JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Government plans to appeal the chief justice’s decision to legalise same-sex marriage, Premier Alden McLaughlin an- nounced Wednesday. Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, the premier said the attorney general had been instructed to appeal the historic deci- sion and to ask for a stay of implementa- tion of same-sex marriage pending the re- sult of that appeal. He said government believes Chief Justice Anthony Smellie exceeded the scope of his powers when he changed the Marriage Law through his judgment on Friday. He said the chief justice had trespassed on the remit of the Legislative Assembly to write legislation. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Of- fice immediately filed a statement expressing disappointment at the government’s decision and confirming that the governor, who was listed as a defendant in the original lawsuit, would not be involved in the appeal. McLaughlin was speaking after the planned business of the Legislative As- sembly was suspended for the day to allow all elected members to have their say on the issue of same-sex marriage. He said, “The government believes that in his determination to right what he has described as injustice and indignities suffered by the petitioners in the same-sex partnership case, the Honourable Chief Justice may have exceeded the scope of the powers conferred on the court by the Constitution and in doing so, some have argued, assumed the role of this ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2019 High of 86 Low of 72 Moderate with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 TALKING ABOUT TRANSPORTATION SOLUTIONS WORLD | PAGE 12 MAY HOLDS ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ BREXIT TALKS WITH LABOUR Regulated in the Cayman Islands as a licensed insurer by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Generali Worldwide is a trading name of Utmost Worldwide Limited. Registered Head Office address: Utmost Worldwide Limited, Utmost House, Hirzel Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands GY1 4PA. Regulated in Guernsey as a licensed insurer by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission under the Insurance Business (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2002 (as amended). Incorporated in Guernsey under Company Registration No. 27151. Call us to learn more about our Pop Up Markets at 747-2000. A farmer’s market in your office? www.generali-healthcare.com Gov’t to appeal same-sex marriage ruling WATER AUTHORITY TO SPEND $148.6M ON FUTURE PROJECTS KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Water Authority is planning to spend $148.6 million on 24 projects in the Cayman Islands over the next decade. The projects are outlined in the Water Au- thority’s 10-year capital development and maintenance plan, which was obtained via an open records request. Costs for specific pro- jects are included in the 10-year plan, but were redacted from the copy provided to the Cayman Compass. Most of the projects entail maintaining and upgrading the existing water and wastewater infrastructure on Grand Cayman. The Water Authority has about 18,500 connections in the territory, and has a piped-water network that spans the entirety of Grand Cayman east of the Watler’s Road area. The Water Authority’s biggest projected ex- pense is $46.2 million on expanding its treat- ment, pumping, and storage facilities to main- tain current demand and meet future water supply requirements. Projects include making new pumping stations and rehabilitating ex- isting booster pumping stations. The Water Authority also plans to spend $23.5 million on expanding the existing water-supply system into new roads, as well as on additional administrative facilities for staff and customers. The new facilities, including a new solar panel canopy of the parking area of its Red Gate site, will reduce the Water Authority’s dependence From Olympic pool to shark tank JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com When he’s not winning gold medals at the Special Olympics, Alec Brice Cox can be found diving inside a predator tank at the Cayman Islands Turtle Centre in West Bay. Spending hours every day swimming in an enclosed space with sharks may be a terrifying thought for some, but 23-year- old Cox says he’s comfortable with a few friendly nurse sharks and barracudas as his swimming companions during his daily work schedule at the centre. “If we’re talking about a great white [shark], then I’m never going back into a shark tank again,” Cox said. Last month, Cox swam his way to a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle at the Spe- cial Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He also brought home a bronze in the relay and led Cay- man’s swimming team to victory. But when he cannot train or compete in a pool, he says, cleaning the predator tank at the Turtle Centre is the next best thing. “The environment is very nice, and the people are nice there too. When I’m in the water, I feel free,” Cox said. Carrying just a microfibre wash cloth and dressed in bright red swim trunks and rash guard, he drops underwater with After winning gold in the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, swimmer Alec Brice Cox returned to his job at the Cayman Turtle Centre where he cleans the Predator Reef tank. - PHOTO: ALVARO SEREY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » Couple: ‘We’re on the right side of history’ Chantelle Day and Vickie Bodden Bush, the couple at the centre of last week’s successful court battle to legalise same-sex marriage in the Cayman Islands say they are disheartened by government’s decision to appeal. They said they were ready for the appeal and prepared to “see this through all the way”. See page 7 for more. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 »2 LOCAL®IONAL THURSDAY APRIL 4, 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. - THURSDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) DUMBO (PG) 12:30 I 3:10 3D I 4:15 VIP I 6:30 HOTEL MUMBAI (R) 1:10 I 4:20 I 6:55 I 9:10 CAPTAIN MARVEL (PG13) 1:00 VIP I 4:05 I 7:00 VIP I 9:50 VIP I 10:00 CAPTIVE STATE (PG13) 2:00 I 4:40 I 7:20 I 10:00 US (R) 12:40 I 4:00 I 7:00 I 9:50 A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL (PG13) 1:30 I 7:30 I 10:10 Two Cayman funds sue world’s largest jewellery retailer MAN CHARGED WITH BURGLARIES ASKS FOR DRUG COURT Offences occurred at West Bay resort CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A West Bay man ap- peared in Summary Court on Wednesday charged with two burglaries at a resort in the district. James Blair Ebanks, 54, asked to apply to the Drug Rehabilitation Court and Magistrate Grace Donalds remanded him in custody until the next sitting of the drug court, scheduled for Thursday, April 4. Crown counsel Emma Hutchinson said the first charge related to an inci- dent on March 27, when Ebanks was accused of en- tering Cobalt Coast Resort and stealing an assortment of beverages while carrying a machete.. The alleged carrying of the weapon at the time of entering the premises raised the charge to aggra- vated burglary. Ebanks was further charged with burglary of the same premises on March 31. KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Two Cayman-registered in- vestment funds are suing the world’s largest jewellery re- tailer for allegedly concealing material information, which cost the funds tens of millions of dollars in losses. The Cayman funds, Pen- nant Master Fund LP and Pen- nant Windward Master Fund LP, claim to have invested mil- lions of dollars from 2014- 2016 in Signet Jewelers, whose retail brands include Jared, Kay Jewelers, and Zales. Around that time, Signet’s credit loan portfolio grew to roughly US$1.7 billion and was the second-largest asset on the company’s balance sheet, ac- cording to the Cayman funds. Signet’s customer loans helped boost sales, and the company’s stock traded as high as US$150 a share be- fore June 2016. However, “Signet was ac- tually a reckless subprime lender that had systematically built a massive portfolio of high-risk consumer loans,” the Cayman funds state in their lawsuit, which is posted on the financial services site Off- shoreAlert. “As the truth about Signet’s credit portfolio began to be revealed to the market, the price of Signet’s stock fell.” The Cayman funds claim that “Signet’s misrepresenta- tions cost Plaintiffs tens of millions of dollars.” By June 2016, Signet’s stock was trading at less than US$75. The jewellery re- tailer disclosed for the first time on Dec. 1, 2017 that its lending practices had trig- gered an investigation by the New York attorney general, and in January of this year, Signet settled with the New York attorney general and the Consumer Financial Pro- tection Bureau because of its lending practices. “The Bureau’s and the State’s parallel investigations found that [Signet subsidiary Sterling Jewelers, Inc] violated the Consumer Financial Pro- tection Act of 2010 by opening store credit-card accounts without customer consent; en- rolling customers in payment- protection insurance without their consent; and misrepre- senting to consumers the fi- nancing terms associated with the credit-card accounts,” the Consumer Financial Protec- tion Bureau announced on Jan. 16. “The Bureau also found that Sterling violated the Truth in Lending Act by signing customers up for credit-card accounts without having received an oral or written request or application from them.” Signet, which is domiciled in Bermuda, agreed to pay a US$10 million civil penalty to the Bureau and a US$1 mil- lion civil penalty to the State of New York. In its fourth-quarter fi- nancial results released on Tuesday, Signet reported losses on Q4, as well as its latest full fiscal year. According to the Akron Beacon-Journal, Signet is asking its 2,600 employees in Akron, Ohio – where it is headquartered – and others in Texas for voluntary buy- outs in an effort to transform its business. Venezuelan foreign minister visits Mideast BEIRUT (AP) – Venezuela’s foreign minister, meeting with anti-US allies in the Middle East, said Wednesday that opposition leader Juan Guaidó is in breach of the constitution and that the ju- diciary has to “take care” of it. Venezuela’s National Con- stituent Assembly, loyal to President Nicolas Maduro, has stripped Guaidó of his immunity, putting him at risk of arrest for supposedly vio- lating the constitution when he declared himself interim president in January. “He is in breach of most part of the constitution, so the judiciary has to take care of those who violated the Venezuelan law,” Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told reporters in Beirut. The United States and roughly 50 other nations rec- ognise Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim leader, asserting that Maduro’s re-election last year was illegitimate. Arreaza met with Leba- non’s president and foreign minister in Beirut. He is ex- pected to meet with an offi- cial from the Hezbollah mil- itant group before travelling onward to Syria. Maduro’s government has warm relations with Syria and its allies in Lebanon, all of which are opposed to US policies. Russia, a major backer of Syria, and China, which has invested heavily in Venezue- la’s oil industry, back Maduro. Last weekend, a Russian aircraft carrying military of- ficials and equipment arrived in Caracas and is believed to have flown via Syria, ac- cording to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site. Russian officials have scoffed at US demands to withdraw mili- tary personnel, saying their presence in Venezuela is fully legitimate. In December, Russia sent two Tu-160 strategic bombers to Venezuela for several days in a demonstra- tion of support for Maduro, who has rejected demands from the United States and dozens of other countries that he resign. “We have had cooperation, military and technical coop- eration with Russia for al- most 17 years, and it’s just developing as it should,” Ar- reaza said. “The only inter- ference we have had for 20 years, every day of every week of every month of every year, is from the United States.” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, left, shakes hands with his Lebanese counterpart, Gebran Bassil, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday. - PHOTO: LEBANON GOVERNMENT VIA AP Judicial Administration honours female staff The women working at the Cayman’s Judicial Administration department all came together for a photograph in March during Honouring Women Month. In a statement, Court Administrator Suzanne Bothwell and Chief Justice Anthony Smellie thanked the department’s female staff for ‘their stellar work and for commitment for playing their part in providing robust administration of justice to support the Judiciary and the people of the Cayman Islands’. 3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2019 5% low mortgage rate* Get pre-qualified on the spot. Valid photo ID † All you need is a Come in and chat with us or learn more on scotiabank.com ® I put Scotiabank to work and got † Conditions Apply. Acceptable forms of ID include driver’s permit, national ID or passport. ®Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under license. OR up to US$5,000 Money Back What does this mean for you? Mortgage Amount ($) KY$300,000 Money Back (%) 3% Money Back ($) KY$$9,000 FIFA SCANDAL Blazer lawsuit settled in CONCACAF’s favour MICHAEL KLEIN mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com Regional football body CONCACAF has settled a law- suit against the estate of Charles ‘Chuck’ Blazer in which it accused the former secre- tary general of the organisa- tion of having used New York, Delaware and Cayman Islands companies and bank accounts to cheat CONCACAF out of mil- lions of dollars between the early 1990s and 2011. Football’s governing organi- sation for the Caribbean, North American and Central American region, sought repayment of at least US$20 million in the suit filed in April 2017. On March 29, the Eastern District Court in New York en- tered a $20 million judgment in favour of CONCACAF and rec- ognised a settlement agreement between the organisation and Blazer’s insolvent estate, which succeeded Blazer and six com- panies he controlled as a de- fendant in the case. However, the football body is not expected to receive any money from the estate. This settlement agreement details that prior to his death on July 12, 2017, Blazer owed at least $18 million in federal in- come taxes. The administrator of the estate uncovered assets worth about $845,000 but de- termined it is unlikely that any additional assets discovered will be sufficient to satisfy the federal and state tax liens or any other creditors. The CONCACAF suit also named Jack Warner, the organ- isation’s former president, who remains a defendant. In 2013, Blazer pleaded guilty to racketeering con- spiracy, money laundering and other fraud, as well as breaches of fiduciary duty. “Beginning in or about 1993 and continuing through the early 2000s, I and others agreed to accept bribes and kickbacks in conjunction with the broadcast and other rights to the 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003 Gold Cups,” Blazer told the court in his plea hearing at the time. “Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Af- rica as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup,” he said, ac- cording to a court transcript. Some of Blazer’s ill-gotten gains passed through bank ac- counts in the Cayman Islands, according to Blazer’s guilty plea and an investigation by CON- CACAF’s ethics committee re- leased in 2013. The civil suit and the criminal indictment allege that Warner and Blazer used, among others, two Cayman en- tities – Sportvertising (Cayman) and En Passant – to “cover up their schemes”. An internal CONCACAF in- vestigation found that up to 1998 Blazer received at least $11 million in commissions and $3.5 million in fees outside of his employment contracts. After 1998, a CONCACAF Integrity Committee report concluded, Blazer accrued an additional $6 million in commissions. The commissions and fees came from an agreement al- legedly concluded between Blazer and Warner on behalf of Sportvertising and CONCACAF, giving the Cayman company a percentage of all broadcast and sponsorship revenues. In addition, CONCACAF had accused Blazer of having misused CONCACAF assets to pay about $1.5 million in rent for various apartments in New York’s Trump Tower. One of them was reportedly used solely to house Blazer’s cats. He also allegedly used CONCACAF funds to buy an apartment in the Bahamas, a Hummer H2 vehicle and pay off credit card debts related to his per- sonal expenses. Blazer’s guilty plea was kept under seal at the time, as he cooperated with the US Federal Bureau of Investiga- tions to build a racketeering case against other FIFA and CONCACAF officials. In 2015, this culminated in corruption charges against more than 40 FIFA officials worldwide, in- cluding Cayman’s Jeffrey Webb and the UK’s Costas Takkas. While Takkas has already served his prison sentence, Webb has pleaded guilty to his participation in a bribery and kickback scheme but is still awaiting sentencing. CIS students exposed to chlorine vapour SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com Police responded to an incident at Cayman Inter- national School Wednesday morning and took six stu- dents to Cayman Islands Hospital after they had been exposed to chlorine vapours. The students are not be- lieved to have experienced se- rious injuries. The students, who are all in Grade 8 at Cayman Inter- national School, were in the pool changing room at the Camana Bay Sports Complex Wednesday morning when they began to feel ill. The students experienced coughing and nausea, and of- ficers from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service re- sponded to a call shortly after 9:30 a.m. The students were transported to the hos- pital, and a police spokes- person said Wednesday after- noon that they do not appear to have serious injuries. A statement issued by Dart and Cayman Interna- tional School indicated that the students will be kept at the hospital for moni- toring and that their par- ents were staying with them Wednesday. “The fire department gave the all clear for air safety,” said the joint statement. “However, CIS has cancelled swimming classes for the re- mainder of the day as a pre- cautionary measure. “Health and safety of chil- dren and all who use the pool is the first priority for Cayman International School and Dart. The Dart mainte- nance team is doing a full as- sessment of the equipment to investigate the incident.” A spokesperson for the De- partment of Environmental Health told the Cayman Compass Wednesday after- noon that department offi- cials had been apprised of the incident and that they would be sending an officer to the facility to investigate. Chuck BlazerThe 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” We were glad to see Grand Cayman’s thorny transportation problem listed as item No. 1 on the list of issues the Opposition urges the premier to address in his strategic policy statement to the Legislative Assembly. As we’ve often written, our island’s cramped and overburdened road system is more than a source of daily headaches for tourists and residents; left unre- solved, it has the potential to seriously stunt our island’s continued growth. But a monorail? We are not as enthusiastic about that idea, which was floated this week by Opposition Leader Ezzard Miller as one possible long-term, ‘out of the box’ solution. At first blush, such a massive infra- structure project, not unlike Osbourne Bodden’s sug- gestion of a bridge spanning the North Sound, strikes us as a heavy-handed and expensive fix. Most importantly, our leaders must remember that there will be no single magic bullet that will instantly dissolve Cayman’s traffic snarls, which have been slowly worsening for more than a decade. It will take a variety of strategies, and a long-term commitment, to untangle the mess we are in. In our view, government should begin with low- hanging fruit – such as finding ways to optimise our patchwork public transportation system. Many com- muters and some visitors already rely on Cayman’s minibuses to get from ‘point A to B’, but there is tre- mendous untapped capacity. Encouraging ridership, expanding bus routes and increasing hours of operation could have the almost- immediate effect of removing hundreds of cars from drive-time traffic, at very little public cost. Small but significant improvements to our road- sides, paths and sidewalks could encourage ‘active transportation’ such as walking or cycling, removing many more vehicles from our congested roads. Long-term planning could gradually divert traffic from cramped and congested areas such as downtown George Town. Encouraging pockets of high-density development could alleviate pressure on overburdened routes. Road expansions and improvements could be properly thought through and executed so they truly alleviate congestion, rather than creating new bottle- necks and problems ‘down the road’. Most importantly, any efforts to ease Cayman’s traffic gridlock must be part of a comprehensive and forward-looking plan that prioritises high-impact improvements and ensures every effort contributes to the bigger picture. That is the only way out of this mess. Such a plan is being proposed as part of the emerging National Planning Framework, currently under review. The framework’s section on comprehensive trans- portation planning takes a bird’s-eye view of the problem. It includes all the suggestions included in this editorial, and more. It digs deep into granular issues, such as the impacts of cruise pedestrian crossings, and considers solutions over time. It can be accessed at www.plancayman.ky. Carefully considered and capably implemented, such a plan could have far greater impact than a single, high-profile project. So, while is heartening to see prominent community members publicly brain- storming solutions to Grand Cayman’s traffic problems, we encourage them, and our readers, to think more strategically. We need more than a single bold idea to free Cayman from transportation consternation. We need a plan. Talking about transportation solutions THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS NATO’s next war is against global tyranny HAL BRANDS This month marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of NATO, the most suc- cessful alliance in history. NATO’s supporters, however, should not be content to glory in past achievements. They should be thinking about how to adapt Amer- ica’s alliances to a world in which the clash between liberalism and autocracy is worldwide. The idea of globalising US alliances is not new. In 1961, John Kennedy called for a “grand and global alliance” uniting mankind against tyr- anny, poverty, disease, and war. During the George W. Bush years, there were calls to create a ‘global NATO’ or a ‘league of democracies’. These Bush-era proposals went no- where, in part because NATO was still recovering from the wounds inflicted by the Iraq War, and because there was not an obvious threat that would unite the world’s de- mocracies. Today, however, circumstances are different. The world is fragmenting as authoritarian powers, principally China and Russia, work to undermine, revise and perhaps upend the liberal international order built by the US and its allies. Autocratic leaders in Moscow and Beijing under- stand that the dominance of liberal values poses an ex- istential threat to their re- gimes, and that they will be more secure and geopo- litically effective in a world where democracy has been weakened and autocracy is prevalent. As China and Russia seek to expand their geopo- litical power and influence, they are seeking to coerce and corrupt democratic po- litical systems. They are also exporting the tools and examples of high-tech re- pression to fellow dictators around the world. Russia has interfered in elections in Europe, the US and Latin America. China uses influence operations and economic coercion to bend democracies to its will from Oceania to Eastern Europe. Analysts can argue about whether this is a ‘new Cold War’. Yet it is undoubtedly a high-stakes struggle over both the balance of power and the balance of ideas. It demands that the world’s de- mocracies band together to defend their geopolitical in- terests and their political institutions. This should not – and probably will not – look like a formal military alliance en- compassing the world’s de- mocracies, or even America’s existing democratic allies. There are, after all, divisions within the democratic world. Some European countries are increasingly alarmed by China’s growing heft and predatory behaviour, others see Beijing primarily as a source of investment and trade, while still others are trying to strike a balance be- tween these two viewpoints. And trying to formally unite America’s existing alliance structures in Europe and the Asia-Pacific risks simply un- dermining their cohesion. Rather, the key to building a stronger network of democracies is to gradu- ally develop better cooper- ation against common dan- gers. Given that so many democracies are strug- gling to defend themselves against information war- fare, cyberattacks and elec- toral meddling, there is an opportunity for additional intelligence-sharing and ex- change of best-practices in responding to these threats. The Australian govern- ment, for instance, recently unearthed a vast trove of information about how China suborns corruption and influences key political actors. While Australia has presumably shared that in- formation with its ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence partners and closest allies, under- standing how Beijing sub- verts democratic political systems would surely ben- efit fellow democracies across Europe and the Asia- Pacific. Better still, would be greater coordination in responding to authoritarian efforts to subvert demo- cratic processes. Democracies across the world also have growing ex- perience with authoritarian economic coercion and ag- gression short of war; they can work together to build resilience and push back against these tactics. Fi- nally, the more the democ- racies can join forces to sup- port liberalising movements in authoritarian countries, and to pressure democratic governments that are back- sliding into authoritari- anism, the better they can preserve a global climate in which autocracies are iso- lated and marginalised. The goal is to build, over time, a common recognition that the world’s democracies truly are in it together, and to de- velop patterns of coopera- tion to beat back the authori- tarian threat. There has been some pro- gress already. The Quad- rilateral Security Dialogue (or ‘Quad’) initiated in 2007 between the US, Australia, India and Japan is a dem- ocratic, multilateral group that is gradually doing more to preserve what the Trump administration calls the “free and open Indo-Pacific”. The UK and France have joined America, Australia, Japan and other Pacific powers in defending freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. The new trade deal between the EU and Japan trade deal is an effort to unite democracies on both sides of Eurasia against au- thoritarian mercantilism as well as resurgent American protectionism. And as NATO focuses more on nonconven- tional threats such as cy- berattacks and information warfare, there will be oppor- tunities to cooperate with democracies beyond any of- ficial alliance. Of course, these efforts would have greater impact if the world’s foremost de- mocracy did not seem so ambivalent about leading the democratic world. The Trump administration de- serves credit for re-en- ergising the Quad and pushing the NATO allies to take the Chinese threat se- riously. Yet the president deserves blame not simply for questioning the defence commitments that hold US alliances together, but also for denigrating democratic norms and procedures, fawning over powerful au- tocrats, and often treating issues of democracy promo- tion and human rights as mere distractions. Hal Brands is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. © 2019, Bloomberg Opinion. This should not - and probably will not - look like a formal military alliance encompassing the world’s democracies, or even America’s existing democratic allies. 5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2019 STEAKHOUSE A Rare Steakhouse, Very Well Done Thursday, April 4 th 2019 For one special night. All of our valued guests Will receive 10% off Their entire bill. Opening Hours are 5:30-10:30 Nightly Located across from the Strand Shopping Centre, 43 Canal Point Drive Reservation highly recommended For this special night, Please call 945-4755 Celebrating Our 14th Birthday Tap Room puts ‘trash’ on display MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com Someone has thrown garbage on the walls of the Premier Wine and Spirits Tap Room. OK, well, maybe not so much ‘thrown’ as ‘placed’ the garbage. And, truthfully, it’s not mere refuse, but trash that has been turned into art. ‘Trash Talks’, a new ex- hibition of art made from recycled materials, went on display Monday at the Tap Room and will be up through the end of the month. Some of the pieces, such as a portrait of Jimi Hendrix (which is actually on display outside the busi- ness), have been seen in other exhibits on Cayman, but other works are getting exposure for the first time. Kerwin G. Ebanks is one of the lead members of a small collective of local art- ists working with ‘found ma- terials’. This show, he said, was conceived as he was sipping a beer and talking to the Tap Room’s bartender about the work he and his fellow artists were doing. “We said, ‘If we were to put together a show, that would be great,’” he recalled. “We had already semi-estab- lished ourselves as a loose collective.” The group established a Facebook page and Trash Talks Cayman was born. Its members who are involved in the show include Ebanks along with Joseph Betty, Marcia Codner, Kaitlyn El- phinstone, Carlo Lee, Jessica Mittleman, June South-Rob- inson, STOAK’D and Mari- anna Szekely. Sabrina Stecyk, the store’s manager, said this is the Tap Room’s first art exhibit. “I just like doing commu- nity stuff here,” Stecyk said, looking around at the walls, where pieces created out of scraps of plastic, fabric, bottle caps and aluminium cans were hung along the walls. “This is all garbage, but it’s so beautiful.” A few weeks ago, the re- tail space was filled with puppies, as she helped out a local animal shelter looking for homes for the dogs. “I think I’d like to do something community-based every month,” she said. She said the current ex- hibit fits in well with the ob- servance of Earth Day, April 22, and the business park’s environmental awareness. “We’re the first off-the- grid business park,” she said, noting the buildings are powered by solar cells. The Tap Room itself does not use plastic straws, plastic bags or disposable cups. “We’ve taken the plastic-free pledge as well,” she added. In a statement, Tania Knapik, spokeswoman for NCB Group, which owns the complex, said the show dovetails with NCB’s busi- ness philosophy. “We want our commu- nities to be healthy, stable, and sustainable so sup- porting the ‘Trash Talks’ art exhibition was a perfect fit for us,” she said. Ebanks said the group may well participate in fu- ture exhibits. He said he’s in early discussions about mounting a show in an- other retail space. He’s also hoping more artists will pick up some trash and join the group. In a way, he said the art is secondary to raising aware- ness about how plastic and single-use materials impact the environment. “We’re just looking for people to join the conversa- tion,” he said. “We’re trying to make this as much a community conversation as possible.” Sabrina Stecyk, manager of Premier Wine and Spirits, helped coordinate the current art exhibit in the company’s tap room. - PHOTOS: MARK MUCKENFUSS This seagull, part of the ‘Trash Talks’ exhibit at Premier Wine and Spirits, was created from ‘found’ wire and fishing line by Kerwin G. Ebanks. HSA offering summer student internships The Cayman Islands Health Services Authority will hold an informa- tional day on Saturday, April 6, to let students learn more about its up- coming summer intern- ship programme. The HSA is inviting uni- versity and high school students interested in health-related careers to attend the Cayman Islands Hospital Hibiscus Confer- ence Room from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There, they will get the chance to meet medical professionals from various departments within the organisation and find out more about the opportuni- ties the programme offers. “The HSA Summer In- ternship Programme is a decades-long initiative that offers students a chance to work in the health- care field, giving them val- uable hands-on experi- ence before they apply for their first job,” said Chief Human Resources Officer Samantha Bennett. “Being around for so many years, it has in- creased in popularity to the point where we receive over a hundred applicants. In the past, we have tried our best to find a place for everyone but this year we want to improve and em- phasise the quality of the internship experience. This means being more selective about the number of stu- dents we take on.” She said this year’s programme has been re- vamped, meaning “stu- dents can expect a change in the length of the intern- ship period, the applica- tion process and an overall better quality experience than before”. The internship pro- gramme will commence June 1 and end Sept. 15, with each placement var- ying between four and eight weeks. According to the HSA, the application process opens on April 6 and closes on April 30. Applicants are re- quired to complete an on- line application form that can be found at www.hsa.ky, including an essay that ex- plains why they should be selected for the programme. To be eligible for the op- portunity students must currently attend high school or university, be Caymanian and/or have the Right to be Caymanian, and be at least 16 years old. Former HSA intern Luckshi Maheswaran at the hospital’s laboratory. “ We’re just looking for people to join the conversation. We’re trying to make this as much a community conversation as possible.” KERWIN G. EBANKS, artist6 LOCAL NEWS THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS Cayman Airway veterans share company history MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com Norman Bodden remem- bers the days when the runway at Owen Roberts International Airport was lit with kerosene lamps for night landings. Sometimes, he said, a squall of rain would snuff out the flames. Pilots hoping to land, would have to circle the field for 45 minutes or more while the lamps were fired up again. Looking at the progress since those days, said Bodden, a former managing director of Cayman Airways, “bog- gles the mind”. Bodden made his com- ments during a panel discus- sion at the National Museum Tuesday evening to a group of a dozen people. The event was part of an ongoing speaker se- ries at the museum. Joining Bodden on the panel was Capt. Dave Scott, a pilot who spent 39 years with the airlines be- fore retiring in 2017 as vice president of flight operations. The panel discussion co- incided with the current tem- porary exhibit at the museum, which chronicles and cele- brates the 50th anniversary of the airlines. Both men shared their memories of the company’s early years, how it developed from a single plane that flew three flights per week from Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac. Prior to 1968, LACSA, the Costa Rican airline now known as Avianca Costa Rica, operated the Brac service. In- ternational flights at the time were provided by British World Airways, with service to Miami and Jamaica. “Cayman Airways was created out of necessity,” Bodden said. Demand was rising and Caymanians wanted LACSA to provide more flights and more seats on the Brac flights. The airline said it couldn’t help out. Other airlines that were approached also declined to provide service. In the end, Bodden said, the government partnered with LACSA, taking a 60 per- cent stake in the opera- tion. A Cessna T-50 Bobcat, which pilots referred to as the ‘Bamboo Bomber’, was acquired for the service and Cayman Airways was born. “It had to be subsidised,” Bodden said. “Today, we have seven airlines serving us and people say, ‘Why are we spending $20 million to sub- sidize (the airline)?’” The subsidy, he argued, is what maintains service to the Brac and Little Cayman. “Cayman Airways is the only airlines that serves the [Sister] Islands,” he said. The airline, which has a fleet of seven planes and serves several international destinations, is now wholly government owned. Scott joined the airline in 1978. Although he’s Caymanian- born, his parents left the Brac for Jamaica so he and his siblings could attend school there. He took flying lessons immediately after high school and initially got a job with Air Jamaica before a spot opened up at Cayman Airways. In the early years, he said, the Cayman Airways pi- lots were based in Miami. He eventually became a pilot trainer and emphasised at several points in his talk the quality of the airlines’ pilots. “We don’t skimp on training,” Scott said. “Because of that, our pilots are thor- oughly trained.” He recounted a few mo- ments when that training came in handy, once when he lost the tread from a tire on takeoff and had to make an emergency landing in Miami. The other incident took place when Bodden was on his plane. The aircraft lost its No. 2 engine shortly after take off. Attempts get it running again failed, so Scott did a U- turn and landed safely back in Miami. It turned out, he said that the engine had a sheared shaft. Scott said passengers often ask him why Cayman Airways planes don’t stop as quickly as many other air- lines after landing at Owen Roberts, instead using the en- tire runway to slow down. The practice, he said, makes the brakes last longer. “You can go through a lot of money really fast,” Scott said, when it comes to air- plane brakes. “I own part of Cayman Airways. You own part of Cayman Airways. It’s owned by the people of the Cayman Islands. If we’re (constantly) wearing out the brakes, you’re going to bust the company.” A Cayman Airways 50th anniversary exhibit is on display at the National Musuem in George Town. - PHOTO: CAYMAN ISLANDS NATIONAL MUSEUM The panel discussion coincided with the current temporary exhibit at the museum, which chronicles and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the airlines. an air tank on his back and swims to the viewing glass as a large nurse shark glides past inches from his head. Cox seems unaware of the animal as he begins his job of cleaning algae from the glass. Another shark passes and Cox quickly turns his head to check the shark’s movement. For the next three hours, he carries out his chores. Lifeguard manager Erin Miller said the biggest threat to Cox and the other divers who do this work is running out of air. “They always have to check their air supply be- cause at 500 PSI [pounds per square inch], they have to surface and have the tanks changed because we cannot take a tank into Divetech at zero [PSI for refilling].” The sharks and the other fish in the tank are no threat, assures Miller. “We have guys that have been cleaning the tank for over eight years and there have been no incidents,” he said. Miller said safety proce- dures are in place if divers do get into trouble – two groundsmen keep a close check on the divers and can get them out quickly if any- thing goes wrong. “The sharks usually come very close to the divers but just swim past. The sharks … are no threat at all … they just mostly suck,” Miller said. Nurse sharks are bottom- dwellers that are normally found on the ocean’s seabed, where they feed on small fish and crustaceans. The Predator Reef ex- hibit at the Cayman Turtle Centre is a collection of tropical predatory fish spe- cies mostly found in wa- ters around Cayman and the wider Caribbean. There are many trop- ical species in the tank, in- cluding the two male nurse sharks, Buca and Freddy. Buca weighs 230 pounds and is 9 feet long, while Freddy weighs 200 pounds. Also inside the tank are crevalle jacks, horse-eye jacks, Bermuda chubs, tarpons, bar- racuda and turtles. Cox first started swim- ming competitively in 2008 at the age of 12, under the guid- ance of the late Penny Mc- Dowall. McDowall, a former special education teacher, was the founder of the Spe- cial Olympics swimming pro- gram in Cayman. She passed away earlier this year. “When she got me in the pool, she said I was a great swimmer for the Special Olym- pics Stingray team,” Cox said. He said his schooling started at Red Bay Primary before he went on to Light- house School. In 2009, he moved to the Brac’s Layman E. Scott High School where he swam with Brac swim coach Michael Hunt. Cox moved back to Grand Cayman in 2016 and started swimming with the Special Olympics team. “I may be a little slow when I’m on land dealing with people and dealing with life but when I’m in the water, it makes everyone equal and that’s when I’m better than anybody,” Cox said. He said his love of swim- ming and the water came when he was 8 years old and his stepfather Monte Thornton, a dive instructor, took him scuba diving. His proudest moment came in Abu Dhabi when he won gold – his first Special Olympics medal. At first he did not realise he had won, as the scoreboard appeared to show he was in sixth place. But then when he went to collect what he thought was a sixth-place ribbon, “They said I was on top of the lead- erboard. It was an awesome feeling,” Cox said. Being a swimmer also came in handy in Abu Dhabi’s searing heat, Cox said, as he was glad to be able to get into the water to cool down. Cox’s mother Irene Scott said he showed her he loved sports from the time he was a little boy watching sports with his dad Al Cox, who was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. “Alec played basketball for the Special Olympics but just as soon as he got into the water, it washed away all the other sports and he swam like a fish,” Scott said. Capt. Dave Scott, left, shares some of Cayman Airways’ history as panel moderator Shenice McField and former Cayman Airways executive Norman Bodden look on. - PHOTO: MARK MUCKENFUSS From Olympic pool to shark tank Alec Brice Cox dives inside the Predator Reef tank at the Cayman Turtle Centre on Tuesday as one of the exhibit’s two nurse sharks passes in front of him. - PHOTO: ALVARO SEREY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2019 on fossil fuels, the 10-year plan states. Along with improvements to the water system, the Water Authority plans to spend $42.8 million on improving its wastewater infrastructure. Projects in this area include the “urgent installation” of a sewer force main in the fu- ture airport connector road, as well as extensions of the wastewater collection system into “several critical areas”, the report states. There are additional plans to build new water plants and other infrastructure on the Sister Islands. The new infrastructure in- cludes the Water Authority’s long-term plan to connect 80 percent of Cayman Brac res- idents to the water grid by 2030. Currently, only a little more than 14 percent of Sister Islands households have ac- cess to piped water, according to Economics and Statistics Office data. The Water Authority started this project in 2013, and spent more than $4.5 million to make about 180 connections as of mid-2018. The Water Authority plans to spend another $18.5 million over the next decade on this development, which also in- cludes the construction of a new water plant on the Brac Bluff. Overall, the project is projected to cost $35 million. The Water Authority issued a request for tenders in Sept. 2018 to conduct exploratory drilling on the Bluff, in order to obtain geological informa- tion necessary for the design of the extraction and disposal wells for the planned reverse osmosis plant there. How- ever, the Water Authority’s De- cember board meeting min- utes state that the returning bids were “significantly higher” than the authority’s budget. “The Authority is pres- ently considering its options as this work is critical for the design of the abstraction and disposal wells for the fu- ture Reverse Osmosis plant at the Cayman Brac Water Works,” the board meeting minutes state. Most of the remaining ex- penditures will be on vehicle and equipment renewals to make sure the Water Author- ity’s staff has the tools they need to do their jobs, the 10- year report states. The Water Authority noted that it is still under govern- ment’s mandated loan mora- torium, which prevents it from taking bank loans to raise funds. The authority will have to fund the above-mentioned projects from its reserves. “It is therefore important for the Board to ensure the Authority has sufficient re- serve balances to meet the challenges of rapid develop- ment, aging infrastructure, daily operating costs and legal obligations,” the author- ity’s December board meeting minutes state. Legislative Assembly in deciding on what should be public policy and then legislating for it.” He acknowledged that the Constitution contained a “mandatory require- ment” that existing laws should be read “with such modifications or adapta- tions” as required to make them conform with the Bill of Rights. He added,“But we be- lieve that introducing the entirely new concept of same-sex marriage into the existing Marriage Law goes way beyond any reasonable interpretation of modifica- tion or adaptation. “This, we believe, might be inconsistent with the separation of powers by trespassing on the consti- tutional remit of this Leg- islative Assembly.” He said he had received multiple calls from con- stituents both in support of and against the concept of same-sex marriage. He added that, regardless of their views, many had ex- pressed “shock and disbe- lief that the court could have made such a fun- damental public policy change in a matter as im- portant as the institu- tion of marriage without reference to this Legisla- tive Assembly”. Recapping the talks that took place before the in- troduction of the Consti- tution, McLaughlin said many in the community, in- cluding religious leaders, had been concerned about the Bill of Rights and, in particular, the section that prohibits discrimination on a number of grounds, in- cluding sexual orientation. He said section 14 (1) of the Constitution, which indicates that government should respect the right of men and women to marry a person of the opposite sex, was included in the docu- ment to assure those in the Christian community that the Bill of Rights would not lead to the introduction of same-sex marriage. Without those assur- ances, he said, he was con- vinced the Constitution would not have passed by referendum in 2009. McLaughlin said the government was also con- cerned that the court’s de- cision could now mean it was required to recognise other types of marriages, including polygamous relationships. He questioned whether government would “now be bound to give effect to or recognise such mar- riages if an application for a marriage licence is made for a man to marry mul- tiple wives”. He said this would be one of three grounds of appeal, along with ques- tions over whether the chief justice had correctly interpreted his powers to modify or amend legisla- tion and whether the sec- tion on marriage within the Constitution amounted to a ban on same- sex marriage. McLaughlin suggested government’s chief con- cern, however, is around the separation of powers between the courts and the elected government. “If left unchallenged, the im- plications for the Cayman Islands Constitution are significant and potentially far-reaching and go well beyond the rights of same- sex couples,” he said. “While a challenge to the ruling is certainly not a decision to be taken lightly given the important human rights concerns raised in the case, the ruling of the chief justice has brought about significant ambi- guity surrounding the Constitution and Bill of Rights and the interpreta- tion of and ability of the court to amend other laws should similar applica- tions be made.” He said the government had no intention of causing harm or hurt to the couple who brought the lawsuit but added, “We must en- sure that in seeking what they deem protections and rights under the law, that a door is not opened that may impinge on other pro- tections and rights.” He said he had “no doubt” that the majority of Caymanians supported marriage retaining its “tra- ditional and religious defi- nition and meaning”. He added, “I recognise that many of the younger generation of Cayman- ians have differing views on this issue and it is quite likely that in years to come, the majority view of Caymanians may change. But such a majority is not evident to any of us here today.” East End legislator Arden McLean filed a pri- vate members’ motion on the decision that was still being debated in the Leg- islative Assembly at press time Wednesday. McLean’s motion, which was seconded by Anthony Eden, calls for the house to register its support for government to appeal the chief justice’s decision and express its disappointment in the chief justice and the governor. The motion also asks legislators to affirm that the Legislative As- sembly is the only entity with the power to enact legislation. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, the premier said the attorney general had been instructed to appeal the historic decision and to ask for a stay of implementation of same-sex marriage pending the result of that appeal. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ‘We’re on the right side of history’ Couple disappointed by appeal decision JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The couple who fought and won a court battle to le- galise same sex marriage in the Cayman Islands say they are disheartened by govern- ment’s decision to appeal. Chantelle Day, speaking on behalf of herself and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush, told the Cayman Compass, they were disappointed but ready for the appeal. “We have always been prepared to see this through all the way,” she said. The couple on Tuesday filed their official public no- tice of intent to marry, re- quired by law for all couples. Day said the announce- ment of government’s in- tention to ask for a delay in implementation of the amendments to the Marriage Law until after the appeal had not changed their plans. “As far as we are con- cerned, we have received our judgment and same-sex marriage is now legal in the Cayman Islands and we are proceeding on our own tra- jectory,” she said. Day said the couple had been met with overwhelming support since the judgment, as well as some “hateful rhet- oric” from some sections of the community. “A number of people have said we should go back where we came from,” she said. “I am from here. Other gay Cayman- ians are from here. Where do they propose we go?” She said they had been prepared for such responses and were ready for the next stage of the court battle. “We took a lot of time to decide whether we were going to pursue this and we proceeded because we be- lieve we are on the right side of history and on the right side of the law. “We want the opportu- nity to live in peace and raise a family with the same legal protections as other mar- ried couples.” Day, who was born and raised in Cayman, represented the islands at the Common- wealth Games and now works as a financial services lawyer, said it was disheartening that no politician had been willing to publicly support equal rights for gay couples. “It is not acceptable to only take a public stand on the views of the loudest; that’s not what leadership is. Cayman wants to hold it- self up as a jurisdiction that is democratic and is one of the top financial centres in the world but doesn’t want to adhere to international standards on basic matters of human rights.” She said she is confi- dent that the government’s planned appeal will be unsuccessful. “For anyone who believes it is acceptable to discrimi- nate against same-sex cou- ples on the basis of their sexual orientation, they are entitled to their views but not entitled to request that such discrimination con- tinue in the fabric of our so- ciety,” she said. “I don’t think we are in a position to change their views, but we are entitled to protection under the Con- stitution whether they like it or not.” “ We want the opportunity to live in peace and raise a family with the same legal protections as other married couples.” CHANTELLE DAY Chantelle Day, left, and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush with their legal team outside court in February this year. - PHOTO: JAMES WHITTAKER Water Authority to spend $148.6 million on future projects Government to appeal same-sex marriage rulingThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 Community CALENDAR ■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR is published TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. It is available to charitable or non-profit organisations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Road or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS THURSDAY, APRIL 4 BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: Fundraiser. Head and neck massages at Fitness Connection. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Register at info@ breastcancerfoundation.ky. STREET MEETING: All Nations United Pentecostal Church presents a Street Meeting at the Coe Wood Beach Bodden Town 7-9:30 p.m. All are invited. FRIDAY, APRIL 5 SPRING FLING: St. Ignatius School Fair, 3-6:30 p.m. on the school grounds. Food, fun, games, entertainment and prizes for all ages. Prize draw tickets, $5. All are invited. Proceeds support Multi-Purpose Hall fund. SATURDAY, APRIL 6 FREE HEALTH SCREENING: To observe World Health Day, the Public Health Department will offer free health screenings at the East End United Church Hall, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For further information, call the Public Health Department, 244-2632. SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: Dart Park Amphitheatre, South Church Street. First show starts at 10:30 a.m. Last show starts at 1:15 p.m. This is a free and unticketed event. Simply show up and don’t forget a fan and water bottle. Organised by Cayman Drama Society. BOOK SALE: The Red Cross Thrift Shop holds a book sale at Foster’s at the Strand, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hardback books are $2, paperbacks, $1. Children’s books, 50 cents. ORCHID SHOW: Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Educational talks, food, music. Admission, $5. Children under 12 are free. Orchids on sale originate from the US, Hawaii and Jamaica. There will also be educational talks, music and food on offer throughout the day; proceeds from this year’s event will go towards continued development of the orchid conservation area. TUESDAY, APRIL 9 BULLYING: The Ministry of Community Affairs and the Alex Panton Foundation host a presentation on bullying at John Gray Memorial Church in West Bay. 6:30-8 p.m. All are invited. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10 DEPT. OF VEHICLE & DRIVERS LICENSING: The Department will be closed Wednesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 11 to facilitate staff training. The DVDL will resume normal hours on Friday, April 12. The public is reminded that online services are available using the online portal www.eservices.gov.ky. GENERAL INTEREST WOMEN’S ANNUAL RETREAT: The Women’s Ministry of Church of God Chapel in George Town invites all women to the annual retreat Friday, April 26, 7-9 p.m., and Saturday, April 27, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Family Life Centre. Guest speaker is Militza Matute. Cost is $25 and includes light breakfast and lunch. Register at 949-9393 or cogcgt@candw.ky or flcoff@ candw.ky. FRIDAY FISH FRY: Fridays during Lent until April 12. St. Ignatius School Canteen. Dine in or carry out, 5-8 p.m. Fried or baked fish and trimmings, $7 to $12. Proceeds in aid of parish religious education and youth ministry. LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS: Applications are being accepted for the Ministry of Education’s local scholarships. Eligible Caymanian students and adults are invited to apply until April 30. Funding is available for Year 12 students to pursue studies in A-level and BTEC Level 3 Extended for two years, and Year 13 students to pursue studies in Advanced Placement, CAPE and International Baccalaureate courses. Government will also award scholarships for certificate, associate, bachelor’s, master’s and law degree programmes at ICCI, UCCI, UWI Open Campus, St. Matthew’s University and the Cayman Islands Law School. The online application for local scholarships may be accessed at www.education. gov.ky/scholarships. For more information, contact the Scholarship Secretariat at 244-2482 or email scholarships@gov.ky. LOCAL HARVEST MARKET: Local farmers sell their produce and farmed goods at Camana Bay on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Heliconia Court (located next to Scotiabank). SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Be a volunteer for athlete training at Truman Bodden Sports Complex. Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m. for track, bocce and football, and Thursdays, 5:30 p.m. for basketball. Swimming on Wednesdays at the Lions Pool 10-11 a.m. or on Saturdays at the Cayman International School pool, 9:30 a.m. Email soci@candw.ky or call 916- 2600. COMMUNITY CHESS: Tuesdays 5-8 p.m., West Indies Wine Company. Join the Cayman Chess Club for a complimentary chess class and open challenges weekly. Anyone can learn to play and enjoy chess, even beginners. ART OPEN CANVAS: At KARoo Restaurant in Camana Bay, Wednesdays 7-11 p.m. Artists of all levels are welcome to come and enjoy painting and socialising with other artists. Includes use of easels, lights, space, beverage ticket. No fee. For more information, contact info@ visualartcayman.com or jar. was@gmail.com. VISUAL ARTS SOCIETY: Adult Open Studio available to those who want to work independently in an inspiring atmosphere. Wednesdays for adults, 9 a.m. till noon. Thursdays Adults and Youth, 10 a.m. till noon. Watler House Art Studio, Pedro St. James. Fee is $5/$15 pp for ceramics. $15/$25 pp non-members. Includes use of studio, glazes and ceramic tools. Clay available $30 per bag/fee for kiln usage. To register, call 546-9422 or email info@visualartcayman. com. SEAFARERS HALL: The Cayman Islands Seafarers Association wishes to inform the community that the hall is now available for rent every day of the week, including Saturdays. THRIFT SHOP: One Dog at a Time’s New To U shop is now located at JJT Warehouses, Row 2, Unit 2 on Industrial Way. Open Saturdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Variety of items available, including men’s, women’s, children’s and baby clothes, shoes, household, electrical items, CDs, DVDs, books, home furnishings, toys, baby cribs, car seats, dog beds and more. BETHESDA COUNSELLING CENTRE: Caters to all who seek help. Open Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 68 Mary Street. Appointments available Saturdays and late evenings. Owned and operated by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Call 946- 6575. HUMANE SOCIETY BOOK LOFT: North Sound Road. Open Monday 12:30-4 p.m.; Tuesday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Volunteers needed for front desk a few hours per week. For more information, email humanesocietybookloft@ candw.ky or call 946-8053. Donations of books, games, CDs, stationery, DVDs, cards, etc., in good condition needed. CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Meets daily to help with drinking problems. Call 926-9044 or visit www. caymanaa.org. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: Is available for substance abuse help. Call the info line at 929–NANA (6262). AL-ANON GROUP MEETING: Are you troubled by someone’s drinking? Al-Anon Family Groups can help. Call 928-8843 or email caymanalanon@gmail. com for meeting times. OVERCOMERS OUTREACH: A Christ-centred 12-step recovery group addresses addictions and those affected by them. Meetings at Cayman Islands Baptist Church, Pedro Castle Road, Tuesdays, 7:15 p.m. For details, contact Vanessa Gilman at 946-2422, or visit www. overcomersoutreach.org. DEMENTIA/ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP: This group meets on the last Wednesday of each month at ADACI’s office, 4th floor, Cardinall Plaza, 30 Cardinall Ave., George Town. Call 924-4170 or email info@ adacayman.com. GRAND CAYMAN TOASTMASTERS: Club meets each Thursday 6-7:15 p.m. on 3rd Floor, George Town Public Library. Visitors and guests welcome. Contact George R. Ebanks at 322- 9369 or Grand Cayman Toastmasters club on Facebook. Email info@ toastmastersclub2686.org. EMINENT ORATORS TOASTMASTERS: Want to be a better speaker or leader? Join a Toastmasters Club. The Eminent Orators Toastmasters Club meets every second and fourth Monday at Cayman Academy Canteen, Walkers Road, 6-7:30 p.m. Contact Sashoy Duncan at 939-8847 or email eminentorator stoastmasters@gmail.com. Visitors and guests welcome. THE LIONS CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN: Meets every first and third Thursday 7:30 p.m. at the Lions Community Centre. Email lionsclubgcm@hotmail.com. THE LIONS CLUB OF TROPICAL GARDENS: Meet every first and third Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Elizabethan Square (corner unit). Members of the public are invited to attend. ROTARY CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN SUNRISE: Service club meetings 7 a.m. every Wednesday at George Town Yacht Club, 612 North Sound Road. Visit www. rotarysunrise.ky or info@ rotarysunrise.ky. KIWANIS CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN: Meets first and third Wednesdays of the month, 12:30 p.m., at The Wharf Restaurant. Projects include promoting well- being of children in the community and schools. Email president@kiwanis. ky or view www.kiwanis.ky. RELIGIOUS SERVICES EL MINISTERIO HISPANO: de la Iglesia Bautista Cayman Islands te hace una cordial invitación a nuestro culto en español cada Domingo, 6:30 p.m., Pedro Castle Road, Savannah. Para transporte, llamar al teléfono no. 946-2422, email: cibaptist@candw.ky. SPANISH WORSHIP SERVICE: First Baptist Church, Crewe Road, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Third Sunday of each month. HARBOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH: Meets for Divine Worship and Fellowship at South Sound Community Centre, South Sound, Sundays at 10 a.m. www. safeharbourlc.com. MUSLIM PRAYER: Islamic Society of the Cayman Islands advises 5 times salaat/prayer at the Masjid. Fajr at 6 a.m. Dhuhr at 1:15 p.m. Asr at 5:15 p.m. Maghrib at 7 minutes after sunset. Isha at 8 p.m. website isci.org.ky. CATHOLIC CHURCH: St. Ignatius, Walkers Road, Mass 6 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 6 p.m. Sundays. Christ the Redeemer, West Bay, Mass 9:45 a.m. Sunday. JOHN GRAY MEMORIAL UNITED CHURCH: Sunday worship for the family and Children’s Church, 10 a.m. BOATSWAIN BAY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: Sundays. 10 a.m. Christian Education for all ages; 11 a.m., Morning Worship with nursery for youngsters; 7 p.m. Evening Worship. Visit www.bbpca.org. SUNRISE COMMUNITY CHURCH: Harquail Theatre, 10 a.m., contemporary worship. Nursery ministry, children’s church and the Explorers are for ages infant to 11. Community groups meet during the week for fellowship and growth. www. sunrise.ky. For more Community Calendar events, visit www. caymancompass.com/events. To observe World Health Day, the Public Health Department will offer free health screenings at the East End United Church Hall, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 6.The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2019 More delays for Boeing’s space capsule The Starliner capsule was supposed to make its debut this month, after a series of postponements. But the first test flight is now off until August. And the second test flight, with astronauts, will not occur until late in the year. Mike Elsworth Ebanks March 23, 1973 – March 31, 2006 Missing You Son Mike Elsworth EbanksMike Elsworth Ebanks March 23, 1973 – March 31, 2006March 23, 1973 – March 31, 2006 Missing YouMissing You SonSon There is no day goes past without memories of you In all that I dream, in all that I do I wake each new morning with a Heavy heart With that sadness and aching Now we are apart I know you’re with the angels in Heaven above I ask them to bless you and send you my love and comfort me and guide me through sorrow and pain Help me remember your smiles till We meet again From your broken hearted Mom Annie, Dad, Brothers, Sisters, Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews, Cousins and Friends. Rest in Peace Son. on your 13th Anniversary away from us. With the president gone, Algerian officials plot next steps ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) – Alge- ria’s Constitutional Council met Wednesday to confirm President Abdelaziz Boutef- lika’s resignation, as rattled international partners watch closely to see what’s next for this gas-rich country and key player in the global fight against terrorism. Algerians woke to a new and uncertain era, after the departure of a man who had ruled Algeria for 20 years and had been a fixture in the Arab world’s political land- scape for decades. A discreet, 77-year-old Bouteflika ally – the upper house of parliament’s presi- dent, Abdelkader Bensalah – is expected to take over as interim leader while Algeria plans presidential elections. But that might further anger the protesters who drove Bouteflika from power, and who want to overhaul a po- litical elite seen as secretive and corrupt. “Our session today is re- lated to establishing the va- cancy of the post of president of the republic, following the resignation of Mr. Ab- delaziz Bouteflika yesterday,” said Constitutional Council president Tayeb Belaiz as he opened Wednesday’s meeting of the 12-member body. A much-diminished Bouteflika, 82, appeared on images shown on na- tional television Tuesday night handing his resigna- tion letter to Constitutional Council president Tayeb Be- laiz. Bouteflika, who has not spoken publicly to the nation since a 2013 stroke, appeared pale and weak and wore a traditional robe instead of his habitual suits. Algerian protesters who drove Bouteflika out cele- brated his departure with songs and flag-waving in the capital Tuesday night – but it might not be enough to sat- isfy their demands for an overhaul of the political elite, seen as corrupt and secretive. Algeria’s Constitution says that when a president dies or resigns, the Constitutional Council confirms the lead- er’s absence and both houses of parliament convene. The president of the upper house is named as interim leader for 90 days while a presiden- tial election is organised. The upper house has been led for the past 17 years by Bensalah, a one-time jour- nalist and former ambas- sador who has held senior political positions for the past 25 years but has kept a low profile, rarely giving interviews or appearing at public events. He’s known as a politi- cian who works behind the scenes to strike compromises and solve problems, and who avoids controversial debates – and is very much part of the political elite. Demonstrators worry that those who would play a role in the political transition are too close to the distrusted power structure, including Prime Minister Noured- dine Bedoui, accused of con- tributing to fraud in the last presidential election in 2014 and cracking down on past protests. New protests are already planned for Friday, after six straight Fridays of mass, peaceful gatherings that sur- prised the entrenched lead- ership by their strength and persistence. However, the protest movement does not have a single, unifying alternative to the current political system. Another question is what the influential military and Bouteflika’s entourage will do next. Military chief of staff Ahmed Gaid Salah appeared to trigger Bouteflika’s depar- ture by pushing to get him declared unfit for office. Countries around the world are watching Algeria’s political crisis, wondering whether a transfer of power could impact gas and oil de- liveries to Europe, Cuba and around Africa – or crucial se- curity cooperation with Eu- rope and the US. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against foreign interference in Algerian politics and said Wednesday that “we hope the internal processes in that country … will by no means affect the friendly nature of our relations”. Algeria’s for- eign minister recently vis- ited Russia, and the coun- tries have been economic and geopolitical allies since the Soviet era. French Foreign Min- ister Jean-Yves Le Drian ex- pressed hope that Algerians would “pursue this demo- cratic transition in the same spirit of calm and responsi- bility” that has marked the protests that drove Bouteflika from office. France, Algeria’s former colonial ruler and a key trading partner, had come under fire for seeming to support Bouteflika earlier in the movement. People take to the street in Algiers to celebrate after ailing Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit Tuesday. - PHOTO: AP Brunei invokes laws allowing stoning for gay sex, adultery SINGAPORE (AP) – New Is- lamic criminal laws that took effect in Brunei on Wednesday, punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death, have trig- gered an outcry from coun- tries, rights groups and ce- lebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian na- tion’s shores. The penalties were pro- vided for under new sec- tions of Brunei’s Shariah Penal Code. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted the code in 2014 to bolster the influ- ence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim. Even before 2014, homo- sexuality was already pun- ishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years. The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offences such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays. But under the new laws – which apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim – those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped. Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputa- tion of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second. “Living in Brunei, we al- ready knew that our sexual identity is taboo and should not be expressed. We al- ready felt belittled before the law came to place,” said a 23-year-old member of the LGBTQ community who wanted to be identified only as Kun out of fear of reprisal from the authorities. “Now with it, we feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they want,” he said. Celebrities including George Clooney, Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have voiced opposition to the new laws, and have rallied a boy- cott of nine hotels in the U.S. and Europe with ties to Has- sanal, who is still sultan. “Are we really going to help fund the murder of in- nocent citizens?” Clooney wrote Thursday on Dead- line Hollywood. Clooney said that while you cannot shame “mur- derous regimes”, you can shame “the banks, the finan- ciers and the institutions that do business with them”. There has been no vocal opposition to the new pen- alties in Brunei, where the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority. Public criticism of his pol- icies is extremely rare in the country. Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has pre- viously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of “special guidance” from God and would be “part of the great history” of Brunei. On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Ger- many and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans. “The United States strongly opposes violence, criminal- ization and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons,” State De- partment deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement. Brunei’s Southeast Asian neighbours, some of whom have laws banning sex be- tween men, were silent. But LGBTQ citizens of other nearby Muslim-majority countries were concerned about the broad penalties. “I am very worried that Indonesia or Malaysia may follow the lead,” said a 24-year-old man from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s cap- ital, who wanted to be iden- tified only by his first name, Ludwig. “I think people now- adays, especially the younger generation, are quite OK with LGBT, but those who are not make the loudest noise and they are the reason why it seems like everyone is against it.”Next >