F RIDAY FEBRU ARY 15, 2019 • CAYMA N COMPASS Kevin Nealon and Alonzo Bodden open up B2 ■ON STAGE KAABOO Cayman! A conversation with two comics CAYMAN WEEKENDER KAABOO Cayman! EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 INFLATION: THE SILENT PICKPOCKET High of 84 Low of 74 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 75 CENTS – FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 $5 EU PUBLISHES ANTI- MONEY LAUNDERING BLACKLIST MICHAEL KLEIN mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com The European Commission released a blacklist of 23 non-EU countries which the Eu- ropean body says have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter- terrorism financing frameworks. The U.K. government had lobbied heavily to keep Saudi Arabia, a prominent source of funds for the City of London and a sig- nificant trading partner, off the list. But the Commission added several new coun- tries, including Saudi Arabia, Panama and Nigeria to the existing blacklist for their lax anti-money laundering and terrorist fi- nancing controls. In addition to the reputational damage, in- clusion on the blacklist makes transactions with EU members states more complicated, because EU banks must employ more strin- gent checks when dealing with entities and customers from listed jurisdictions. The other newly added countries are Libya, Botswana, Ghana, Samoa, the Bahamas and the four United States territories of Amer- ican Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam. Other listed states are Afghani- stan, North Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Paki- stan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen. The European Parliament and the EU Council now have one month, which can be extended to two, to endorse the list. The anti-money laundering list is dif- ferent from the EU blacklist of non-coopera- tive countries in tax matters that the Cayman Islands attempted to avoid by reforming its Companies Law in December. The next meeting of the EU Council’s Code of Conduct Group on Business Taxation that deals with the tax blacklist is set for Feb. 25. Beach bar proposal turned down for East End JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Central Planning Authority has re- jected plans for a beachside bar and restau- rant in East End. Christopher Guckert, a long-time visitor to Grand Cayman, had proposed the Bamboo Beach bar as a concept that would fit with the Ministry of Tourism’s “Go East” initiative. He said he had scouted possible locations and selected the site because it was in a hotel/ tourism zone, and within walking distance of the district’s two large hotels. Mr. Guckert said he was baffled that the application was turned down after complaints that it was not in keeping with the residential nature of the neighborhood. The site is on a stretch of beach popular for kitesurfing. He said he planned to run a low-key island-style bar to fill a niche in the community. Speaking to the Compass after the deci- sion was announced this week, Mr. Guckert said he planned to appeal. “If we can’t do it here, where can we do it?” he asked. “We have been told there is this drive to push visitors out east. The Department of Tourism’s plan for the next five years specif- ically calls for dining options, activities and KAABOO on schedule after rain delays VIP event Heavy rain forced KAABOO officials to postpone a VIP “sneak peek” event scheduled for Thursday evening, but organizers say the festival will go ahead as planned. “KAABOO Cayman will open its gates as planned on Friday at 1 p.m.,” said Jason Felts, chief brand and marketing officer for KAABOO. “We look forward to hosting ev- eryone this weekend.” More than an inch of rain fell at Owen Roberts International Airport between Wednesday night and 1 p.m. Thursday, leaving sizable puddles in some areas of the festival grounds. Mr. Felts said he was not worried that the area would be ready for festival- goers in time. The skies are forecast to clear for the two-day festival. Predictions call for a 10 percent to 20 percent chance of rain Friday, and Saturday’s forecast is for a 20-30 percent chance. Organizers announced late Wednesday that passes for the festival have sold out. Just over 10,000 people are expected on both days of the multi-faceted event. See page 6 for transportation details. Montessori donates to young heart patients Students at Montessori By The Sea after-school club stand beside bags of gifts they collected to donate to sick children visiting Cayman for heart surgery this month. For more on this story, see page 2. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 11 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 11 »2 LOCAL®IONAL FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Gross domestic product grew by 1.8 percent in 2018, and is expected to grow an- other 2 percent this year, ac- cording to recently released statistics from the Caribbean Development Bank. The 1.8 percent growth rate was an increase from the 0.6 percent growth the region experienced in 2017, a year when many islands suffered severe damage from hurri- canes. The estimates are for Caribbean Development Bank member jurisdictions, and do not include major Caribbean economies such as Puerto Rico and Cuba. Grenada led the region, growing by 5.2 percent last year. The Caribbean De- velopment Bank projected the country to grow by 4.5 percent in 2019, which would be its sixth-straight year of growth. Other high-performing ju- risdictions included Guyana, which grew by 3.4 percent, as well as Antigua and Barbuda, which grew by 3.5 percent. Guyana’s growth rate was largely due to increased con- struction activity in advance of the first commercial pro- duction of oil there in 2020, according to the Caribbean Development Bank. Cayman was the fourth- best performing jurisdiction in the region, growing by 3.2 percent. This estimate varies slightly from the Economics and Statistics Office, which estimates that growth in 2018 was likely 3.4 percent. The development bank is pro- jecting Cayman to grow by 2.6 percent this year. The British Virgin Islands and Dominica grew at rates of 2.3 percent and 0.5 per- cent, respectively, in 2018. The growth marked a turnaround from 2017, when they were both hit by Hurricane Irma and experienced economic contractions as a result. However, the Caribbean Development Bank noted that the BVI’s tourism industry still took a hard hit last year, with visitors falling by 50 percent. The BVI economy still grew because of its re- silient financial services in- dustry and reconstruction activity, according to the de- velopment bank. Anguilla, meanwhile, did not recover as well as other hurricane-hit jurisdictions. Its economy continued to shrink last year by 2.4 per- cent after also experiencing negative growth in 2017. The other Caribbean economy to shrink was Bar- bados, where the Carib- bean Development Bank is headquartered. That country contracted by 0.6 percent after growing by 1 percent in 2017. “A fall in construction ac- tivity as well as the impact of the fiscal consolidation led to economic contraction in Bar- bados, despite a modest in- crease in tourist arrivals,” the Caribbean Development Bank explained. 94-PASTA [947.2782] • Marquee Plaza Lunch & Dinner Local Seafood Best Breakfast Deals on Island Caribbean Flair Car lands upside down on North Side Road Traffic to North Side was stopped Wednesday night after single-car accident shut down North Side Road around 9 p.m. The car landed upside down on the road. The driver reportedly exited the vehicle on his own, but was taken to hospital by ambulance. The accident downed power lines, meaning no vehicles could pass until the lines were disconnected. The road reopened at 10:10 p.m. – PHOTO: CAROL WINKER CORRECTION In a story that ran on Feb. 11, titled “Lineup named for mental health symposium,” the date for the Youth Mental Health Symposium was stated incorrectly. The symposium will be held on Feb. 23. Caribbean economic growth increased in 2018 Montessori donates to sick kids JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com Students at Montessori By The Sea after-school club spent this month collecting gifts to donate to sick chil- dren visiting Cayman for heart surgery. “The students at Montes- sori thoroughly enjoyed this project and are looking for- ward to visiting the Chil- dren’s Heart Project patients after surgery in coming weeks,” said upper elemen- tary teacher Megan Hobson. She said the Kids CARE Club students are passionate about helping the commu- nity and those less fortunate. “This ties in with the Montes- sori philosophy of developing children to become more aware of the needs in their communities and the dif- ference they can make,” Ms. Hobson said. The CARE in “Kids CARE” stands for “Community Awareness and Respecting the Environment.” Over the past weeks, stu- dents and their families col- lected hundreds of items, in- cluding toys, books, toiletries, and new and used clothing. Students placed the treats in activity bags to be delivered to Health City Cayman Is- lands hospital. “It was a fantastic re- sponse from the school,” Ms. Hobson said. Students of the CARE Club also ran a collection drive for the Savannah Mission House that hosted families from as far away as Mongolia, Ka- zakhstan and Bolivia, visiting Cayman for heart care. “Beyond the efforts of the children with making the “Care Bags,” I am amazed by the many, many bags and boxes of toys and books and clothing which were collected at your school for the chil- dren who stayed at the Mis- sion House,” said Angela Martins, coordinator at the Mission House. The project was sponsored by the Samaritan’s Purse Children’s Heart Project. This is the second year that students at the school have participated in a pro- gram where donations go to help children undergoing heart surgery. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH BY COUNTRY 20182019 Barbados-0.6%0% Trinidad and Tobago1.9%2% Suriname2%2.3% Belize2.5%2.3% St. Vincent2.8%1.4% The Bahamas2.2%2% Montserrat1.8%1.2% Jamaica1.7%1.5% Haiti1.5%2.3% British Virgin Islands2.3%2.2% St. Lucia0.6%3% St. Kitts and Nevis2.5%3% Cayman Islands3.2%2.6% Guyana3.4%4% Grenada5.2%4.5% Turks and Caicos Islands2.6%3.2% Antigua and Barbuda3.5%3% Dominica0.5%2% Anguilla-2.4%3.9% GENERAL REGISTRY EXTENDS HOURS The General Registry, which includes the Regis- trar of Companies, is ex- tending its operating hours on Thursdays to accommo- date resident companies that need to sign up on its online Cayman Business Portal, to file their annual returns, and pay annual fees. The final day for the ex- tended hours is Thursday, March 28. “We have typically seen increased traffic from our clients due to the fact that annual fees, annual re- turns and beneficial owner- ship information are due in January of each year,” said Deputy Registrar General Donnell Dixon. “Invariably, there have been entities that were not able to attend our offices during regular office hours. Signing up on CBP will pro- vide an effective and ef- ficient tool that will help local companies fulfill their obligations,” he added. The General Registry advised that people should present a government-is- sued photo identification, such as a driver’s license, passport, or voter’s reg- istration card, that cor- responds to the business owner, when registering. The registry’s offices are located on the ground floor of the Government Admin- istration Building. Venezuela prosecutor to investigate Guaido appointments CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Ven- ezuela’s chief prosecutor said Thursday he has launched an investigation into opposi- tion leader Juan Guaido’s ap- pointment of a transitional board of directors for the state oil company. Attorney General Tarek Wil- liam Saab said the appoint- ments by Guaido and his Na- tional Assembly are part of an illegal power grab backed by foreign governments. He also said that ambassadors of Guaido’s self-declared interim government are being investi- gated as part of the probe. “Clearly, this legislative body through criminal means pretends to seize national powers,” Saab said in a news conference broadcast on state TV, calling the move part of a “circus.” Guaido declared last month that he has a constitutional right to presidential power as head of the opposition-con- trolled National Assembly, calling President Nicolas Mad- uro’s election in May a sham. Guaido currently has sup- port from the U.S. and about 60 countries which are urging Maduro to step down. Saab said he’s looking into the board members who were designated on Wednesday to oversee PDVSA and its Houston-based sub- sidiary Citgo. These people, “will of course suffer legal consequences, as will the person who declared himself (president),” he said. Guaido’s representative in Washington, Carlos Vecchio, previously said that the move was taken to prevent Citgo from being “plundered by the dictatorship.” The struggle over appoint- ments – and thereby control of Venezuela – could come to a potentially violent head on Feb. 23, when Guaido says he will try to run caravans of U.S. hu- manitarian aid across the Co- lombian border into Venezuela. The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 ART DECO INSPIRED OCEANFRONT RESIDENCES Disclaimer : FIN Grand Cayman features and amenities are based on current development plans and concepts and are subject to change without notice. Some services and amenities are subject to service-based fees or homeowner fees. + 1 345 326 1400 fin@fingrandcayman.com Glass-bottom cantilevered pool Owners' wine room FIN.cayman fingrandcayman Two to four bedroom residences priced from US $1.8M Choose from one of the two, three, or four bedroom residences or a multi-level penthouse complete with private rooftop garden and infinity plunge pool. The finest in location, design and services combine for an unrivaled residential ownership experience.The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion & Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. 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” Recently released statistics on inflation may have come as no surprise to Cayman Islands residents whose wallets lately have seemed a bit lighter. As the Compass reported this week, the average price of goods and services increased by 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018, compared to the same quarter during the previous year. It was a continuation of a two-year trend, according to the Economics and Statistics Office. The annualized inflation rate, which averaged 4 percent through June of last year, was the highest half-year increase since June 2005. In practical terms, that means that the dollar in your pocket will buy less now than it would in 2017, with the greatest changes noticed in housing and utili- ties (5.5 percent). Consumers, no doubt, have noticed the sharp spike in electricity costs, which rose an average of 23.3 percent throughout the first three quarters of 2018. The Economics and Statistics Office calculates inflation through a Consumer Price Index – a quarterly tally of the cost of 2,227 basic goods and services, from food, housing and healthcare to communica- tion, transportation and education expenses. In this snapshot, food prices increased by 4.2 percent; educa- tion costs rose 3.2 percent; and pharmaceutical and medicinal products by more than 2 percent – taking greater “bites” out of the paychecks of workers who did not see corresponding increases in wages. Inflation is not unlike a current that carries a swimmer out to sea, or, at minimum, makes it more difficult to reach the shore. The current exemplar for extreme inflation is Venezuela, whose economy is imploding under pressure from deeply ingrained cor- ruption, fundamentally erroneous public policies and runaway government spending. Venezuela’s inflation reached a mind-boggling 80,000 percent last year by some estimates, and 90 percent of the population is living in poverty, unable even to afford to purchase a dozen eggs. During the period of “stagflation” in the United States in the 1970s, many investors actually lost money as inflation outpaced stock market gains and annual returns on bonds. Hyperinflation left cash vir- tually worthless in Germany between the first and second World Wars, contributing to the collapse of the so-called Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler. Even on a far less extreme scale, inflation (and its kissing cousin, currency depreciation) can slowly but steadily strangle national economies and household budgets. Inflation tends to hurt the poorest among us, who already are subsisting on razor-thin margins. Infla- tion discourages saving and investing, or leads inves- tors to take greater risks in search of higher returns. Unlike larger nations, which can adopt and adjust monetary policies in attempting to manage inflation, Cayman’s government has few tools at its disposal to keep inflation in check. Our small islands are depen- dent on many external forces beyond our control (including, of course, our currency wisely being tied to the U.S. Dollar, and our local interest rates following the decisions of the U.S. Federal Reserve). Cayman’s government can, however, have a direct impact on the “cost of living” and “cost of doing business” in the country. That means controlling or, ideally, reducing the following: government expendi- tures; duties, taxes and fees levied on individuals and businesses; and “hidden taxes” such as regulations, paperwork and inefficiencies in the public sector. As residents’ purchasing power is diminished by inflationary pressures, officials should remember that every dime taken from the pockets of the private sector leaves that much less for savings, investments or, more simply, the monthly food bill. Inflation: The silent pickpocket FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS Government debt is the true crisis “Mankind is doomed!” Headline writers have been writing that headline since the invention of printing – and someday it will come about. For about four decades, that headline has most often been applied to the threat of global warming. Every couple of years, some notable comes out with a pronouncement that the governments of the world only have 5 or 10 years to make fundamental changes or we are all toast. The dead- lines come and go, without ac- tion, and most people carry on with life as they always have. Last week, a number of Democratic politicians told us we have only 12 years to get rid of airplanes, farting cows and other hazards. Al Gore, of course, endorsed the policy proposals. You might recall that several decades ago, Mr. Gore told us that sea levels would be rising at an increas- ingly rapid rate, putting most low-lying islands and much of the state of Florida under water, and that the Arctic icecap would be gone by 2009. (Note: I am writing this commentary at a few feet above high tide on the shore of Biscayne Bay in Miami, overlooking a yacht club that was built over a cen- tury ago. It is still used every day without members get- ting their feet wet, and the boats continue to float in their slips without washing up on the lawn.) As a factual matter, the seas have been slowly rising each year from the end of the last ice age, and the rate of rise has not increased. As it has always been, most people do not even notice but do build structures a bit higher when replacing them. And the Arctic ice cap is still there. There is a real crisis that is much more likely to ad- versely affect most people’s lives much sooner and with greater consequences and that is the rise in govern- ment debt as a percentage of GDP in many of the major countries. For an individual or pri- vate business that has a debt burden and an interest pay- ment burden growing faster than net income, eventually, there will be a day of reck- oning. This will necessitate a cut of expenditures until their spending – after pay- ment for interest and prin- cipal on their debt – is no greater than income. There is also a day of reckoning for governments that take on too much debt. At some point, interest pay- ments take a higher and higher percentage of govern- ment outlays. In 2015, in- terest payments on the debt amounted to 6 percent of U.S. federal government spending. This year they will be 8.5 percent, and in four years (2023) they are projected to rise to 12 percent. Real cuts in government spending or selling government-owned assets are the only viable so- lutions (increasing taxes or inflating the currency will only bring closer the date of the collapse). As bad as the situation is in the United States, it is much worse in Japan, Italy and France. Those three econ- omies are growing at a much slower rate, and they are all in danger of falling into a re- cession, which will further balloon the deficits. Greece provides us with a good example of what happens when government spending grows faster than income, and debt reaches an unsustainable level. The Greeks use the euro, which enabled them, at least in part, to use the higher credit rating of their fellow Euro- peans (notably the Germans) to paper over their reckless fiscal policies. But eventually, the Ger- mans and other Europeans (and the International Mone- tary Fund) demanded funda- mental fiscal reform before the extension of any more credit. The fiscal reforms in- cluded major reductions in transfer payments for unem- ployment, welfare, medical care and pensions – resulting in a roughly 30-percent cut in real incomes for the av- erage Greek. Other high-debt countries may soon find that they can no longer borrow at low in- terest rates and will again have no choice, like Greece, but to cut spending. Workers may protest and go on strike. But if the cupboard is empty, it is empty. Some countries will try to increase taxes, but in all of those countries, tax rates are already higher than the revenue-maximizing rate – so the additional slowdown in the economy caused by the higher tax rates will only fur- ther decrease real incomes. Countries not in the euro- zone may try to inflate their way out by printing money, which has always ended in failure, as the Roman Em- peror Diocletian first learned almost 2,000 years ago. Ven- ezuela has been the latest country to try this – and the whole world now sees how that worked out. Both political parties in the United States are in de- nial. Some Democrats have proposed trillions of dollars in new spending – for free medical care, education, a guaranteed income, etc., etc. – moving the day of reck- oning closer. The crisis is not the fiscal situation, which can still be fixed. The real crisis is the failure of too many in the global political class and their media enablers to admit to the public that they are spending addicts, and their refusal to go into fiscal rehab. Richard W. Rahn is chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth and Improbable Success Productions. © 2019, The Washington Times, LLC. RICHARD W. RAHN Greece provides us with a good example of what happens when government spending grows faster than income, and debt reaches an unsustainable level. The islands’ most-trusted news source 5 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 Working together to better our communities. A new programme of grants. What could a Dart Grant do for your organisation? We invite registered not-for-profits, based and operating in the Cayman Islands, to apply for one of fifteen new Dart Grants. Awards of financial support will be made for community development projects or programmes in the areas of Education, Youth Development and the Environment. Eligible organisations can apply for one of ten grants valued at up to CI$10,000, four grants valued at up to CI$25,000 and one grant of up to CI$50,000. For more information on this new programme, the selected areas and application process, visit dart.ky/about-us/community or email grants@dartcayman.com dart.ky/about-us/community6 LOCAL NEWS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 CAYMAN COMPASS Getting 10,000 people to KAABOO With 10,000 people making their way to the KAABOO festival this weekend, organizers have put trans- portation arrangements in place, while police have created a series of traffic control measures around the location, including reducing the speed limit on a stretch of the Es- terley Tibbetts Highway to 25 mph. Accompanying this article are maps created by KAABOO to help concertgoers get to the festival by car, bus or on foot. There is VIP and limited pre-paid parking ($25 next to Public Beach), as well as shuttle service from a number of locations. Organizers are recommending that the best way to get to the venue is by using the Seven Mile Beach shuttle bus, which will stop outside Margaritaville, Mitzi’s and the Westin on West Bay Road. The bus costs US$10 round trip, per person, per day, and runs continu- ously during KAABOO hours. There is also a park-and-ride ser- vice to and from the car park south of Camana Bay. It costs US$10 per car to park at Camana Bay. Motor- ists should enter through Nexus Way, then take a shuttle to KAABOO. People can also take a taxi or public bus to the KAABOO Transpor- tation Hub, which is on site and next to a gate that gets them straight into KAABOO. Private cars are not allowed to drop off or pick up at the hub. Police warn that drivers heading to West Bay on Friday and Saturday should expect delays during peak hours. There will be additional sig- nage along the roadways and motor- ists are asked to follow all traffic di- rections given by police officers. Northbound public traffic trav- eling toward West Bay via the Es- terley Tibbetts Highway will be forced to merge into the right north- bound lane once past the Kimpton Seafire hotel. Those road users will need to continue along the Esterley Tibbetts Highway to enter West Bay, as there will be no access to West Bay Road. By Thursday, police had placed traffic cones along the northbound section of the Esterley Tibbetts, be- tween Cost-U-Less and the Yacht Club roundabout, and the lane is due to be closed off around 9 a.m. Friday morning. Cones have also been placed in the center line of the two southbound lanes. The speed limit on the Esterley Tibbetts, from Cost-U-Less to the Yacht Club roundabout, was reduced from 40 mph to 25 mph on Thursday morning. The lower speed limit will remain in force through Sunday morning, police said. There will be a checkpoint in place on West Bay Road at Lime Tree Bay Avenue, and only local traffic, Public Beach visitors and KAABOO vehicles – authorized taxis and shut- tles – will be permitted to travel northbound on West Bay Road past Lime Tree Bay Avenue. Northbound traffic traveling to- ward West Bay on West Bay Road will not be able to travel past Lime Tree Bay Avenue, and will have to turn right and continue north toward West Bay via the Esterley Tibbetts Highway. Police are recommending that northbound traffic traveling to West Bay turn onto the Esterley Tib- betts Highway as early as possible for a smoother traffic flow.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 8 LOCAL NEWS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS Culburth Vernon Bodden affectionately known as ‘Collie’ Departed this life in 1991 Memories still linger. Come all ye that are weary and heavy laden, And I, Jesus will give you rest. The Family of the late Maisie Ebanks wish to extend their deep and heartfelt appreciation to all our relatives, friends, caregivers and church family who supported us through their prayers, phone calls, cards, owers or other expressions of sympathy during our recent bereavement. Our sincere thanks and gratitude to those who contributed by bringing food and drinks; also special thanks to Jasmine (nee Cayman Hospice Care), Total Home Care, Doctors and Nurses on the Medical Ward, A&E and the Ambulatory Unit of the Health Services Authority and Churchill's Funeral Home. The Family of the Late Cynthia Luella Ebanks regrets to announce her passing on Sunday, 10 February, 2019. Condolences can be registered at www.boddenfuneralservices.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page A funeral service will be held 3:00 p.m. Sunday, 17 February, 2019 at George Town Seventh Day Adventist Church. Interment will follow in Prospect Cemetery. . The Family of the Late Dora Irwin regrets to announce her passing on Monday, 14 January, 2019. Condolences can be registered at www.boddenfuneralservices.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page A funeral service will be held 2:00 p.m. Sunday, 24 February, 2019 at Kings Seventh Day Adventist Church. Interment will follow in Prospect Cemetery. It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Dr. Richard Keith Elder on February 10, 2019. Condolences can be registered at www.boddenfuneralservices.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page Rick is survived by his loving wife, Alex Stewart; son Craig and his wife Donna; daughter Kristine and her husband Dan; grandchildren Sandra and Sam; sister Judy and her husband Glen. Predeceased by his first wife Sandra. A celebration of life will be announced at a later date. Human Rights Commission says overcrowded prison must be replaced JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman’s prison system is overcrowded, chronically un- derfunded and in need of ur- gent investment, the islands’ Human Rights Commission wrote in a statement to a U.K. parliamentary committee. The statement indicates there has been little progress since a U.K. inspection team labeled Northward “squalid” and “hardly fit for human habitation” in a 2015 report. The missive from the com- mission praises the “profes- sional and dedicated” lead- ership of successive prisons bosses but warns that the in- frastructure is crumbling. “The overall fabric of the buildings remains in dire condition with urgent invest- ment needed,” the commis- sion wrote in a statement submitted to the U.K. gov- ernment select committee’s ongoing inquiry on the fu- ture of the overseas territo- ries. It goes on to state that the commission believes Cay- man’s leaders need to move with greater urgency to plan and build a new prison. The commission goes so far as to suggest that failure to act could result in a violation of prisoners’ rights under sec- tions of the Cayman Islands Constitution dealing with freedom from torture and fair treatment of prisoners. A 2015 inspection of Cay- man’s prison system, in- cluding the male prison at Northward and the female prison at Fairbanks, by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, resulted in a series of damning findings. The inspection team highlighted “dark, decrepit and dingy” cells infested with cockroaches and other vermin, poor ventilation and an insufficient health center among its greatest concerns. It recommended that many of the facilities be de- molished while the rest un- dergo complete renovation. The inspectors wrote, “New prisoner accommoda- tion should be developed that provides safe and secure ac- commodation commensurate with internationally accepted minimum standards.” The Human Rights Com- mission, in its statement published on the inquiry website this week, high- lights some progress, in- cluding improvements to the Northward Prison kitchen, but suggests a new facility is needed. It updates the U.K. committee on devel- opments, including the es- tablishment of a prisons steering committee which is going through the planning and assessment process for a new prison. But it suggests this process is not moving quickly enough. It states, “If approved, the procurement and con- struction would take several more years, meaning that the project is both uncertain and unlikely to be completed for some considerable time; the Commission is of the view that this is an issue which needs to be addressed with greater urgency.” Despite those concerns, the commission praises prison leaders for the im- provements they have made with limited resources and for their timely responses to the commission’s concerns. It adds, “The Commis- sion fully endorses HMIP’s [Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons] recommendations and urges that immediate steps be taken to remedy the current situation and prevent more severe human rights concerns developing.” The Compass reached out the Governor’s Office and the Ministry of Home Affairs but no one was immediately available for comment. Fire, ambulance, police now have same dispatch system KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands Fire Service dispatch system is now one and the same as the dispatch systems for police and ambulance services. The Fire Service had been on a different dispatch system than that used by police and ambulance services, a situa- tion that posed safety hazards. A 2014 review found that emergency calls to the Cayman Islands Fire Service were being unacceptably de- layed by the department’s systems for handling calls. When a 911 call for fire ser- vice is received by the 911 center, it is passed to the fire service control room at the airport fire station. The call is logged by hand and then the nearest fire station is mobi- lized to answer the call, ac- cording to the report. “This is not only ineffi- cient, but also results in an unacceptable delay in pro- cessing an emergency call,” the report found. “There is also the possibility of inac- curacies being introduced, as information taken from the primary source is indirectly passed to operational crews.” However, that issue is now fixed, and all the systems are integrated, Department of Public Safety Communica- tions Director Julian Lewis confirmed on Wednesday. “The fire system was someone calling the fire sta- tion to get a call for service, as opposed to calling 911,” Mr. Lewis told the Com- pass. “Now, you call 911 for all emergency dispatches, all calls for services: fire, EMS, and law enforcement.” The Cayman Islands Fire Service can now be called on the same emergency dispatch service as police and ambulance. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY A row of cells inside Northward Prison. Cayman’s Human Rights Commission says local leaders need to move with greater urgency to plan and build a new prison.The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2019 Next >