on, young people, Nugget is a sweet, loving dog. Just come on out. Even Minister [Roy] McTaggart: Don’t be scared,” said emcee Woody DaCosta as Customs Department officer Anthony Ech- enique and his K-9 dog, Nugget, conducted a perimeter search around the arena. At the opening ceremony which was held around 10:30 a.m., Pre- mier Alden McLaughlin said that the minister responsible for agri- culture – Juliana O’Connor-Con- nolly – was unable to attend be- cause she was sick that morning and had to go to the hospital. MLA Barbara Conolly spoke in her stead, saying that events like the Agriculture Show are vital for the future of the agriculture in- dustry in Cayman. The annual event typically draws thousands of people from all over the Cayman Islands, as well as visitors from off island. U.K. resident Ellie Fairbairn said she and her family were here visiting relatives, and decided to go to the show for the first time. Her 3-year-old daughter Coralie particularly enjoyed looking at the piglets, she said. By around 1 p.m., hundreds of people were still arriving at the grounds. A police officer directing vehicles said that traffic heading for the show was nearly at a stand- still going through Bodden Town. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 Community CALENDAR ■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR is published TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. It is available to charitable or nonprofit organizations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be faxed to 949-2662, brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Rd. or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS THURSDAY, FEB. 15 QUIZ NIGHT: 7 p.m. at Fidel’s. $10 per person, maximum six persons per team. Benefits Humane Society. To reserve a table, contact sarah.dyer.81@gmail.com or 949-5189. FRIDAY, FEB. 16 FISH FRY: Friday evenings in Lent at St. Ignatius School Canteen. Serving from 5-8 p.m. Dine in or carry out. Menu includes fried or baked cod or snapper with all the trimmings. SATURDAY, FEB. 17 COCO FEST: Noon till 4 p.m. at Pedro Castle. All things coconut including traditional Caymanian dishes, desserts and candy made with the nut, its milk or oil; crafts made from the tree, shell and husk; games; coconut- based health and beauty products. Local music. Admission $5 for adults, free for kids under 12. For every $5 entry, the NCVO receives $1 for the Nadine Andreas Foster Home. FREE HEALTH CHECK: The Lions Club of Tropical Gardens presents free health checks with Dr. Mani for vision screening; Dr. Taylor of CTMH Doctors Hospital for general health talks; HbA1c check for known diabetics, provided by the Diabetes Association. Nutritional talk, blood pressure and weight checks will also be offered. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. George’s Anglican Church Hall, upstairs. SUNDAY, FEB. 18 KIWANIBIKE: Annual fundraiser. On Sunday, drop off your bike at Smith Cove between 5:30-6 a.m. and Kiwanis will transport it to the Blow Holes. You may then take the Kiwani bus to the Blow Holes in East End where the ride back to Smith Cove begins at 7 a.m. $25 registration includes T-shirt, refreshments and raffle entry. Pre-registration is Saturday, Feb. 17 at The Strand, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. See www.kiwanis.ky for registration forms and more information. TUESDAY, FEB. 20 SEAFARERS: The Seafarers Association advises members that there will be a General Meeting, for yearly election of new officers, at 7:30 p.m. in the Seafarers Hall, 11 Victory Ave. Prospect. Buses will be provided from West Bay Town Hall at 6 p.m. A bus route in George Town leaves the public library parking area at 7 p.m., stopping at the Cayman Compass building and the Airport Foster’s. The blue bus is marked “Bobo $1 Public Transport,” but there is no charge. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21 QUIT SMOKING: Smoking Cessation Classes, “I Can Quit.” The Public Health Department reminds smokers who wish to quit the habit that there are still some spaces left for smoking cessation classes that start today. 5:15-6:45 p.m. every Wednesday for seven weeks in the Public Health waiting room. For more information or to sign up, contact the Public Health Department on 244-2889/244-2621, or email sarah.hetley@hsa.ky or nola.sanderson@hsa.ky. FRIDAY, FEB. 23 DCI CLOSED: The Department of Commerce and Investment in Grand Cayman, including its Business Licensing Counter on the first floor of the Government Administration Building, is closed today to facilitate staff training. The main office will reopen on Monday 8:30 a.m. and the counter will reopen at 9 a.m. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Cayman HospiceCare’s annual two-day Flag Day event. Volunteers are needed for shifts today and tomorrow, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Contact fundraising@ caymanhospicecare. ky for information about volunteering or call 945-7447. SATURDAY, FEB. 24 FAMILY FUN WALK/RUN: The 3rd annual Guiding The Way 5K/10K Family Fun Walk/Run takes place from SafeHaven in the back by Holiday Inn. 6:30 a.m. for walkers and 6:45 a.m. for runners. Registration is $10 adults, children under 10, $5. All participants will be entered in a drawing for prizes. Register on the day at 6 a.m. or pre- register at Cayman Active, www.caymanactive.com/ guiding. No dogs please. All proceeds benefit Girlguiding Cayman Islands. BRAC SPRING FLING: The Brac District of the National Trust’s annual fundraiser Spring Fling will be held today at 6-10 p.m. at Brac Trust House, White Bay Road. Good food, good music, and a live auction. Tickets are $20 each, Split the Pot tickets are $5 or 3 for $10. Everyone welcome. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28 LOBSTER SEASON: Today is the last day of open season for lobster. Bag limit is three per person per day or six per boat per day, whichever is less. Minimum size is a 6-inch tail length. No taking lobsters from Marine Protected Areas. Only spiny lobster may be taken. No wearing gloves while snorkeling. No taking of lobster (or any marine life other than lionfish) while scuba diving. SCHOLARSHIPS: The Ministry of Education has extended the deadline for Overseas Scholarship applications to Feb. 28. The extension is offered in order to ensure that every interested student has the opportunity to apply for funding. To obtain the link for online applications, visit www.education.gov.ky. For more information, call 244-2482 or email scholarships@gov.ky. GENERAL INTEREST FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: Persons receiving permanent financial assistance benefit must be re-assessed if they have not been assessed since July 1, 2015. Get a form from the Needs Assessment Unit via email nauinfo@gov.ky, on the www.nau.gov.ky website or from the district Community Development Officer. The completed form/ supporting documentation must be returned to the NAU by Friday, March 30. Failure to comply will result in payments being placed on hold. For more information, contact the NAU immediately on 946-0024 or 948-8748. EAST END ROADWORK: National Roads Authority advises that road upgrade works are being carried out along Seaview Road in East End, from near the west end of Lovers Wall to near the Blow Holes. NRA crews and Island Paving crews will work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For further information, contact the NRA at 623-7780. SOLAR IMAGING: An exhibition of digital solar imaging in Cayman by Dr. Bill Hrudey. National Gallery, Esterley Tibbetts Highway. SKATE PARK FUNDRAISER: Hope Academy and Black Pearl Skate Park are raising funds for a new school playground, scholarship fund and other school improvements. First Friday of each month. $15 for park entrance, a helmet and choice of skateboard or scooter. $7 for those with own equipment. CONCH AND WHELK SEASON: The open season for conch and whelk runs until April 30. The legal limit for conch is five per person per day or 10 per boat, whichever is less. The limit for whelk catches is two-and-a-half gallons in the shell, or two-and-a-half pounds of processed whelks, per person, per day. BETHESDA COUNSELLING CENTRE: Caters to all who seek help. Open Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 68 Mary St. Appointments available Saturdays and late evenings. Owned and operated by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Call 946-6575. HUMANE SOCIETY BOOK LOFT: North Sound Road. Open Monday 12:30-4 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 5:30-7:30 p.m. Volunteers needed for front desk a few hours per week. Email humanesocietybookloft@ candw.ky or call 946-8053. Donations of books, games, CDs, stationery, DVDs, cards etc., in good condition always needed. RED CROSS THRIFT SHOP: The Thrift Shop opening hours are Tuesday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Friday hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and closed evenings. Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. COMMUNITY CHESS: Tuesdays 5-8 p.m., West Indies Wine Company. Join the Cayman Chess Club for a complimentary chess class and open challenges weekly. Anyone can learn to play and enjoy chess, even beginners. OPEN CANVAS: Every Wednesday. Visual Arts Society supports this event at KARoo Restaurant located in Camana Bay. 7-11 p.m. No fee. Easels provided for artist of all levels to come out and enjoy painting and socializing with other artists. Email info@visualartcayman.com or jar.was@gmail.com. MUSEUM TOURS: The National Museum provides guided tours for students and school groups free of cost. Students will gain an understanding of Cayman’s geological formation, flora and fauna, seafaring and rope-making heritage, political history and more. Contact the museum to book a tour in advance at 949-8368 or email info@museum.ky. CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Meets daily to help with drinking problems. Call 926-9044 or visit www.caymanaa.org. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: Is available for substance abuse help. Call the info line at 929–NANA (6262). AL-ANON GROUP MEETING: Are you troubled by someone’s drinking? Al-Anon Family Groups can help. Call 928-8843 or email caymanalanon@gmail.com for meeting times. OVERCOMERS OUTREACH: A Christ-centered 12-step recovery group addresses addictions and those affected by them. Meetings at Cayman Islands Baptist Church, Pedro Castle Road, Mondays, 7 p.m. For details, contact Virginia Castillo at 946-2422, or visit www.overcomersoutreach.org. DEMENTIA/ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP: This group meets on the last Wednesday of each month at ADACI’s office, 4th floor Cardinall Plaza, 30 Cardinall Ave., GT. All are invited to attend. Call 924-4170 or email info@adacyman.com. GRAND CAYMAN TOASTMASTERS: Club meets each Thursday 6 – 7:15 p.m. on 3rd Floor, George Town Public Library. Visitors and guests welcome. Local contact is George R. Ebanks, 322-9369 or Grand Cayman Toastmasters club on Facebook. Email info@ toastmastersclub2686.org. ROTARACT BLUE OF CAYMAN: Meets Wednesdays 6 p.m., at Royal Palms Beach Club, West Bay Road. Contact rotaractblue@gmail.com or www.rotaractblue.org. LEO CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN: Meets first and third Wednesdays of the month, 6:30 p.m. at the Lions Community Centre. For more information, contact Secretary Letisha Allen at 924-2819. THE LIONS CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN: Meets every first and third Thursday 7:30 p.m. at the Lions Community Centre. For more information, email LionsClubGCM@hotmail.com. THE LIONS CLUB OF TROPICAL GARDENS: Meet every first and third Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Elizabethan Square (corner unit next to the MLA’s office). Members of the public are invited to attend. ROTARY CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN SUNRISE: Service club meetings 7 a.m. every Wednesday at George Town Yacht Club, 612 North Sound Road. website at www.rotarysunrise.ky or contact info@rotarysunrise.ky. KIWANIS CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN: Meets first and third Wednesdays of the month, 12:30 p.m., at Britannia Golf Course Restaurant. Projects include promoting well- being of children in the community and schools. email president@kiwanis.ky or view www.kiwanis.ky. OPTIMIST CLUB: Meets first and third Thursdays at the Hibiscus Conference Room, George Town Hospital at 6:30 p.m. Amelia optimistcayman@yahoo.com. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.caymancompass.com/events. The annual Coco Fest at Pedro Castle on Saturday, Feb. 17, will celebrate all things coconut.9 WORLD&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2018 LONDON (AP) – Britain should make a clean break with European Union laws and regulations after it leaves the bloc, Foreign Sec- retary Boris Johnson said Wednesday, arguing that the U.K. will prosper after Brexit by “going global.” Johnson, who was a leader of the “leave” cam- paign during Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum, used a speech in London to argue for “an outward-facing, liberal and global Britain” after the U.K. leaves the bloc. “We would be mad to go through this process of ex- trication from the EU and not to take advantage of the economic freedoms it will bring,” he said. It was the first in a series of speeches by senior minis- ters that the British govern- ment hopes will show unity and energy around Brexit after months of prevarica- tion and mixed messages. But Johnson’s speech highlighted divisions within the Conservative govern- ment over what kind of rela- tionship Britain wants with the EU after it leaves the bloc in March 2019. Some ministers, in- cluding Treasury chief Philip Hammond, want to stay as close as possible to the bloc’s borderless single market and tariff-free cus- toms union. Others, in- cluding Johnson, want a de- finitive break so Britain can pursue a distinct economic policy and new trade deals. With just over a year until Britain leaves the EU, the two factions are still fighting for supremacy in the U.K. government. Johnson said Britain should not agree to accept EU rules in return for ac- cess to its markets, saying it would be “absurd if we had to obey laws over which we had no say and no vote.” “It seems extraordinary that the U.K. should remain lashed to the minute prescrip- tions of a regional trade block comprising only 6 percent of humanity,” Johnson said. He said “it’s only by taking back control of our regulatory framework and our tariff schedules” that Britain can strike new trade deals with the United States and other countries. Johnson is among favor- ites to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as Conservative leader. But his prominent role in the anti-EU cam- paign – and an earlier role as a Brussels-based journalist writing sometimes fanciful stories about the bloc’s bu- reaucracy – has made him unpopular with pro-EU poli- ticians and voters. In his speech, Johnson sought to reassure voters who wanted to remain in the EU that “Brexit can be grounds for much more hope than fear.” “Brexit need not be na- tionalist but can be interna- tionalist … not an economic threat but an economic op- portunity,” he said. Opponents of Brexit were unimpressed. Liberal Dem- ocrat lawmaker Tom Brake said Johnson’s version of Brexit would bring “job cuts triggered by tougher trading conditions with our largest export market,” the EU. And European Commis- sion President Jean-Claude Juncker said Johnson’s claim that the EU aimed to build a European super- state was “total nonsense.” “We are not the United States of America,” Juncker told reporters in Brussels. “We are the European Union which is a rich body because we have these 27, 28 nations.” Guatemalan ex-president, Oxfam chief held in corruption case GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – Prosecutors said Tuesday they have detained ex-Pres- ident Alvaro Colom and nearly his entire former Cabinet, including the cur- rent chairman of Oxfam In- ternational, in a Guatemala corruption case involving a bus concession. Colom, who governed in 2008-2012, is the latest in a series of former Gua- temalan presidents to face legal problems. He was re- cently named by the Organi- zation of American States as an envoy to Honduras in a bid to help sort out a highly disputed election there. Colom said after ap- pearing making a court ap- pearance that as far as he knows, the concession was handled properly. He added that he hopes justice is done in the case. Special prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, who said Colom was arrested Tuesday, is looking into questionable purchases of public buses for Guatemala City. Sandoval said those ar- rested face charges of fraud and embezzlement. Sandoval said the deten- tions included the former ministers of the interior, fi- nance, defense, economy, education, labor, environ- ment, health, sports and cul- ture, and energy and mines. Ex-Finance Minister Al- berto Fuentes Knight is the Oxfam chairman. The global nonprofit said in a statement that it did not know the nature of formal charges against Fuentes. “However,” it said, “he has been entirely open with his Oxfam board and execu- tive that he has been among former officials being investi- gated as part of a budgetary transaction made by the Gua- temalan government while he was finance minister.” “He has assured us that he has cooperated fully with the investigation in the con- fidence he did not knowingly transgress rules or proce- dures,” the group added. The case centers on a public bus company known as Transurbano. The govern- ment auctioned off 25-year concessions for Guatemala City bus routes, and the pri- vate companies that won the contracts were later ex- empted from taxes. Prosecutors say the pro- cess was deeply flawed and included subsidies and other measures that benefited public servants. The United Nations anti-corruption mis- sion in Guatemala partici- pated in the investigation. Chief prosecutor Thelma Aldana said later Tuesday at a news conference that in- vestigators suspect the gov- ernment was defrauded out of $35 million. A number of Guatemalan ex-presidents and other high-ranking officials have been swept in a series of corruption probes. They include a customs fraud scandal that allegedly sent kickbacks to then-Pres- ident Otto Perez Molina and Vice President Roxana Bal- detti, leading both to resign in 2015. They have been jailed awaiting trial, but more than 100 defense filings have de- layed the process. Alfonso Portillo, Guate- mala’s president in 2000- 2004, was extradited to the United States and pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy in 2014. Portillo acknowledged taking $2.5 million in bribes from the government of Taiwan to continue Guatemala’s diplo- matic recognition of Taipei. Former Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom is escorted by police Tuesday to a courtroom in Guatemala City. - PHOTO: AP People demonstrate against Brexit, Wednesday, in London as Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivers a speech focusing on Britain leaving the EU. - PHOTO: AP Boris Johnson seeks to reassure Brexit skeptics In South Africa, a defiant Zuma says he has been victimized JOHANNESBURG (AP) – South African President Jacob Zuma broke his si- lence Wednesday to disagree with the ruling party’s order to resign and say he’d done nothing wrong, setting the stage for his almost certain ouster in a parliamentary vote on Thursday after years of corruption scandals. A defiant Zuma told state broadcaster SABC that he had been treated unfairly by the ruling African National Congress, which had told him to resign by the end of Wednesday after rejecting his request to stay in office for several more months. “I’m being victimized here,” Zuma said, com- plaining that Deputy Presi- dent Cyril Ramaphosa, his expected successor, and other ANC leaders had not given him clear reasons about why he should go. “I need to be furnished on what I’ve done,” the 75-year- old president said. He added that “I will be out” if parlia- ment votes against him in a motion of no confidence as expected on Thursday. Zuma said he would make another statement later Wednesday, raising the pos- sibility that he might change his position and resign vol- untarily rather than face the humiliation of his ouster by the combined votes of the ruling and opposition par- ties. He has survived pre- vious motions against him, but this time he no longer has the support of the ruling party’s leadership. Also Wednesday, police raided the homes of promi- nent business associates of Zuma who are accused of being at the center of corrup- tion scandals that have infu- riated the country, hurt the ANC’s popularity and weak- ened the economy. An elite police unit entered the com- pound of the Gupta family, which has been accused of using its connections to the president to influence Cab- inet appointments and win state contracts. The Guptas deny any wrongdoing. Several people were ar- rested during police op- erations, South African media reported. The ANC was acceler- ating efforts to end the coun- try’s political limbo and push through a power transition in one of Africa’s biggest economies. The party wants Zuma to end his second five- year term early so that it can build up support ahead of 2019 elections. Ruling party leaders out- lined a speedy timetable, with Ramaphosa set to be elected in parliament to succeed Zuma in time to deliver the delayed state of the nation address on Friday evening. “We can no longer keep South Africa waiting,” said Paul Mashatile, the ANC’s treasurer general. An opposition-sponsored motion of no confidence in Zuma had been scheduled for Feb. 22, but the ruling party joined opposition leaders in pushing for the date to be moved to this week in a rare show of unity among rival political factions. Ramaphosa, elected as the ANC’s new leader in De- cember, has said the govern- ment will do more to fight the corruption that has dam- aged the ANC, which has led South Africa since the end of white minority rule in 1994. As the Gupta-linked inves- tigation proceeds, Zuma also could face corruption charges tied to an arms deal two de- cades ago. South Africa’s chief prosecutor is expected to make a decision on whether to prosecute Zuma on the old charges, which were re- instated last year after being thrown out in 2009. In another scandal, South Africa’s top court ruled in 2016 that Zuma violated the constitution following an in- vestigation of multi-million- dollar upgrades to his private home using state funds. The president paid back some of the money. The ruling party’s decision to move against Zuma was welcomed as “long overdue” by the foundation of Thabo Mbeki, a former president who was instructed by the ANC to quit in 2008 during a dispute with Zuma, who was then party leader. Mbeki did not contest the order and Zuma became president after elections the following year. South African police exit after a raid on the home in Johannesburg Wednesday of a business family linked to Jacob Zuma as the nation awaits word on whether the embattled leader will resign. - PHOTO: APNext >