ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – TUESDAY MARCH 13, 2018 High of 82 Low of 73 Slight to moderate with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 DILLY-DALLYING AND BUREAUCRATIC DELAYS AT IMMIGRATION LOCAL | PAGE 5 CUC SUES U.S. MANUFACTURER OVER FAULTY EQUIPMENT 187019_PRINT-Butterfield-Strip-6Page 1 1/18/18 3:03:13 PM CONGESTION IN THE SKIES AMID INFLUX OF AIRCRAFT JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Three planes were diverted to Jamaica and at least two others were held on the tarmac in Miami and Tampa on Saturday afternoon be- cause Grand Cayman’s airport was too busy for them to land. The congestion inside the terminal was re- flected in the skies with multiple aircraft cir- cling Owen Roberts International Airport awaiting permission to land. Airport officials attributed the logjam to an unprecedented number of private planes ar- riving at peak time on Saturday. According to Flight Aware, a flight tracking data company which uses information from air traffic control systems to monitor the movements of aircraft around the globe, 53 planes arrived in Grand Cayman Saturday, in- cluding 22 private planes. Of those, 22 planes arrived between midday and 3 p.m. Two jets, including a Delta flight from At- lanta, and one private plane, were in a holding pattern for so long they had to divert to Mon- tego Bay to refuel. Meanwhile, Cayman Airways flights from Tampa and Miami were delayed at the depar- ture airports for an hour after being given a “hold instruction” from air traffic control in Grand Cayman. Albert Anderson, CEO of the Cayman Is- lands Airports Authority, said, “We had a lot of traffic in the air and we had to hold planes before they could land. There were a few that had to be diverted. “It is unusual; the situation was that we had an influx of private aircraft and they took CONVICTED TRACK COACH STEPHENS LEAVES CAYMAN Former Cayman Islands track coach Ato Modibo Stephens left the Cayman Islands Sunday following his criminal conviction last year for con- vincing a 14-year-old girl to send him topless photos of herself. Mr. Stephens was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Aug. 4, 2017 and a Cayman Islands Grand Court judge recommended his deportation following completion of his sentence. For more on this story, see page 3. People using thrift stores as dumping grounds JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com A garbage bin with trash still in it, soiled underwear, single shoes, torn clothing, old electronics, and items cov- ered in pet hair are among the “donations” Cayman’s charity stores are receiving. Operators of thrift stores run by the National Council of Vol- untary Organisations, the Red Cross and the Humane Society are appealing to donors to con- sider the quality of the items being dropped off at the shops. “A good rule of thumb to follow is, if it cannot be reused in your own home or you would not give it to a family member, then it will not be accept- able for resale,” said Mona Lisa Meade of the NCVO. Ms. Meade said the charity’s New To You Bargain Shop on An- thony Drive, George Town, relies on donations from the commu- nity to support the charity’s var- ious volunteer and community programs. But in recent weeks, she has become concerned that the shop is being inundated with items that no one would ever want to buy. Young parliamentarians take over the House MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman students got the chance to take over parliament for a day on Monday. The annual Youth Parliament brought 19 students to the floor of the seat of govern- ment, where they debated, often heatedly, two mock legislative proposals. Like real politicians, they pounded away at points that justified their positions and occasion- ally threw insults at their opponents. It was hard to know at times if their complaints were directed at their school- aged peers, or were roundabout shots at the actual politicians looking on. While arguing against a proposal for including an additional year and A-level exams in the public schools, Asia Bush, acting as the Youth Parliament’s elected member for Newlands, proposed broad- ening technical training by adding a trade school to the public education offerings. “With a first-class trade school,” she said, “we would have fewer students slip- ping through the cracks.” She drew murmurs from the gallery when she suggested that if a more compre- hensive educational system were in place, “a lot of the government officials wouldn’t be sitting where they are right now.” In his opening remarks, before the Nineteen students from Cayman Islands high schools and UCCI participate in the Youth Parliament on Monday. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 2 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL TUESDAY MARCH 13, 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. - TUESDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) DEATH WISH (R) 12:30 VIP I 1:20 I 4:10 7:30 I 10:00 ACTS OF VIOLENCE (R) 12:45 I 2:55 I 5:05 BLACK PANTHER (PG13) 12:45 I 3:00 VIP I 3:50 I 6:45 I 7:15 8:10 I 9:40 VIP I 9:45 RED SPARROW (R) 1:00 I 9:35 SAMSON (PG13) 12:25 I 3:00 I 5:35 I 10:10 GAME NIGHT (R) 4:10 I 6:55 CLASSICS @ THE CINEMA: OLIVER TWIST (G) 7:00 VIP Man charged with armed robbery Pickup truck fire extinguished in George Town A Ford pickup truck in George Town was reported on fire early Monday morning. Police and other emer- gency personnel were dis- patched before 4:30 a.m. to July Street, where an F-150 truck was in flames. The Cayman Islands Fire Service extinguished the fire and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined and the matter is under investigation. The incident was at least the eighth car fire in a residential area in Grand Cayman since the begin- ning of the year. Three cars were also re- ported on fire on Feb. 4 at Ryan’s Retreat in George Town. Another three vehicles were reported on fire on Val- entine’s Day, including one in Bodden Town, one in George Town and one in West Bay. A seventh vehicle ignited on Nashe Street in Bodden Town on Feb. 17. Youth Parliament got under way, Speaker of the House McKeeva Bush said he hoped the event would inspire more young people to pursue ca- reers in the public sector. “The more young people we can get interested in public life, the better all that is for the future of our is- lands,” Mr. Bush said. “We want to encourage them to take up the highest offices in the country.” Premier Alden McLaughlin said he appre- ciated the work the students put into the event. “I’m always impressed by the performance of the young people who come, who work so hard,” Mr. McLaughlin said. The students tackled two proposals. The first involved a requirement to add a 12th year to public school educa- tion and to mandate A-level exams for all students. The second was a requirement that political candidates live in the districts they are run- ning to represent. Arguments for extending the school program dealt with improving the local economy, raising the stan- dard of living, lowering youth unemployment, deterring crime and providing more opportunities to students who want to pursue a univer- sity education. Alejandro Whitaker, the Youth Parliament’s elected member for George Town South, said students pur- suing higher education would be on better footing with an additional year of high school. “Students would be in a more robust position for being accepted to colleges and universities,” he said. Those in opposition feared such a move would reduce the number of op- tions available to students by forcing some students into further study they might not want. They also argued that such a move could hurt individuals financially, and the economy as a whole, by delaying their entry into the workforce. Those who had presented the proposal, they said, showed a lack of knowledge of how the cur- rent system works. Reon Porter, the Youth Parliament’s leader of the opposition, said students should continue to enjoy more autonomy. “Students should be able to choose options to meet their own educational goals,” he said, “not the goals of this government.” The students had help in preparing for their day in the legislature. Their trainers in- cluded Leader of the Oppo- sition Ezzard Miller, MLA and former minister Arden McLean, and Youth Par- liament Committee mem- bers MLAs Kenneth Bryan, David Wight and chairperson Barbara Conolly. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Young parliamentarians take over the House CAYMAN STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENT Adrian Stewart and Chauntae Martinez rep- resented the Cayman Islands as delegates to the Ninth Commonwealth Youth Parliament held Feb. 25 to March 1 at the Jersey States As- sembly in St. Helier, Jersey, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of France. Originally, the event was scheduled to take place in the British Virgin Islands, but hurricanes Irma and Maria forced a change in venues. Mr. Stewart and Ms. Martinez, both univer- sity students, were among the 49 delegates, aged 18-29, representing 15 different countries and 35 Commonwealth Parliamentary Associa- tion branches across eight regions. The event serves to give young people with ambitions of running for public office an intro- duction to the fundamentals behind the pro- cesses of Parliament. CAYMAN RAISES FLAG TO MARK COMMONWEALTH DAY JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman hoisted a spe- cial flag Monday to mark Commonwealth Day, along with 52 other territories and countries around the world. Fly a Flag for the Com- monwealth is a flag-raising ceremony dedicated to marking Commonwealth Day, which is held on the second Monday in March every year. The event involves councils, community groups and charities throughout Cayman celebrating the day. This year’s theme for Commonwealth Day was “To- wards a Common Future.” The event took place outside the Government Administra- tion Building, with the flag being raised promptly at 10 a.m. Former Chief Secretary Lemuel Hurlston read a mes- sage from Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland from Dominica. “Fly a Flag for the Com- monwealth is an occasion to acknowledge publicly and collectively the con- tinuing aspiration of the Commonwealth to build on common traditions and up- hold our shared values of democracy, inclusive devel- opment and respect for di- versity.” Ms. Scotland said in her message. She added, “Local and na- tional flag raising ceremo- nies in school yards, on vil- lage greens, in town squares, and on mountaintops and beaches, bring greater under- standing and appreciation of the values and principles of the Commonwealth Charter – to which the governments of all Commonwealth coun- tries subscribe, and to which each of us individually as Commonwealth citizens can recommit ourselves on Com- monwealth Day.” Cayman Girlguiding’s Hannah Chelsea Bodden read the Commonwealth Af- firmation of joining together as members of one world- wide Commonwealth com- munity, and valuing per- sonal dignity and worth. “We raise this flag as a symbol of the ties of kin- ship and affinity that we cherish,” Ms. Bodden said. The short ceremony was brought to a close by Deputy Governor Franz Manderson raising the flag. CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Odain Ebanks, 23, ap- peared in Summary Court on Monday afternoon charged in connection with firearm in- cidents on Saturday, March 3, that included a robbery in Bodden Town and a shoot- out with police in Prospect. In objecting to bail, se- nior Crown counsel Candia James said that after police received the robbery report, they checked the national CCTV system and saw a red SUV matching the descrip- tion of the getaway car used after the robbery. Mr. Ebanks is accused of being one of two men charged with the armed rob- bery of the Czech Inn that Saturday night. The other man has not been identified and the firearm has not been recovered, she said. During the robbery, a can of pepper spray was used against one of the restaurant owners, Ms. James said. Mr. Ebanks’s DNA was found to be consistent with the DNA profile found on the canister. The shoot-out with police occurred after the robbery, when police pursued the red SUV into the Prospect area in the vicinity of Victory Avenue. The men left the ve- hicle and the person with the firearm opened fire at the officers, Ms. James said. Officers returned fire. The men escaped. The pepper spray canister was recov- ered from where the officers had seen the men. Defense attorney Prathna Bodden accepted that robbery is a charge that can be dealt with only in Grand Court. Magistrate Valdis Foldats did not grant bail, but set the mention in the higher court for Friday, March 23. All charges were trans- mitted, including robbery, possession of an unlicensed firearm, unlawful discharge of a firearm and possession of a prohibited weapon, the pepper spray. The Commonwealth flag, far right, flies beside the union flag and the flag of the Cayman Islands outside the Government Administration Building Monday. Cayman Islands representatives Adrian Stewart, back row, fourth from left, and Chauntae Martinez, front row, first right, with some of the other participants at the 9th CPA Youth Parliament in Jersey.3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY MARCH 13, 2018 188101-Ad-Compass-QP-Auditions-b1 13/9/18 10:44:09 AM Convicted track coach leaves Cayman BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Former Cayman Islands track coach Ato Modibo Ste- phens left the Cayman Is- lands Sunday following his criminal conviction last year for convincing a 14-year- old girl to send him topless photos of herself. Acting Governor Franz Manderson’s office and Pre- mier Alden McLaughlin’s of- fice both confirmed Mr. Ste- phens’s departure to Miami. “Mr. Stephens is now a prohibited immigrant to the Cayman Islands,” the pre- mier’s office statement is- sued Monday read. “Under Section 82(h) of the Immigra- tion Law, a prohibited im- migrant is ‘a person who, not having received a free pardon, has been convicted in any country of an offence for which a sentence of im- prisonment of or exceeding 12 months has been passed otherwise than for non-pay- ment of a fine.’” Cayman Islands Cabinet members approved the de- portation, according to an an- nouncement in early March. Mr. Stephens was sen- tenced to 18 months in prison on Aug. 4, 2017 and a Cayman Islands Grand Court judge recommended his de- portation following comple- tion of his sentence. The judge further noted during sentencing that Mr. Stephens had already spent nearly a year in prison by that time. Some of it was in Florida, where he was ar- rested after leaving the Cayman Islands. The rest of that time was spent in Cayman prison awaiting trial. Mr. Stephens’s case was then heard by the Condi- tional Release Board in No- vember 2017, and he was granted conditional release from prison. Although the conditional release was ap- proved in November, the re- lease license expired on Feb. 15, 2018, according to an ear- lier statement from the pre- mier’s office. Mr. Stephens’s prison sen- tence resulted from a convic- tion on one charge of using an information and commu- nication technology network to annoy, harass or abuse an underage female. He was found not guilty by Grand Court Judge Michael Wood of other charges of indecent as- sault or gross indecency. According to U.S. court re- cords, Mr. Stephens is orig- inally from Trinidad and Tobago, but he also is an American citizen. Justice Wood said during sentencing for Mr. Stephens in August 2017 that he did not find the teenage girl making the accusations to be a liar, but the judge said that was not the legal test. Justice Wood had to be sure of the defendant’s guilt and there was “just enough doubt for me to be not sure,” he said. The judge said it was per- haps with “a degree of reluc- tance” that he found Mr. Ste- phens not guilty of the other charges against him. Justice Wood pointed out that the maximum sentence for using an ICT network to abuse is two years. He considered that Mr. Stephens’s offense had been at the top end of such offending.Ato Stephens Child, 7, escapes from would-be abductor in West Bay A little girl managed to get away from a would-be abductor Saturday after- noon in West Bay, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Ser- vice reported. According to police, the suspect took the 7-year-old from Up The Hill Road. The incident was reported around 4 p.m. Saturday. “The child strenuously resisted and got away from the man, who was a stranger to her, and [ran] until she found an adult,” police said. “The child was not physically harmed in the incident.” The girl described the man as being “tall with dark brown skin and dark-colored eyes.” Police said he wore a black hoodie and black mask. He was also described as having “long yellow finger- nails,” police said. “Police are also urging parents and caregivers [to] be mindful where chil- dren are at all times when playing outdoors and travelling with them to public places,” an RCIPS statement read. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the MASH Unit at 649-6000. Anonymous tips can be provided directly to the RCIPS via the Confidential Tip Line at 949-7777 or via the Miami-based call center of Cayman Crime Stoppers at 800-8477(TIPS). Cayman to participate in regional tsunami-response exercise The Cayman Islands will participate in a region- wide tsunami response ex- ercise on Thursday, ac- cording to an announcement from Hazard Management Cayman Islands. Hazard Management’s an- nouncement stated the pur- pose of the exercise is to eval- uate local tsunami-response plans and communications strategies, increase tsunami preparedness, and improve regional coordination. The drill will entail the simulation of a major earth- quake off the coast of Co- lombia at 9 a.m. on Thursday. Hazard Management Com- munications Officer Simon Boxall said his department will send out notifications to the local media, as well as the National Emergency Op- erations Centre, members of the Legislative Assembly, schools, and other govern- ment agencies. “Basically, we want to test our internal comms and ask the various people who receive the messages – in- cluding the media – to con- sider how they might re- spond if the threat was real, or at least how you might react to the Cayman Islands being suddenly placed under a tsunami watch,” stated Mr. Boxall. “We obviously depend on the media to a certain ex- tent to get information out to the public. We can’t do it all on our own.” Danielle Coleman, the deputy director of prepared- ness for Hazard Manage- ment, said Cayman is estab- lishing an emergency alert system, but Mr. Boxall said it likely will not be up and run- ning by Thursday. “The radio interrupt equipment is here – arrived last week – and it is being set up now, but it is not clear if it will be installed in time to test it in the tsunami exer- cise,” he said. Once the equipment is established, it will allow Hazard Manage- ment to interrupt radio broadcasts with its emer- gency messages, according to Mr. Boxall. The exercise is spon- sored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Caribbean Emergency Man- agement Agency, the Centro de Coordinación para la Pre- vención de los Desastres Naturales en América Cen- tral, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The exercise comes a little more than two months after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Honduras triggered a tsunami scare that impacted Cayman. The U.S. Tsunami Warning Center briefly placed the Cayman Islands on an ad- visory watchlist on Jan. 9, warning of a potential wave impact between 1 and 3 feet at around 10:30 p.m. Information about the quake and the scale of the anticipated tsunami was not immediately available locally, prompting speculation and some concern among resi- dents, who feared a more se- rious wave impact. The first official notifi- cation from government’s Hazard Management unit dropped at 10:46 p.m. – 15 minutes after the antici- pated wave impact. Mr. Boxall said at the time that the incident “re- emphasizes what we have been saying for a while: We need a mass notifica- tion system. It is fairly stan- dard in other countries …. The public need and expect to be informed if a threat is coming their way.”The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 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. “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.” – H. Ross Perot How long does it take to stamp a passport? Five seconds? Maybe 10 seconds, if you fumble the pages? How about six months? That is the length of time attorneys say some new Cay- manian status holders and permanent residents have had to wait for documentation of their status following suc- cessful applications to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal. Recently we have watched, with some level of appreci- ation, as stepped-up operations at the Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board have significantly decreased the “PR limbo lines” from more than 1,000 applicants to “only” a couple of hundred. Now, it seems, the immigration powers-that-be have – either through accident, ineptitude or intentionality, we do not know – discovered a new way to keep new Permanent Residents and Caymanian status holders from receiving their due – by sometimes taking months to issue routine documentation of their new immigration status. On behalf of their clients, lawyers from HSM Chambers aren’t having it. They have filed for judicial review, alleging several instances of the Immigration Department “refusing to give timely effect to rulings of the Immigration Appeals Tribunal.” They describe clients being forced to wait for months before immigration staff sent letters confirming the appeals commission’s decision and issued the appropriate stamps. The lawyers say they could find no reason for the “wholly unreasonable” delays – that the decision had been made and necessary fees paid, for example. They write that even though the specific cases they mention eventually were resolved, many more appellants could find themselves in similar “letter limbo” if immigration does not take this issue seriously – and resolve it. We are more than passingly familiar with HSM – they are not in the habit of rushing to the courthouse without reason. Absent an alternative explanation (which we would be pleased to publish in the Compass), we have no reason to doubt the facts HSM presents in court documents. The way we see it, immigration officials – particularly acting Chief Immigration Officer Bruce Smith – have a handful of options: • Ignore the problem (meaning “do nothing”). • Blame the victims and attorneys for bringing the issue to court – and, while they are at it, the Compass for bringing the matter to light. • Hand it over to “legal” and meet their opponents in court. • Identify those responsible, hold them to account, and fix the problem. It is conceivable that Chief Immigration Officer Smith was never made aware there was a problem with letters from the tribunal. Sometimes, employees hide things from their bosses. But now that the issue has been made public in court documents and on the front page of this newspaper, Mr. Smith does know. Regardless of whether the latest delays are “pur- poseful” or “accidental,” the appearance is that a vindic- tive government is dragging its feet to avoid fulfilling its legally mandated duties. Not only does immigration’s inaction cause actual harm – interfering with people’s ability to travel, work or obtain education for their children – it fosters disharmony between the “local-born” and “localized” segments of Cayman’s community. Just last week, the government announced that the Immigration Department was one of 10 public entities selected to participate in a pilot project on “deliv- ering outstanding customer experience,” part of Acting Governor Franz Manderson’s broad quest to improve the performance of the civil service. (Mr. Manderson, of course, knows a thing or two about immigration, starting his career in the department and rising through the ranks to become Chief Immigration Officer. And then Deputy Governor. And now Acting Governor. We can’t help but imagine what we could do in just a day if someone were foolish enough to give us any of those titles …) Mr. Manderson said, “The principle underpinning our customer service strategy is simple. We aim to put the customer at the heart of everything that we do.” Memo to immigration: “Customer” includes residents, visitors, expatriates, new permanent residents and freshly minted Caymanians. – EDITORIAL – Dilly-dallying and bureaucratic delays at Immigration TUESDAY MARCH 13, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS War without objective, 6,000 days in “The war is over.” – Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Afghanistan (April 2002) “I believe victory is closer than ever before.” – Vice President Mike Pence in Afghanistan (December 2017) WASHINGTON – With metro- nomic regularity, every thou- sand days or so, Americans should give some thought to the longest war in their na- tion’s history. The war in Af- ghanistan, which is becoming one of the longest in world history, reaches its 6,000th day on Monday, when it will have ground on for substan- tially more than four times longer than U.S. involve- ment in World War II from Pearl Harbor to V-J Day (1,346 days). America went to war in Afghanistan because that not-really governed nation was the safe haven from which al-Qaida planned the 9/11 attacks. It was not mission creep but mission gallop that turned the inter- vention into a war against the Taliban who had pro- vided, or at least not pre- vented, the safe haven. So, the United States was on a mission opposed by a supposed ally next door – Pakistan, which through Directorate S of its intel- ligence service has sup- ported the Taliban. This fascinating, if dispir- iting, story is told in Steve Coll’s new book “Directorate S: The CIA and America’s Se- cret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” There cannot be many secrets about this sub- ject that are not in Coll’s al- most 700 pages. He reports when Gen. Stanley McChrystal went to Afghanistan in May 2002, “A senior Army officer in Wash- ington told him, ‘Don’t build [Bondsteels],’ referring to the NATO base in [Kosovo] that Rumsfeld saw as a symbol of peacekeeping mission creep. The officer warned McChrystal against ‘anything here that looks permanent …. We are not staying long.’ As McChrystal took the lay of the land, ‘I felt like we were high-school students who had wandered into a Mafia- owned bar.’” It has been a learning experience. After blowing up tunnels, some almost as long as a foot- ball field, that were thought to be created by and for ter- rorists, U.S. officials learned that they were an ancient ir- rigation system. A decade ago, seven years after the war began on Oct. 7, 2001, then-Secretary of De- fense Robert Gates said the U.S. objective was the cre- ation of a strong central gov- ernment. When he was asked if Afghanistan had ever had one, he answered without hesitation: “No.” Which is still true. Years have passed since the time when, years into the war, U.S. military and ci- vilian officials heatedly de- bated “counterinsurgency” as contrasted with “coun- terterrorism,” distinctions that now seem less than crucial. Coll says of mili- tary commanders rotating in and out of Afghanistan annually, “The commanders starting a rotation would say, ‘This is going to be dif- ficult.’ Six months later, they’d say, ‘We might be turning a corner.’ At the end of their rotation, they would say, ‘We have achieved irre- versible momentum.’ Then the next command group coming in would pronounce, ‘This is going to be difficult …. ‘” The earnestness and valor that Americans have brought to Afghanistan are as heartbreaking as they are admirable. For 73 years, U.S. troops have been on the Rhine, where their presence helped win the Cold War and now serves vital U.S. interests as Vladimir Putin ignites Cold War 2.0. Significant num- bers of U.S. troops have been in South Korea for 68 years, and few people are foolish enough to doubt the useful- ness of this deployment, or to think that it will or should end soon. It is conceivable, and conceivably desirable, that U.S. forces will be in Afghanistan, lending intel- ligence, logistical and even lethal support to that na- tion’s military and security forces for another 1,000, per- haps 6,000, days. It would, however, be helpful to have an explana- tion of U.S. interests and ob- jectives beyond vice presi- dential boilerplate about how “We will see it through to the end.” And (to U.S. troops) how “the road before you is promising.” And how the president has “unleashed the full range of American military might.” And how “reality and facts and a re- lentless pursuit of victory will guide us.” And how U.S. forces have “crushed the enemy in the field” (or at least “put the Taliban on the defensive”) in “this fight for freedom in Afghanistan,” where Bagram Airfield is “a beacon of freedom.” If the U.S. objective is freedom there rather than security here, or if the theory is that the latter somehow depends on the former, the admin- istration should clearly say so, and defend those propo- sitions, or liquidate this un- dertaking that has, so far, cost about $1 trillion and 2,200 American lives. George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2018, Washington Post Writers Group GEORGE F. WILL GEORGE It is conceivable, and conceivably desirable, that U.S. forces will be in Afghanistan, lending intelligence, logistical and even lethal support to that nation’s military and security forces for another 1,000, perhaps 6,000, days. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS DAVID R. LEGGE AND VICKI L. LEGGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DAVID R. LEGGE EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY MARCH 13, 2018 19 - 20 March Content – The Lifeblood of Your Digital Marketing Search Engine Optimization & The Evolution of Search Media – Raising Awareness & Generating Leads Through Digital Ads Customer Relationship Management – Segmentation & Email Marketing Social Media – Social Channel Setup, Social Listening & Content Curation Mobile is Pervasive – Delivering Real Value to Your Audience Through Mobile TRAINING ROOM PUBLIC WORKS DEPARMENT 19 - 21 MARCH 2018 PILLARS Training Workshop DIGIT AL MARKETING 9AM - 5PM IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS OPERATING IN THE TOURISM SECTOR YOU ARE INVITED TO THE WORKSHOP TOPIC AREAS Deadline for registration is 15 March 2018 To register please visit : www.caymanislands.ky/7pillarstraining Only one person per company. Please note that this will be on a first come first serve basis. CUC sues US manufacturer over faulty equipment First Special Olympics sports day draws dozens The first Seven Mile Beach Games for Cayman’s Special Olympics athletes drew more than 100 attendees Saturday. The four-hour event was held as a chance for mem- bers of the public to get to know Cayman’s Special Olympics athletes as part of a partnership between the Sunrise Adult Training Centre and Special Olympics Cayman Islands. “More than 100 people participated,” said Van- essa Hansen, a member of the Cayman Islands Special Olympics board of directors. Games like volleyball, football, bocce, tug-of-war, paddleboarding and an ob- stacle course were on site Saturday, free for all resident sports enthusiasts to join in. The event encouraged the public to “train together” with Special Olympics athletes, Ms. Hansen said. “It’s about what they can do together,” she said. In addition to the sports, the day also provides the community with the oppor- tunity to learn more about the work that both Special Olympics Cayman Islands and Sunrise Adult Training Centre do to serve people with intellectual disabili- ties. Both organizations had displays that included Sun- rise clients’ arts and crafts, and information about vol- unteering with the Special Olympics group. The event was also held to celebrate 30 years of Special Olympics in Cayman. Power provider says defects caused ‘millions of dollars’ in damages, jeopardized safety KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman’s power provider, the Caribbean Utilities Com- pany, is suing a U.S.-based manufacturer for allegedly selling it defective electrical equipment, costing CUC “millions of dollars” in dam- ages and potentially endan- gering residents. According to documents filed with the U.S. Southern District Court of Mississippi, CUC states that it purchased numerous stainless-steel distribution transformers for its operations from the Mississippi-based Howard Industries Inc. between 2000 and 2016. However, the transformers and/or their component parts were defective and eventually failed, CUC claims. “Such defects were latent, and it took time for the la- tent defects to manifest,” CUC states in its claim, which was filed last November. CUC claims that Howard Industries intentionally con- cealed design defects, man- ufacturing deviations, sub- standard manufacturing practices, and other prob- lems in order to “induce” the utilities company to continue to buy equipment from the manufacturer. “The failures in and de- fects to the transformers made them dangerous to human life and to property,” CUC states in its lawsuit. “The danger includes, but is not limited to, the trans- formers leaking hazardous oil on persons and/or prop- erty and falling from high locations on persons and/ or property and causing damage due to their defec- tive condition.” CUC is seeking refunds for all its costs and dam- ages, which it claims to be in the millions of dollars. In a response filed in Jan- uary, Howard Industries de- nies the allegations of wrong- doing against it, including the allegations that the trans- formers were defective. “[Howard Industries] re- spectfully requests that [CUC’s] complaint against it be dismissed with prej- udice, with costs assessed against [CUC],” Howard In- dustries states. On Feb. 22, U.S. District Court Judge Keith Star- rett set a pretrial confer- ence for May 16, 2019, and a trial to begin on June 3, 2019. All discovery will be completed by Jan. 2, 2019, and all motions for amend- ments to the pleadings must be filed by March 23 of this year, he ordered. The Caribbean Utilities Company headquarters at Sparkys Drive, George Town. The first special Olympics Beach Games day was held Saturday on Seven Mile Beach. Health insurance forum to be held The Jamaican Consulate and the Health Insurance Commission will hold a public meeting on health in- surance Tuesday evening at the George Town Town Hall. The meeting is open to all employers and employees and will focus on the manda- tory requirement for health insurance in Cayman, as well as recent amendments to the Health Insurance Law, according to Honorary Vice Consul Elaine Harris. Items to be dis- cussed include: ■■ Overview of the health insurance legislation and why health insur- ance is mandatory in the Cayman Islands. ■■ Recent amendments to the health insurance law. ■■ Role of employers and the role of employees. ■■ How premiums should be paid (employer/em- ployee contributions). ■■ What is “uninsured medical expenses” and who is responsible? New work permit holders and the pre-ap- proval process for health insurance coverage. “The forum will be useful for employees and employers and a generous amount of time will be pro- vided for questions and an- swers,” Ms. Harris said. She said some recent in- cidents, including a fire at a nine-room dwelling on Shedden Road in December in which three people were injured, highlighted the consequences of individ- uals having no health in- surance and prompted the consulate and commission to organize the forum. The panel will include representatives from the Cayman Islands Health In- surance Commission. The meeting will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday. At least one individual injured in a fire at this Shedden Road dwelling in December had no health insurance. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 6 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. TUESDAY MARCH 13, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS TUESDAY, MAR. 13 WEST BAY MEETING: The Ministry and Department of Tourism hold a public meeting to discuss tourism. 6 p.m. at Sir John A. Cumber Primary school hall. Refreshments and gate prizes. HEALTH INSURANCE MEETING: The Jamaican Consulate and the Health Insurance Commission hold a public meeting on health insurance from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the George Town Town Hall. All employers and employees welcome. CDS AUDITIONS: Auditions for “The Diary Of Anne Frank” take place 6-9 p.m. (with recalls Sat March 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.). The show will be performing Sept. 5-9 and 13-16 with rehearsals from June 26 (Tue/Thu 7-9 p.m., plus Sunday rehearsals in August/September). Email kirstyannosullivan@gmail. com to register interest. Seeking actors age 14+. THURSDAY, MAR. 15 CAYMAN DRAMA SOCIETY: “Barefoot in the Park.” 7:30 p.m. Tickets: adults $25; students, $15. Performances continue tomorrow and Saturday, then March 22, 23, 24. Purchase tickets at www. cds.ky or call 938-1998. FRIDAY, MAR. 16 SCHOOL FAIR: St. Ignatius Spring Fling 3-6:30 p.m. on the school grounds. Lots of food, fun, games, entertainment and prizes for all ages. IRISH JOG: From Britannia at 5:30 p.m. Registration details can be found on www.ky.butterfieldgroup. com. Cayman’s ARK (Acts of Random Kindness) benefits. SATURDAY, MAR. 17 COLOUR ME PURPLE 5K: Walk or run from Kaibo. Adults $25. Kids (under 18) $15. An Honouring Women Month fundraiser for local youth and women’s initiatives. For registration and more information, call the Family Resource Centre on 949- 0006 or email frc@gov.ky. SUNDAY, MAR. 18 COLOUR ME PURPLE 5K: Walk or run from Smith Cove, South Sound. Adults $25. Kids (under 18) $15. An Honouring Women Month fundraiser for local youth and women’s initiatives. For registration and more information, call the Family Resource Centre on 949- 0006 or email frc@gov.ky. MONDAY, MAR. 19 BRAC CERT: Hazard Management and the Red Cross will commence Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training in Cayman Brac on March 19. Residents can sign up for the five-day course for either morning or evening sessions. The training is free and food and refreshments will be provided. Group A, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Group B, 5-9 p.m. To sign up for either morning or evening CERT courses, call Simon Boxall on 926-2027 or email Simon. boxall@gov.ky. TUESDAY, MAR. 20 SEAFARERS: The Cayman Islands Seafarers Association advises members that the new president for 2018 is Denniston Tibbetts. Tonight at 7 p.m. is a social for a meet and greet. FRIDAY, MAR. 23 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Meals on Wheels receives one-third of its funding from the Cayman Islands government and the balance is made up from donations, sponsorship and fundraisers, such as the annual Coin Drive, which takes place today and tomorrow. Volunteers are needed to solicit funds from the public at key locations. They will be provided with a collection bucket, a T-shirt and lapel stickers to hand out to those who donate. Any person or organization willing to assist or “take over” a location from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., contact info@mealsonwheels. ky for more information. SATURDAY, MAR. 24 BRAC AGRICULTURE: The Cayman Brac Agricultural Show takes place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Agriculture Show Grounds on the Bluff. Contact Chevala Burke at chevala.burke@gov.ky or 345-916-4874. ORATORICAL CONTEST: The Optimist Club holds its annual oratorical contest for students 18 years and under at the George Town Town Hall. This year’s topic is, “Where are my roots of optimism?” Contact contest chairperson Patrice Hanson at 323-3925 or deputy chairperson Mark Ray at 916-2844. Learn more about the Optimist Club at www.optimistcayman.com. SUNDAY, MAR. 25 HONOURING WOMEN MONTH: Church service, John Gray Memorial Church, West Bay, 10 a.m. All are invited. FRIDAY, MAR. 30 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. GENERAL INTEREST EARLY CHILDHOOD FEES: The Ministry of Education provides financial assistance through the Early Childhood Assistance Programme fund for Caymanian children who are between 3 and 4 years of age before 1 September 2018, to assist with the payment of fees at an early childhood centre between September 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019. Application forms and information can be downloaded from www. education.gov.ky. Forms may also be collected from the Government Administration Building, the Department of Education Services and all early childhood centres. Contact Renee Barnes at 244-5735, Turnette Stewart at 244-5724 or email ecap@ gov.ky. SOLAR IMAGING: An exhibition of digital solar imaging in Cayman by the late Dr. Bill Hrudey. National Gallery, Esterley Tibbetts Highway. 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. Proceeds benefit Youth Ministry. 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). 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. For more Community Calendar events, visit www. caymancompass.com/events. The annual Irish Jog at Britannia will begin at 5:30 p.m., Friday, March 16 - the day before St. Patrick’s Day. This year’s beneficiary is Cayman’s Acts of Random Kindress.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY MARCH 13, 2018 Cayman Drama Society PROSPECT PLAYHOUSE, RED BAY “Barefoot in the Park” is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. PURCHASE TICKETS: Visit www.cds.ky Call Box Office 938-1998 www.cds.ky www.facebook.com/caydrama Dates March 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 Happy Hour 6:30 pm Showtime 7:30 pm Tickets Adults $25 Students $15 186614_HR-Ad-Compass-2colx12-BW.Page 1 2/15/18 2:26:04 PM “Some of those items in- clude baby seats with no cloth covers; a trash can with garbage still inside; damaged furniture, clothing and toys; mismatched shoes; toys and games with missing pieces; decades-old electronics and books; and items covered in pet hair,” she said. At the Red Cross Thrift Shop on Huldah Avenue, man- ager Remy Imperial reports a similar situation, with soiled and worn underwear, clothes with cockroach eggs, books with missing pages, chipped plates and even mattresses with huge rips and urine stains being donated. Large damaged items are also a problem, Ms. Imperial said. Volunteers, sometimes three at a time, must be called in to take this rubbish to the dump, she explained. “We are grateful to our do- nors, but we are asking the public to donate with dignity. If it’s of use to you, then it is of use to someone else,” she said. “Make sure items are in good condition – no un- pleasant odor, stains or mildew, torn or rotten stuff. Dumping things that are not in good condition at the front of the store doesn’t help the thrift shop and we pay to have it taken to the dump,” she said. To aid in the awareness of the thrift shop policy, Ms. Im- perial said the Red Cross has started a “Donate with Dig- nity” campaign. The campaign sets guide- lines for items donated to the Thrift Shop. It raises aware- ness about the quality of the items accepted and creates a set of standards used by the Red Cross for deciding which items to sell in the shop, which items to place on the dollar sale, and which items to dispose of. Ms. Imperial said the shop’s biggest seller is clothing. “We have people that do- nate nice clothes, some even with the tags; then, we have people who just put any- thing in the bag. We ask them to just have a second look at what they are donating, to make sure it’s not something for the garbage,” she said. People can drop off dona- tions for the Red Cross store at any time of the day, night or weekends, Ms. Imperial said, adding, “Unfortunately, a lot of damaged things are dumped at that time [outside office hours].” When people bring un- usable items into the shop while it is open, “we tell them in a gentle way, we don’t need these, take them straight to the dumpster,” Ms. Imperial said. “If somebody has some- thing they do not need any more, bring it to the Red Cross Thrift Shop, there is al- ways someone who needs these donations. That is how we help the community. Don’t bring anything that is trash; just throw it away,” she said. At the Humane Society thrift shop in Plaza Venezia on North Sound Road, man- ager Jacki Ebanks said the shop still gets some un- wanted donations but not as many as it used to. The store moved from the animal shelter building to the North Sound Road site in December 2016. While she encourages donations from the public, Ms. Ebanks said there are some things the store simply cannot use, such as items that are badly broken, stained, mildewed, torn, cracked, chipped, single shoes or worn underwear. “If people try, they can re- alize that this is not some- thing we would be able to sell,” Ms. Ebanks said. She said there have also been times when good clothing had to be discarded because it was stored for such a long time it had developed mildew. Broken dishes, chipped cups or appliances and elec- tronics that are not working have also been donated by members of the public, only to be discarded by the shop. “Most people don’t want to buy those things. They want to buy something that is useful and functional for the family,” Ms. Ebanks said. The store now has volun- teer technicians who check electronics before they are sold, Ms. Ebanks said. Elec- tronic items are often sold to teachers who collect them for children to examine and take apart. Items for the Humane Society thrift store can be dropped off at the Humane Society shelter building, where volunteers pick them up in the mornings. Drop-offs can be done at Plaza Venezia during opening hours. “Every item that comes in is sorted through that day, and those items are put out on the shelves for the next day,” Ms. Ebanks said. Over at the NCVO bar- gain store, Ms. Meade said she also has concerns about an uptick in larger items being dropped off outside opening hours. “This can cause the prop- erty to have a poor appear- ance and could lead to a risk of theft,” she said. “We certainly want to en- sure the property is kept clean and safe for our par- ents and students, so we en- courage donors to call us or email images of larger items. This way, we can figure out if we have the space available to store them; and we can set up a drop-off time while staff are on site to receive the items.” Ms. Meade added that some well-meaning donors drop off items after hours but the donations end up get- ting exposed to the weather and damaged. In other cases, people drop off broken fur- niture and couches that are torn and stained just to get rid of them. People are encouraged to call the NCVO’s office if they are unsure of what items can be donated or to familiarize themselves with the donation policy posted on the NCVO website, www.ncvo.org.ky, Ms. Meade said. A problem the thrift stores also face are people helping themselves to items that are donated outside of store opening hours, before the vol- unteers can pick them up. Ms. Ebanks said there had been an issue at the Humane Society drop-off box, of indi- viduals removing items. “It’s not very nice, but, yes, there is a problem and I know other thrift shops have that problem too … it is just a shame with that.” up a lot of the airspace.” He said air traffic control- lers handled the arriving air- craft on a “first-come, first- served” basis and there was no scope to reject private aircraft or give preferential treatment to scheduled jets. “If they have a legiti- mate flight plan, we will land them,” he said. There is no pre-approval process for flight plans for private aircraft and under guidelines set by the Inter- national Civil Aviation Orga- nization, pilots are only re- quired to submit such plans an hour before departure. “If someone wants to come to your airport, you have to ac- cept them,” Mr. Anderson said. He said the Cayman Is- lands Airports Authority was exploring options, including negotiating with regular visi- tors who use private planes to divert them away from peak times. There was potentially scope to increase fees for pri- vate planes during peak times to persuade them to fly at less busy periods, he added. Tourism Minister Moses Kirk- connell said the delays in the air were linked to the delays on the ground caused by the redevelopment of the terminal. Departing passengers were stuck in long lines that snaked out of the terminal Sat- urday, while others were told to wait in a tented holding area before joining the lines. The CIAA had warned of in- creased wait times, with ren- ovations now taking place in- side the main check-in hall. Mr. Kirkconnell said the knock-on effect of those hold- ups was that planes were spending more time on the tarmac, limiting capacity for the airport to accommodate arriving aircraft. He said the renovations, combined with an influx of private jets and high passenger loads on scheduled planes, due in part to the hurricanes in the eastern Caribbean, added up to the “perfect storm.” “If the efficiency had been where it will be once the terminal is complete, we would have been OK,” the minister said. “The good thing is we have more people coming in than we can accommodate. We ex- pected 6 percent growth for January and February and we have got 25 percent.” Mr. Anderson said the air- port’s staff was limited in the amount of planes it could process with just one runway. There is no room at the current site and no plans for a new runway. But the airports master plan does include a new taxiway, which he said would allow aircraft to get on and off the runway quicker. Fabian Whorms, CEO of Cayman Airways, said there had been delays of between 50 and 90 minutes on nine flights on Saturday attrib- uted to congestion at the air- port, delayed availability of the runway and the knock-on impact of delayed passengers arriving from other planes that were held up. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Congestion in the skies amid influx of aircraft People using thrift stores as dumping grounds CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Owen Roberts International Airport was jammed for both departing and arriving passengers on Saturday. – PHOTO: BRENT FULLER This trash can, already filled with garbage, was among the items ‘donated’ to the NCVO’s New To You Bargain Shop.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 TUESDAY MARCH 13, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS EU extends $1.2 billion loan to Ukraine The European Union’s foreign policy chief says the EU will extend a 1 billion euro (US$1.2 billion) loan to struggling Ukraine. Ukraine is trying to improve its economy after years of inefficiency and corruption, and has been hit hard by the separatist conflict in the east. Plane carrying 71 people crashes, catches fire in Kathmandu Helicopter crashes in NYC’s East River, 5 passengers dead NEW YORK (AP) – A private charter helicopter hired for a photo shoot crashed into New York City’s East River on Sunday night and flipped upside down in the water, killing all five passengers aboard, officials said. The pilot freed himself and was rescued by a tug- boat, officials said, while police and fire department divers who recovered the passengers had to remove them from tight harnesses while they were upside down. “It took awhile for the divers to get these people out. They worked very quickly as fast as they could,” Fire Com- missioner Daniel Nigro said. “It was a great tragedy that we had here.” Video taken by a by- stander and posted on Twitter shows the red heli- copter land hard in the water and then capsize, its rotors slapping at the water. Witnesses on a water- front esplanade near where the aircraft went down said the helicopter was flying noisily, then suddenly dropped into the water and quickly submerged. But the pilot appeared on the sur- face, holding onto a flotation device as a tugboat and then police boats approached. “It’s cold water. It was sinking really fast,” Mary Lee, 66, told the New York Post. “By the time we got out here, we couldn’t see it. It was underwater.” Celia Skyvaril, 23, told the Daily News that she could see a person on what looked like a yellow raft or float screaming and yelling for help. News footage showed one victim being loaded into an ambulance while emergency workers gave him chest compressions. A bystander, Susan Larkin, told The Associated Press that she went down to see rescue boats in the river and a police helicopter cir- cling overhead, hovering low over the water. “You could clearly see they were searching,” she said. A Federal Aviation Ad- ministration spokeswoman said the Eurocopter AS350 went down just after 7 p.m. The aircraft was owned by Liberty Helicopters, a com- pany that offers both pri- vate charters and sightseeing tours popular with tourists. A phone message left with the company was not immedi- ately returned. The skies over New York constantly buzz with he- licopters carrying tour- ists, businesspeople, traffic reporters, medical teams and others. Crashes are not unheard of. In 2009, a sightseeing he- licopter of the same model and operated by the same company as the one in Sun- day’s wreck collided with a small, private plane over the Hudson River, killing nine people, including a group of Italian tourists. A crash in October 2011 in the East River killed a British woman visiting the city for her 40th birthday. Two other passengers died weeks later as a result of their injuries. A helicopter on a sight- seeing tour of Manhattan crashed into the Hudson River in July 2007, shaking up the eight people aboard but injuring no one. In June 2005, two helicopters crashed into the East River in the same week. One in- jured eight people including some banking executives. The other hit the water shortly after takeoff on a sightseeing flight, injuring six tourists and the pilot. Nigro and Police Com- missioner James O’Neill said the rescue operation Sunday took place in a 4 mph current in water about 50 feet deep, under challenging conditions. The cause of the crash is unknown. The FAA and the National Transpor- tation Safety Board are investigating. Officials did not imme- diately release the names of the pilot or passengers or say how the passengers died. The helicopter was recov- ered in the rescue operation and towed to a pier. The helicopter went down near Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence. KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) – A plane carrying 71 people from Bangladesh swerved erratically and flew danger- ously low before crashing and erupting in flames as it landed Monday in Kath- mandu, Nepal’s capital, killing at least 50 people, offi- cials and witnesses said. The exact number of dead and injured remained unclear amid the chaos of the crash and the rush of badly injured people to nearby hospitals, but Brig. Gen. Gokul Bhandari, the Nepal army spokesman, said it was clear that at least 50 people had died. Officials at Kathmandu Medical Col- lege, the closest hospital to the airport, said they were treating 16 survivors. US-Bangla Airlines flight BS211 from Dhaka to Kath- mandu was carrying 67 passengers and four crew members, according to an airline spokesman. An AP journalist who ar- rived at the scene soon after the crash saw the twin-pro- peller plane broken into sev- eral large pieces, with dozens of firefighters and rescue workers clustered around the wreckage in a grassy field near the runway. Hun- dreds of people stood on a nearby hill, staring down at what remained of the Bom- bardier Dash 8. The plane swerved re- peatedly as it prepared to land in Kathmandu, said Amanda Summers, an Amer- ican working in Nepal. The crowded city sits in a valley in the Himalayan foothills. “It was flying so low I thought it was going to run into the mountains,” said Sum- mers, who watched the crash from the terrace of her home office, not far from the airport. “All of a sudden there was a blast and then another blast.” Fire crews put out the flames quickly, perhaps within a minute, she said, though for a time clouds of thick, dark smoke rose into the sky above the city. The plane had circled Tribhuvan International Airport twice as it waited for clearance to land, Mo- hammed Selim, the airline’s manager in Kathmandu, told Dhaka-based Somoy TV sta- tion by telephone. Nitin Keyal was about to board a domestic flight when he saw the plane coming in. “It was flying very low,” said Keyal, a medical student. “Everyone just froze looking at it. You could tell it wasn’t a normal landing.” He said it landed just off the runway, broke apart and burst into flames. “For a few minutes no one could believe what was happening. It was just terrible,” he said. Most of the injured were brought to Kathmandu Med- ical College, where relatives wept as they awaited news. Haran Saran was at the hospital hoping for news about his nephew, a medical student. “He’s not on the list of in- jured people,” said Saran, who did not want to give his nephew’s name. “We still have hope that there has been some mistake on the list, or he is in some other hospital.” US-Bangla spokesman Ka- mrul Islam said the plane was carrying 32 passengers from Bangladesh, 33 from Nepal and one each from China and the Maldives. He did not provide the nationali- ties of the four crewmembers. US-Bangla operates Boeing 737-800 and smaller Bombar- dier Dash 8 Q-400 planes. The airline, part of US- Bangla Group, is based in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, and flies to several domestic and international destina- tions. The parent company is involved in a number of in- dustries, including real estate, education and agriculture. Kathmandu’s airport has been the site of several deadly crashes. In September 2012, a Sita Air turboprop plane carrying trekkers to Mount Everest hit a bird and crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 19 on board. The exact number of dead and injured remained unclear amid the chaos of the crash and the rush of badly injured people to nearby hospitals. Video taken by a bystander and posted on Twitter shows the red helicopter land hard in the water and then capsize, its rotors slapping at the water. Nepalese rescuers stand near a passenger plane from Bangladesh that crashed at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday. – PHOTO: AP Yellow buoys suspending a helicopter that crashed on the East River float next to a NYPD police boat at a pier in New York on Sunday. – PHOTO: AP9 WORLD&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY MARCH 13, 2018 Latest nor’easter could dump a foot or more of snow 16 years on, US military presence in Afghanistan growing MACRON HOPES TO SELL JETS, SUBMARINES TO INDIA WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. is bolstering its military pres- ence in Afghanistan, more than 16 years after the war started. Is anyone paying attention? Consider this: At a Senate hearing this past week on top U.S. security threats, the word “Afghanistan” was spoken exactly four times, each during introductory re- marks. In the ensuing two hours of questions for intel- ligence agency witnesses, no senator asked about Afghan- istan, suggesting little in- terest in a war with nearly 15,000 U.S. troops supporting combat against the Taliban. It’s not as if the war’s end is in sight. Just last month the bulk of an Army training brigade of about 800 soldiers arrived to improve the advising of Af- ghan forces. Since January, attack planes and other air- craft have been added to U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But it’s not clear that the war, which began in October 2001, is going as well as the U.S. had hoped seven months after President Donald Trump announced a new, more ag- gressive strategy. The pic- ture may be clearer once the traditionally most intensive fighting season begins in April or May. Over the winter, Amer- ican and Afghan warplanes have focused on attacking il- licit drug facilities that are a source of Taliban revenue. One of Washington’s closest watchers of the Af- ghanistan conflict, Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote last month that the administration has made major improvements in military tactics and plans for developing Afghan forces but has “done nothing to deal with civil and political sta- bility.” That challenge is ex- pected to come into clearer focus with the approach of parliamentary elections planned for July. The administration “not only faces a deteriorating security situation, it has no clear political, gover- nance, or economic strategy to produce Afghan stability,” Cordesman said. In his view, the U.S. military has been as- signed a “mission impossible” in Afghanistan. The weak central govern- ment in Kabul and the resil- ient Taliban insurgency are not the U.S. military’s only problems there. It also faces what Gen. Joseph Votel, the top U.S. general overseeing the war, calls interference by Russia. He told a congres- sional panel last month that Moscow is seeking to under- mine U.S. and NATO influence in Afghanistan by exagger- ating the presence of Islamic State fighters there and por- traying this as a U.S. failure. When Trump announced in August that he was or- dering a new approach to the war, he said he realized “the American people are weary of war without victory.” He said his instinct was to pull out, but that after consulting with aides, he decided to seek “an honorable and enduring outcome.” He said that meant committing more resources to the war, giving commanders in the field more authority and staying in Afghanistan for as long as it takes. Stephen Biddle, a pro- fessor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, said Americans’ relative lack of in- terest in the war gives Trump political maneuver room to conduct the war as he wishes, but that dynamic is not neces- sarily a good one. “The idea that a democracy is spending billions of dollars a year, killing people and sac- rificing American lives waging war, and the elected represen- tatives of the people aren’t paying attention I think is in- appropriate,” Biddle said. “But to say it is inappropriate isn’t to say it’s surprising, because this is the way Congress has been behaving toward this war for a long, long time.” Last November, the U.S. commander in Kabul, Gen. John Nicholson, said the Af- ghan army, with U.S. support, had “turned the corner” and captured momentum against the Taliban. Since then, the Taliban have conducted a se- ries of high-profile attacks in Kabul and elsewhere that have killed scores of civilians. U.S. officials have portrayed this as desperation tactics by the Taliban, arguing that they are unable to make new ter- ritorial gains. Dan Coats, the director of U.S. national intelligence, of- fered a less optimistic fore- cast when he testified to the Senate Armed Services Com- mittee on Tuesday. “We assess the overall se- curity picture will … modestly deteriorate in the coming year and Kabul will continue to bear the brunt of the Taliban- led insurgency,” Coats said. VARANASI, India (AP) – French President Em- manuel Macron says he hopes his country can sell more fighter jets and sub- marines to India. In a news conference Monday, Macron said France and India want to “be able to continue with new volumes and produc- tion in line with what has already been signed.” He was referring to In- dia’s purchase of six conven- tionally powered Scorpene submarines in 2005 and 36 Rafale fighter jets in 2016. Macron took a boat ride with Indian Prime Min- ister Narendra Modi on the River Ganges in Varanasi, in northeast India, Monday. During the three-day visit by the French leader, Macron and Modi high- lighted a strong alliance and cooperation in defense, security, technology, space and counterterrorism. BOSTON (AP) – Winter- weary New Englanders are preparing for blizzard con- ditions, a foot or more of snow and high winds as the third major nor’easter in two weeks bears down on the Northeast. The National Weather Service on Monday issued a winter storm warning for much of New England and a winter weather advisory for eastern New York and Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey, even as residual power outages from the pre- vious storm linger. The storm is expected to hit about midnight and last through most of the day Tuesday, with snow accumu- lating at a rate of 2 inches per hour during the Tuesday morning commute. While the first two storms of the month brought coastal flooding and hundreds of thousands of power outages, this winter monster is a little bit different. “This one’s main impact is going to be snow,” said Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Taunton, Massachusetts. More power outages are possible, but they are not ex- pected to be as widespread as last week. Only minor coastal flooding is possible. Wind gusts as high as 65 mph are forecast in coastal areas. Boston and eastern Mas- sachusetts, as well as Rhode Island, could get a foot and a half of snow, with less to the west of the city. Maine is also bracing for a hard hit. The Portland In- ternational Jetport has had 75.5 inches of snow, far above the normal for the date of 51.8 inches with another 12 to 18 inches is on the way, said James Brown, of the Na- tional Weather Service. In New York, heavy, wet snow is forecast for Long Is- land, which could get 5 to 10 inches of accumulation, while 2 to 4 inches are possible in New York City. In New Jersey, the storm is expected to start out as light rain in most areas, then turn to a wintry mix before changing over to all snow by early Tuesday, leaving behind anywhere from 1 to 4 inches. The Northeast is not the only area of the country dealing with winter weather. As much as 15 inches of snow has fallen in a narrow band stretching from central Kentucky through southern West Virginia. Most of North Carolina is also gearing up for snow, with spring a little more than a week away. Forecasters say up to 6 inches of snow is possible around Boone in the northern mountains, while other areas of the state should only get about 2 inches. “Hopefully this will be the final punch of the winter,” Buttrick said. It’s not clear that the war, which began in October 2001, is going as well as the U.S. had hoped seven months after President Donald Trump announced a new, more aggressive strategy. Macron and Modi highlighted a strong alliance and cooperation in defense, security, technology, space and counterterrorism. French President Emmanuel Macron visits the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, Sunday. – PHOTO: AP A resident of Duxbury, Massachusetts, views flooding near her home, Sunday, as the Northeast braces for its third nor’easter in fewer than two weeks. – PHOTO: APNext >