ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 High of 87 Low of 73 Smooth to slight with wave heights of less than 2 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 A MUCH-NEEDED UPGRADE FOR PUBLIC BEACH SPORT | PAGE 14 COMPETITION UNDER WAY AT SPECIAL OLYMPICS WORLD GAMES 2ND ANNUAL FISHING TOURNAMENT BK Big Fish is proud to be partnering with the YMCA of the Cayman Islands. For more information and to pre-register online visit fishcayman.com/events REGISTRATION: Opens at 6 pm on Wednesday, March 20th upstairs at the GTYC & Captains Table REGISTRATION COST: $200 per boat which includes 4 anglers. Each additional angler $100 FISHING: 6:00 am – 4:00 pm Friday – Sunday, March 22 - 24 WEIGH IN: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm at the Barcadere Marina & Channel Wharf AWARDS PRESENTATION: 7:00 pm on Monday March 25th upstairs at the GTYC 22 ND – 24 TH MARCH 2019 Hundreds hit the road for Irish Jog It’s not all Guinness and partying for St. Patrick’s weekend in the Cayman Islands. Hundreds of hardy runners, joggers and walkers took part in the 27th annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K Irish Jog on Friday evening at the former Britannia golf course. As usual, the fun run, which this year raised funds for the Alex Panton Foundation, saw its fair share of leprechauns, shamrocks and ‘Kiss Me, I’m Irish’ badges as the participants combined their competitive streaks with a dash of Emerald Isle appreciation. For more, see page 6. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY HAZARD MANAGEMENT STAGES TSUNAMI DRILL SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com What would happen if a gigantic wave was barrelling toward Grand Cayman and there were only two hours to prepare for its ar- rival? Hazard Management Cayman Islands tackled that scenario on Thursday, when it participated in the regional Caribe Wave Tsu- nami Exercise. The safety drill, modeled by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administra- tion, asked government agencies to imagine an 8.47 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Panama. In this hypothetical case, the quake resulted in a tsunami wave between three and nine feet rushing toward Cayman. Hazard Management gathered with several key response partners, including police, Fire Service and Health Services Authority per- sonnel, in addition to emissaries from gov- ernment agencies that included the National Weather Service, the Port Authority and the Department of Tourism. Together, they gamed out what would need to be done in such a short period of time. This particular drill specifically centred EX-BOYS HOME WORKER IN COURT OVER TEEN’S DEATH Defendant extradited from U.S. CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A former supervisor at Bonaventure Boys Home appeared in Summary Court just before noon on Friday after being extradited from the United States. Larry Levers, 46, faced charges of cruelty to a child and manslaughter following the death of a teenage boy on Nov. 29, 2015. Risco Batten, 14, was a resident at the home when he drowned during a group outing. Defense attorney John Furniss told Mag- istrate Valdis Foldats that Levers had arrived back on island either late Thursday night or early Friday morning. For that reason, he explained, he was asking for time to put material together for a proper bail application. Crown counsel Toyin Salako advised the court that Levers left Cayman in September 2016, by which time he was aware of an Cayman Airways adjusting to grounded planes Cayman Airways officials say the grounding of the company’s two Boeing 737 Max 8s has so far caused mostly minor de- lays in its service, although one regular weekly flight has been cancelled. “Our modified flight schedule allows most flights to be operated at, or near, their orig- inally scheduled times, and flight cancella- tions have so far been limited to only one rotation for New York and Miami per week,” said executive vice president Paul Tibbetts in a news release. “As we are not certain about the length of time that our Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft will remain out of service, we are making contin- gency plans and schedule adjustments to ad- dress the next four weeks of operation, and beyond, if necessary.” The airline will contract with other car- riers to supply needed planes on a short- term basis, particularly to continue to serve Denver, if the need arises. The 737-300 has been used for that route in recent days, but it has limitations, Vice President of Flight Op- erations, Captain Dave Scott, said. “On some legs of our Denver flights, the Boeing 737-300 aircraft may require a short en route fuel stop, depending on the passenger loads and atmospheric conditions,” Scott said. “But this is expected to be minimal. “Using the Denver rotation on March 14, 2019 as an example, the winds aloft were fa- vourable, and our Boeing 737-300 aircraft was therefore capable of safe nonstop operations on both flight legs, even though the south- bound leg was full.” Passengers who booked flights with Cayman Airways normally served by the Boeing 737 Max 8 are being contacted indi- vidually by the airline about any changes in flight times. Passengers with upcoming bookings or who have concerns regarding their flight, can call Cayman Airways reservations at 949-2311 or 1-800-G-CAYMAN (toll free in the USA/Canada). PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 »2 LOCAL NEWS MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 • 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. - MONDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) FIVE FEET APART (PG13) 12:55 I 4:40 I 6:30 I 9:50 WONDER PARK (PG) 12:45 I 3:00 3D I 5:15 I 7:30 3D CAPTAIN MARVEL (PG13) 12:30 VIP I 1:10 3D I 3:25 VIP I 4:05 6:30 VIP I 7:00 3D I 9:30 VIP I 9:50 WE DIE YOUNG (R) 2:20 I 7:30 I 10:00 A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL (PG13) 3:45 I 6:45 I 9:20 HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (PG) 1:20 I 3:55 3D I 9:15 3D CORRECTION In a story that ran on March 15 titled, “Cayman Water adds new plant at Abel Castillo Water Works,” the water consumption for Grand Cayman was incorrectly stated. The statistics cited – 3 million gallons a day and 3.5 to 4 million in high season – refer to Cayman Water’s coverage area and not the entire island. Burglars caught on camera The Royal Cayman Is- lands Police Service on Friday released a security camera image of two bur- glars who tried to break into a property in the Fair- banks area of George Town in January. Detectives who were in- vestigating a report of an attempted burglary on Jan. 3 obtained CCTV footage of the two men. An RCIPS spokesperson said police had released the picture in order to seek the pub- lic’s assistance in iden- tifying them. The men, who were de- scribed to the police as two tall slim-built males wearing light-coloured shirts and long pants, had attempted to gain entry to the property but were un- able to do so. Anyone with information on the identity of the men in the footage is encouraged to contact the George Town Police Station at 949-4222 or email at shaun.anderson@rcips.ky. Cuba makes impression on young Cayman musicians MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com They played with Cuba’s national youth orchestra. They busked on the street. They sat in class with other young musicians. And they attended a multi-faceted per- formance of Mozart’s Re- quiem at Havana’s main the- ater for performing arts. The Cayman Arts Fes- tival Elite Strings, a group of young musicians from primary to high school age, enjoyed a wide spectrum of musical experiences during a recent five-day trip to Cuba. They even got in a bit of sightseeing and a brief immersion into the Cuban culture. It was the first such trip the programme has taken. “We did everything we set out to do,” said Frances McConvey, head of music at John Gray High School. And some things they did not expect. “We had to be a bit fluid while we were there,” she said. When a planned visit to the arts conservatory in Matanzas did not pan out be- cause the school was being inspected on that partic- ular day, McConvey decided her students would play anyway. They set up in the city’s Parque de Libertad and played for the public. “That was completely un- expected,” said McConvey. Although they had seen plenty of street performers by that time, “We had no idea whether the police were going to move us on.” Not only were they al- lowed to continue, but they drew the attention of some members of the local or- chestra, which had just fin- ished rehearsals. A few of the musicians came and sat in with the Cayman players. Unlike other buskers, she said, they did not put out a hat for tips. The common language of music bridged the lan- guage barrier throughout the trip, McConvey said. She re- called one particular inter- action between her son, De- quan Smith, a cellist, and a cellist with the Amadeo Conservatoire String En- semble. The two groups per- formed together on pieces such as Bach’s Double Vi- olin Concerto. During a break, McCo- nvey said, “Dequan was sit- ting with his partner. They’d obviously found a common denominator and they were playing together.” She said the ensemble’s director invited Dequan, who has recently garnered some attention as a cellist, to re- turn in June to perform as a soloist with the group. McConvey is also hoping to bring the ensemble’s lead violinist to Cayman in the near future to perform in a Cayman Arts Festival performance. She hopes such coopera- tive ventures will be ongoing. “We’ll definitely go again,” she said of the excursion to the neighbouring island. “We have contacts who we see as friends now. They were impressed with what we can do, so we can do more things together.” The trip, she said, was co- ordinated by Gianeya San- chez, who teaches music in Cayman primary schools. Sanchez is Cuban. “We couldn’t really have done it if we didn’t have her,” McConvey said. In addition to their ex- perience with the string en- semble and performing on the street, the group visited the school where Cuba’s Na- tional Youth Orchestra is based, sitting in on some classes and playing with the group. On their final evening, they attended the Requiem performance at the Gran Teatro de la Habana, which featured a full orchestra, choir, soloists and dancers. McConvey said the per- formance was on par with what one might see at a major venue in Berlin. “It was totally amazing,” she said. “The standard was really high.” The students, she said, were musically inspired, but they also gained important exposure to another culture. John Gray student Kyla David, 13, a cellist, said the trip was a good bonding ex- perience for her and her classmates. And she learned as a musician. “We did a workshop and you learn different tech- niques,” she said. “I’m prac- tising more on tight bow [now]. It’s important for a piece I have to play for my Grade 5 exams.” She said she enjoyed seeing the older buildings and cars that Havana is well known for, and spending time in the markets. “People were offering us [ci- gars] but we said no,” she said. Instead she bought an ankle bracelet. Thian Bodden, 11, of Red Bay Primary, said he plans to spend more time with his vi- olin after seeing how well the Cuban students played. “How advanced they were, it was incredible,” he said. “You could see they practise long and hard every day. It inspired me to practise more so I could get closer to how good they were.” McConvey said she’s happy with the connections that were established on this initial venture, particularly those between the students of both countries. “I think what made an im- pact on them was the kids playing with them,” she said of her students. “I think they realised that music is an in- ternational language.” Do you know these men? Police are asking the public to help them identify these two men who tried to break into a property in Fairbanks in January. - PHOTO: RCIPS John Gray High School music teacher Frances McConvey leads the Cayman Arts Festival Elite Strings during rehearsal. - PHOTO: MARK MUCKENFUSS Members of the Cayman Arts Festival Elite Strings visited Matanzas on a recent trip to Cuba.3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 One Honeywell Lynx touch wireless residential/ commercial security alarm panel with 4.3” full colour touchscreen display Three wireless door/window contacts (white) One Honeywell pet immune motion sensor (up to 40Lbs.) One 4 button remote keychain Full installation and demonstration 12 months parts warranty WIFI module for the mobile Apps. Honeywell Lynx Intruder Alarm Package Includes: The Honeywell intruder system is linked to our 24/7 monitoring centre to keep your family and your property safe. Upon system activation our experienced monitoring station staff will handle the situation. The Total Connect app allows you complete control of your security system from your mobile device. To find out more about this special offer contact the Security Centre on 949-0004 or email info@security.ky *The free alarm system and installation is available to new clients when signing up for a 12 month monitoring contract ($660 residential - $860 commercial). 24/7 Alarm Monitoring Secure and protect your property with the Honeywell Lynx intruder protection system. Controllable from your mobile device. Jury discharged for ‘gun in ganja’ case Judge to set new trial date for three men CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A Grand Court jury chosen on Monday, March 11, was formally discharged on Friday, March 15, after Jus- tice Marlene Carter said she had determined that the trial would not proceed any further. Jurors had begun hearing evidence in the case of three men charged with posses- sion of an unlicensed firearm and 49 rounds of ammu- nition which prosecutors said had been found in- side packages of ganja the defendants were bringing to Grand Cayman in a Ja- maican canoe. Assad Walker, Owen Reid and Fitzroy Ottey all ad- mitted their involvement in the importation of the illegal vegetable matter on the night of March 2, 2018. They denied any knowledge of the firearm or bullets, as well as 101 grams of cocaine they were also charged with. Crown counsel Garcia Kelly opened the prosecu- tion’s case on Wednesday and called as his first witness a police officer who explained how the ganja packages were recovered. After Kelly called his second witness, defence attorneys asked to speak to the judge in the absence of the jury. Discussions continued on Thursday, with attorneys Amelia Fosuhene, Jonathon Hughes and Prathna Bodden raising points to which Kelly responded. In announcing her ruling on Friday morning, Justice Carter thanked the jurors for their service, noting that they had been very patient. The judge said no gag order was being imposed on the media, but she asked that reporters not divulge any de- tails at this time. She set Friday, March 29, for the next mention of the matter, in the hope that a new trial date could be fixed then. The men were remanded in custody, as they have not yet been sentenced for the ganja importation offence. The Courthouse Building in downtown George Town. TWO WOUNDED WITH KNIVES A man and woman suffered knife wounds in an altercation outside a bar on Mary Street in George Town in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police said the incident occurred shortly after 4 a.m. as the man and woman be- came involved in a dis- pute with a group of males as they left the bar. The victims were taken to hospital in private vehicles where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released. Mary Street was closed until about 9:45 a.m. Sat- urday morning as detectives conducted investigations. Gender Affairs Unit bolsters Honouring Women Month Andre Ebanks, deputy chief officer of the Ministry of Community Affairs, presents the Family Resource Centre’s programme facilitator Anne-Marie Diaz with a cheque for $9,000 on behalf of the ministry’s Gender Affairs Unit. The money, the largest donation the FRC has received from a single entity, will be used to help offset the costs incurred by the centre in staging activities to mark the 20th anniversary of Honouring Women Month in the Cayman Islands.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 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 PUBLISHER KATHLEEN CAPETTA EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way” Seven Mile Public Beach has been a victim of its own success in recent years, with vendors, tourists and locals all vying for their place in the sand and sun. As frequent beachgoers well know, the favorite spot has become so popular that the atmosphere can be a bit too chaotic, with purveyors of beach chairs, banana boats and jet skis and other vendors staking out space on the already-crowded stretch. Government and tourism leaders have struggled to find ways to impose standards and order without discouraging or unfairly punishing the entrepreneurs who offer popular services there. Call it a work in progress – one which will get a big boost after the completion of a $3 million improvement project, which kicks off today. As the Compass reported last week, the upgrades will include 16 cottage-style vendor stalls, which will move commercial activity from the busy beach. The project will also include improvements to football and volleyball courts, including comfortable places for fans to cheer teams on. Additional landscaping, green space, walking paths and upgraded parking will further enhance the well-used area. New toilet facilities will be accessible to all, including people with disabilities. As with any improvement of this size and scope, regular visitors should expect to make some adjustments, both during the next few months of construction and over the longer haul. One change that will be immediately noticed by hosts of birthday parties and barbecues is that they’ll no longer be allowed to drive private vehicles directly up to the beach. Instead of pulling up to load and unload party supplies and gear, they’ll have to haul it in from the parking lot. But this minor inconvenience, and any other bumps in the road during the next few months of construc- tion, hopefully will be well worth it once the upgrade is complete. A much-needed upgrade for Public Beach MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS GLEANER EDITORIAL When the irrational makes sense THE GLEANER EDITORIAL BOARD This editorial appeared in the March 11 edition of The [Jamaica] Gleaner When rational people do glaringly irrational things, it’s because, usually, it makes sense to somebody. In that respect, the act is rational. Which is how we expect cynics will inter- pret the apparent inability of a large chunk of Jamai- ca’s legislators to properly complete their annual integ- rity filings. Recently, when no one was noticing, someone slipped into the table of parliament the Integrity Commission’s reports for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, which, for a long time, were log-jammed at the Of- fice of the Prime Minister, where, we suspect, the one for 2017 is still ensconced, unless it, too, has been surreptitiously tabled in the House. Now, these reports were produced by the old com- mission, the one that, until a year ago, when it was sub- sumed into a new, all-en- compassing anti-corrup- tion agency that includes the body that used to po- lice the integrity of public sector employees, as well as the Office of the Contractor General, handled the annual assets and liabilities filings by legislators. This new commission, some of whose members were commissioners in the old agency, should by now have started to prepare its first report for presenta- tion to parliament. It will be of great interest to note how that document com- pares and contrasts with its predecessors’ and what issues of complaints it has against the people on the integrity of finances it has to pronounce. In its 2014 report, the old commission made this observation: “The failure of parliamentarians to prop- erly complete the statu- tory declaration form, and to furnish the required con- firmation of account bal- ances and/or financial state- ments requested, prevented the commission from satis- factorily concluding the ex- amination of the relative statutory declarations in a timely manner.” It was not the first time they’d made this complaint, as the commission made clear by highlighting some of the problems “as mentioned in previous reports”. In their 2015 report, the commissioners echoed, ver- batim, sections of their pre- vious year’s statement about the failure of members of parliament and senators to properly, and fully, complete their filings, adding that “this unsatisfactory practice con- tinues, despite reminders sent to parliamentarians annually that supporting documents are expected along with their statutory declarations”. A year later, in 2016, the commissioners appeared, as seemed to have been the case in the previous two years, to have just cut and pasted this section of their reports, down to repeating several shortcomings, such as the scant regard with which at- tempts to get accurate in- formation were treated, in- cluding, “often”, letters sent to the declared addresses of legislators being re- turned unclaimed. Rarely face consequences Such behaviour persists, whether submitting sloppy declarations, or filing them late, because legislators rarely face consequences for disregarding the law. In the 45 years of its existence, be- fore the creation of the new body, only on a few occa- sions have a handful of leg- islators been brought be- fore the courts for failing to fulfill their obligations under the law. Indeed, the commis- sioners highlighted the case of Ernie Smith, who left par- liament in 2012 but, up to August 2018, when the re- port for 2016 was sent to Prime Minister Andrew Hol- ness, had not filed his re- port for his last period in the House. The case was sent to the director of public prosecu- tions for action but may have become stuck in a file in that office. In the absence of pen- alties, late and sloppy doc- uments can have value to anyone intent on mischief. Their lateness, together with the inadequacy of informa- tion, has the potential of creating a fog in which in- formation is distorted and transparency is hard to achieve. In the circumstance, many things can slip through the cracks. The new commission has an independent pros- ecutor. It can proceed with cases on its own volition and also has the capacity to negotiate fines with errant parliamentarians. Hopefully, it will use these tools. © 2019, The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited. In the 45 years of its existence, before the creation of the new body, only on a few occasions have a handful of legislators been brought before the courts for failing to fulfill their obligations under the law. Close readers will notice a difference in our pages today, as the Cayman Compass reverts to the use of British English in our reporting. In recent years, this newspaper’s “house style” was to use Americanised spellings and grammar. It was a policy change that may have gone unnoticed by many in our cosmopolitan community, but which drew a small number of strong complaints from those who felt a British Overseas Territory news organisation ought to use the Queen’s English. Reverting to British usage brings the Compass in closer alignment with public school teaching and government communications. More important, it will feel more natural to many of our readers. It is a small but important change that signifies our company’s renewed commitment to our community. A note on Compass style5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 SPECIALIZED CARE WITHIN REACH. WITH CLEVELAND CLINIC JUST A SHORT FLIGHT AWAY, YOU’RE CLOSE TO WHAT’S BEST FOR YOUR HEALTH. Why? Because you’re close to the best healthcare providers and state-of-the-art medical technology. You’re close to the best facilities and quality of services. And you’re close to the healthcare you deserve. After all, what’s more important than your health? Every life deserves world-class care. Visiting grandmaster captures students’ interest in chess MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com A group of John Gray High School students crowded into the campus’ small li- brary on Friday, just after lunch, to learn about chess from a master – a grand- master, in fact. Nigel Short, a vice presi- dent of FIDE, the world chess federation, made a short visit to the school to promote the game, give students a quick tutorial and talk about plans for the Cayman Islands to be- come a federation member. Using a marked chess- board, Short set up several scenarios of game situations and invited the students to suggest potential moves. After several quick answers from the group, he encour- aged them to slow down a bit and strategise. “Think before you touch,” he said. “Think before you open your mouth.” “Chess is a difficult game,” he added. “It’s a difficult game for me and I’m a hell of a lot better than you.” Short, 53, became a grand- master at 19. He’s been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world (1988-1989) and even sat down across from Garry Kasparov in 1993 for the world title, which Kasparov won. Short was in Grand Cayman nearly two years ago promoting the game on a goodwill mission. This time, as a recently ap- pointed FIDE vice president, he said his goals were some- what different. “I wanted to expand chess in the English-speaking Ca- ribbean, which had been one of the neglected areas, sort of a last frontier,” Short said. The Cayman Islands was the last of a five-stop tour that took him to Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Kitts and Nevis. The Cayman Islands, led by Cayman Is- lands Chess Federation Pres- ident Shaun Tracey, is in the process of applying for FIDE membership and hopes to be admitted by the end of the year. Tracey said a chess pro- gramme was implemented in the government schools last year and drew interest from 600 students. But the pri- vate funding used to start the programme ran out and the grandmaster player leading it left the island as a result. Now he’s seeking government assistance for the $70,000 it takes to bring chess to the schools. “We had a meeting yes- terday with the governor, the minister of education and the sports minister,” Tracey said. The group was receptive to his pitch for support, he said. John Gray Principal Jon- athan Clark said learning chess is a benefit to students. “As children, we learn through play,” he said. “It teaches them to concentrate for long periods of time.” Short said it goes well beyond that. “Calculation, strategy, con- centration, thinking ahead, taking responsibility for your own actions and the conse- quences – you play a move, you can’t take it back – all of those things are important [in chess],” he said. “And, it’s a lot of fun. That’s why I think it’s a potent learning tool.” He said he hoped his en- thusiasm for the game would rub off on the students. “If you’ve got enough en- thusiasm, then you explore further,” he said. Grandmaster Nigel Short, foreground, left, at a chess tutorial for Chess Club students at John Gray High School on Friday. - PHOTO: MARK MUCKENFUSS6 LOCAL NEWS Check out these photos and others by visiting caymancompass.com/photogalleries or on facebook.com/caycompass (and don’t forget to tag yourself and your friends!) MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 CAYMAN COMPASS S porting oversized felt leprechaun hats, green beards, green beads and at least one green NBA Celtics jersey with a shamrock, hundreds of runners hit the road Friday evening at the former Britannia Golf Course for the 27th annual 5K Irish Jog, a celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and a fundraiser for local charities. This year, the Alex Panton Foundation was the beneficiary of the money raised from the event. Irish Jog winner Dominic Dyer powers his way to the finish line. Leo Schilling was the first junior runner across the line at the Irish Jog. Olivia Shanks gives the thumbs up as she becomes the first female runner across the finish line Friday. Guinness hat? Check. Irish tri-colour flag? Shamrock- covered Ireland T-shirt? Check. Jacob Kelly-Johnson is all ready for the Irish Jog. One of the Irish Jog runners stops for a selfie with sponsor Butterfield Bank’s mascot Vern.Belinda Vincent, Richard McLeod and Vivia McLeod model an array of leprechaun hats. Jose Contreras, Yansi Contreras and Andre Waeber get into the spirit of the Irish Jog. Ronan O’Keeffe’s Irish flag doubles as a cape. Strike a pose: Corrine Evans-Ebanks, Maria Leonce, Maria Blandford and Celia Hydes at the starting point. These runners sprint to the finish line at Friday’s Irish Jog. Runners dash along the pathway on the edge of the Britannia green. – PHOTOS: TANEOS RAMSAY Decked out in green T-shirts, with one requisite Guinness in evidence, these runners and joggers get ready to take on the Britannia course.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 Come take advantage of Puritan Cleaners week day specials on Wednesdays and Thursdays on the selected pre-paid household items: King Comforters and Spreads $21.85 (if laundered) King Comforters and Spreads $24.95 (if dry cleaned) Queen Comforters and Spreads $18.00 (if laundered) Queen Comforters and Spreads $22.85 (if dry cleaned) King Blankets $16.95 Queen Blankets $14.95 Drapery Cleaning : Drapes - Lined $2.19 per pleat Drapes - Unlined $1.74 per pleat Customer on site drapery cleaning can be done by appointments This one month special will commence on Wednesday February 27th thru to Thursday March 28, 2019. Puritan Cleaners - The center for all your laundry and dry cleaning needs including wearing apparels Puritan Cleaners 949-7104 Savannah Countryside 946-1884 Elgin Avenue 949-2452 You feel good when you look good investigation into the inci- dent and had already sup- plied some information about it. Asked by the magistrate if Levers had been on police bail when he left, Salako con- firmed that he was not. She said police were aware of the fact that he was in Jamaica. He subsequently travelled to the U.S. with a different first name but with the last name Levers. Salako noted that there was a co-defendant, who was scheduled to be in Grand Court on Friday, March 22. She asked that this defendant be put to the same date. The magistrate explained that manslaughter can be dealt with only in the Grand Court. Cruelty to a child is a charge that can be heard in either court, so he was sending both charges to the higher court for March 22. He remanded Levers in cus- tody until then, unless there is a bail hearing on an earlier date. on taking steps to ensure the safety of the tourism sector. And it took place on a day in which Cayman’s pro- prietors would have been serving 15,000 cruise ship passengers. “It was quite useful,” said Simon Boxall, the acting deputy director of Hazard Management. “We looked at trying to estab- lish some sort of evacuation plan. We looked at develop- ment maps and identified low-lying areas. We thought about how the message gets out and the way it’s disseminated.” Boxall said the response agencies have been utilising WhatsApp and email mes- saging groups designed to spread the word to safety managers, tour operators and taxi companies. There are still plans to craft an immediate emer- gency alert system that would warn people in Cayman, but Boxall said that is still a long way away from completion. “It’s still our goal,” he said. “It’s still our inten- tion, our hope.” He said Hazard Manage- ment is nearing the capa- bility to use the local radio waves to inform concerned Cayman residents, but it has not cleared the funds neces- sary to implement a system in which it can send emer- gency text messages to every cellphone on the island. Hazard Management has made a budget re- quest for those funds, said Boxall, but they have not yet been approved. “We’re still pushing for it,” he said. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Ex-boys home worker in court over teen’s death Hazard Management stages tsunami drill New US military budget focused on China WASHINGTON (AP) – Chinese bombers. Chinese hypersonic missiles. Chinese cyberat- tacks. Chinese anti-satel- lite weapons. To a remarkable degree, the 2020 Pentagon budget proposal is shaped by na- tional security threats that acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has sum- marised in three words: “China, China, China.” The U.S. is still fighting small wars against Islamic ex- tremists, and Russia remains a serious concern, but Sha- nahan seeks to shift the mil- itary’s main focus to what he considers the more pressing security problem of a rapidly growing Chinese military. This theme, which Sha- nahan outlined Thursday in presenting the adminis- tration’s proposed 2020 de- fence budget to the Senate Armed Services Committee, is competing for attention with narrower, more imme- diate problems, such as Pres- ident Donald Trump’s effort to use the military to build a border wall. The hearing, for example, spent more time on the wall and prospects for using mili- tary funds to build parts of it than on any aspect of foreign policy, including the conflict in Syria or military compe- tition with China, Russia or North Korea. Shanahan is hardly the first defence chief to worry about China. Several prede- cessors pursued what the Obama administration called a “pivot” to the Pacific, with China in mind. But Shanahan sees it as an increasingly ur- gent problem that exceeds traditional measures of mili- tary strength and transcends partisan priorities. “We’ve been ignoring the problem for too long,” Sha- nahan told a senator. “China is aggressively modernizing its military, sys- tematically stealing science and technology, and seeking military advantage through a strategy of military-civil fu- sion,” he wrote in prepared testimony to the committee, which is considering a $718 billion Pentagon budget de- signed in part to counter Chi- na’s momentum. The $25 billion the Pen- tagon is proposing to spend on nuclear weapons in 2020, for example, is meant in part to stay ahead of China’s nu- clear arsenal, which is much smaller than America’s but growing. Shanahan said China is developing a nuclear- capable long-range bomber that, if successful, would en- able China to join the United States and Russia as the only nations with air-, sea- and land-based nuclear weapons. Shanahan ticked off a list of other Chinese advance- ments – hypersonic mis- siles against which the U.S. has limited defences; space launches and other space ef- forts that could enable it to fight wars in space; “system- atically stealing” of U.S. and allied technology, and mili- tarising land features in the South China Sea. Bonnie S. Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the U.S. has been lacking ef- fective strategies for com- peting with China on a broad scale. “It is overdue,” she said of the Shanahan focus. “We have been somewhat slow in catching up” in such areas as denying China its regional ambitions, including efforts to fully control the South China Sea, which is contested by several other countries. Some defence analysts think Shanahan and the Pentagon have inflated the China threat. “I do think it’s worth asking what exactly is threat- ening about China’s behav- iour,” said Christopher Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. He doesn’t discount China as a security issue, including in the South China Sea, but doubts the U.S. military is the institution best suited to deal with such non- military problems as cyber in- trusions into American com- mercial networks. In Preble’s view, compe- tition with the Chinese is not mainly military. “I still don’t believe the nature of the threat is quite as grave as we’re led to believe” by the Pentagon, he said. “They tend to exaggerate the nature of the threat today.” In his previous role as deputy defence secretary, Shanahan and President Trump’s first defence secre- tary, Jim Mattis, crafted a na- tional defence strategy that put China at the top of the list of problems. “As China continues its economic and military as- cendance, asserting power through an all-of-nation long- term strategy, it will continue to pursue a military modern- ization program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hege- mony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global pre- eminence in the future,” that strategy document says. That explains in part why the U.S. is spending billions more on space, including means of defending satel- lites against potential Chi- nese attack, and on building hypersonic missiles to stay ahead of Chinese and Rus- sian hypersonic weapons development. It also explains some of the thinking behind pre- paring for an early retirement of the USS Harry Truman air- craft carrier, a strategy that views carriers as a less rele- vant asset in a future armed conflict involving China. This concern about coun- tering China has permeated the entire U.S. military. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of U.S. Africa Command, said last month that dozens of African heads of state were invited to Beijing last fall to consider billions in Chi- nese loans and grants, and that China is building thou- sands of miles of railroads in Africa, mostly linked to Chinese mineral extraction operations. “China is looking to se- cure access to strategic geographic locations and economic sectors through fi- nancial stakes in ports, air- lines, hotels, and utility pro- viders, while providing a source of capital for strug- gling European economies,” Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan goes before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday to discuss the Department of Defense budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington. – PHOTO: AP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Risco Batten, 14, drowned during an outing from the Bonaventure Boys Home on Nov. 29, 2015.8 LOCAL NEWS Check out these photos and others by visiting caymancompass.com/photogalleries or on facebook.com/caycompass (and don’t forget to tag yourself and your friends!) MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 CAYMAN COMPASS P urple reigned supreme on Sunday morning as purple powder filled the air and dusted purple- clad runners taking part in an annual fun run fundraiser. The Family Resource Centre Honouring Women Month Colour Me Purple 5K run, from Seven Mile Beach, attracted hundreds of runners and raised funds to support empowerment programmes for women and youth in the community. The runners take off from the starting line at Seven Mile Public Beach. - PHOTOS: TANEOS RAMSAY It was all tutu much for some runners. Katie O’Neill, in a purple cape, emerges from a cloud of purple. Even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex got a mouthful of the powder. Deputy Governor Franz Manderson embraces his purple side. One walker ensures he doesn’t inadvertently inhale any purple powder. Purple rain: There was no escaping the powder onslaught. Runners make their way through the purple haze. Runners and walkers make their way up West Bay Road amid a hail of purple powder. The run started at Seven Mile Public Beach, with the turnaround point being the Fidelity roundabout.The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 ‘Difficulties’ beating ISIS in Syria U.S.-backed forces fighting to take back the last Islamic State group outpost in Syria say they are facing difficulties defeating the group. Their effort is being slowed by mines, tunnels and the possibility of harming women and children still in the village. New Zealand mosque shooting toll hits 50 New Zealand citizens open to gun reform after massacre CHRISTCHURCH, New Zea- land (AP) – The New Zealand leader’s promise of tight- ened gun laws in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings has been widely welcomed by a stunned population. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her Cabinet will consider the details of the changes on Monday. She has said options include a ban on private ownership of semi- automatic rifles that were used with devastating effect in Christchurch and a gov- ernment-funded buyback of newly outlawed guns. While curtailing gun owners’ rights is a polit- ical battleground in the United States, Christchurch gun owner Max Roberts, 22, predicted Ardern will not face serious opposition to her agenda. “There will be no opposi- tion to it. There’s no move- ment in New Zealand for that. Our media and politics are more left wing,” said Rob- erts, a carpenter who uses guns for hunting. Elliot Dawson, who sur- vived the shooting at Christ- church’s Linwood mosque by hiding in a bathroom, hopes New Zealand follows Austra- lia’s lead on gun control. In Australia, a virtual ban on private ownership of semi-automatic rifles and a government-funded gun buy- back cut the size of the coun- try’s civilian arsenal by al- most a third. The ban followed a 1996 massacre in which a lone gunman used assault rifles to kill 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996. “Personally, I don’t think guns should be legal at all. Maybe in some extreme self- defence, but I don’t think they need such firearms like that,” Dawson said. “New Zea- land is not America. America is a totally different situation. I think in America it would be probably more dangerous to take people’s guns away. But here, I don’t think we need them at all.” Akshesh Sharma moved to Christchurch from Fiji to study. He was shocked that the shooter was able to get his hands on such military- style weapons. Sharma agrees with the prime minister that gun laws need to be tightened. “I don’t see this as a place where you need guns to live to feel safe,” Sharma said. “I can understand in the U.S. maybe, but here it’s a dif- ferent story.” Roberts, the gun owner, doubted banning certain types of weapons would be effective. But he said New Zealand should only allow its own citizens to buy guns. Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the Australian charged in the Christchurch shootings, ob- tained a New Zealand gun li- cence in November 2017 and started legally amassing an arsenal of five guns within a month. “I think when people harbour hate like, that these things are possible,” Roberts said. “Particularly Australian citizens, I don’t understand how they can get access to firearms in New Zealand when New Zealand citizens can’t get access to firearms in Australia,” he added. Ian Britton uses a rifle for shooting rabbits and target shooting. He favours outlawing assault rifles like those used in Christ- church because they are unnecessary. “I can’t use the words I’d like to use, but it’s dis- gusting. I never thought I’d see that in this country,” Britton said. Ardern noted that at- tempts to reform had failed before under pressure from the gun lobby. “There have been attempts to change our laws in 2005, 2012 and after an inquiry in 2017. Now is the time for change,” she said. New Zealand was repre- sented at a meeting of Aus- tralian police ministers on May 10, 1996, two weeks after the Tasmanian mas- sacre, where it was agreed that semi-automatic long arms would be banned ex- cept for use by licensed pro- fessional shooters. New Zea- land’s unique relationship with Australia, its nearest neighbour, is close to that of a state. New Zealand was the only one of nine jurisdictions at the meeting to reject the deal. Philip Alpers, a Sydney University gun policy ana- lyst, said New Zealand had rejected the most important reform among a raft of gun restrictions that halved Aus- tralia’s gun death rate. If New Zealand “hadn’t been the exception on that day and done what Australia did, this wouldn’t have hap- pened”, Alpers said, referring to the massacre. CHRISTCHURCH, New Zea- land (AP) – Anguished relatives anxiously waited Sunday for authorities to release the re- mains of those who were killed in massacres at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, while police announced the death toll from the racist attacks had risen to 50. Islamic law calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible after death, usually within 24 hours. But two days after the worst terrorist attack in the country’s modern history, relatives remained unsure when they would be able to bury their loved ones. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police were working with pathologists and coroners to release the bodies as soon as they could. “We have to be absolutely clear on the cause of death and confirm their identity before that can happen,” he said. “But we are so aware of the cultural and religious needs. So we are doing that as quickly and as sensitively as possible.” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a small number of bodies would start being released to families Sunday evening, and authorities hoped to release all the bodies by Wednesday. But by the end of Sunday night, it was not clear whether any bodies had been released. Police said they had re- leased a preliminary list of the victims to families, which has helped give closure to some relatives who were waiting for any news. The scale of the tragedy and the task still ahead be- came clear as supporters ar- rived from across the country to help with the burial rit- uals in Christchurch and au- thorities sent in backhoes to dig new graves in a Muslim burial area that was newly fenced off and blocked from view with white netting. The suspect in the shoot- ings, 28-year-old white su- premacist Brenton Harrison Tarrant, appeared in court Saturday amid strict secu- rity, shackled and wearing all-white prison garb, and showed no emotion when the judge read him one murder charge and said more would likely follow. Tarrant had posted a jum- bled 74-page anti-immigrant manifesto online before the attacks and apparently used a helmet-mounted camera to broadcast live video of the slaughter. Ardern said the gunman had sent the manifesto to her office email about nine min- utes before the attacks, al- though she had not gotten the email directly herself. She said her office was one of about 30 recipients and had forwarded the email to parliamentary se- curity within a couple of min- utes of receiving it. Bush said at a news con- ference Sunday that they found another body at Al Noor mosque as they fin- ished removing the vic- tims, bringing the number of people killed there to 42. An- other seven people were killed at Linwood mosque and one more person died later at Christchurch Hospital. Thirty-four injured vic- tims remained at Christ- church Hospital, where offi- cials said 12 were in critical condition. And a 4-year-old girl at a children’s hospital in Auckland was also listed as critical. Dozens of Muslim sup- porters gathered at a centre set up for victims, families and friends across the road from the hospital, where many had flown in from around New Zealand to offer support. About two dozen men received instructions on their duties Sunday morning, which included Muslim burial customs. Abdul Hakim, 56, of Auck- land, was among many who had flown in to help. “As soon as people die we must bury them as soon as possible,” Hakim said. “We are all here to help them in washing the body, putting them in the grave.” Javed Dadabhai, who flew from Auckland after learning about the death of his 35-year-old cousin, Junaid Mortara, said the Muslim community was being patient. “The family understands that it’s a crime scene. It’s going to be a criminal charge against the guy who’s done this, so they need to be pretty thorough,” he said. Still, it was hard, he said, because the grieving process would not really begin until he could bury his cousin. People across New Zea- land were still trying to come to terms with the mas- sacre that Ardern described as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.” A steady stream of mourners arrived at a make- shift memorial outside the Al Noor mosque, where hun- dreds of flowers lay piled amid candles, balloons and notes of grief and love. As a light rain fell, people clutched each other and wept quietly. Under a nearby tree, someone had left a potted plant adorned with cut-out red paper hearts: “We wish we knew your name to write upon your heart. We wish we knew your favourite song, what makes you smile, what makes you cry. We made a heart for you. 50 hearts for 50 lives.” The gunman live-streamed 17 minutes of the rampage at the Al Noor mosque, where he sprayed worshippers with bullets. Facebook, Twitter and Google scrambled to take down the video, which was widely available on so- cial media for hours after the bloodbath. The second attack took place at the Linwood mosque about three miles away. Ardern has said Tarrant was a licensed gun owner who bought the five guns used in the crimes legally. At a news conference Sunday, the prime minister reiterated her promise that there will be changes to the country’s gun laws. She said her Cabinet will discuss the policy details on Monday. Arden used some of her strongest language yet about gun control, saying that laws need to change and “they will change.” Neighbouring Australia has virtually banned semi- automatic rifles from pri- vate ownership since a lone gunman killed 35 people with assault rifles in 1996. Before Friday’s attack, New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern his- tory took place in 1990 in the small town of Aramoana, where a gunman killed 13 people following a dispute with a neighbour. A girl walks to lay flowers on a wall at the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand, after a gunman opened fire in two mosques Friday, leaving dozens dead. – PHOTO: AP Before Friday’s attack, New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern history took place in 1990 in the small town of Aramoana, where a gunman killed 13 people following a dispute with a neighbour.Next >