ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 2018 High of 80 Low of 73 Seas: Slight with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet today, rough with wave heights of 4 to 6 feet late tonight. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 CONSULTANTS’ REPORTS: WHAT DID WE GET FOR $35 MILLION OF ADVICE? LOCAL | PAGE 3 THREE CHARGED IN IMMIGRATION FRAUD CASE Gov’t spent $35M on consultants in 5 years Spending largely not monitored, auditor says BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands government spent nearly $35 million during a five-year period on consultants to support a range of public proj- ects, spending which was largely not moni- tored and which, in many instances, was done without a business case plan, the auditor gen- eral’s office reported Monday. The review, completed in February, was done alongside a wider audit that looked at how well the government manages its existing staff. The findings of that review will be re- ported separately. Spending on consultant contracts varied from a high of $9 million during the govern- ment’s 2012-13 fiscal year to a low of $5.6 mil- lion in 2013-14. Auditors said the government’s average spend on consultant contracts was $7 million per year between mid-2012 and mid-2017. An additional $3.6 million was spent to hire temporary staff during the same five-year period, auditors noted. That spending was separate from consultancy fees. “The government does not generally plan or project its need for consultants, with the ex- ception of consultancy services for major cap- ital projects,” Auditor General Sue Winspear wrote in the report. “Nor does the government routinely monitor how much it is spending for consultants or temporary staff. “The government does not consistently consider value for money when engaging consultants.” Auditors noted that 80 percent of the spending for consultants went to five gen- eral areas: legal services, IT consulting and implementation, advertising and promotion of Cayman in tourism markets, major capital projects and public relations. Outside legal services cost $8.2 million during the five-year period, with one Queen’s Counsel often used by government in Crown prosecutions earning nearly $1 million during that time. Advertising and public relations consultant BRIEF LEGISLATIVE MEETING SET FOR WEDNESDAY BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com What’s likely to be a short Legislative As- sembly meeting is set to begin Wednesday morning, as government lawmakers prepare for a business trip to Hong Kong for a U.K.- sponsored trade show next week. Few bills have been tabled ahead of the upcoming meeting and the premier’s of- fice has not commented on any other planned legislation. One matter that is expected to be on the agenda is a change to the Trade and Business Licensing Law requiring local companies to have all outstanding pension, healthcare and other labor-related issues resolved before re- newing operating licenses. The requirement for up-to-date pension and healthcare payments for employees ex- ists within the current licensing law but con- tains the caveat that a company is not com- pliant only if it is “not taking the necessary actions to resolve such non-compliance.” In other words, actions to resolve non-payment of pensions or healthcare premiums can be in progress rather than already done. An amended Trade and Business Licensing Bill made public last month will attempt to change the current legal language to state “the [license] applicant has not taken the nec- essary steps to resolve the non-compliance.” The requirement will not be in place for new businesses that are applying for their first trade and business license and are therefore Scotiabank consolidates branches, goes digital MICHAEL KLEIN mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com Scotiabank and Trust (Cayman) is closing its George Town and Strand locations and will open a new digital branch at Camana Bay on April 16. The new branch will be one of four fully digital Scotiabank branches in the Carib- bean and will replace the Scotia Centre branch in downtown George Town, which was its original headquarters and which it has occupied since 1966, and the Strand branch on Seven Mile Beach. The digital branch at Camana Bay is de- signed “with the future of digital banking in mind,” Scotiabank said in a press release, and will feature an on-site concierge “to demonstrate new self-service channel offer- ings,” assist with customer queries and en- able customers to provide feedback. There will also be a “social hub” with tablets, so that customers can access dig- ital banking services, browse online con- tent and perform onsite internet banking transactions. In response to questions by the Cayman Compass on how the consolidation of two branches into a fully digital branch will impact the bank’s staff, Scotiabank did not specify any layoffs but responded: “In keeping with Scotiabank’s values, we are PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » Scotiabank will be leaving its George Town premises, which it has occupied for more than 50 years, next month. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY2 LOCAL NEWS WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 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. - WEDNESDAY - 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 6:25 VIP 6:45 I 7:15 I 8:10 I 9:20 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 Former minister’s assault trial begins Mike Adam accused of putting fist to neighbor’s face CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Trial began on Tuesday morning for former gov- ernment minister Mi- chael Thomas Adam, who has pleaded not guilty to common assault. The first witness was the owner of a parcel of land adjoining Mr. Ad- am’s land. Words were ex- changed between the two men on the morning of June 27, 2017, in the area of their common boundary, where markers were to be placed by a surveyor. The complainant said there had been a meeting with the Registrar of Lands and the issue was ulti- mately resolved in Mr. Ad- am’s favor. He said Mr. Ad- am’s conversation with him on June 27 became hos- tile when he reminded Mr. Adam of what had trans- pired and questioned how could he possibly not re- call it. He indicated that he used the word “senile.” The witness continued, “He approached me and said, ‘Who you calling se- nile?’ He placed his right fist against my cheek with slight pressure.” The man said he felt threatened. He said Mr. Adam’s wife intervened and then Mr. Adam left. He told the court he had made a recording of the in- cident on his phone. Defense attorney Waide DaCosta suggested that the complainant was the ag- gressor and Mr. Adam had raised his fist in self-de- fense. The witness did not agree. The surveyor who was present also gave evidence. He said he was there for a boundary dispute resolu- tion. He thought the people present were on Mr. Ad- am’s property. When Mr. Adam and the other prop- erty owner began arguing, he walked away. He was about 10 feet away when he heard the other owner ask Mr. Adam if he was senile. He heard a scuffle and when he turned around, he saw Mr. Adam rush toward the other man. Then Mrs. Adam ran be- tween the two men and said she’d take care of it and they separated. He said Mr. Adam had his fist up and was very irate; his fist was very close to the other man’s face. Questioned by Mr. DaCosta, he said he did not witness an assault person- ally, but Mr. Adam’s back had been toward him. As far as he could recall, the other property owner had said he had his phone on “record” since he got there, but he didn’t tell anybody. The case for the prose- cution, conducted by Crown counsel Kenneth Ferguson, was scheduled to continue after the lunch adjournment. Mr. Adam was elected to the Legislative Assembly as MLA for George Town and then served as minister for community affairs and housing from 2009-2013. Mike Adam UCCI to unveil new social work program MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com Officials at the University College of the Cayman Islands say they are addressing a need for social workers by in- troducing a three-tiered pro- gram this fall that will allow students to pursue every- thing from a certificate to a bachelor’s degree in the field. An official announcement of the program is scheduled for March 28 at the campus. The program is one of two major goals UCCI Pres- ident Roy Bodden had said he wanted to accomplish be- fore leaving the college later this year. The first was the es- tablishment of the college’s nursing program, which grad- uated its first class last year. Livingston Smith, director of special projects for the col- lege, said the social work pro- gram came out of a survey several years ago. The de- mand for social workers from government agencies and the interest among students sur- prised him and other campus administrators, he said. “Many people in the Cayman Islands are working in a variety of social work areas,” Mr. Smith said, “but they are not necessarily trained. We thought a cer- tificate course would ensure that people who come can get basic training. Then you could go on to an associate degree.” And, with the new pro- gram, a bachelor’s degree is also offered. Demand for social workers has been growing worldwide, Mr. Smith said, in part because of the large number of people displaced by conflict. Such jobs are also increasing in the Cayman Islands, he said. Many of those filling those jobs are coming from overseas. “We felt we should be training our own workers,” he said. He expects there will be between 45 and 50 students in the program, which he said would be tailored to the Cayman culture. The rollout of the pro- gram will be the culmination of a day-long open house for UCCI, featuring informational booths, food and entertain- ment. Part of the social work launch, Mr. Smith said, will be a mini-expo, showing off examples of work being done in such programs. Kersten Svensson, of Swe- den’s Lund University, and Christine Moriconi, of Penn- sylvania’s West Chester Uni- versity, are scheduled to be the featured speakers at the event. Both are profes- sors in social work. The two women will also be teaching a series of master classes on March 29 at UCCI. Mr. Smith said their par- ticipation highlights the col- lege’s current and future ties to larger universities. UCCI already has a cooperative re- lationship with West Chester University and hopes to form one with Lund University, he said. The latter school cur- rently sends some of its so- cial work program stu- dents to the Cayman Islands as part of its educational training. Mr. Smith said he’s hoping a reciprocal program can be established. Many international em- ployers require social workers to have a master’s degree, he said, which makes estab- lishing strong ties to other universities important for stu- dents coming out of UCCI who want to pursue higher degrees. He said launching the new program shows the kind of growth he and others hope will continue at the college. “It demonstrates we are thinking ahead of the game and we are doing so not in a vacuum or parochial manner,” Mr. Smith said, “but in a way that makes sure we are working with other universities.” The open house on March 28 begins at 10 a.m. and runs through the day. The so- cial work program launch is from 6-8 p.m. For more information, call 623-8224. The complainant said there had been a meeting with the Registrar of Lands and the issue was ultimately resolved in Mr. Adam’s favor. Young McField stars in center-ice interview SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com Young Galen McField, a former student at Cayman International School, had the thrill of a lifetime ear- lier this month. The nine- year-old had a star turn in his youth hockey league and was featured in a tele- vised, center-ice interview during the intermission of a Hershey Bears hockey game on March 4 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Hershey Bears play in the American Hockey League and are an affiliate of Na- tional Hockey League fran- chise Washington Capitals. Galen, the son of Sarah Mc- Field and former Canadian Football League player Dr. Daaron McField, riled up the home crowd when asked to name his favorite player. “Sidney Crosby,” said the youngster, referencing the Pittsburgh Penguins star player. The home crowd at Giant Center, an arena that seats a capacity crowd of 10,500 hockey fans, playfully booed Crosby. Galen, who took up hockey a year-and-a-half ago when his family moved away from Cayman, plays center for the Hagerstown Bull- dogs youth team. During his on-air introduction, he told the audience at Giant Center that he had scored two goals and notched an assist in his most recent game. When asked to name his favorite mascot, Galen re- plied with “Coco,” the name of the Hershey Bears’ mascot. When asked his future ambi- tion, he said he wanted to be an NHL player. So how much would Galen like to make a year, the in- terviewer asked. “A thousand dollars.” And which team would he like to play for? “I don’t know what team,” he said. “A team I can get on.” Galen’s mom Sarah said she figure skated and ran track as a youth. His father Daaron was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2000 CFL draft, and he went on to play one season for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and one season for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Dr. McField, the son of local attorney Steve McField, later left the grid- iron to become a surgeon. Nine-year-old Galen McField was the subject of a center-ice televised interview earlier this month. Kersten Svensson, of Sweden’s Lund University, and Christine Moriconi, of Pennsylvania’s West Chester University, are scheduled to be the featured speakers at the event.3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 2018 Get started today. Learn how at cibcfcib.com The CIBC logo and “Banking that fits your life.®” are registered trademarks of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, used by FirstCaribbean International Bank under license. A CIBC FirstCaribbean Internet Banking user account is required to activate the card security features of the CIBC FirstCaribbean Mobile app. My card does that I’m alerted instantly whenever my Visa credit card is used. Forgot Password? Locations I Apply I FAQs I Terms & Conditions Log On REWARDS MONITOR Platinum Rewards Transaction Alert Your card (…XXXX) was charged at AMAZON MKTPLACE, PMTS USA. If you did not perform this transaction, contact us immediately at +1 866 743 2257. Ok Locations I Apply I FAQs I Terms & Conditions PMTS USA. If you did not perform immediately at +1 866 743 2257. I just turn on notifications to my phone using my CIBC FirstCaribbean Mobile app. #mycarddoesthat Three charged in immigration fraud case BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Criminal charges were filed Monday against three people in an ongoing corrup- tion investigation involving the Cayman Islands Immi- gration Department. The charges were filed against two of the suspects more than a year after they were first arrested, in Jan- uary 2017, in connection with the probe. The fate of 10 other people who were arrested over the course of last year in the Anti- Corruption Commission in- vestigation is still unknown. According to a press re- lease from the commis- sion Monday, two of the in- dividuals now charged are public officials. Santo Castro Castillo, 45, of Spotts Newlands has been charged with 11 counts of conspiracy to commit fraud on the government and three counts of conspiracy to commit a breach of trust under the Cayman Islands Anti-Corruption Law (2010). Diane Dey-Rankin, 57, from George Town, was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud on the government and one count of failing to report the solicitation of an advantage, also contrary to the Anti- Corruption Law. Pheadra McDonald, 43, from Spotts Newlands, was charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit fraud on the government and one count of failing to report the solicitation of an advantage, also contrary to the Anti- Corruption Law. Both Ms. Dey-Rankin and Ms. McDonald are employed with the Immigration De- partment. Department offi- cials confirmed Tuesday that both have been placed on re- quired leave, which is suspen- sion with pay. All three suspects were due to appear in Summary Court April 10 and have been released on police bail until that time, commission officials said. The Immigration Depart- ment leadership has not com- mented on the ongoing inves- tigation since January 2017, when it was revealed that three of the arrests made in the Anti-Corruption Commis- sion investigation involved Immigration Department em- ployees. Acting Chief Immi- gration Officer Bruce Smith said at the time that the three arrests demonstrated a “zero tolerance” policy the de- partment has regarding em- ployee misconduct and un- lawful behavior. “These arrests came about as a direct result of the Immi- gration Department following the correct procedures and bringing suspected wrong- doers to the attention of the authorities for proper inves- tigation,” Mr. Smith said in a prepared statement. Sexual predator threat under investigation JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Police have warned a “sexual predator may be at large” after reports that a man attempted to take a 7-year-old girl from her own yard in West Bay, Saturday. Two prior reports of a man behaving in a suspi- cious manner near children were also revealed by in- vestigators Tuesday. “We do not know that these incidents are linked, but the incident on Sat- urday is very serious and we must warn the com- munity that we believe a sexual predator may be at large, mostly likely in West Bay,” said Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne. “Children are the most vulnerable members of so- ciety and deserve every- thing we can do together to keep them safe, and our trained detectives in MASH [Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub] are ensuring all safe- guarding measures are in place for the child involved.” An investigative team has been established fol- lowing Saturday’s report that a man attempted to take the child on Up the Hill Road. According to police, the man took the child from the yard of her home. She strenuously resisted and was able to get away and find an adult. She was not injured. The two previous re- ports of suspicious be- havior did not include any allegations that chil- dren were approached or touched, police said. One of the reports in- volved a man being seen inappropriately touching himself as he watched chil- dren in Dart Park on Feb. 8. The man left the location when he realized he had been spotted by adults, ac- cording to an earlier police press release. The suspect in Sat- urday’s incident is de- scribed as being tall with dark brown skin and long yellow fingernails. “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 any information is asked to call the West Bay Police Station at 949-3999. The Cayman Islands Immigration Department has been hit with a number of staff scandals in recent years. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS DAVID R. LEGGE AND VICKI L. LEGGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DAVID R. LEGGE EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will findtheirownway” The business aphorism – “if you don’t have it, and you need it – you have to buy it” – applies to expertise and specialized knowledge. As such, there is nothing wrong, and much wise, with government hiring con- sultants to bring their wisdom to bear on arcane and complex subjects. The corollary, of course, is that gov- ernment receives “value for money” in the form of useful, accurate and actionable information. Cayman is, after all, a small island country with limited resources – managerial, intellectual and financial. It would be inefficient (and likely impossible) for our public sector to employ full-time, world-class experts to address intermittent issues in discrete fields such as healthcare systems, waste management options or airport design. In the best cases, consultants can offer experi- enced, impartial analysis and recommendations for government action. Having said that, it is difficult to adjudge, in a vacuum, whether the nearly $35 million government spent on outside consultants over the past five years was too much, too little or exactly the right amount. Such an assessment depends on the value of what was received in return – and government’s willingness to act on that information. This week, the Office of the Auditor General released the results of its audit of government consultancy agree- ments. Auditors reviewed a sample of 23 consultant con- tracts from eight Ministries and Portfolios, representing just under half the total $34.9 million government spent on consultants over the fiscal years 2012 to 2017. Auditors report that government does not routinely monitor how much it spends on consultants, nor does it consistently consider the return on investment (the pro- verbial “value for money”) when engaging consultants. They found that while many of the contracts were awarded through a competitive open process, others (which should have been) were not. Auditors learned that government does not have standard terms and conditions for contracts, nor does it regularly evaluate consultants’ performance – both of which, in most large functioning organizations, consti- tute routine standard procedure. And then there is the question of what government officials do with the expertise they have requested, pur- chased and received. In basic terms, the “consultant tree” yields only one type of “fruit” – reports – usually filled with obser- vations and recommendations. It is the managers of an enterprise, in this case government officials, who decide whether or not to act on the reports, how and to what extent. Our government has the unfortunate habit of com- missioning expensive consultants’ studies and, when the report almost invariably contains information they’d prefer not to know or acknowledge, then to adopt one of the following avenues of action: sanitize, rewrite, ignore or bury. (Remember the Miller Shaw Report? The EY Report aka Project Future? The Ritch Report? Various reports on local schools?) Last year, well-known youth advocate Michael Myles tallied nearly a dozen reports on crime and its causes that the government had commissioned since 2001 – with, as police statistics demonstrate, no meaningful implementation. Without a strategy, accountability and follow-through, the continual hiring of top-dollar consultants is the epitome of “throwing money at a problem” and hoping it will go away. Try that long enough, and see which disappears first: the problem … or the money. Consultants’ reports: What did we get for $35 million of advice? WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS “Name the person and I will find the crime” is a state- ment attributed to Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin’s head of the So- viet secret police. There are more than 4,000 federal felo- nies on the books of the U.S. government, not counting all of the felonies created by regulatory agencies and state and local governments. Few Americans or citizens of other countries now go for appreciable periods of time without committing a felony, most often without intent or knowledge. As we see in the case of “special prosecutors,” if they decide to target a person, they will keep at it until they find some alleged crime, whether or not it had anything to do with the original charge. This fundamental danger to lib- erty and civil society of an excessive number of felonies is increasingly understood. So, what would you think of a member of Congress who proposes to put a new regula- tion on the smallest of busi- nesses that does not meet a cost-benefit test, denies basic privacy protections and, be- cause of its vagueness and ambiguity, is likely to cause very high numbers of other- wise law-abiding Americans to be felons? David Burton, a scholar at the Heritage Foundation, who is also both a lawyer and economist, has published a new and important report, “Beneficial Ownership Re- porting Regime Targets Small Businesses and Religious Congregations.” Mr. Burton explains how the “legislation would create a large compliance burden of businesses with 20 or fewer employees (the only non-ex- empt category) and would create as many as one mil- lion inadvertent felons. Re- ligious organizations, chari- ties, and other exempt entities and their employees would be subject to fines and impris- onment unless they file the proper certification of exemp- tion with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.” Some bureaucrats and elected officials argue that the government needs to know who the “beneficial owners” are of even the ti- niest of businesses in order to combat “money-laun- dering,” tax evasion or ter- rorism. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, a “Beneficial owner is a legal term where specific property right in eq- uity belongs to a person even though legal title of the property belongs to an- other person.” Does the federal govern- ment really need to know who legally owns your lawn man’s mower? And should he be thrown in jail because he was unaware of or failed to submit the proper form to the Feds about who really owns his mower? Should the church ladies who run the local non- profit food bank be put in jail for their failure to submit the form to the Feds that would give them the exemption from the beneficial ownership re- quirement? In the real world, it is most unlikely that those described above would actu- ally be prosecuted, but why should they even be put in danger of such prosecution? The “crime of money laun- dering” was only made il- legal in 1986. It is “vague law” – in that it is a crime of in- tent as defined by the pros- ecutor, rather than an objec- tive reality, like murder. Two different people can engage in an identical set of financial transactions, and if one had the intent to commit money laundering, according to the prosecutor, he or she could be charged and the other person ignored. The existing anti-money laundering (AML) legislation, rules, and enforcement are extremely expensive and do not meet even basic cost-ben- efit tests. Mr. Burton notes that “The AML regime costs an estimated $4.8 billion to $8 billion annually. Yet this AML system results in fewer than 700 convictions annu- ally, a substantial proportion of which are simply addi- tional counts against persons charged with other predi- cate crimes. It costs at least $7 million per conviction and potentially many times that.” The proposed beneficial own- ership rules will only add to the costly, counterproductive and oppressive AML regime. People have reasonable rights to financial privacy. They are described in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitu- tion (specifically the Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amend- ments). People have the right to be unmolested and not sur- veilled by government unless there is reasonable evidence that they have committed or conspired to commit a crime. Given how few people are actually convicted of money-laundering, the over- whelming evidence is that 99 percent of the people being forced to submit to these costly and time-consuming proposed regulations will not be guilty of money-laun- dering, terrorism or whatever, and thus should not be ha- rassed by government. Governments now share financial and tax informa- tion with each other, which puts businesses, dissidents and human rights groups in countries with authoritarian governments at great risk. It is cruel and unjust to deny them safe havens for both their person and property. A number of international or- ganizations, like the OECD, are demanding that all gov- ernments share financial and beneficial ownership infor- mation about both their citi- zens and others. In the real world, govern- ment officials and bureau- crats often leak, steal and use information that they have for a great variety of nefarious reasons. Informa- tion sharing by governments is only justified when there is dual criminality for the al- leged crime, and that proper specific judicial protections by both governments are met, including warrants. If auto- matic information sharing demands are not resisted, all are at risk. Richard W. Rahn is chairman of Improbable Success Productions and on the board of the American Council for Capital Formation. © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. More meanness from government RICHARD W. RAHN5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 2018 Changes to liquor law coming JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Government is plan- ning changes to the Li- quor Licensing Law to deal with inconsistencies over who can sell beer, wine and spirits on Sundays. But it is not going to happen during this session of the Legislative Assembly, ac- cording to Commerce Min- ister Joey Hew. Currently, the Liquor Li- censing Board is unable to move on pending appli- cations from a number of stores and gas stations to sell alcohol on Sundays. Peanuts store at Red Bay gas station was finally granted a license in Sep- tember after months of ad- ministrative wrangling, in- cluding an attempt by the previous board to rescind its decision by altering the min- utes to its meeting. It is still not clear if the law was intended to allow for Sunday sales and the board has asked government to clarify before it makes a de- cision on other applications. Mr. Hew agrees that changes to the legislation are needed. He said government was consulting with inter- ested groups and would look to make some changes at the session of the Legislative As- sembly following the one which starts on Wednesday. He said a more compre- hensive review of the law, as well as the Music and Dancing Law that currently prohibits loud music on Sun- days, would follow. Mr. Hew said, “We are still in consultation but there are areas in the law that need clarifying. “At the moment, there are several businesses in a couple of categories that are allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays.” He said businesses were currently able to apply for multiple different categories of license, which carry dif- ferent conditions. The immediate reforms will focus on whether this should continue or if li- cense holders should be re- stricted to one type of li- cense, for example, package licenses for stores and retail licenses for bars. Within that context, he said, government was dis- cussing whether Sunday opening – already allowed for retail license holders – could be extended to package li- cense holders as well, with certain time restrictions. Mr. Hew acknowledged there was currently uncer- tainty over how the law should be applied. “We have to clarify and fix this,” he said. Robert Hamaty, owner of Tortuga Rum, is one of the applicants waiting for ap- proval on an application to open his stores on Sundays. He has long maintained that he does not want to open seven days a week but claims he will be forced to for com- petitive purposes if his rivals are allowed to do so. He said he believed the law had been wrongly ap- plied to grant the license to Peanuts to sell on Sun- days and suggested the whole issue of gas stations selling alcohol should be reconsidered. “In most countries, liquor licenses are categorized ei- ther as ‘on premise’ for bars, hotels and restaurants and ‘off premise’ for liquor stores. Is alcohol available on Sun- days in the Cayman Islands? Yes, but for ‘on premise’ only. “Is there a need for li- quor sales on Sunday for ‘off premise’ establishments? I am of the opinion, no.” Currently, the Liquor Licensing Board is unable to move on pending applications from a number of stores and gas stations to sell alcohol on Sundays. Commerce Minister Joey Hew says amendments to the Liquor Licensing Law are needed. Cuban detainee granted asylum after nearly 2 years KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com A Cuban man detained in George Town’s Immigration Detention Centre for nearly two years has been granted asylum and released to tem- porary government housing in Grand Cayman. He is the second detainee from the center to receive asylum status since the beginning of the year from the Immigra- tion Appeals Tribunal. One other person was granted asylum by the Department of Immigration, according to government. The man from Cuba’s Granma province now has the legal right to reside and work permanently in the Cayman Islands. To gain ref- ugee status in Cayman, ap- plicants must prove they meet criteria set out in the 1951 Refugee Convention and demonstrate “a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, na- tionality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” The applicant success- fully represented himself, without legal counsel, before the Immigration Appeals Tri- bunal. He said he was able to prove a “well-founded fear” through photo and video evi- dence from Cuba. The number of mi- grant detainees in Grand Cayman has dropped in re- cent months to 14 men, down from more than 50 men and women in early 2017. WEBB LOSES APPEAL AGAINST $1M BRIBERY FINE ZURICH (AP) – Former FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb has lost his appeal against a 1 million Swiss franc (US$1.05 million) fine im- posed by the soccer body’s ethics committee. FIFA says its appeals com- mittee ruled the amount “was adequate.” Webb did not ap- peal his life ban from soccer. Webb pleaded guilty in 2015 to racketeering, wire fraud and money laun- dering conspiracies in the U.S. Department of Justice’s sprawling investigation of bribery and corruption linked to international soccer. Webb, a Cayman Islands banker, already agreed to for- feit more than $6.7 million. His sentencing is set for Sept. 7 in Brooklyn federal court. FIFA has claimed $2 million from U.S. author- ities in restitution for Webb’s corruption. He was president of the CONCACAF regional soccer body when he was arrested in Zurich in May 2015.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS services combined during the five years cost more than $9 million. “Most of the spending was by the Department of Tourism on advertising agencies and placement of advertisements to pro- mote the Cayman Islands as a tourist destination,” the audit report noted. Meanwhile, most of the public relations consultant spending was done by the Ministry of Financial Ser- vices and Home Affairs or its predecessors in previous administrations. Business cases As part of its review, the auditor general’s of- fice looked at 23 consul- tant contracts maintained by government between 2012 and 2017. Just six of those agree- ments were found to have business case studies or any justification for the services. “In total, the government spent around $12.2 million on … 17 consultants’ con- tracts that were not justi- fied by a business case,” au- ditors reported. The six business case studies that were provided did “not always adequately justify the need to bring in consultants,” the review further noted. In eight consultant con- tracts, nearly $5 million was spent on agreements that in- volved “sole source bids” – in other words, no other service provider was considered as is generally required with contracts over $250,000. Proper public bidding for consultants can be time- consuming and auditors agreed in some cases that government needed to ob- tain the services quickly or discreetly. An example of the former is where the Solicitor General’s office obtains out- side counsel for expertise in a court case, or the latter where the bids are for law enforcement/national secu- rity purposes. However, there were some areas of concern raised in the audit, such as the Portfolio of Legal Affairs not having a policy in place for procurement. The port- folio, auditors said, spent $1.8 million on three consul- tants over the five-year pe- riod. One consultant alone received $925,000. Meanwhile, a single- source procurement ar- rangement was approved by Cabinet that was a “con- tinuation of previous, long- standing contracts” held by the Ministry of Finance. “The government had continuously contracted with this consultant over a period of three decades,” au- ditors wrote. “The contract did not specify a price and was based on daily rates.” The contract was termi- nated in 2016, auditors said. “We appreciate that there may be times when the gov- ernment needs access con- sultancy services quickly, but this should be the excep- tion, rather than the norm,” auditors said. ‘Weak’ contracts Another issue raised with the consultant contracts in- volved the need for legal re- view of those deals. Auditors found seven of the 23 contracts reviewed were subjected to law- yers’ scrutiny, but it was not clear if the other 16 had been looked at. If no request was made for legal review on the agreements, auditors said it seemed that no such exami- nation was performed. “[This] may lead to weak contracts being signed by government,” the report stated. For instance, audi- tors flagged up one con- sultancy deal done under “single source” bidding pro- cesses, where the final con- tract amount was $120,000 – compared to the original bid cost of $48,000. “The scope of work changed significantly from the original contract,” the audit noted. Two Ministry of Tourism contracts related to adver- tising that remained ac- tive had also been extended for significant periods. One deal, active from 2011 until 2017 was extended on five separate occasions. Some of the bidding pro- cess issues will be sorted out when the government’s Pro- curement Law comes into ef- fect, set to occur on May 1. However, auditors noted that, at the moment, the gov- ernment’s Central Procure- ment Office, has only two staff at present, including the office director and “lacks sufficient resources to sup- port procurement across government.” EXPENDITURE Legal services$8.2 million IT consulting and implementation$6.2 million Advertising and promotion$6.2 million Major capital projects$4.4 million Public relations$2.8 million Other contracts$7.1 million (estimated) Total$34.9 million Seven years later, public bids law takes effect BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Seven years after the au- ditor general’s office flagged up concerns about political interference in the public sector contract bidding process, legislation aimed at improving public bids is due to come into effect. The Procurement Law of 2016 is scheduled to take effect May 1, according to government records. The 2011 audit revealed Cayman was “wasting mil- lions of dollars” each year on the purchase of goods and services. The terri- tory has since rewritten its rules for public procure- ment in a bill that was ap- proved in 2016. The recent audit of con- sultant spending has flagged up a number of areas in government where procure- ment rules around contracts need to be improved. The Procurement Law (2016) sets up an en- tirely new process for public bids for anything from purchasing sup- plies to the construction of public buildings, focusing on a tendering process at the “department level” – meaning a lower-level committee process will first review the proposals. Those committee reviews will then be passed on to a yet-to-be-formed entity called the Public Procure- ment Committee for a sec- ondary review. Although the local po- litical leadership and Cay- man’s deputy governor will have a hand in ap- pointing members of the new Public Procure- ment Committee, the law will place layers between their direct involvement in public bids by having senior civil servants ap- point members of the ini- tial bid committee. The three-person “de- partmental” bid com- mittee will review offers for any project and then pass its recommenda- tions to the procurement committee, which will re- view it and either concur or disagree with the ini- tial decision. A code of conduct for procurement principles states: “There shall be no corruption or collusion with suppliers or other persons involved in a pro- curement project.” In addition, the gov- ernment entity handling the project bids is for- bidden from “splitting” the project to avoid minimum bid amount requirements set under the legislation, unless it can show there is a proper business case for doing so. Gov’t spent $35M on consultants in 5 years CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 committed to treating em- ployees fairly, equitably and with respect.” The bank said it would offer “training opportunities to prepare for future posi- tions; and [give] priority to impacted employees who are qualified for available posi- tions within the bank.” The design of the new Camana Bay branch “lends itself to an enhanced cus- tomer interaction as well as offering several tech- nological innovations,” said Dwight Burrows, Sco- tiabank Cayman’s man- aging director. “It is our goal that this location will become syn- onymous with continuous learning where our clients can discover, connect and partner with our Scotiabank team,” he added. Mr. Burrows said Ca- mana Bay provides “a central location, free and accessible parking, and modern facil- ities in close proximity to necessary amenities” for the bank’s staff and customers. The full transition with the move of all business lines to the new location is expected to be completed by Friday, April 20. Until then, all banking opera- tions will continue as usual, the bank stated. The Scotiabank South branch in Red Bay will re- main fully operational after the opening of the Ca- mana Bay branch. Scotiabank has a 129- year history in the Carib- bean and has been estab- lished in the Cayman Islands for 53 years. not carrying on business at the time their application is submitted. There are also expected to be some private members’ motions from lawmakers. Savannah MLA An- thony Eden has filed a mo- tion seeking mandatory minimum sentences for child molesters of 10 years for any related offense. A similar members’ motion brought by Mr. Eden in 2013 to set a five-year minimum sentence for the crime of indecent assault was ap- proved by lawmakers. George Town Central MLA Kenneth Bryan has proposed two private mem- bers’ motions; one seeking to make the Cayman Is- lands fire chief and chief immigration officer “Cay- manian only” jobs, and an- other to allow Caymanians to increase the amount of pension funds they can spend on the purchase or payoff of their primary res- idence from the current $35,000 to $100,000. A number of other members’ motions have been proposed. The ones to be considered will be heard on Thursday. Trade show A number of govern- ment members, including Premier McLaughlin and Financial Services Min- ister Tara Rivers, are ex- pected to travel to Hong Kong on the weekend for a U.K. government trade show, the “Great Fes- tival of Innovation,” being held March 21-24. The festival is seen lo- cally as an opportunity to showcase Cayman Is- lands businesses, particu- larly in the financial ser- vices industry. The festival is part of the U.K. Department of In- ternational Trade’s effort to promote British busi- nesses and industries, which began in January 2017. Cayman has been in- vited to participate as a British Overseas Territory. According to a depart- ment press release issued last year: “Declaring to global investors that the U.K. is open for business, this campaign showcases the strength of the U.K. as a leading investment and business destination, in the financial services, life science sector and sustain- able energy industry.” The top 10 suppliers of consultancy services by amount paid by the Cayman Islands government. - SOURCE: OFFICE OF AUDITOR GENERAL The Procurement Law of 2016 is scheduled to take effect May 1, according to government records. Brief legislative meeting set for Wednesday CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Scotiabank consolidates branches, goes digital CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Kenneth BryanAnthony EdenThe islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 2018 South Africa marks centenary of Mandela’s birth The Nelson Mandela Foundation is preparing events and other initiatives this year to mark the centenary of the birth of the anti-apartheid leader who became South African’s first black president. Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. He died in 2013 at the age of 95. Trump replaces Tillerson with Pompeo in dramatic shakeup WASHINGTON (AP) – Presi- dent Donald Trump uncer- emoniously dumped Secre- tary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday – by tweet – and picked CIA Director Mike Pompeo to take his place, abruptly ending Tillerson’s turbulent tenure as America’s top diplomat and escalating the administration’s chaotic second-year shake-up. Tillerson was ousted barely four hours after he re- turned from an Africa mis- sion and with no face-to-face conversation with the presi- dent, the latest casualty of an unruly White House that has seen multiple top officials de- part in recent weeks. Citing the Iran nuclear deal and other issues, Trump said he and Tillerson were “not really thinking the same.” “We disagreed on things,” Trump told reporters at the White House – a diplo- matic take on a fractious re- lationship that included re- ports that Tillerson had privately called the presi- dent a “moron.” Appearing in the State De- partment briefing room for likely the last time, Tiller- son’s voice quavered as he described successes of his roughly one-year tenure: an economic pressure campaign on North Korea and a new Afghanistan plan. “I will now return to pri- vate life, private citizen, a proud American, proud of the opportunity I’ve had to serve my country.” He did not mention Trump – other than to say that he’d spoken by phone to the pres- ident Tuesday while Trump was on Air Force One. He said he would dele- gate all authority to Deputy Secretary John Sullivan, who will serve as acting secretary until Pompeo is confirmed. Tillerson will remain sec- retary in name until March 31, when he formally resigns his commission. In an illustration of the gulf that has long sepa- rated Tillerson and Trump, the White House and the State Department vigor- ously disagreed about whether Tillerson had even been informed of his firing in advance. Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein and other State Department officials said Tuesday morning that Tillerson had not learned he was dismissed until he saw Trump’s early morning tweet, and hadn’t discussed it di- rectly with Trump. Goldstein said the former ExxonMobil CEO was “unaware of the reason” he was fired and “had had every intention of staying.” Then Goldstein, hours after making those com- ments, was fired, too. “I’m a big boy,” Goldstein told reporters later. Describing Tillerson’s mood, Goldstein said: “He’s accepting.” Multiple White House of- ficials said that Tillerson had been informed of the deci- sion Friday, while he was in Ethiopia. One official said chief of staff John Kelly had called Tillerson on Friday and again on Saturday to warn him that Trump was about to take imminent action if he did not resign and that a re- placement had already been identified. Tillerson canceled his entire schedule that Sat- urday in Ethiopia, with the State Department telling re- porters he was sick. When Tillerson did not step aside, Trump fired him, that official said. All of the officials de- manded anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. “I think Rex will be much happier now,” Trump said be- fore flying to California. Trump’s change puts Pompeo, an ardent foe of the Iran nuclear deal, in charge of U.S. diplomacy as the president decides whether to withdraw the U.S. from the agreement. Trump faces another deadline in May to decide whether to remain in the Obama-era nu- clear agreement that he cam- paigned aggressively against. Tillerson has pushed Trump to remain in the agreement and had been pur- suing a delicate strategy with European allies and others to try to improve or augment it to Trump’s liking. The presi- dent mentioned differences over how to handle the Iran agreement, “so we were not really thinking the same.” The reshuffle also comes amid a dramatic diplomatic opening with North Korea, with Trump set to hold a his- toric meeting with leader Kim Jong Un in May. Pressuring North Korea with sanctions and other isolation measures had been a top Tillerson pri- ority, and he had been one of the administration’s more vocal advocates for holding talks in some form with the North. When Trump ulti- mately accepted Kim’s invita- tion for a meeting, Tillerson was in Ethiopia, though he said he spoke with Trump at 2:30 a.m., shortly before it was announced. Tillerson’s departure adds to a period of intense turn- over within Trump’s admin- istration that has alarmed those both in and out of the White House. Top eco- nomic adviser Gary Cohn an- nounced his resignation last week, not long after com- munications director Hope Hicks and staff secretary Rob Porter both departed near the start of Trump’s second year in office. Speculation that Til- lerson would be fired grew last fall with the reports of his “moron” insult, which the secretary state never per- sonally denied. The president said he was nominating the CIA’s deputy director, Gina Haspel, to take over for Pompeo at the intel- ligence agency. If confirmed, Haspel would be the CIA’s first female director Pompeo, a former Re- publican congressman from Kansas, has been one of Trump’s most loyal Cabinet members and quickly formed a close bond with the presi- dent, coming personally to the White House most days to deliver the President’s Daily Briefing. Known for his blunt- talking style, Pompeo has al- ready been confirmed by the Senate for his current role at the CIA, making it likely that he will be confirmed for the State Department role. Rex Tillerson8 WORLD&REGIONAL WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS EU PRESSING UK TO SPEED UP BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS BRUSSELS (AP) – The Eu- ropean Union’s chief Brexit negotiator warned Britain Tuesday against under- cutting EU rules and reg- ulations that underpin anything from social pro- tections to food security when it leaves the bloc. Michel Barnier said any attempt by Britain to gain a competitive edge through the use of what is termed “dumping” would jeopar- dize hopes the country has for a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU. Barnier lauded the rules the EU created together with Britain for 44 years to create the “social market economy” that shelters citi- zens and workers from ex- cesses of deregulation. “Does Britain also want to leave that model and go toward regulatory compe- tition – call it dumping – against us,” he asked leg- islators at the European Parliament in Strasbourg France. “I recommend that we keep a close eye on the regulatory divergence, this dumping,” he said, warning that it could become a key obstacle if Britain wants to get a smooth exit from the EU. Key departure condi- tions will need to be ap- proved unanimously by the EU nations and the Euro- pean Parliament. Barnier also urged British Prime Minister The- resa May to speed up the Brexit negotiations and de- fine her vision for the fu- ture relationship between the country and the 27 re- maining member states. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 but is looking to agree a tran- sition agreement for a pe- riod after Brexit in order to smooth out the impact. That frustration was reinforced by EU Com- mission President Jean- Claude Juncker, who also told EU legislators that “there is increasing ur- gency to negotiate this or- derly withdrawal.” Juncker said the EU needs “further clarity” on such issues like a trading relationship and the EU’s only land border with the U.K. on the island of Ireland. Barnier added that British expectations were still far too high and that the country will not be al- lowed to keep those bits of membership it wants while shedding others. Overall, he added, “it is time to face up to the hard facts.” UN official warns of humanitarian ‘catastrophe’ in Venezuela BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – Co- lombia urgently needs inter- national help as it struggles with a humanitarian “ca- tastrophe” along its border caused by a flood of Venezu- elan migrants driven from their homes by hunger, a se- nior U.N. official said Monday. David Beasley, director of the World Food Program, said the harrowing reports he heard from Venezuelan mi- grants makes raising aware- ness of the crisis an ur- gent priority. “This could turn into an absolute disaster in un- precedented proportions for the Western Hemisphere,” Beasley said in an inter- view following a two-day visit to talk with migrants in the Colombian border city of Cucuta. “I asked, ‘Why are you here?’, and the answer people gave me was, ‘We don’t have any food.’ And they said, ‘Even if we had money, there’s no food,’” Bea- sley recounted. “I don’t think people around the world re- alize how bad the situation is and how much worse it could very well be.” As hyperinflation and widespread shortages of food and medicine batter Vene- zuela, rising numbers of its people are joining in an ex- odus that has set off alarms across Latin America. Inde- pendent groups estimate as many as 3 million to 4 mil- lion Venezuelans have aban- doned their homeland in re- cent years, with several hundred thousand departing in 2017 alone. Beasley, who discussed the crisis with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, said the ideal ap- proach would have the United Nations and inter- national agencies attack the problem by working inside Venezuela. But that is not an option for now, because Ven- ezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly re- jected offers of humanitarian aid as a veiled attempt by the U.S. and others to destabi- lize his socialist government amid calls by the opposi- tion to oust him. Instead, Beasley is urging the U.S. and other nations to provide financial assistance to Colombia, where the bulk of the Venezuelan migrants are arriving. He said Co- lombia’s government enjoys the confidence of the global community while Madu- ro’s does not. Since the end of last year, the Rome-based World Food Program has helped feed al- most 2,000 people in Co- lombia, working mainly with Roman Catholic charities. A more robust program is still in the works, but Bea- sley said it’s likely to focus on pregnant women and chil- dren. He said it could in- clude a range of approaches, ranging from cash payments to the delivery of commodi- ties for feeding migrants. The World Food Program feeds 80 million people annu- ally around the globe, about two-thirds of them in conflict zones. It has been present in Colombia for years, focused on feeding those displaced by the country’s half-century guerrilla conflict that is now winding down. It is working with the government to help meet its goal of eradicating malnourishment by 2030. Venezuela’s problems aren’t being driven by armed conflict, but the crisis has the potential to get a lot worse, Beasely said. He noted the food emergency in Syria started off as a trickle but now demands U.N. assis- tance to help feed 6 million people a day in a country with a smaller population than Venezuela. Venezuelan citizens arrive in the La Parada neighborhood of Cucuta, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela. – PHOTO: AP Sanctions, cyberattack among possible UK moves on Russia LONDON (AP) – Britain has given Moscow until mid- night Tuesday to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent came to poison a former spy in Britain. If no explanation is given, Prime Minister The- resa May says Russia will be hit by “extensive” retalia- tory measures. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said U.K. officials are speaking to allies in the European Union and beyond to draw up a “commensurate but robust” response to the attack, which has left Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in critical condition. Britain has faced a sim- ilar crisis before. After former Russian agent Alexander Lit- vinenko was killed in London with radioactive poison in 2006, London expelled sev- eral Russian diplomats, im- posed visa restrictions, broke off intelligence cooperation and froze assets of the two prime suspects. Critics say that response was too weak, and claim Britain was reluctant to act because London’s property market and financial sector are magnets for billions in Russian money. What are Britain’s options now? Expel diplomats Britain is highly likely to expel some Russian dip- lomats, possibly including Ambassador Alexander Yak- ovenko. That would almost certainly result in the tit-for- tat expulsion of British en- voys in Moscow. While that will further fray already strained diplomatic relations, it would have a limited ef- fect on Russia. Hit their pocketbooks London is a magnet for wealthy Russians, and Britain could seek to stop those suspected of involve- ment, or close to President Vladimir Putin, from en- joying their money and prop- erty in the U.K. “Russian oligarchs over the last few months have been moving money and liquid assets back to Russia from various places around the world, but you can’t move fixed assets,” said his- torian Martin McCauley, a former senior lecturer on Russian affairs at the Univer- sity of London. “So therefore if they’ve got property – and they have a lot of property in London and elsewhere – [May] could in fact impose a freeze or even say confiscate those assets.” Britain has recently intro- duced new powers to seize money and property whose origins are suspicious, and is considering adopting a version of the United States’ Magnitsky Act, which allows authorities to ban or seize the assets of individuals guilty of human rights abuses. The EU – of which Britain remains a member until 2019 – has already imposed sanc- tions on Russian banks, busi- nesses and officials over Moscow’s invasion of Crimea. Britain is likely to urge the bloc to toughen those mea- sures. But several leading EU nations, including Ger- many, are wary of antago- nizing Russia. Sports boycott Russia is due to host one of world sport’s biggest events, the World Cup of soccer, in June and July. Johnson has said the U.K. may down- grade its participation by not sending politicians or Prince William, who is president of England’s Football Association. Some are urging a British boycott of the event, at which England is one of 32 teams competing for the trophy. But that is likely a step too far. Military moves Britain could seek to bol- ster NATO forces in the Baltic states, where Western troops have been deployed to counter an increasingly as- sertive Russia. But Britain will probably stop short of invoking NATO’s principle of collective defense, under which an attack on one is considered an attack on all. British Housing Minister Dominic Raab said May chose her words carefully when she called the attack “an unlawful use of force” against the U.K. “The words ‘unlawful use of force’ are different and have a different meaning in international law from ‘armed attack,’” he told the BBC. Cyber strikeback U.K. intelligence offi- cials have warned that Rus- sian hackers are targeting the country’s telecommunica- tions systems, media and en- ergy networks. So far, Britain has concen- trated on strengthening its cyber defenses – but it could take offensive action of its own, possibly targeting Rus- sian websites that generate “fake news.” That would mark an escalation in international cyber-conflict, with unknown consequences. Britain is also under pres- sure to revoke the license of state-owned Russian broad- caster RT, which has been re- peatedly censured by the U.K. broadcast regulator for a lack of impartiality. The regulator, Ofcom, said it would wait until May outlines Britain’s response to Russia on Wednesday and then “consider the im- plications for RT’s broad- cast licenses.” Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves Downing Street to attend parliament in London, Tuesday. – PHOTO: AP9 WORLD&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 14, 2018 REGISTRATION & DETAILS 2nd Floor Reception, Butterfield Place, 12 Albert Panton Street: Wednesday, 14 March from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Observation Tower, Camana Bay: Thursday, 15 March from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Jog Day - Friday, 16 March from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Britannia Green Space: Jog Day - Friday, 16 March from 4:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. The entry fee is just $10 per person! Participants will receive a t-shirt and have the chance to win one of several fabulous spot prizes. Complimentary refreshments and giveaways will also be available. Bring your family and friends for an evening of fun, and help support Cayman’s Acts of Random Kindness. To register visit www.ky.butterfieldgroup.com. Take advantage of online registration* at www.ky.butterfieldgroup.com *Online registration closes at 5 p.m. on Thursday, 15 March 2018. Online registrations are asked to collect their shirts and race numbers BEFORE reaching Britannia to avoid unnecessary delays. Friday 16th March 2018, 5:30 p.m. 26th Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5k Irish Jog 187021_HR-Ad-Qtr-Pg-Compass-IrisPage 1 2/5/18 2:02:22 PM Myanmar says UN findings on human rights lack credibility BANGKOK (AP) – Myanmar’s government on Tuesday re- jected two reports presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council that concluded it committed extreme human rights violations, prob- ably amounting to crimes under international law, in its repression of several mi- nority groups. Government spokesman Zaw Htay said the reports presented Monday by the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar and U.N. Special Rappor- teur on Human Rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee lacked credibility. The report of the Fact- Finding Mission, chaired by former Indonesian Attorney- General Marzuki Darusman, was based on hundreds of accounts by victims and wit- nesses of reported human rights violations, as well as satellite imagery, photo- graphs and video footage. The mission’s mem- bers were barred by Myan- mar’s government from en- tering the country, so its researchers interviewed ref- ugees and others in Bangla- desh, Malaysia and Thailand. Zaw Htay said Myanmar had barred the Fact-Finding Mission because it rejected its legitimacy. He questioned the reliability of its research and cast doubts on the cred- ibility of the refugees’ stories. “We are not denying rights violations but we are asking for strong, fact-based, and trustworthy evidence on the allegations they are making,” Zaw Htay told The Associated Press by telephone. He also said Myanmar would no longer cooperate with Lee because she “has made biased, one-sided and unfair accusations against Myanmar.” Lee told the Human Rights Council that violent sweeps by the Myanmar army in Ra- khine state that prompted about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neigh- boring Bangladesh “bear the hallmarks of genocide.” She said accountability for the abuses in Rakhine should be “the focus of the international community’s efforts to bring long-lasting peace, stability and democra- tization to Myanmar.” “This must be aimed at the individuals who gave the orders and carried out viola- tions against individuals and entire ethnic and religious groups,” she said. “The gov- ernment leadership who did nothing to intervene, stop, or condemn these acts must also be held accountable.” The situations in Kachin and Shan states, which in- volve actual combat between government soldiers and ethnic rebel groups seeking greater autonomy, have re- ceived much less interna- tional attention than the plight of the Rohingya. The Fact-Finding Mis- sion said in an interim re- port presented in Geneva that “patterns of human rights abuse across the country are linked,” with events in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states all “products of a long- standing, systemic pattern of human rights violation and abuse in Myanmar.” “The long-standing con- flicts in Kachin and Shan states have recently intensi- fied, leading to more reports of serious violations of inter- national human rights and humanitarian law committed in these areas by the security forces,” it said. Egypt escalates crackdown on media ahead of election CAIRO (AP) – Egyptian au- thorities have published a list of telephone numbers for citizens to use to bring to the attention of prosecu- tors any media reports they perceive as undermining the country’s security or hurting public interest. The publication of the numbers – listed in a state- ment issued late on Monday by the office of Egypt’s chief prosecutor – is a step up in the government’s crackdown on the media, less than two weeks before the presidential election in which the incum- bent, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, is running virtu- ally unopposed. Last week, chief prosecutor Nabil Sadeq told his staff to monitor the media and move against any they consider to be “hurting national interests.” Monday’s statement, how- ever, has potentially pro- vided millions of Egyptians who support el-Sissi and his government with an official channel to complain against any media content critical of the authorities. The statement listed eight mobile phone numbers for different parts of Egypt, ad- vising citizens to send com- plaints on WhatsApp or as text messages. It instructed citizens to provide their per- sonal details, along with their complaints, and said the move was a follow-up to Sadeq’s statement last week. El-Sissi’s government has already sought to exert heavy control over reporting on the March 26-28 election, issuing guidelines barring journalists from asking people who they would vote for beforehand or from conducting any polling. Authorities have also in- creasingly depicted criticism as a violation of national security at a time when Egypt is trying to revive its economy battered by years of turmoil and contain an insur- gency by Islamic militants. A general-turned-pres- ident, el-Sissi has worked to quiet much of the media, demanding everyone fall in line with his policies to re- store stability. But the threat of prosecution is in contrast to mostly indirect methods used in the past to si- lence dissenters. The state media and most privately owned TV net- works are loyal to el-Sissi and spearheaded by powerful talk show hosts who lavishly praise his policies, cover up failures and demonize critics. Critical TV personalities have been taken off air and dozens of independent and Islamist news sites on the internet have been blocked. With pro-government media sometimes depicting foreign press as promoting a nega- tive image of Egypt, cam- eramen in the streets can sometimes face harassment from crowds or police. Since the crackdown began, a pro-government talk show host was detained for two days for insulting the po- lice on his state TV talk show in which he advocated for higher salaries for policemen. Egypt’s State Information service has called on offi- cials and the country’s “elite” to boycott the BBC after it broadcast a report on the repression of dissent under el-Sissi that addressed tor- ture and forced disappear- ances. It has demanding an apology from the BBC and asked the broadcaster to con- firm that its report contained inaccuracies. Also this month, prosecu- tors ordered the detention of two journalists after their arrest while preparing a re- port on the historic tramway in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. CUBA’S LIKELY NEXT PRESIDENT PLEDGES MORE RESPONSIVE GOV’T SANTA CLARA, Cuba (AP) – The 57-year-old Com- munist Party official ex- pected to assume Raul Castro’s seat as presi- dent of Cuba on April 19 says the country’s next government will be more responsive to its people. Miguel Diaz-Canel told reporters in the cen- tral city of Santa Clara that “the people will participate in the de- cisions that the gov- ernment takes.” He also lamented the downturn in re- lations with the U.S. under President Donald Trump, saying “the re- establishment of rela- tions has been dete- riorating thanks to an administration that has offended Cuba.” Diaz-Canel appeared to be a promising a shift toward a more open gov- erning style rather than any sweeping political reform. In a bit of po- litical theater reflecting that new style, he waited in line to vote with cit- izens ratifying a gov- ernment-selected list of parliamentary candi- dates on Sunday. Rohingya Muslims carry food items across from Bangladesh towards no man’s land where they have set up a refugee camp, as smoke rise from fire across the border in Myanmar in September 2017. – PHOTO: APNext >